It is all too rarely realised that one third of all the world’s Muslim populaton lives in South Asia. These Muslims have played a major part in both Islamic history and Indian history. The essays in this volume address key themes in these histories:
The nature of conversion to Islam
The introduction of print and religious change among Muslims
The move from other-worldly to this-worldly religion and the emergence of individualism
Approaches to understanding ‘secularization’ in an Islamic context
The huge impact of the events of 1857 and their aftermath on the consciousness of North Indian Muslims
The relationship between Islam and the politics of Muslim separatism
Moving beyond South Asia, the ways in which Muslim and Christian civilization have fed off each other but, more than not, chosen to ignore the fact.
Several essays have formed part of major academic debates. The collection is rounded off by a series of responses in the form of long reviews to some of the most important contributions over the past twenty years to the Muslim history of South Asia.
Francis Robinson is Professor of History of South Asia, and Vice-Principal, Royal Holloway College, University of London. He is also President of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland since 1997. His previous publications include ‘Separatism Among Indian Muslims: The Politics of the United Provinces Muslims 1860-1923’; ‘Atlas of the Islamic World Since 1500’; and ‘Varieties of South Asian Islam’.
