Description

A Mughal knife made from a meteorite. A precious necklace split between two nations at partition. A butter advert that achieves iconic status. Through a curatorial selection of objects from the prehistoric ages through twenty-first century India, Sudeshna Guha provides a panoramic view of the rich histories of the subcontinent. The incisive essays in this collection detail not just objects but the histories of their examining how changing times and attitudes cast their presence on the ways in which the past is interpreted and recalled. In doing so, A History of India through 75 Objects inspires us to interrogate our own notions of a knowable past and fixed national history. Teeming with thought-provoking insights and surprising anecdotes, the essays instil a sense of wonder about the continuous processes by which histories are constructed.