Hindu, Muslim, and the Dynamics of South Asian Identity: Belonging and Conflict from the Past to the Present

For centuries, many South Asians and Westerners have assumed that an inherent tension between Hindus and Muslims represents a social fact that has long defined the Subcontinent’s history. This volume brings together a wealth of contributions that demonstrate how, for many individuals and groups, ’Hindu’ and ’Muslim’ are, and always have been, more than predetermined markers of religion. Rather, these terms represent sets of contested identities, belongings, communities, ethnicities, histories, regions, neighbourhoods and politics, as well as diverse artistic, literary and music traditions. Arguing that ’religion’ does not adequately account for these terms, contributors also recognise that despite this diversity, notions of ’Hindu’ and ’Muslim’ have long acted as a shared orientation marker of identity and belonging.

Challenging the imaginary of a divided South Asia and historicizing supposed Hindu-Muslim binaries, this book provides a crucial springboard for a broader understanding of these identities as intertwined, interdependent and even co-constructed, making distinction sometimes impossible to discern. Each chapter explores specific case studies of interactions, divergences and convergences between ’Hindu’ and ’Muslim’ from the eighth century to today, to understand how they have evolved over more than a millennium, and actively reflects upon the theoretical and methodological challenges and constructive approaches necessary to ongoing debates about the complex historical relationship between ’Hindus’ and ’Muslims’.

Peter Gottschalk is Professor of Religion and Professor of Global South Asian Studies at Wesleyan University, USA. His research focuses on the theoretical, historical and contemporary dimensions of Indian religious interactions. Among other works, he has published Religion, Science, and Empire: Classifying Hindus and Muslims in British India (2013) and Beyond Hindu and Muslim: Multiple Identity in Narratives from Village India (2000).