History of Agriculture in India (up to c.1200 AD), Part 1, reconstructs the evolution of agriculture in India up to c.1200AD. It is a synthesis and summation of existing knowledge on the history of agriculture in ancient India on the combined bases of archaeological and literary sources against the backdrop of Asian history in general. Besides summing up the existing knowledge, it opens new vistas for further research on many debated issues in the history of agriculture in ancient India. The volume addresses the vexed and controversial questions on the origin, antiquity and sources of Indian agricultural history. Based on researches from sites of Vindhya, Ganga Region, plant remains, agricultural tools, pots, dental pathology, and settlement remains, it is an informed and highly researched work on the origin and antiquity of cultivation in India. For a historical study of agriculture, Pali, Sangam. Sanskrit and the Graeco-Roman literatures have been utilized. Art and literary sources have also been used to reconstruct history.

Ethnobotany of India, Volume 5: The Indo-Gangetic Region and Central India is the fifth of a five-volume set on the ethnobotany of India. Bringing together in one place information on the ethnobotany of the Indo-Gangetic Region and Central India, this volume presents the valuable details of the ethnobotanical aspects of many plants of the region. Competent authors have been selected to summarize information on the various aspects of ethnobotany of India, such as ethnoecology, traditional agriculture, cognitive ethnobotany, material sources, traditional pharmacognosy, ethnoconservation strategies, bioprospection of ethno-directed knowledge, and documentation and protection of ethnobotanical knowledge. With chapters written by experts in the field, the book provides comprehensive information on the tribals (the indigenous populations of the region) and knowledge on plants that grow around them. The volume looks at ethnic diversity of people of the region ethnic food plants and food preparation ethnomedical aspects of plants of the region, including hepatoprotective properties, uses to alleviate skin diseases, contraceptive uses, the trade in Indian medicinal plants mulitidisciplinary approaches for herbal medicine exploration The volume includes the details of the plants studies, their medicinal uses, their scientific names, the specific parts used, and how the plants are used, providing the what, how, and why of plant usage. The book is well illustrated with 23 color and 6 b/w illustrations. Together, the five volumes in the Ethnobotany of India series presents the available ethnobotanical knowledge of India in one place. India’s ancient and culturally rich and diverse information and use of ethnobotany will be valuable to those in the fields of botany and plant sciences, pharmacognosy and pharmacology, nutraceuticals, and others. The books also consider the threat to plant biodiversity imposed by environmental degradation, which impacts cultural diversity.

Contributed articles.

Agriculture productivity, growth and regional change in post-colonial India from a spatial perspective are yet to be rigorously examined. In particular, the impacts of economic liberalisation, globalisation and deregulation are not being empirically investigated at a small-area level using advanced statistical and spatial techniques. Understanding the process of regional formation and the rapid transitioning of agricultural landscapes in the Post-Liberalisation phase is pivotal to developing and devising regional economic development strategies. This book employs advanced methods to empirically examine the key characteristics and patterns of regional change in agricultural growth and productivity. It offers insights on changes in agricultural production and practices since the colonial period through to the Post-Liberalisation phase in India. It also incorporates the key public policy debates on the progress of India’s agricultural development with the aim of formulating spatially integrated strategies to reduce rapid rise in the regional convergence and to promote equitable distribution of strategic government investment.

The dates of the four Vedas, as well as the homeland of the Indo-European-speaking people, have been two unresolved issues in the Indian history. This book uses the robust information recently emerging from archaeo-botanical studies, particularly palinology, as well as that originating from the researches in geology, archaeology, and genetics. The information generated from these scientific studies provides a vivid picture of the last ten thousand years of Europe and Asia. This picture has been matched against the information about the plants, animals, and climate contained in the four Vedic Samhitas, as well as that emerging from the philological studies. The final picture emerges that the Rig-Veda was composed between 8000 BC and 6000 BC, Sama-Veda between 6000 BC and 5500 BC, Yajur-Veda between 5500 BC and 2500 BC, or perhaps 2000 BC, and the Atharva-Veda between 1500BC and 1300 BC. The investigation also reveals that the Indo-European words for "lion" "kesari" "singh" "camel" "ustra" "ostrich" "opium" "lotus" etc. characteristically Indian animals and plants, have existed in the Indo-European vocabulary, although not noticed so far. That exercise fixes the location of the Indo-European homeland in Northwest India at about 10,000-8,000 BC.

Contributed articles.