James Wales: Artist & Antiquarian In The Time Of Peshwa Sawai Madhavrao Hardcover – 1 January 2019 by Uday S Kulkarni (Author), Giles Tillotson (Foreword)

Enter the world of late eighteenth century India, as seen by James Wales. A richly produced hardcover book in demy size printed on art paper with 225 colour illustrations and 5 maps spread over 24 chapters, lists, a preface and a foreword, references, glossary and index. He was a Scottish artist and antiquarian who spent nearly four years in India. Wales came to India in the last decade of the eighteenth century as an artist, and developed a passion for the antiquities of India. His stay in this late medieval period, was marked by painting for the nobility of the day and exploration of ancient caves of the country, of which he left copious records and pictures. He jotted down his observations of the nobility, life in the cities and villages, memoranda of travel in India, ‘horrid’ social customs, temples and their deities, festivals and forms of entertainment. Together with his illustrations, they are a rich source of that era. It was not long after that India came under British rule, and changed it for ever. The world that James Wales saw, disappeared not long after. This book, which is based on James Wales’s journals and pictures, allows us to enter this bygone era and witness late eighteenth century India through the eyes of an observant artist and antiquarian. James Wales lived the years of his life in India and died after a short illness in 1795. He was not destined to publish his work. Two hundred years later, it has finally seen the light of day.