Empires of the Indus is the travel log of 29 year old Alice Albinia
a UK journalist who has lived both in Delhi and Islamabad. This book has taken
4 years to write and has a web presence at http://www.alicealbinia.co.uk/empiresoftheindus/index.html. This intrepid lady has traveled the entire length of the Indus and chronicled the
political, economical and religious contours of the land through which this mighty river flows. Or should I say the vast land
which the Indus claims as her own?
She begins her narrative with the bloody partition of India. She writes about how Jinnah was furious when his coevals in Delhi chose to continue using the British name India for their country while he chooses a new name "Pakistan” for his country. She writes by doing so India had appropriated the past; Pakistan by contrast looked as if it has been sliced off and 'thrown out '.
She traces the history of all invaders who have tried to cross Indus to reach India and writes about the chicanery employed by the British in conquering this river. Elsewhere she writes about the wistfulness of the Hindus who lost their river Indus to another Country. Ironically the birth place of Guru Nanak, 'Nankana Sahib' also lies in Pakistan.
Alice has travelled through Taliban dominated regions of Afghanistan all the way to the Hindu Kush mountains and talks of the now destroyed Bamiyan Buddhas. She writes about how Buddhism reigned supreme all the way up to Afghanistan and how it was erased by Islam.
She tries to put together archaeological evidence in support of the Aryan Invasion theory. The book is filled with facts both historical and archaeological. It is the winner of the Somerset Maugham Award, The Royal Society of Literature Jerwood Prize and the Dolman Travel Prize.
The book stands out for it’s forth rightness in calling a spade a spade without being offensive and is hugely enjoyable. The book has a glossary, Notes and Select bibliography of more than 50 pages.
Only after reading this book did I understand what an author means when he/she calls writing a book as a project and also why a book is commissioned to be written.
She begins her narrative with the bloody partition of India. She writes about how Jinnah was furious when his coevals in Delhi chose to continue using the British name India for their country while he chooses a new name "Pakistan” for his country. She writes by doing so India had appropriated the past; Pakistan by contrast looked as if it has been sliced off and 'thrown out '.
She traces the history of all invaders who have tried to cross Indus to reach India and writes about the chicanery employed by the British in conquering this river. Elsewhere she writes about the wistfulness of the Hindus who lost their river Indus to another Country. Ironically the birth place of Guru Nanak, 'Nankana Sahib' also lies in Pakistan.
Alice has travelled through Taliban dominated regions of Afghanistan all the way to the Hindu Kush mountains and talks of the now destroyed Bamiyan Buddhas. She writes about how Buddhism reigned supreme all the way up to Afghanistan and how it was erased by Islam.
She tries to put together archaeological evidence in support of the Aryan Invasion theory. The book is filled with facts both historical and archaeological. It is the winner of the Somerset Maugham Award, The Royal Society of Literature Jerwood Prize and the Dolman Travel Prize.
The book stands out for it’s forth rightness in calling a spade a spade without being offensive and is hugely enjoyable. The book has a glossary, Notes and Select bibliography of more than 50 pages.
Only after reading this book did I understand what an author means when he/she calls writing a book as a project and also why a book is commissioned to be written.
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