Ajitabh Pandey's Soul & Syntax

Exploring systems, souls, and stories – one post at a time

Tag: history

  • The Treasure of Kafur

    The Treasure of Kafur Book Cover The treasure of Kafur is the second published book of the author. However it was the first one written (as per the notes at the end of the book). This is an historical fiction book based on the time of Mughal Emperor Akbar. Malik Kafur looted treasures during his raids to the Southern India, while he was in the army of Alauddin Khilji. The plot in this book is based on the riches looted during Kafur’s raid and which was hidden somewhere.

    The story revolves around a young man Datta who along with his grandmother Ambu is aware of the location of Kafur’s hidden treasure. His grandmother was abducted by a warlord of the South who wanted to conquer the Mughal empire. Datta successfully made alliance with Akbar and together they fought the battle.

    The is a simple, yet gripping story. The language is very simple. The starting of the book was quite good. It slows down for couple of chapters after the initial one and then picks up the pace. There are no unnecessary details given anywhere, yet the reader does not feel (s)he is missing anything.

    I enjoyed this book and finished it late last night. Looking forward to the next book from the author.

    Disclaimer – I received a review copy from the author and my review is not biased by that fact.

  • The Nothing That Is – A Natural History of Zero

    The Nothing That Is - A Natural History of Zero ImageI bought this book from Berkley during one of my visits to San Fransisco. Robert Kaplan has done some good amount of research and have tracked the evolution of some of the fundamental concepts on which modern science and mathematics is based. Zero, a number which itself does not means anything but together with other numbers means a lot. The history of zero has been tracked to ancient Indian number systems where it was called as “shoonya”. It is unfortunate that the invention of zero in India could not be effectively proved since ancient Indians believed in passing knowledge by means of oral lectures and through very concise and crisp Sanskrit versus across generations. The concept of written manuscripts in India came much later and that too most of it is now lost. However, Kaplan has proved that a very advanced level of mathematics existed in India much before all that was rediscovered by the west by quoting various references from the Budhist era which is few centuries BCE.

    The best part about this book is that any high school level student can easily read and understand it as it does not use any advanced mathematical concepts.