Images of India in The Writings of The 17th Century English Visitors To The Eastern Countries

The present work entitled Images of India in the Writings of the 17th Century English Visitors to the Eastern Nations is a study of the Indian experiences of some of the English Visitors of the 17th century when Jahangir and Aurangzeb were the rulers of India-Hawkins, Finch, Withington, Terry, Coryat, Ovington and Marshall who had proved to be instrumental in disseminating knowledge regarding Indian religion, mythology, philosophy and social customs in England and other western countries, reflected in the late Elizabethan, Jacobean, Caroline, Restoration and Augustan English literature. The Indian records maintained by the aforesaid English travellers to the East serve as the sources of allusions to India, scattered in the contemporary English literature but they will be found to be of great interest to the Indian readers who care for an authentic eye-witness record of the 17th century Indian scene, unfurled by impartial and objective foreign witnesses with no ulterior motive whatsoever. The book is thus of great intellectual interest and that justifies its publication.

Born at Allahabad in 1973 the younger son of Professor K.G. Srivastava, Ex-Professor & Head, English Department Ex-Dean, Faculty of Arts and Vice-Chancellor, University of Allahabad, Dr. R.K. Srivastava, has had a brilliant academic record. He is at the moment Associate professor of English at the C.M.P. College, Allahabad, one of the constituent Colleges of the central University of Allahabad. He is an ardent student of English romantic poetry. His D.Phil, thesis was on The Curse of Kehama, an Indian epic by Robert Southey-a poet who was regarded in his day as the greatest English poet, ardently sought after by younger romantic poets like P.B. Shelley and John Keats. The thesis has been published by Radha Publications, New Delhi. Those interested in rehabilitating Southey can go through Dr. Srivastava's argument with great profit. Dr. Srivastava has contributed very valuable articles to internationally recognized scholarly journals like the Points of View and Aligarh Journal of English Studies. He will soon be publishing a very original work on Macbeth.

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