India's association with magicians goes back thousands of years. Conjurors and illusionists dazzled the courts of Hindu maharajas and Mughal emperors. As British dominion spread over the subcontinent, such wonder-workers became synonymous with India. Western magicians appropriated Indian attire, tricks and stage names; switching their turbans for top hats, Indian jugglers fought back and earned their grudging respect. This book tells the extraordinary story of how Indian magic descended from the realm of the gods to become part of daily ritual and popular entertainment across the globe. Recounting tales of levitating Brahmins, resurrections, prophesying monkeys and 'the most famous trick never performed,' Empire of Enchantment vividly charts Indian magic's epic journey from street to the stage. This heavily illustrated book tells the extraordinary, untold story of how Indian magic descended from the realm of the gods to become part of daily ritual and popular entertainment across the globe. Drawing on ancient religious texts, early travelers accounts, colonial records, modern visual sources, and magicians own testimony, Empire of Enchantment is a vibrant narrative of India's magical traditions, from Vedic times to the present day.
Author(s): John Zubrzycki
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Year: 2018
Language: English
Pages: 408
Tags: India
Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 3
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Contents......Page 7
Acknowledgements......Page 9
Introduction: ‘So Wonderfully Strange’......Page 13
1. Of Levitating Brahmins and Prophesising Apes......Page 29
2. Casting Indra’s Net......Page 49
3. The Lovers of Jinns......Page 67
4. In the Court of the Kings......Page 85
5. A Bed of Nails......Page 103
6. The Juggler’s Child......Page 121
7. Tricks of the Trade......Page 139
8. Crossing the Kala Pani......Page 159
9. Spell-Casters in the Strangers’ Home......Page 177
10. Motilal’s Magical Menagerie......Page 195
11. The Fakir Invasion......Page 211
12. From Turbans to Top Hats......Page 231
13. ‘The Most Famous Trick Never Performed’......Page 251
14. A Rope Trick in a Snow Storm, a Fire-Walk in Surrey......Page 271
15. The Maharajah of Magic......Page 289
Epilogue......Page 309
Notes......Page 317
Bibliography......Page 351
Index......Page 371
