An attempt has been made in this Encyclopaedia to deal with all aspects of the country and the life of the people of India, its flora, fauna, physiography, railways, industries, fairs and festivals, sports, arts, monuments, religions, literature, famous pecple etc. Each entry gives a comprehensive account of the topic dealt with from the beginning and brings the story up-to-date. All important subjects such as astronomy, astrology, mysticism, languages, solar eclipse, Indian calendar, fine arts music, painting, architecture, drama, dance etc. and the highly specialised and technical subjects, such as progress of nuclear and atomic sciences, physics, chemistry and mathematics etc. have been dealt with. Description has been given of almost all important cities and towns and a Gazetteer of India has been appended which takes note of all places with a population of more than 10,000 persons. A detailed chronology of events from pre-historic times to the present day has been given at the end. Important tables indicating population according to religion, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, important in dustries, and their locations, minerals and their availability etc. have been. included. It is hoped that this pioneering work with all its shortcomings will be of help to the scholars and the public in India and abroad.
India has made tremendous progress in almost every field since the attainment of Independence. Her advance ment is all round and stupendous, her record in the creative activities in the realms of education, science and arts, is remarkable. Surprisingly enough, there is no standard, internationally reputed and readable Encyclopaedia reflecting or interpreting this change or giving a full spectrum of knowledge or reference material for lay readers or experts. Well-known international Encyclopaedias of developed countries are woefully deficient in respect of facts about this fast developing and changing India. The current Encyclopaedias produced in Indian languages betray divergence in professional scope, quality and format. The need for such a work had been felt for a long time. In fact, we endeavoured to take up this project about 20 years ago and planned it meticulously. We approached the leading industrialists in the country including the Tatas, Birlas, Aga Khan Foundation and others for financial support, but unfortunately there was no positive response. The only person who took interest was Mr. C.R. Irani, Managing Director of the Statesman, but the cost. involved was so much that he too could not be of any help. To give the reader an idea we might mention that the total cost of compilation and publication of a 10-Volume Encyclopaedia on the pattern of Encyclopaedia Britannica was likely to be about rupees nine millions. About rupees six millions were required if five volumes. were to be produced. So it was clear that it was beyond the reach of an individual and no government agency was coming forward to take up such a project. It was in these circumstances that this pioneering work was attempted with all the handicaps and difficulties which confront a scholar in a work of this magnitude. We are quite aware of certain shortcomings, inaccuracies and even lack of uniformity which the reader is likely to find in this work. However, this is only the first attempt and we thought it worthwhile to undertake it with whatever resources an individual could muster and, therefore, will beg our readers to forgive us for any shortcomings he may come across in this work. We do hope that in the next edition we will be able to remove these defects as far as possible and make it much more comprehensive.
Dr. P.N. Chopra has a number of works to his credit besides the 4 volumes of Gazetteer of India. His publication include India-An Encyclopaedic Survey, Religions & Communities of India, A Social, Cultural and Economic History of India (3 Vols.) History of South India (3 Vols.), A Century of Indian National Congress, Quit India Move ment of 1942 etc.
Dr. Prabha Chopra, formerly Editor, 'Delhi Gazetteers', has produced a number of other works including Delhi-History and Places of Interest, Panorama of Indian Culture, Delhi Freedom Fighters Who's Who, Cultural Heritage of Tibet etc.
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