In this book the author analyzes different groups of hunters and gatherers which live around the coast of Indian Ocean – from the hill jungles of North Thailand to the sandy shores of South Madagascar, from the foothills of Himalaya to the savannahs of central India and deep forests of Sri Lanka.The research is based on the big fieldwork expedition experience and huge bibliography references.

There is a profusion of missional issues emerging in the Asian fields that call Christ's followers to actively witnessing the Truth. Missionaries from different continents have come to serve the Asian nations, and yet, these God's loving missionaries' effectiveness often seem to have left in the shade by some damaging fruits and (sometimes) being too much of Westernness stemming from a diversity of lacking knowledge particularly the local contexts to contextualize, and lack of preparation. The irrefutable finding is appealing within the Asian mission study in regard to the essentiality in equipping the Christians so that the ministries in Asia will experience the effectiveness in cultivating the diverse contexts (cultures) with the text (Scripture) they have. Many principles and practical information from this book grew out of the authors' experiences and the reflection of Missiologists and scholars such as Andrew Walls, Christopher Wright, Kazoh Kitamori, Paul Hiebert, etc.

Collection of papers presented at the Gathering of the Concerned on Chepangs, Resources, and Development jointly organized by School of Ecology, Agriculture, and Community Works and the Netherlands Development Organisation, Nepal, held at Chitawan, Nepal, February 7-9, 1995.

Nepal is a living example of contrasts and contradictions.It is a country that was born in medieval times, grew up in the 16th century, and now finds itself engulfed in the high-tech gadgets and material marvels of the 21st century. Nepal has its share of problem which include inadequate economic development and social infrastructure, poverty and corruption, plus worsening pollution, but now it finally has relative peace and quiet after a hasty Maoist uprising. Indeed, it has passed through several democratic elections, and finally seems to be getting on the right track. This second edition of Historical Dictionary of Nepal contains a chronology, an introduction, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 700 cross-referenced entries on important personalities, politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Nepal.

In today’s world hunter-gatherer societies struggle with seemingly insurmountable problems: deforestation and encroachment, language loss, political domination by surrounding communities. Will they manage to survive? This book is about one such society living in the monsoon rainforests of western Nepal: the Raute. Kings of the Forest explores how this elusive ethnic group, the last hunter-gatherers of the Himalayas, maintains its traditional way of life amidst increasing pressure to assimilate. Author Jana Fortier examines Raute social strategies of survival as they roam the lower Himalayas gathering wild yams and hunting monkeys. Hunting is part of a symbiotic relationship with local Hindu farmers, who find their livelihoods threatened by the monkeys’ raids on their crops. Raute hunting helps the Hindus, who consider the monkeys sacred and are reluctant to kill the animals themselves. Fortier explores Raute beliefs about living in the forest and the central importance of foraging in their lives. She discusses Raute identity formation, nomadism, trade relations, and religious beliefs, all of which turn on the foragers’ belief in the moral goodness of their unique way of life. The book concludes with a review of issues that have long been important to anthropologists—among them, biocultural diversity and the shift from an evolutionary focus on the ideal hunter-gatherer to an interest in hunter-gatherer diversity. Kings of the Forest will be welcomed by readers of anthropology, Asian studies, environmental studies, ecology, cultural geography, and ethnic studies. It will also be eagerly read by those who recognize the critical importance of preserving and understanding the connections between biological and cultural diversity.

Social life and customs of Chepang, Nepalese people in Raksirang village and their ecological setup of the area.

A guide to worldwide shamanism and shamanistic practices, emphasizing historical and current cultural adaptations. This two-volume reference is the first international survey of shamanistic beliefs from prehistory to the present day. In nearly 200 detailed, readable entries, leading ethnographers, psychologists, archaeologists, historians, and scholars of religion and folk literature explain the general principles of shamanism as well as the details of widely varied practices. What is it like to be a shaman? Entries describe, region by region, the traits, such as sicknesses and dreams, that mark a person as a shaman, as well as the training undertaken by initiates. They detail the costumes, music, rituals, artifacts, and drugs that shamans use to achieve altered states of consciousness, communicate with spirits, travel in the spirit world, and retrieve souls. Unlike most Western books on shamanism, which focus narrowly on the individual's experience of healing and trance, Shamanism also examines the function of shamanism in society from social, political, and historical perspectives and identifies the ancient, continuous thread that connects shamanistic beliefs and rituals across cultures and millennia.