The Unknown Indians (People Who Quietly Changed Our World)

The EXPLORING INDIP series of books are delicious, bite-sized portions of history that will interest every reader who wants to know more about various facets of India.

The Unknown Indians is an unusual book that places those unnamed Indians who quietly changed the world around them, at the centre of Indian history. It takes the reader on a journey through the lives of minstrels and storytellers; weavers, potters, ironsmiths and carvers; farmers and cooks; and poet-rebels.

Find out how these men and women shaped Indian civilization and made it richer with their skills and their wondrous innovations. From the first storytellers who wove tales of great imagination and then passed them down generations, to skilled workers who discovered how to weave cotton or created marvellous works of art like the Chola bronzes; from the farmers who fed everyone and even adopted new seeds and crops that have become staples now, to poet-rebels like Kabir and Guru Nanak who changed society with love and songs.

Concise yet filled with relevant details and accompanied by attractive colour illustrations, the EXPLORING INDIA series will make history fascinating and unforgettable for every reader.

AS INDIA CHANGES AND EVOLVES When people talk about the 'Indian Civilization' in those solemn, echoing capital letters, you would think that civilization was something carved in stone, never to be changed; that it has remained fixed and eternal from the time of Harappa and will stay the same when we land on Mars.

It is nothing of the sort. India's civilization has always changed, accepted new things, rejected old attitudes and habits and it continues to do so. Ours is among the oldest and greatest civilizations in the world because we like to experiment; we are open to new influences, new thinking and new habits. We change all the time and we still remain uniquely Indian. Just think of the tandoori chicken pizza and you'll know what I am talking about!

India's civilization makes me think of the English language. People may groan when I say this, but you have to admit it is the greatest language in the world. As the global lingua franca, it has the maximum number of words, an unending selection of phrases and a literature of amazing richness and variety. How did that happen?

One reason was that the British Empire at one time covered a large part of the world. But other European powers had vast colonies too. How did English and not French or Spanish become a world language? It's because English happily borrows words from other languages (you'll find `closa', 'sari' and 'maharaja' in the Oxford English Dictionary) and then the world begins to use them. In the same way, Indians have welcomed other cultures and accepted new influences. And it is often done quietly. Over the centuries, India's civilization has generously exchanged ideas with other cultures and different regions of the subcontinent. Just within India there are so many ways of living and they all come together so beautifully to create a rich and varied world. This is how we have so much diversity in everything from music and dance to festivals, food and clothes. We should be very proud of India's composite culture.

**Contents and Sample Pages**