With this volume, Alexandra van der Geer joins a distinguished list of authors in Brill's Handbook of Oriental Studies series. It is a carefully researched work, interdisciplinary to the extent that it is hard to classify. Given that the primary focus of the book is the way in which animals—specifically mammals—have been represented in sculpture in South Asia, one might be tempted to classify it as a project in art history, and indeed, the back cover copy seems to do just that. The author, however, says “this book is not an art historical book” (p. 50). Perhaps this is because Van der Geer, who preceded her doctorate in Sanskrit with studies in veterinary medicine, devotes a good deal of attention to zoological, geographic, and environmental aspects of her work, as well as to cultural, literary, and religious contextualization.

The book consists of an introduction of fifty-three pages, followed by forty-two chapters dedicated to the same number of mammalian species and two concluding chapters. In addition, there are some 350 unnumbered, glossy pages with forty-nine color and more than 500 black-and-white photographs, which thus make up 43 percent of the book's bulk. The introduction orients the discussion in terms of geography, zoogeography, and environmental change. A discussion of the history of the domestication of animals in the region is followed by sections on “attitudes toward animals,” “animals in Indian religions,” and “animals and Indian gods.” The individual chapters on the various mammals begin with the zoology of the species, then move on to a discussion of the role of the animal in society. There is often, but not always, a discussion of the role of the animal in religion, either in a separate section or under the final heading describing the history of the animal “in stone,” that is, in sculpture.

All of these entries give the reader the impression of compactness, even density, perhaps necessarily—given the scope of the work. It reads, in fact, like an encyclopedia. This is not a fault; as a “handbook,” it is indeed a reference work, one covering a span of some 4,500 years. There is an immense amount of information here, and the author has done her homework. A glance, for example, at chapter 18 on the domestic horse (Equus caballus) reveals that the author is well aware of the bearing that the history of this animal on the Subcontinent has on the so-called Indo-Aryan controversy. She refers to the work of N. Jha and N Rajaram, and likewise that of M. Witzel and S. Farmer. Her conclusion: “There are no convincing reports of dated horse remains from South Asian archeological sites before the end of the second millennium bce” (p. 232).

The chapter on the spotted deer (Axis axis) alerts us to its association with Shiva Dakshinamurti and the first sermon of the Buddha, its function in literature and sculpture as an indicator of peacefulness, and its possible identity with the golden deer of the Ramayana. Of the domestic dog (Canis familiaris), we learn that—unlike the horse—it was very much present in the Indus Valley civilization, and that—though generally regarded as unclean by both Hindus and Buddhists—it does assume positive roles in Hindu myth (e.g., as companion of Yudhisthira in the Mahabharata, and likewise of Shiva Bhairava), as portrayed in story and sculpture. The chapters, internally and across their range, make comparative reference to a wide body of sculptural evidence, from Indus Valley seals to classical temples, monuments, and palaces, not excluding contemporary artifacts and museum pieces scattered outside the Subcontinent.

For anyone who is interested in the cultural, religious, and especially sculptural place of mammals in South Asian civilization, this book is a treasure trove. While for serious scholars, in any of the fields represented, it will function as a starting point rather than a final authority, it is a reference work that belongs in any serious library collection that gives attention to Asia.