The post-First World War period was pivotal in global history, international relations and geopolitics. And no more than in South Asia. where for decades the 'Great Game' in geopolitical rivalry of the two greatest modern empires - Britain and Russia - had dominated international relations. But with the advent of Communism in Russia and growing nationalism and pan-Islamism in Afghanistan, Persia and India, Britian's imperial standing was under threat. Faced with these problems, some in the British government, such as Lord Curzon, the dominant imperialist in the British Foreign Office, fell back on what they knew - old patterns of rivalry and high-handedness that characterised the Great Game. Not all, however, agreed with Curzon, and with war in Afghanistan, civil unrest in India, and rising tensions in Persia, those who opposed this Great Game mindset advocated a new way forward for British foreign relations.

This examination of the formally autonomous state of Hyderabad in a global comparative framework challenges the idea of the dominant British Raj as the sole sovereign power in the late colonial period. Beverley argues that Hyderabad's position as a subordinate yet sovereign 'minor state' was not just a legal formality, but that in exercising the right to internal self-government and acting as a conduit for the regeneration of transnational Muslim intellectual and political networks, Hyderabad was indicative of the fragmentation of sovereignty between multiple political entities amidst empires. By exploring connections with the Muslim world beyond South Asia, law and policy administration along frontiers with the colonial state, and urban planning in expanding Hyderabad City, Beverley presents Hyderabad as a locus for experimentation in global and regional forms of political modernity. This book recasts the political geography of late imperialism and historicises Muslim political modernity in South Asia and beyond.

The volume provides the first (internationally and even in Turkey’s own case) elaboration of Global Intellectual History debates with regard to late Ottoman and Turkish Republican periods. It covers both individuals and groups as carriers of ideas (what we call in the volume ideational entrepreneurs) and simultaneously concepts and ideologies that emerge(d) in the interaction of Turkey’s intellectuals and scholars with their, mostly Western, counterparts. Additionally, it includes examples of its non-Western engagements, broadening the usual focus on Turkish-Western relationships. The contributions are of relevance both for specific studies on Turkish intellectual history and for broader audiences looking for new material in the novel Global Intellectual History framework. Also, the readings serve as helpful sources for courses on Intellectual History, European and Middle Eastern Studies, Turkish History, Global History, and related Area Studies courses. Specific chapters pertain further to broader study areas.

An accessible, transregional exploration of how Islam and Asia have shaped each other's histories, societies and cultures from the seventh century to today.