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Muslim Subjects, Hindu Rulers, new in paperback

Chitralekha Zutshi

Languages of Belonging

Islam, Regional Identity, and the Making of Kashmir


Languages of Belonging is a quantum leap forward in Kashmir studies and will make one of the best histories of ‘regional’ identities and economies in India yet produced. The work brings forward a great deal of new and important material and provides a new framework for understanding regional identities in South Asia”—C.A. Bayly, Cambridge University

“This is an outstanding book. Based on massive archival research in Delhi, Jammu and Srinagar and the unearthing of rare Kashmiri literary sources, it skilfully uncovers the religious sensibilities that underlay the formation of Kashmir’s regional identity in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century … Languages of Belonging will light up new ways of understanding the formation of identities in South Asia’s regions”—Sugata Bose, Harvard University

“Rarely has Kashmir received sustained scholarly attention that goes beyond the issues of rival territorial claims and policy studies. Drawing on a rich vein of sources, this book breaks new ground … A monograph of exceptional rigour and insight, a must for specialist and lay person alike”—Mahesh Rangarajan, Delhi University

Chitralekha Zutshi has a Ph.D. in South Asian History from Tufts University. She has been Visiting Lecturer at Yale University, and Assistant Professor of History at the University of South Alabama. She is currently Associate Professor of History at the College of William and Mary, USA.

paperback / 366pp / Rs 395 / ISBN 81-7824-334-2 / South Asia rights / summer 2011

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