Modern South Asia
History, Culture, Political Economy
The standard survey of the subcontinent's modern history, including how India and Pakistan came into being.
Sugata Bose and Ayesha Jalal’s survey of South Asia from the Mughal era to the present, written against the grain of both nationalist and colonial historiography. Rather than treating India, Pakistan and Bangladesh as pre-existing nations awaiting independence, the authors follow regional economies, agrarian relations and religious identities across the whole subcontinent, and treat 1947 as a contested outcome rather than a destiny. Widely used as a university text; this is the second edition.
Recommended by 1 Person
Pankaj Mishra
It also covers, impartially and clear-sightedly, how India and Pakistan, the nation states, came into being, which is the big, important question if one wants to understand anything about politics in India today, or in Pakistan or indeed what is happening in Afghanistan. And I think the fact that Ayesha Jalal is a Pakistani historian of South Asian Islam means she is able to bring her own valuable insights to this.
Interview · March 2011
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