This book is in memory of ProfessorPartha Sarathi Gupta, who taught at the
Department of History, Delhi University,from 1962 till 1999. He passed away
suddenly on 10 August 1999, just a few daysafter his retirement. A dedicated
historian with a zeal for exactitude, anerudite scholar and a committed teacher,
he was in many ways 'an inspirationwithin an institution' and a source of
inspiration for generations of students,including many of the contributors to
this volume. The essays collected in Negotiating India's Past weave together
issues and concerns of different scholars from the world ofIndian history. The
themes they examine reflect a common desire to understandhistorical processes
over time