Researches on technology including its origin and development in both ancient and medieval India have been continuing for more than 70 years in which Irfan Habib has contributed a large number of articles. In this volume, published in “A People’s History of India” series sponsored by the Aligarh Historians Society, he has produced a lucid monograph on the subject indicating the developments in technology, going back to the early days of Indian civilisation and also constantly showing the interaction between India, China, Europe, and the Perso-Arabic world. The methodology of his treatment of four principal areas — namely, agriculture; crafts; military technology, land transport and navigation; and medieval Indian technology and its social and cultural environment — remains consistently the same with a large number of drawings — several of them from actual Mughal paintings — and document extracts to illustrate the use from early days to the middle of the 18th century. The lifting of water for irrigational purposes sees this transformation from the use of pulley-rope to the use of Persian wheel since the days of Babur in early 16th century. In this device pin-drum gearing was used in horizontal bars attached to the vertical ones with the bullocks attached to the horizontal bars by rope moving in a circle and in the process lifting the water in quick succession. The book addresses varied facets of this subject. The book is very useful to the people engaged with this subject.