The Tale of the Horse

‘A wonderfully elegant and lively writer, whose enthusiasm for her subject is effortlessly channelled into pitch-perfect prose. Yashaswini Chandra is in total command of an impressive sweep of sources: epics and chronicles, romantic ballads and wedding songs, art and folklore, as well as all conceivable manuals equestrian. With this remarkable debut, full of wit and brilliance, she rides into the lists like the Rani of Jhansi, galloping straight into the premier division of Indian historians’ – William Dalrymple, author of Th e Anarchy: Th e East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire

‘A remarkable tour de force. Th is comprehensive survey of the role of the horse in Indian history is meticulously researched and lucidly written. Its erudition will ensure its place on the bookshelves of academics, while its wit and accessibility will assure a wide readership among the general public’ – Richard M. Eaton, author of India in the Persianate Age: 1000–1765

'One of the achievements of Chandra is to look beyond the elitist discourse on horses in India . . . [She] delves into this complex history in depth . . . entertainingly mixes “stories” with “histories”, using one to comment on the other, though thankfully without a postmodernist erasure of all difference between the two . . . The horse reminds us that we, in India, still need to face up to many areas of evasion relating to caste and class, and their overlap’ – Tabish Khair, author of Night of Happiness

‘The horse has been central to Indian culture but until now it has lacked its own chronicler. This highly original, elegant and witty monograph fills the lacuna, combining flawless scholarship in political, social and art histories with the author’s intimate knowledge of horses. The gripping tale will be a role model for all future studies of the subject’ – Partha Mitter, author of Much Maligned Monsters: A History of European Reactions to Indian Art

‘The horse is a beautiful animal, so it is fitting that an art historian should take us through the history of India on horseback . . . We are left with an ever richer picture in the mind’s eye of this most visual of countries . . . Always lucid and insightful . . . Chandra is a gifted storyteller’ – Asian Review of Books

‘Yashaswini Chandra’s history of Indian equitation is a showpiece of scholarship, conveyed with all the exuberance and energy of an early morning canter’ – Biblio

‘[The Tale of the Horse] brings to light a relatively unexplored subject through an erudite yet effortless narrative style . . . a homage to two of Chandra’s enduring affections – horses and history’ – BusinessLine