LORDS OF THE DECCAN : Southern India from the Chalukyas to the CholasIn this brilliant and critically acclaimed debut book, Anirudh Kanisetti brings alive for the lay-reader the early medieval Deccan, from the sixth century CE to the twelfth century CE, in all its splendour and riotous glory. Kanisetti takes us back in time to witness the birth of the Chalukyas, a dynasty that shaped southern India for centuries. In vivid and colourful detail, Kanisetti describes how the mighty empires of medieval India were made: how temple-building and language manipulation were used as political tools; how royals involved themselves in religious struggles between Jains and Buddhists, Shaivas and Vaishnavas; and how awe-inspiring rituals were used to elevate kings over their rivals and subjects. In doing so, he transforms medieval Indian royals, merchants and commoners from obscure figures to complex, vibrant people. Kanisetti takes us into the minds of the powerful rulers of medieval south India - the Chalukyas, Pallavas, Rashtrakutas and Cholas dynasties, and animates them with humanity and depth. This painstakingly researched forgotten history of India will keep you riveted and enthralled. You will never see the history of the subcontinent the same way again.Early Indians (Pb)Who are we Indians? Where did we come from? To tell us the story of our ancestry, journalist Tony Joseph goes 65,000 years into the past - when a band of Homo sapiens first made their way from Africa into the Indian subcontinent. These were the First Indians. Citing recent DNA evidence, he traces the subsequent large migrations of modern humans into India - of a people related to early farmers of Iran who mixed with the First Indians at the latest between 5400 BCE and 3700 BCE and of the ‘Arya’ between 2000 BCE and 1500 BCE, among others. As Joseph unravels our past, he takes head-on some of the most controversial and uncomfortable questions of Indian history: Who were the Harappans? Are north Indians genetically different from south Indians? When did the caste system emerge? A hugely significant book, Early Indians bravely puts to rest several fierce debates on the ancestry of modern Indians.