Synopses & Reviews
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.
About the Author
Dominique-Sila Khan holds doctorates in Literature and Anthropology from the Sorbonne University in Paris. She is currently working as an independent researcher in Jaipur, associated with the Institute of Rajasthan Studies, specializing in Hindu-Muslim interactions in South Asia.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements * Note on Transcription and Transliteration * Introduction * Who Is a Hindu, Who Is a Muslim? a Brief Historical Survey * Dharma: The Law and the Other * Caste and Sect: Redefining the People * There Is No Hindu, There Is No 'Musalman': Standing on the Threshold * Alliances: Protecting, Healing and Being the Other * Sharing Sacred Time and Space * Borrowing: How to Bridge the Gulf * Liminality: Jannus Bifrons, the Guardians of the Threshold * Creating Orthodoxies * The Myth of the Disputed Body: 'Sanskritisation' and 'Ashrafisation' * Religion and the State: The Role of Local Kingdoms in the Decline of Mughal Rule * Inventing Hinduism: Orientalists and Anglicists During British Rule * Census Reports and Gazeteers: The Creation of Religious Categories * Laying the Foundation of a Boundary Wall: Separate Laws and Electorates * Reformists and Revivalists: Defining Islam and Hinduism * Nation and Religion (1920-2000) * The Concepts of Hindu Nation: Who Is a Hindu? * Towards an Islamic Nation: Who Is a Muslim? * Partition and Its Consequence: The Walled-Up People * The Law and the State * Reinventing History and Traditions * Dress Codes and Colour Symbols: Religion Standardised * Conclusion: The Metaphor of the Hidden Pir * Bibliography * Index/Glossary