*Top,* object 48, a folio from the Ramayana of Jagat Singh, 1650; *above,* object 81, a brass *mohra,* or mask, of a goddess, circa the 10th century.

Object five, a 12th-century pirouetting dancer in sandstone.

Object 73, a pilgrimage map of Shatrunjaya in ink, watercolor, and gold on cloth, circa 1800.

Object 34, bronze sculptures of the Vijayanagara king Krishnaraya and his queens, circa 1517.

Object 54, a Mughal falcon in gold, rubies, emeralds, diamonds, sapphires, and onyx, circa 1650.

*Top,* object 60, *Jali* windows in the Siddi Sayyid mosque, 1572; *above,* object 100, a late-18th-century Holi watercolor illustrating the country’s profusion of pink.

Object 28, a 14th- or 15th-century ivory sculpture of the Hindu god Ganesha.

Object 66, a *ketubah* (Jewish marriage contract) in watercolor, ink, and gold metallic paint on parchment, 1887.

Object 96, Indian publisher Amar Chitra Katha’s comics series, which began in 1967.

Object Lesson

A new book traces India’s history and future through 100 objects

By Max Carter

Vidya Dehejia’s India: A Story Through 100 Objects might be called “mosaic history,” an assembly of discrete, outwardly disconnected pieces in service of an integrated whole. The material is beautiful and well chosen, its descriptions crisp and informative. But the “story,” like the mosaic, can only be judged when one draws back.

Her division is thematic and chronological: object one is an ancient (circa 500,000 B.C.E.) hand axe; object 100, the subcontinent’s everyday profusion of pink (punctuated, naturally, by Diana Vreeland—“Pink is the navy blue of India!”). The 20 chapters address India’s prehistory, legacy of exchange, and courtly and temple cultures; illustrated manuscripts, scientific “insights,” and brilliant jewels; carving and sculpture.