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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Most of the research on which this book is based took place between august 2005 and January 2006 and was supported by a Senior Shortterm Fellowship from the american Institute of Indian Studies. I would like to thank Professor r. K. Pant and the Department of History and Indian Culture, University of Rajasthan, for my institutional affiliation during the research period. Much of the writing of this book was done during a very pleasant and intellectually rewarding stay as Visiting Professor at the Institute of Development Studies, Jaipur, during the spring semester of 2009 and was in part supported by a grant from amherst college. I owe very special thanks to Professors Surjit Singh, Director, and Varsha Joshi for making my stay at IDS the success that it was. Those who assisted me in my research are too numerous to be listed here; indeed, many are unknown to me by name because much of my investigating occurred in casual encounters in workplaces and on the streets of Jaipur. I can only issue a heartfelt thanks to all. a number of individuals, however, played key roles and deserve special mention. Surendra Bothara has been a source of constant support and excellent advice in all of my research in Jaipur. Subhash Bothra gave me many valuable insights into the workings Jaipur’s jewelry business and was an indispensable listener and critic of my sometime half-baked ideas. ashok Bothra, my research assistant, was my guide and companion throughout my 2005 research, and I truly could not have done the work without his help. rajendra Bothra was not only a valuable source of information about the business, but was someone to whom I could turn for advice about people to see and problems to investigate. Despite his busy schedule as a businessman and community leader, the late rashmikant Durlabhji was always generous with his precious time and was one of the principal sources of my understanding of the business. Special thanks are due to Sudeep Tholia, who generously shared Banjilal Tholia’s late nineteenth-century correspondence with ix x acknowledgments me and helped me in many other ways as well. My discussions with Shiv Shankar Gupta were truly essential to my research, and I am grateful for the time he spent with me. I also owe special thanks to the following individuals whose generous responses to my queries were vital to this book: ashok Bhandari, champalal chordia, the late Gumanmal chordia, Mehul Durlabhji, Yogendra Durlabhji, Pramod Kotahwala, Jyoti Kothari, ratan chand Kothari, Vijay chand Lodha, Dharmendra Tank, nawal Kishore Tatiwala, and nem Kumar Tholia. Thanks, too, to Sarah Babb for valuable bibliographic tips. The Bothra family has been my family in India for decades. I regard their home as my home, and they have been an unfailing source of companionship and love (to say nothing of the home cooking and so much more). To the extent that this book has value, much of the credit should go to them. My wife nancy has shared my life in India from the beginning and has always been patient with my absences and forgiving of the time that my research and writing have devoured. what I owe her is beyond thanks. ...

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