Tree ring–based temperature reconstructions form the scientific backbone of the current global change debate. Although some European records extend into medieval times, high-resolution, long-term, regional-scale paleoclimatic evidence is missing for the eastern part of the continent. Here we compile 545 samples of living trees and historical timbers from the greater Tatra region to reconstruct interannual to centennial-long variations in Eastern European May–June temperature back to 1040 AD. Recent anthropogenic warming exceeds the range of past natural climate variability.

The history of communal forest management in south India shows its exclusive nature. The resistance to colonial forest policies forced the administration in the Madras Presidency to look for options to pacify public discontent. At the level of policy, it was the dominant agrarian communities that evolved an effective link with political parties and the native press, compelling the revenue department and the colonial state to recognise their claims.

Dengue virus belongs to family Flaviviridae, having four serotypes that spread by the bite of infected Aedes mosquitoes. It causes a wide spectrum of illness from mild asymptomatic illness to severe fatal dengue haemorrhagic fever/dengue shock syndrome (DHF/DSS). Approximately 2.5 billion people live in dengue-risk regions with about 100 million new cases each year worldwide. The cumulative dengue diseases burden has attained an unprecedented proportion in recent times with sharp increase in the size of human population at risk.

War and unrest, and the collapse of many mighty empires, often followed changes in local climes. Is this more than a coincidence?

Recent decades of globalisation provide a new starting point for the study of south Asia by highlighting critical human issues that force history into the present and generate new productive conversations between history and social science. One fundamental issue is the increasing inequality in wealth and control over human resources, globally and in south Asia. Economic policy regimes in the contemporary world resemble those of laissez-faire imperalism of a century ago more than national state planning regimes that prevailed from the 1950s into the 1980s.

This article is a systematic documentation and analysis of events that motivated development of irrigation in Madras Presidency in general and Krishna district in particular. In Krishna district, when the anicut was built in 1855, the phase-wise excavation of canals determined the phases of development of irrigation (1855-1900; 1900-1965 and 1965-2001) leading to three agro-climatic regions in the district viz., delta, moderate and dry regions (taluks).

From the 17th century, Cinchona figured prominently in European pharmacopiae. Many European countries were frantically after Cinchona in the early 18th century. In the 18th century, a search for this tree occurred consistently. The
usefulness of the bark of Cinchona in treating fevers was established and the European medical personnel were
exploring for substitutes, driven by the following reasons: trade monopolies necessitated the search for species that had