As we herald the new year we look back on an exciting 2017 and look forward to what promises to be an even more eventful 2018.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT

As 2017 comes to a close we wanted to take this opportunity to say a heartfelt thank you to you all! As a direct result of your ongoing personal support, Kashi House has continued to go from strength to strength.

As a social enterprise we’re mandated to reinvest all profits into current and upcoming projects. The patronage we have received from you and others has enabled us to make significant strides towards our goal placing the history, culture and heritage of Sikhs and the Punjab in their rightful place - namely on the global stage.

2017 - WHAT A YEAR!

It seems incredible to think that in the past twelve months we've published four new books - some with the biggest names in their field - which have featured in the mainstream media including the BBC (TV, radio and online), The Times, The Sunday Times, The Sunday Telegraph, The Spectator and The Scotsman.

We’ve also been able to connect with audiences at some of the world's most prestigious literature festivals including at Jaipur and Edinburgh.

A key strategic goal we achieved in the year was the establishing of a global sales and distribution partnership with Allison & Busby Ltd, which has ensured that our books are available in Waterstones, Foyles and Blackwells as well as other mainstream retailers - and in the not too distant future, we will also be adding WHSmiths branches at airports to this growing list.

We also recently launched our new e-commerce website and continue to spread the word and gain new followers through Twitter and Facebook.

Further down you'll be able to find a fuller listing of our achievements in 2017 along with a selection of the critical acclaim our work has received from some major names in the worlds of media and academia.

2017 HIGHLIGHTS

In February, we released The Tartan Turban: In Search of Alexander Gardner by John Keay. The book was formally launched at the prestigious Jaipur Literature Festival in India followed by at the British Council headquarters in Chandigarh and at Ernst & Young in London.

The book received critical acclaim in The Sunday Times, acquiring the coveted lead review. Mainstream press coverage continued throughout the year, including in The Sunday Telegraph, The Times Literary Supplement, The Literary Review and The Spectator. The book was even listed as one of The Guardian’s Best Books of 2017, in The Sunday Times Top 50 (non-fiction) 'Reads of the Summer' and on Keith Simpson MP's annual summer reading list.

Furthermore, The Tartan Turban was featured on the 'Daily Politics' show on BBC2, in an episode of 'Great Lives' on BBC Radio 4 with Sathnam Sanghera, in articles in BBC’s World Histories Magazine and Sunday Times (Scotland edition) and at the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

In November, we launched 1984: India's Guilty Secret by Pav Singh at the House of Lords, followed by events at Birmingham Council House and the Wiener Library for the Study of the Holocaust & Genocide in London.

The book has been featured on 'The Big Debate with Nihal' on BBC Asian Network and the 'Sunny and Shay Show' on BBC Radio London. Pav Singh also wrote an article which was published on politics.co.uk.

November also saw the launch of The Eyes of Asia by Rudyard Kipling (introduced by Charles Allen). The book, set during the Great War, explores the lives of four fictionalised Indian combatants through the ‘letters’ they send to family back home, shedding light on their lives in Europe. Kipling's original The Eyes of Asia featured in an article in The Guardian.
 

LOOKING AHEAD TO 2018

We've an incredibly exciting publication programme - with up to ten new titles covering mind, body and spirit, spirituality, art, history, religion, biography and the global Sikh art market in the pipeline.

In addition, we will also be curating our third major exhibition at the Brunei Gallery in central London on behalf of the UK Punjab Heritage Association. Having previously told the stories of the Golden Temple of Amritsar (2011) and the Sikh contribution to the First World War (2014), we're turning our attention to the Sikh Empire as seen through the eyes of the Europeans who served under Maharaja Ranjit Singh.

This presents a fantastic opportunity to continue to raise the profile of our heritage and connect with a large, passionate audience (our previous shows have each achieved attendances of well over 20,000) and to share our publications and art prints with them.

Plans for a global lecture tour in 2018 are currently underway - watch this space!

Image credit: Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan Collection