Debates in Indian History – serie

Part of the prestigious Debates in Indian History and Society series, this volume presents the key argument of the debates, along with a selection of writings that made pioneering interventions in the study of the 18th century in Indian history.

The essays in this volume, the third in the Debates in Indian History and Society series, address the contested issue of community identities as they evolved historically in the course of the twentieth century in India.

The book identifies the major issues within the history of socio-religious reform among Hindus in modern times that grew into passionate public debates and in turn became its critical determinants. Sen begins by attempting to define the very concept of 'reform', and in doing so highlights the debates that have emerged around such a definition. He then includes essays that examine the tenuous relationship between reform and revival. The third section of the book highlights debates surrounding reform movements for women and the lower castes. Finally, the essays in the last section situate 'reform' and social change in modern India. The unique characteristic about this particular volume in the Series is the inclusion of numerous essays written at the same time as these reform movements. The volume thus includes writings and speeches by well-known personalities such as Swami Vivekananda, Lajpat Rai, Bankim Chandra, Raja Rammohan Roy, K.T.Telang, Aurobindo Ghosh, M.G.Ranade, Rabindranath Tagore, Mahatma Gandhi, B.R. Ambedkar and many others. Amiya P. Sen's introduction places the various points of debate in context and also tries to formulate an acceptable definition of 'reform' in the given context. This edition also carries a small note by the volume editor addressing various criticisms of the reviewers, and critics.

'It provides a picture, fascinating...of some of the religious movements in Indian history.' -- The book ReviewThis book addresses a range of debates regarding religious movements in the medieval and early modern periods. Eleven key essays debate the linkages between the religious and worldly aims of different movements and the continuity and change in their ideologies, social bases, and organizational structures over time. They present divergent views on important issues such as the relationship between caste and the sect, the idea of renunciation, the role of the Sufis in the conversion to Islam in medieval India, and the ways in which many South Asian popular movements emerged and gathered force.In an insightful introduction by David Lorenzen, each debate is discussed in its historical and theoretical context. The influence of Dumont, Engels, and Weber on our understanding of the nature of religious movemtns in and beyond the South Asia is also analysed. Part of the pr estigious Debates in Indian History and Society series, this volume will be useful for students, scholars and teachers of medieval and early modern India, as well as those interested in religious studies, comparative religion, sociology, and anthropology.

Part of the prestigious Debate series, this book brings together aa selection of pioneering essays. The introduction spells out the extremely topical Aryan debate. The central question behind this selection is, did the Sanskrit-speaking Aryans enter India from the Northwest in 1500 BC, or were they indigenous to India and identical with the people who inhabited the Indus Valley between 2800 - 1500. BC.

This volume focuses on a series of mosques constructed after north-west India came under the political control of the Ghurid sultanate of Afghanistan in the 1190s. The most famous of the group is the Qutb Mosque in Delhi. The book explores the complex relationship between pre-modern architecture, history, and modern historiography. It brings together divergent voices that have enriched nineteenth- and twentieth-century scholarship on some of the earliest surviving mosques in South Asia. Piety and Politics analyses the different traditions that contributed to the development of the earliest mosques in South Asia. It examines the evidence that architecture offers for cultural exchange, identity formation, and political polemics in the Ghurid and early Delhi sultanates in order to understand the context of contemporary debates, memories, and perceptions related to the mosques that form the subject of the volume. Presenting a range of perspectives on the meaning of pre-modern monuments, it contributes to broader debates on the nature of modern historical writing.The collection includes writings on the beginnings of mosque architecture in South Asia(Alka Patel); the socio-political milieu of these structures (Andre Wink and Richard M. Eaton); controversies concerning the origins of the Qutb Mosque and Qutb Minar (Alexander Cunningham and J.D. Beglar); continuities and innovations in early Rajasthani mosques (Michael Meister and Robert Hillenbrand); and recent approaches to interpreting the Qutb complex in Delhi by Mohammad Mujeeb, Fritz Lehmann, Sunil Kumar, Anthony Welch, Hussein Keshani, and Alexandra Bain.Highlighting both continuities and ruptures in the architectural traditions of the period, Finbarr Barry Flood's introduction constructs a socio-political context for the various academic positions represented in the volume. Flood underlines the need for multiple narratives and variant readings of the monuments. Part of the prestigious Debates in Indian History and Society series, this reader will interest scholars, teachers, and students of medieval Indian history particularly those concerned with Islam, medieval Indian history, and Indian and Islamic architecture.

The year 1947 was a turning point in the history of South Asia. The independence of British India resulted in two sovereign states: India and Pakistan. This book analyses two important dimensions of the Partition-timing and causation. The essays by prominent scholars study the long- and short-term causes of the Partition, beginning with the elections of 1936-7 and the subsequent formation of Congress government in most provinces. They outline the major debates and their changing nature over time. The volume ends with the analysis of events that led to the acceptance of the Partition plan in 1947 by all major parties. The Introduction examines contours of the debate and also situates the Partition in the context of current historiography. This book will be of considerable interest to scholars and students of modern Indian history and politics.