Backlist

Dilli’s Red Fort: by the Yamuna presents the story of the imposing Fort in red sandstone built by the Mughal emperor Shahjahan (1628-58. Originally known as Qila-i-Mubarak—the Fortunate or Auspicious Citadel—its construction began in April 1639 and was completed in 1648. In 1659-60 Shahjahan’s son and...

Interesting facts and anecdotes combine with beautiful photographs and exclusive illustrations to bring alive the Jama Masjid. This book narrates the story of a grand edifice, its architectural details and its surroundings...

The Forgotten Palaces of Calcutta discovers the old areas of the city, where heritage houses and history fill every crowded lane and secret courtyard. Languishing in another time and place, at the end of narrow lanes and behind untidy shop-fronts, Calcutta’s rich heritage waits to be discovered.

The great houses of Bengal’s merchant princes have been largely forgotten and rarely photographed. Many of the interiors have remained the same for over 200 years. While much has been written and photographed on the British colonial architecture and lifestyle, very little has been done on the Indian equivalent. The great families experienced enormous changes in fortune over the centuries, from great wealth and power during colonial times to dramatic economic and social upheaval after Independence. For the remaining occupants, their ancestral homes are bitter-sweet symbols of family pride, impossible to restore, or sometimes...

Globalisation has made a dramatic if belated foray into Calcutta, once considered the Second City of the Raj and India's cultural capital. The most visible of its impacts has been a rapid change in the city's skyline. The outlines of the Victoria Memorial Hall, Howrah Bridge and the Ochterlony Monument (today's Sahid Minar) that once ruled Calcutta's horizon, have been fast overshadowed by the jagged contours of high-rise and mid-rise buildings and towers—masses of aesthetically-dead concrete. By contrast, the city's built heritage inherited from pre-Independence times may be in...