  High quality infrared spectra of active galaxies including the stellar
absorption features of Si at 1.59 um, CO(6,3) at 1.62 um, and CO(2,0) at 2.29
um are used to measure the stellar mass to light ratio at 1.65 um (M_H/L) and
investigate the occurrence circum--nuclear starbursts. We find that old and
powerful starbursts are relatively common in obscured AGNs (5 objects out of
13) while absent in genuine Seyfert 1's (0 objects out of 8).
  The data are also used to derive the non-stellar continuum which is very red
and compatible with emission from warm (~1000 K) dust even in bare Sy1's, thus
indicating that the near IR nuclear continuum is reprocessed radiation. Hot
dust (~800 K) emission is also detected in a few obscured AGNs, including the
Seyfert 2 prototype NGC1068. The observed non-stellar flux is too high to be
accounted for by scattered light and therefore indicates that the material
obscuring the AGN must have a quite small (<~1 pc) projected size.
