Visualization of the ancient India through the pages of history is particularly significant in terms of cultural advancement and material progress that has made many researchers from various disciplines enthusiastic on the subject. This further triggered the passion of some new generation scholars working in the domain of Indology to apply new techniques and approaches for resolving the age-old problems connected with the study of history and culture. Also, it has led some scholars to opt for a variety of techniques drawn from computational linguistics, machine learning, dynamic programming, statistical physics and Bayesian probability to uncover patterns and regularities in the Indus script. The present issue makes an attempt to unearth the dynamics of Indus script from various scientific approaches. Also, the growing necessity of studying the media patterns in modern times has been examined for clearing the apprehensions on it. An attempt has also been made to unravel the relationship between ‘kingship’ and ‘Godliness’ in the region of Orissa.

The Indus script was in all aspects a writing system as perceived by some studies in recent times. Sujay Rao Mandavilli’s paper, “Reconfirmation and Reinforcement of the Indus Script Thesis: A Logical Assessment and Inquiry as to the Elusive and Enigmatic Nature of This Script”, takes up the previous arguments pertaining to the subject. This work can be used as a basis for further research on the Indus script, all of which is likely to reinforce the notion that the Indus script was a logo-syllabic script not unlike contemporaneous scripts but used differently to take into account the realities of the Indus.

Daya Kishan Thussu has studied the question of media ownership in India during and after liberalization of economy. The paper, “Contemporary Trends in National Media Ownership: Revisiting Political Economy Approach”, by I Sumanth is inspired by his work and adds to the literature on media ownership in India on two counts. First, it is more updated taking into account the changes as recent as 2009. Second, it also gives gives examples from regional media and not just national media to prove its point. Political economy approach has often been criticized for being determinist. This paper tries to examine the limits of determinism as well as what change has meant so far. While returning to determinism might not be the way forward, interdisciplinary perspectives could soon emerge to examine contemporary processes and communications will continue to be crucial in any such attempt. The paper is an effort in this direction.

In the present context, as some historians look into the various ways and methods of legitimacy of different regional kingdoms which flourished during the 16th and 17th centuries in India, they come to the conclusion that regional gods have always played an important role in the process of the legitimacy of a kingdom. Brundabana Mishra’s,“Role of Jagannath in the Process of Legitimacy of the Kingdom of Khurda, Orissa”, brings to light that the cult of Jagannath played a significant role in shaping the legitimacy of the kingdom of Khurda. In fact a politico-ritual relationship developed between the kings and gods. Kingship became a part of God and God became a part of kingship. Thus the study is important to understand the role of autochthonous deities in the process of legitimacy in medieval Orissa.

Assuming the fact that India has shot into prominence globally during the colonial times with the historic developments in 1857, many studies have been undertaken on the nature and characterization of events. Kaushik Chakraborty’s book, “Decolonizing the Revolt of 1857: Colonial Order, Rebel Order, Rebel Vision and the Shakespearean Weltanschauung of the Bengali Babu”, certainly makes us reexamine the time from a new perspective. Laxman D Satya has discussed the basic ideas in this work in the book review.

-- Radha Mohan Chebolu
Consulting Editor