Resources
A large part of the campaign world I am currently building is based on Mughal-era
(16th-17th century) India. However, I preferred a more monotheistic faith so I have not spent too much time with the Hindu religious literature.
Regardless, here is some stuff that may be useful:
Go to
http://www.britannica.com/ and set up a two week free account. Search with terms like India, Ramayana, Hinduism (31 pg article) and so on, then cut and paste like there is no tomorrow. I print my results out and have filled more than five binders at this point. You are guaranteed a ton of useful and generally concise material, plus as you read you will generate more search terms.
I just checked the Mahabharata article, it looks to be 2-3 pages printed. According to the article the real thing is seven times the length of the Iliad and Odyssey. Personally, I’d go for the 2-3 pager.
Some good Hinduism stuff, plus other religions found in India is at:
http://uwacadweb.uwyo.edu/religionet/ER/
When coming up with place names use the Hindi-English translator at:
http://www.wordanywhere.com/
For personal names click on the Hindu link at:
http://www.kabalarians.com/html/surf-by.htm
For those detailed village descriptions that make gaming great:
http://www.bethany.com/profiles/c_code/india.html
I prefer to ignore the ‘we must convert these poor unbelievers’ theme of the site.
This tourist site has lots of interesting details:
http://www.travel.indiamart.com/monuments/index.html
I definitely recommend some time in the local bookstore with their tour books.
Feel free to e-mail me if I can offer any help.
cpsaylor@yahoo.com
Corey