Item Code: | IDE661 |
Publisher: | Oxford University Press, New Delhi |
Author: | Edited By. Munshirul Hasan and Asim Roy |
Language: | English |
Edition: | 2005 |
ISBN: | 0195669215 |
Pages: | 436 |
Cover: | Hardcover |
Other Details | 9.8" X 6.6" |
The syncretistic ethos of traditions in South Asia has now become part of public discourse. Political scientists, historians, and social activists have laid stress on syncretism as an important political value in present times. Mindful of these projections, the essays in this volume approach the issues of syncretism, synthesis, and pluralism in South Asia today to objectively reassess their importance in coping with a political and cultural future.
The lucid introduction by Asim Roy and Mushirul Hasan outlines the relevance of the debate both within and outside the academe. It prepares the way for the relevant questions the essays pose even as they focus on various individuals, moments, and encounters in Indian history. How does one define syncretism? What is the difference between syncretism and pluralism? Is it possible to live together separately? The volume takes a fresh look at various historical events, personalities, and phenomena, and makes an effort to revisit many long-held, black-and-white, uni-dimensional views such as 'unity in diversity' and 'composite culture'.
In the context of a long history of political turmoil - some of it perceived to be rooted in relations between religious communities - this collection envisions the future direction of India's cultural development and the space and relevance of a syncretistic cultural ethos within it. The contributors reflect on traditions which have been relegated to the background in popular political discourse, but have drawn on diverse traditions and negotiated life on the margins. With its eclectic selection of themes, this collection is able to examine the resilience, strengths, and weaknesses of syncretic culture with special reference to democracy and federalism.
Due to its engagement with a highly topical theme, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of medieval and modern Indian history, sociologists, political scientists as well as lay readers interested in the question of Indian pluralism as reflected in its history.
About the Editors:
Munshirual Mahas is Professor of Modern Indian History, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi.
Asim Roy is Professor, School of History and Classics, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
Contributors:
Joya Chatterjee
Nupur Chaudhary
Michael H. Fisher
Najaf Haider
Munshirual Hasan
David Lelyveld
Gurpreet Mahajan
Shail Mayaram
Barbara Metcalf
Annie Montaut
Rajat Kanta Ray
Francis Robinson
Asim Roy
Kumkum Sangari
Kerrin Grafin Schwerin
Farzana Shaikh
Madhu Trivedi
Peter Van Der Veer
Preface | vii | |
Introduction | 1 | |
Asim Roy | ||
PERSPECTIVES | ||
1. | Thinking over 'Popular Islam' in South Asia: Search for a
Paradigm Asim Roy | 29 |
2. | References to Tradition in South Asia Peter van der Veer | 62 |
3. | Colonial Language Classification, Post-colonial Language Movements, and the Grassroot Multilingualism Ethos in India Annie Montaut | 75 |
4. | Reinventing Democratic Citizenship in a Plural Society Gurpreet Mahajan | 107 |
PROCESSES | ||
5. | A 'Holi Riot' of 1714: Versions from Ahmedabad and Delhi Najaf Haider | 127 |
6. | Living Together: Ajmer as a Paradigm for the (South) Asian
City Shail Mayaram | 145 |
7. | The Cow-saving Muslim Saint: Elite and Folk Representations
of a Tomb Cult in Oudh Kerrin Grafin Schwerin | 172 |
8. | A Genre of Composite Creativity: Marsiya and Its
Performance in Awadh Madhu Trivedi | 194 |
9. | Of Graveyards and Ghettos: Muslims in Partitioned West
Bengal 1947-67 Joya Chatterji | 222 |
10. | From Beehive Cells to Civil Space: A History of Indian
Matrimony Nupur Chaudhary and Rajat Kanta Ray | 250 |
ACTORS | ||
11. | Joint Narratives, Separate Nations: Qurratulain Hyder's
Aag Ka Darya Kumkum Sangari | 285 |
12. | From Princely Court to House of Commons: D.O. Dyce Sombre (1808-51) from Sardhana to London Michael H. Fisher | 294 |
13. | Sharif Culture and Colonial Rule: A Maulvi - Missionary
Encounter Mushirul Hasan | 320 |
14. | Living Together Separately: The 'Ulma of Farangi
Mahall c.1700-c. 1950 Francis Robinson | 354 |
15. | Millat and Mazhab: Rethinking Iqbal's Political Vision Farzana Shaikh | 366 |
16. | Reinventing Islamic Politics in Interwar India: The Clergy
Commitment to 'Composite Nationalism' Barbara Metcalf | 389 |
17. | The Colonial Context of Muslim Seperatism: From Sayyid Ahmad Barelvi to Sayyid Ahmad Khan David Lelyveld | 404 |
Bibliographical Essay Adnan Farooqui and Vasundhara Sirnate | 415 | |
Contributors | 426 |
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