"S. Nurul Hasan played an important role in giving a new direction to history writing in India immediately before and after independence. This book brings together essays spanning a distinguished, often pioneering, career of a leading academician. Reflecting the evolution of his ideas on medieval Indian history, they demonstrate the diversity and versatility of Hasan's works and his multi-disciplinary approach to the study of history." "Scholars, undergraduate and postgraduate students of medieval Indian history, sociology, and politics as well as general readers will find this book an important resource."--BOOK JACKET.

The Present Work Starts With The Theme Of Decentring Of History And How, In The Context Of Decolonization And Goes On To Assess The Impact Of Central Asian Ideas And Institutions On Indian History During The 10Th To 14Th Centuries, And The Growing Concept Of Historiography In The Country. The Book Also Discusses The Concept And Evolution Of Different Types Of Islamic States In India-Orthodox, Moderate, Liberal And Secularist.

"S. Nurul Hasan played an important role in giving a new direction to history writing in India immediately before and after independence. This book brings together essays spanning a distinguished, often pioneering, career of a leading academician. Reflecting the evolution of his ideas on medieval Indian history, they demonstrate the diversity and versatility of Hasan's works and his multi-disciplinary approach to the study of history." "Scholars, undergraduate and postgraduate students of medieval Indian history, sociology, and politics as well as general readers will find this book an important resource."--BOOK JACKET.

The Book Containing Fifteen Articles Presents Substantial New Data To Demonstrate The Emergence Of Feudal Social Formation In Early Medieval India.

The Delhi Sultanate ruled northern India for over three centuries. The era, marked by the desecration of temples and construction of mosques from temple-rubble, is for many South Asians a lightning rod for debates on communalism, religious identity and inter-faith conflict. Using Persian and Arabic manuscripts, epigraphs and inscriptions, Fouzia Farooq Ahmad demystifies key aspects of governance and religion in this complex and controversial period. Why were small sets of foreign invaders and administrators able to dominate despite the cultural, linguistic and religious divides separating them from the ruled? And to what extent did people comply with the authority of sultans they knew very little about? By focusing for the first time on the relationship between the sultans, the bureaucracy and the ruled Muslim Rule in Medieval India outlines the practical dynamics of medieval Muslim political culture and its reception. This approach shows categorically that sultans did not possess meaningful political authority among the masses, and that their symbols of legitimacy were merely post hoc socio-cultural embellishments.Ahmad's thoroughly researched revisionist account is essential reading for all students and researchers working on the history of South Asia from the medieval period to the present day.

This book presents a comprehensive survey of warfare in India up to the point where the British began to dominate the sub-continent. It discusses issues such as how far was the relatively bloodless nature of pre-British Indian warfare the product of stateless Indian society? How far did technology determine the dynamics of warfare in India? Did warfare in this period have a particular Indian nature and was it ritualistic? The book considers land warfare including sieges, naval warfare, the impact of horses, elephants and gunpowder, and the differences made by the arrival of Muslim rulers and by the influx of other foreign influences and techniques. The book concludes by arguing that the presence of standing professional armies supported by centralised bureaucratic states have been underemphasised in the history of India.