Rajasthan has the world’s richest lineage of forts. This book’s bracing narrative captures this heritage with ramparts and bastions resonating with the song and verse of Rajasthan across slope and sand, rock and river.
The easy-to-read book comes from home-schooling and history trails that took the authors to the forts, enabling a blend of pen and camera for a well-rounded portrayal. The book, second in the series after The Forts of Bundelkhand, flags the space for amateur history-enthusiasts to invigorate understanding of how the past influences the present.
The charisma of Rajasthan’s forts has led to this book. It acknowledges the lofty standing of these history-citadels as a pivotal reference point for promoting heritage protection and awareness of sites that are the building blocks of local, regional and national identity. Research methodology tools help go beyond the ‘annals-and-antiquities’ approach. The Forts of Rajasthan recognizes the scope for refurbishing insights and revisiting assumptions.
About the Author
RITA AND VIJAI SHARMA were in the Indian Administrative Service. Rita studied Physics at Miranda House, Delhi, and Agricultural Economics at Cornell University where she obtained a PhD. Vijai has law degrees from Lucknow, University College London and Harvard Law School.
They worked as secretaries to the government of India and in various departments and districts of Uttar Pradesh. Rita was secretary to the National Advisory Council. Vijai was a Member of the National Green Tribunal and Chief Information Commissioner of India. A museum launch sparked an interest in history when they wrote the text for The Forts of India (1986). Their book The Forts of Bundelkhand (2006) is followed by this present work on Rajasthan.
Rita and Vijai continue to pursue their interests in agriculture, rural development, environment, forests and climate change. They live in Lucknow.
