Originally published in 1978, A Historical Atlas of South Asia was received with enormous critical acclaim, variously characterized as "a landmark" and "a tour de force." This invaluable resource is welcomed back in a newly updated form, no longer depriving scholars of this outstanding achievement.
The fruit of sixteen years of research, the Atlas consists of over 650 beautifully rendered original maps, most in color, detailing the ethnographic, political, and cultural changes on the Subcontinent from prehistoric times to the present. The maps are supplemented by several hundred additional charts, tables, chronologies, photographs, and line drawings, arrayed side-by-side with the maps on 149 large photographic plates. Following and complementing the plates are some 150 pages of text, keyed to the maps, outlining the history of the region--from politics to religion--in formidable detail. For this second impression, Schwartzberg and his collaborators have contributed twenty pages of additional text and bibliography, bringing the volume up-to-date through the regional census of 1991. A bibliography of over six thousand sources, a comprehensive index, and five end-pocket inserts are included to make this a classic resource.
A virtual encyclopedia of South Asian history, the republication of the Atlas offers students of Asian history, geography, religion, anthropology, archaeology, and politics access to a book that has been sorely missed and unlikely to be superseded in the foreseeable future.
