Beyond Turk And Hindu

"[Sets] the stage for a rewriting of nearly a thousand years of history to create new understandings of the nature of cultural encounters. . . . The volume breaks free from the polemics of present-day politics and historicist distortions that have seeped into most standard texts."--David Lelyveld, Cornell University This collection challenges the popular presumption that Muslims and Hindus are irreconcilably different groups, inevitably conflicting with each other. Invoking a new vocabulary that depicts a neglected substratum of Muslim-Hindu commonality, the contributors demonstrate how Indic and Islamicate world views overlap and often converge in the premodern history of South Asia. Contents Part 1: Literary Genres, Architectural Forms, and Identities 1. Alternate Structures of Authority: Satya Pir on the Frontiers of Bengal, by Tony K. Stewart 2. Beyond Turk and Hindu: Crossing the Boundaries in Indo-Muslim Romance, by Christopher Shackle 3. Religious Vocabulary and Regional Identity: A Study of the Tamil Cirappuranam, by Vasudha Narayanan 4. Admiring the Works of the Ancients: The Ellora Temples as Viewed by Indo-Muslim Authors, by Carl W. Ernst 5. Mapping Hindu-Muslim Identities through the Architecture of Shahjahanabad and Jaipur, by Catherine B. Asher Part 2: Sufism, Biographies, and Religious Dissent 6. Indo-Persian Tazkiras as Memorative Communications, by Marcia K. Hermansen and Bruce B. Lawrence 7. The "Naqshbandi Reaction" Reconsidered, by David W. Damrel 8. Real Men and False Men at the Court of Akbar: The Majalis of Shaykh Mustafa Gujarati, by Derryl N. MacLean Part 3: The State, Patronage, and Political Order 9. Sharia and Governance in Indo-Islamic Context, by Muzaffar Alam 10. Temple Desecration and Indo-Muslim States, by Richard M. Eaton 11. The Story of Prataparudra: Hindu Historiography on the Deccan Frontier, by Cynthia Talbot 12. Harihara, Bukka, and the Sultan: The Delhi Sultanate in the Political Imagination of Vijayanagara, by Phillip B. Wagoner 13. Maratha Patronage of Muslim Institutions in Burhanpur and Khandesh, by Stewart Gordon David Gilmartin, professor of history at North Carolina State University, is the author of Empire and Islam: Punjab and the Making of Pakistan. Bruce B. Lawrence, Nancy and Jeffrey Marcus Professor of Religion at Duke University, is the author of Shattering the Myth: Islam Beyond Violence and Defenders of God: The Fundamentalist Revolt against the Modern Age, which received the 1990 prize for excellence in religious studies awarded by the American Academy of Religion.

Questioning the conventional depiction of India as a nation divided between religious communities, Gottschalk shows that individuals living in India have multiple identities, some of which cut across religious boundaries. The stories narrated by villagers living in the northern state of Bihar depict everyday social interactions that transcend the simple divide of Hindu and Muslim.

By analyzing concrete examples of the creation of a heritage in the context of migration, this multi-sited ethnography considers the implications of representations of religions and diaspora for Sindhi Hindus and other similar communities.

Who is Hindu, who is Muslim? The answer, according to Dominique-Sila Khan, is not as simple as generally assumed. By analyzing documentary sources as well as original field data, she examines the shaping of religious identities in South Asia, particularly in North India. The author argues that the perception of Islam and Hinduism as two monolithic and perpetually antagonistic faiths coexisting uneasily in South Asia has become so deeply ingrained that the complexity of the historical fabric is often overlooked or ignored. She demonstrates how the emergence of clear-cut categories is a comparatively recent phenomenon, and shows how the past is characterized by a remarkable fluidity and diversity in the social and religious milieus of the two faiths. In exploring the historical mechanisms that have led to the emergence and crystallization of religious identities the author sheds light on the increasing number of conflicts which threaten the harmonious co-existence of South Asian communities today.

Challenges The Popular Presumption That Muslims And Hindus Are Irreconcilably Different Groups, Inevitably Conflicting With Each Other. Demonstrate How Indic And Islamicate World Views Overlap And Often Converge In The Premodern History Of South Asia.