The essays in this volume, written by specialists on Maharashtra,reveal the
intensity of intellectual and social ferment, under theshadow of Westernization,
taking place in Maharashtra frommid-nineteenth to the first three decades of the
twentieth century.Jayant Lele, Rajendra Vora, Uttam Bhoite and E. Fasana
examineMaharashtrian Brahman and non-Brahman elites use of politicalsymbols and
models to effect a transformation of political cultureof Maharashtra. More
specifically, the influence of Resorgimento,the nineteenth-century Italian
nationalist movement on politicalideology of Hindutva and Hindupadpadshahi is
analysed in E. Fasanasseminal contribution. How George Buist as an editor of
Bombay Timesinfluenced, and later repulsed, the Mumbai elites, is the theme
ofAroon Tikekars essay. Milton Israel examines the competing