AN ANALYTICAL INDEX OF THE MATERIALS PROVIDED ON THIS SITE

*MAPS of SOUTH ASIA* == Some of the maps are on this site; others are outside links.

*GENERAL LINKS* == This list of good starting points consists mostly of outside links. But I've also made homes here for some of my special favorites:

*HERODOTUS on India (c.450 BCE)* == Our earliest surviving (clearly datable) literary source by a couple of centuries, and thus uniquely valuable.
*IBN BATUTA VISITS INDIA (1330's)* == This tireless traveler visited the Delhi court, and covered a surprising amount of ground in and around South Asia.
*Munster's COSMOGRAPHIA (1544)* == A look at one of the most influential medieval accounts of South Asia, complete with monsters and the famous gold-digging ants.
*MIRAT UL-MEMALIK (Mirror of Countries) (1557)* == by Sidi Ali Reis, translated from the Turkish by A. Vambery (1899). The Ottoman Admiral, out to confront the Portuguese Infidels, is shipwrecked on the Malabar Coast, and stops to visit with Humayun.
*The Travels of Pietro della Valle (1650)* == On the Malabar Coast in 1623 he meets some local celebrities, and describes these cross-cultural encounters with thoughtfulness and candor.
*Jean Baptiste TAVERNIER's TRAVELS (1676)* == He shares his own mercantile (and other) experiences in late-Mughal India, in what amounts to a vivid and well-organized travel guide.
*MALLET's Description de l'Univers (1683 on)* == Remarkably influential maps and views of everything in the world.
*PRÉVOST'S Histoire générale des Voyages (1746-1759)* == 15 volumes of maps and views and other illustrations
*GENERAL HISTORY AND COLLECTION OF VOYAGES AND TRAVELS* ARRANGED IN SYSTEMATIC ORDER: Forming a Complete History of the Origin and Progress of Navigation, Discovery, and Commerce, by Sea and Land, from the Earliest Ages to the Present Time, by Robert Kerr (1811-c.1820's).
*Lalla Rookh (1817)* == Thomas Moore's 'Eastern Romance' (with an extraordinary set of footnotes) is framed as a set of stories narrated to Aurangzeb's daughter; this passionate hymn to freedom, nationalism, piety, and young love was immensely popular in its day.
*The General East India Guide (1825)* == Everything the young East India Company employee needs to know, by no less an authority than John Borthwick Gilchrist himself (of Fort William fame).
*The Life of William Carey (1761-1834)* == An ardently Christian and imperialist biographer, George Smith (1887), salutes the great scholar-missionary as a counterpart to Clive.
*Campaign of the Indus (1838-39)* == A British soldier's letters home, edited by his father; both men emphasize that this is the first 'western army' in the area since Alexander's
*MACAULAY (1800-1859)* == Beyond the 'Minute on Education' that we all love to hate, this ardent social reformer was also a brilliant literary stylist: just take a look at his essays on Clive and Hastings.
*From the Caves and Jungles of Hindostan (1879-80)* == Despite her love of mystery, Madame Blavatsky is a more vivid, amusing, and sympathetic travel writer than you'd ever expect
*INDIA IN AMERICAN EYES: What We Used to Read* == A wide range of articles about things Indian, from 19th-century American magazines; and a Gutenberg banquet
*The Pirates of Malabar* by John Biddulph (1907) == One of their main early home ports was New York; Captain Kidd was overrated; the Angria clan's fortresses loomed large

*SOUTH ASIAN ART AND ARCHITECTURE* == Mostly outside links; but some images of this kind will also be found in the *Indian Routes sitemap*. One major project:

*A HANDBOOK TO AGRA* and the Taj, Sikandra, Fatehpur-Sikri, and the Neighbourhood, by E. B. Havell (1904); now lavishly illustrated with online images.

*ISLAM IN SOUTH ASIA* == Mostly outside links, except for some particular articles, speeches, excerpts, etc., for classroom use, and two notable texts:

*OBSERVATIONS ON THE MUSSALMAUNS OF INDIA* DESCRIPTIVE OF THEIR MANNERS, CUSTOMS, HABITS AND RELIGIOUS OPINIONS, Made During a Twelve Years' Residence in their Immediate Society, by Mrs. Meer Hassan Ali (1832); her remarkable letters about her life in Navabi Lucknow well deserve their fame.
*MUSLIM CIVILIZATION IN INDIA*, by S. M. Ikram, edited by Ainslie T. Embree (1964); a classic introductory text, somewhat dated but valuable in many ways.

*SOUTH ASIAN LITERATURE* == Lots of outside links, together with some particular short articles, texts, etc., for classroom use, all hooked up in chronological and/or thematic order; and in addition, some special projects:

*SACONTALA* == by Kalidasa (300's?), translated from the Sanskrit by Sir William Jones (1789). Nobody can resist Shakuntala, and Sir William Jones has the courtly vocabulary and attitude to do her justice. With much background material.
*HITOPADESHA* == (anon., date uncertain), translated from the Sanskrit by Sir Edwin Arnold (1861). It turns out that certain animals know a lot about reciting proverbs, winning friends, and destroying enemies-- along with peace, war, betrayal, and other human vicissitudes.
*Gul-badan Begam's HUMAYUN-NAMA (c.1587)* == Akbar's aunt describes her own relationship with her brother Humayun.
*ABU'L-FAZL (1551-1602)* == Akbar's great and devoted chronicler has left us the multivolume Akbar-nama and its concluding part, the A'in-i Akbari; here are some excerpts from his remarkable work.
*Ananda Ranga Pillai (1709-61)* == The Chief Dubash (interpreter) to Governor Dupleix of Pondicherry kept an extensive private diary from 1736 until his death; selections from it are presented here.
*Dastan-e AMIR HAMZAH (1871)* == by Abdullah Bilgrami, translated from the Urdu by FWP. The medieval Persian-Urdu dastan world has been said to consist of 'fights and parties, magic and trickery' (razm o bazm, tilism o 'ayyari)-- what's not to like?
*Gandhi's Autobiography (1925)* == a version that aspires to be conveniently arranged and carefully proofread.
*BASTI (1979)* == by Intizar Husain, translated from the Urdu by FWP. A meditative, memory-filled look at Pakistani history, from the perspective of the recent loss of Bangladesh.
*MARVELOUS ENCOUNTERS: Folk Romance in Urdu and Hindi (1985)* == I've finally gotten around to putting my dissertation online.
*C. M. NAIM* == a page devoted to the work of this important modern scholar, teacher, writer, and social critic.
*PANKAJ MISHRA* == a home page for this fine South Asian writer and journalist

*URDU/HINDI LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE* == Most of these are outside links, or else teaching and research materials (including works by *Bailey*, *Kellogg*, *King*, *Pybus*, *Shackle and Snell*, and *Tarachand*. But there are also (excerpts from) some major texts, which are presented in literal translation as well as in at least parts in the original script, with background material. These 'study sites', which I call *Fran's favorites* include, in chronological order:

*SELECTIONS FROM SAUDA*
*"A GARDEN OF KASHMIR"* (Mir)
*THE MASNAVI OF MIR HASAN*
*"BAGH O BAHAR"* (Mir Amman)
*"A DESERTFUL OF ROSES"* (Ghalib)
*A MARSIYAH OF MIR ANIS*
*"THE CAUSES OF THE INDIAN REVOLT"* (Sir Sayyid)
*NAZIR AHMAD'S BEST-SELLERS*
*UMRAO JAN ADA* (Rusva)
*"HALI'S "JUSTICE FOR THE SILENT"*
*TWO TARANAHS* (Iqbal)
*IQBAL: some of his best Urdu poems*
*"KAFAN" (THE SHROUD)* (Premchand)
*"TOBA TEK SINGH"* (Manto)
*ISMAT CHUGHTAI* (one of her stories)

*THE GREAT GLOSSARY FAIR* == Hindi/Urdu language-study glossaries and other materials from a variety of sources

*INDIAN ROUTES* == An idiosyncratic timeline that provides hyperlinked resources from all over. Many related 'scrapbook' pages, located on this site, are available through its *SITEMAP*, and are by far the most popular things on my whole website.

*EARLY MODERN INDIA: A SELECT GLOSSARY* == This perpetual work-in-progress centers on the 1700's, with some excursions forward and backward in time. It has lots of external links, and some of its own materials; it's also hooked up to many other things on this site.

*"SOURCES OF INDIAN TRADITIONS"* == Only outside links right now, but stay tuned: we hope later to provide some new material to go with the new edition when it's ready.

*DR. B. R. AMBEDKAR* == This is part of Columbia's web project on one of our greatest alumni. Its centerpiece is the CCNMTL e-text of *Annihilation of Caste (1936)*. My site contains some articles by Dr. Ambedkar, a *timeline* of his life, and also two of his books:

*Pakistan, or the Partition of India (1945)* == Dr. Ambedkar's detailed consideration of the question, using the best information available to him at the time.
*The Buddha and His Dhamma (1956)* == Dr. Ambedkar always regretted that there was no Buddhist Bible, so he set out to compose one. He managed to finish it just before his death, as a last gift to his people.

*SOME LOVELY CALLIGRAPHY* == Some examples are on this site, and some are outside links.

MY OWN WORK == this section consists chiefly of my *published work* (along with some of *S. R. Faruqi's work*), most of which is provided on this site more or less the way it was published. Some sections are online creations, however:

*"A DESERTFUL OF ROSES*: the Urdu Ghazals of Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib" (in progress); this is my magnum opus.
*"A GARDEN OF KASHMIR*: the Ghazals of Mir Muhammad Taqi Mir" (in progress)
*"Urdu Meter: A Practical Handbook"* (once a book, but now reworked into online format)
*"Morningside Mix"* -- using this is like rooting around in the refrigerator for a snack: lots of random leftovers, but maybe a few good tidbits too.