A few suggestions to @virendrarathore on his book, `Prithviraj Chauhan: A light on the mist of history' which, BTW, I recommend to all who have a serious interest in history.
The history presented there is solid and attempts to rationalise the various sources, which diverge.
The history presented there is solid and attempts to rationalise the various sources, which diverge.
The book is aimed more at the scholar, and takes a very in depth approach to the history of Prithviraja.
The positives: It focusses on rationalising the history, by putting together the various sources. It also has a focus on Indic sources, which is an excellent thing.
The positives: It focusses on rationalising the history, by putting together the various sources. It also has a focus on Indic sources, which is an excellent thing.
The negative: There is one serious problem. It assumes a lot of knowledge on the part of the reader. This book is not easy for someone who has only a general idea of Prithviraja and his times to read. It would benefit from some additional supplementary material.
I hope there will be another edition of the book and for that edition, I would dare to suggest the following things.
a) A short history of the various branches of the Chauhans - where they lived, what were their relations, etc. Their interplay played a major role for Prithviraja.
a) A short history of the various branches of the Chauhans - where they lived, what were their relations, etc. Their interplay played a major role for Prithviraja.
b) The various claimants around the time of Prithviraja are a bit confusing. I would suggest a family tree diagram showing the lineage of the various claimants and showing who they were related to and what their claims were.
c) I would suggest putting a page listing all the abbreviations for the sources used. It becomes confusing to remember what abbreviation refers to what source.
d) The map showing the borders of the kingdom of Prithviraja should, I felt, be brought up forward. A lot of times I+
d) The map showing the borders of the kingdom of Prithviraja should, I felt, be brought up forward. A lot of times I+
+I was wondering where exactly the borders of Prithviraja's kingdom was. It would be good to add a few more maps and show what area he made war in. Helps people understand better. The map, currently, comes too late in the book to help people visualise things properly.
I won't rehash the few scholarly disagreements that the author and I have - these are essentially unprovable, on both sides. But overall, I strongly recommend the book to those who want to get a good idea of what Prithviraja's time was really like.
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