The contributors to this volume belong to the disciplines of history, art history, geography, political science, economics and literature many of them eminent in their field of interest. Their contributions make this volume multi-disciplinary, with an exceptionally wide scope, proving it indispensable for all students and scholars of social sciences and humanities. Three papers cover polity, economy and society in the Mughal Punjab; six relate to state formation, economy, society and literature of the period of Sikh rule; one deals with religion and art in the hills. A masterly essay delineates the major developments in the recent study of Pahari painting.
The period of colonial rule is covered by fifteen contributors who discuss political, economic and socio-cultural developments dwelling on urban society and politics; communitarian, secular and national consciousness; agrarian and urban economy; demographic and social change; Punjabi literature; and gender relations.
There are three papers on the Punjab after
independence related to political economy; the bearing of agricultural growth on urbanization; and the movement for the Punjabi-speaking
state.
The essay on Professor J.S. Grewal's work
becomes virtually a study of new directions in the historiography of the Punjab in its political, social, economic and cultural dimensions.