Badr-ud-Din Tyabji’s first volume of memoirs is a personal record encompassing half a century of India’s recent history. The momentous changes this period witnessed are chronicled by Tyabji from a unique position of vantage. Diverse cultural and intellectual influences – an enlightened Islamic and strongly nationalist family tradition, tempered by a liberal Western education – shaped his forceful personality and distinguished career. This volume traces the author’s childhood and youth under the Raj, his experience as a civil service officer, the rough crossing over into Independence under the shadow of Partition, the shaping of the new sovereign republic, and his experiences of the Indian Foreign Service in its infancy.

The Tyabji family rose from a background of entrepreneurial prosperity to social prominence in an age when emerging nationalism was propelling the country swiftly towards a final confrontation with its colonial identity. These memoirs bring to life personalities and events of this vibrant period, not too distant but already sadly fading from national memory. The value of the book as a historical documentation is greatly enhanced by the author’s robust wisdom, eye for detail and wry sense of humour. But his sharp observation, unflinching candour and cutting wit are always mellowed by a lively curiosity and instinctive generosity of heart. A self confessed egoist, Tyabji counter – balances his nostalgia for the past with pragmatic evaluation without detracting from its essential period charm.
ISBN: 9694020182
Publisher: VANGUARD BOOKS

ISBN: 0688103871
Publisher: QUILL WILLIAM MORROW

The invention of the DDC has played a vital role in giving a direction and shape to the modern librarianship. It is not for nothing that Melvil Dewey is given the appellation of the father of modern librarianship.

The book has undergone 18 revisions to keep itself abreast of the ever advancing frontiers of knowledge and to cater to the increasing demand of its users. The 19th revision is presently underway. In every revision, it has been expanded, modified, rectified and made more modern in methods by applying the results of the latest research in library classification.

The book simply aims to introduce students to the process of assigning and especially synthesising the class numbers by the 19th edition of the DDC.

ISBN: 9694024609
Publisher: VANGUARD BOOKS

In this beautifully written and fully detailed study, J. Royal Roseberry makes a major contribution to understanding the interaction of the agents of the British Raj and local leadership and elites in the nineteenth century.

In extending their power over the subcontinent, the British encountered their most difficult and complex task in the Indus Valley, northwest of Delhi. In playing the imperial game on this turbulent frontier they were often overmatched and outwitted by local leaders and their forces. Nowhere was the challenge greater than in Multan, a historic Muslim city, where power shifted continuously among a wavering dynasty, Hindu merchants, and tribal mercenaries.

A new factor entered the political arena in the 1840s with the arrival of representatives of the East India Company. Herbert Edwardes contested successfully with Diwan Mulraj and, through 1857, the administrative and land revenue systems of the Company were haltingly applied.

As elsewhere in India, local leaders and elites sought advantages under the new system and evaded its burdens when they could. Continuing the story after the disturbances of 1857-58 Roseberry discusses the continued jostling for power among Multan’s Muslims, Hindus, and British interlopers. He devotes attention to the judicial and revenue administrations, economic growth and social dislocation, and the growing communal tensions after 1880.

ISBN: 9694024250
Publisher: VANGUARD BOOKS