Look Inside

Houlton's Bihar, The Heart of India

FREE Delivery
Express Shipping
$36
Kameshwar Singh Bihar Heritage Series-21
Express Shipping: Guaranteed Dispatch in 24 hours
Quantity
Delivery Ships in 1-3 days
Item Code: HAO684
Author: Vishwa Mohan Jha
Publisher: Kameshwar Singh Darbhanga Sanskrit University, Bihar
Language: English
Edition: 2016
ISBN: 9789383647033
Pages: 225 (THROUGHOUT B/W ILLUSTRATIONS)
Cover: HARDCOVER
Other Details 10x7 inch
Weight 677 gm
Book Description
Preface

John Wardle Houlton joined Indian Civil Service in 1920 and, subsequently, held important positions of authority in Bihar till 1948 when he retired. In the course of pursuing his official career, it seems, he developed much interest in the history and geography of Bihar and worked hard to write. Bihar, the Heart of India. It throws significant light on the socio-historical mosaic that he considered characterizing Bihar to a great extent around the mid-twentieth century. The book, however, seems to have been out of print for the last few decades. It appears to be rather quite difficult now for scholars working on Bihar to have access to this valuable source of history.

Introduction

The reasons for bringing out a new edition of J.W. Houlton's Bihar, the Heart of India are simple. The work retains its value as an extremely readable, compact, and warm-hearted introduction to Bihar and Jharkhand. The original work however needed a bit of editing as it suffered from a few technical blemishes requiring removal, hence a new imprint.

By the time Houlton finalised his book for publication, the heart metaphor had established itself to denote two different types of books. It was used in the title of any number of travel accounts which were also meant to be guide- books for future travellers, at all events general introductions to the curious. There was thus the two-volume, lavishly illustrated, Through the Heart of Asia, over the Pamir to India (1889) by Gabriel Bonvalot, or Captain Frank Younghusband's The Heart of a Continent: A Narrative of Tales in Manchuria, across the Gobi Desert, through the Himalayas, the Pamirs, and Chitral, 1884-1894 (1896); in less remote times we have the many works of Duncan Forbes (The Heart of India, The Heart of Iran, etc.) in this category. The imagery often denoted the geographical centrality of the theme as well in such books. Second, the metaphor was used in the titles of books also to denote what the author considered the core or the most important aspects of a subject; this necessarily varied with the author. So when L.D. Barnett wrote for the 'Wisdom of the East' series The Heart of India (1908), what he meant was thus indicated in the book's subtitle: sketches in the history of Hindu religion and morals. The journalist Mark Tully meant something radically different by the same title for his collection of stories in contemporary India.

Frequently Asked Questions
  • Q. What locations do you deliver to ?
    A. Exotic India delivers orders to all countries having diplomatic relations with India.
  • Q. Do you offer free shipping ?
    A. Exotic India offers free shipping on all orders of value of $30 USD or more.
  • Q. Can I return the book?
    A. All returns must be postmarked within seven (7) days of the delivery date. All returned items must be in new and unused condition, with all original tags and labels attached. To know more please view our return policy
  • Q. Do you offer express shipping ?
    A. Yes, we do have a chargeable express shipping facility available. You can select express shipping while checking out on the website.
  • Q. I accidentally entered wrong delivery address, can I change the address ?
    A. Delivery addresses can only be changed only incase the order has not been shipped yet. Incase of an address change, you can reach us at [email protected]
  • Q. How do I track my order ?
    A. You can track your orders simply entering your order number through here or through your past orders if you are signed in on the website.
  • Q. How can I cancel an order ?
    A. An order can only be cancelled if it has not been shipped. To cancel an order, kindly reach out to us through [email protected].
Add a review
Have A Question

For privacy concerns, please view our Privacy Policy

Book Categories