In this illuminating collection of essays, Ainslee Embree examines the impact of foreign perceptions of India on both the foreigners and the people of India. Studying the complex interplay of indigenous Indian culture with Islamic and western civilizations, he argues that civilization is not a fixed residue handed down from the past, but rather an enduring structure with adaptive mechanisms that permit it to be both a historically determined and continuously creative force. An incisive study by one of North America's leading historians, Imagining India will be of interest to historians of modern India, political scientists, and anyone with an interest in contemporary Indian life.