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The land of five rivers, Punjab has been, from time immemorial, been split in twain. Divided by religion, geography and eventually nationalism, the story of Punjab and its past come together in this narrative by Rajmohan Gandhi. Punjab: From Aurangzeb to Mountbatten. Summary of the Book A land famous for its mythological and historical lifetime, Punjab has always been the land of turmoil and conflict. Once the battlefield upon which Delhi rulers faced western invaders, bloodshed has time and again soiled Punjab's past. In present day India, Punjab is but one state. On the other side of the border, in modern Pakistan, Punjab is one of the richest provinces of the nation. Together, the state housed some of the most famous events in Indo-Pakistan history. The death of Aurangazeb began the collapse of the Mughal empire in India, eventually leading to British rule. Taking the minutest details, Rajmohan Gandhi lends his scholarly treatment to the Sikh state and studies how once the flourishing seat of trade during the Mughal rule, Punjab collapsed with her rulers. The book details how Sikh rule began in Punjab and how it eventually fell apart due to lack of management and British military successes. Punjab grew again under a watchful British eye before finally becoming the battlefield for the bloodshed caused by the Partition of India and Pakistan, the partition of Punjab itself. About Rajmohan Gandhi Rajmohan Gandhi is an Indian writer, historian and a research professor at the Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Illinois. He has also written Rajaji: A Life, The Biography of Chakravarti Rajagopalachari, Patel: A Life and Mohandas: A True Story of a Man for which received the Biennial Award from the Indian History Congress in 2007. Gandhi graduated from St. Stephen's College, New Delhi. He is the grand-son of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the father of the Indian nation and C. Rajagopalachari, the first Governor General of Free India.