Punjab: A History from Aurangzeb to Mountbatten

A comprehensive historical account of undivided Punjab from the death of Aurangzeb to the Partition. 

For centuries the fertile land of five rivers in the north of the Indian subcontinent was coveted by numerous empires and invaders. In this the first major account of undivided Punjab award-winning historian biographer and scholar Rajmohan Gandhi gives us its history during its most tumultuous phase from the death of Aurangzeb in the early eighteenth century to its brutal partition in 1947 coinciding with the departure of the British.

Relying on fresh sources as well as previous accounts provided from opposing perspectives the author fashions a compelling narrative about the great events of the time in the region - the battles and tragedies that routinely disrupted the lives of ordinary Punjabis, the sacking of iconic cities like Lahore, Amritsar, Multan and Jalandhar by a succession of conquerors, the ravages wrought by invaders like Nadir Shah, the storied reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Britain's successful wars against the Sikh kingdom, the Great Rebellion of 1857, the influence of leaders of the independence movement, the devastation of Partition - and much else besides.