Islamic Culture in Kashmir

Islamic Culture in Kashmir
Author: G. M. D. Sufi
Publisher: New Delhi : Light & Life Publishers
Total Pages: 428
Release: 1979
Genre: Jammu and Kashmir (India)
ISBN:

Islamic and Cultural Foundations of Kashmiriyat

Islamic and Cultural Foundations of Kashmiriyat
Author: Mohammed Ishaq Khan
Publisher: Primus Books
Total Pages: 236
Release: 2021-06-21
Genre:
ISBN: 9789390737444

In this collection of essays, the late Professor Mohammad Ishaq Khan (1946-2013) caps a lifetime of research into the history of Kashmir, especially of its cultural heritage. These essays are a broad selection from years of scholarship and give a clear view of Professor Khan's contribution to the field. Their main theme is Kashmiriyat, the essence of Kashmiri culture that can be traced through history. Professor Khan forcefully argues that Kashmiri Islam is 'neither syncretism nor synthesis'. In other words, Kashmiri culture should not be understood as a watered-down version of a 'pure' Islam, but rather the result of a cultural transformation in no way at odds with Islam as a religion. Professor Khan traces Kashmir's history as an outward looking and culturally self-assured society, tied closely to the rest of the Indian subcontinent, but maintaining unique traditions available to both Muslims and non-Muslims. The essays address the range of available historical sources, the relationship between Brahmanism and Islam, the role of saints and ritual in Kashmiri Islam, the Persian influence on Kashmir, and other topics. Professor Khan ends with a candid examination of his own experience as a Kashmiri living through the second half of the twentieth century.

Hindu Rulers, Muslim Subjects

Hindu Rulers, Muslim Subjects
Author: Mridu Rai
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 349
Release: 2019-12-31
Genre: History
ISBN: 0691207224

Disputed between India and Pakistan, Kashmir contains a large majority of Muslims subject to the laws of a predominantly Hindu and increasingly "Hinduized" India. How did religion and politics become so enmeshed in defining the protest of Kashmir's Muslims against Hindu rule? This book reaches beyond standard accounts that look to the 1947 partition of India for an explanation. Examining the 100-year period before that landmark event, during which Kashmir was ruled by Hindu Dogra kings under the aegis of the British, Mridu Rai highlights the collusion that shaped a decisively Hindu sovereignty over a subject Muslim populace. Focusing on authority, sovereignty, legitimacy, and community rights, she explains how Kashmir's modern Muslim identity emerged. Rai shows how the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir was formed as the East India Company marched into India beginning in the late eighteenth century. After the 1857 rebellion, outright annexation was abandoned as the British Crown took over and princes were incorporated into the imperial framework as junior partners. But, Rai argues, scholarship on other regions of India has led to misconceptions about colonialism, not least that a "hollowing of the crown" occurred throughout as Brahman came to dominate over King. In Kashmir the Dogra kings maintained firm control. They rode roughshod over the interests of the vast majority of their Kashmiri Muslim subjects, planting the seeds of a political movement that remains in thrall to a religiosity thrust upon it for the past 150 years.

The Syncretic Traditions of Islamic Religious Architecture of Kashmir (Early 14th –18th Century)

The Syncretic Traditions of Islamic Religious Architecture of Kashmir (Early 14th –18th Century)
Author: Hakim Sameer Hamdani
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 209
Release: 2021-03-30
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 1000365255

This book traces the historical identity of Kashmir within the context of Islamic religious architecture between early fourteenth and mid-eighteenth century. It presents a framework of syncretism within which the understanding of this architectural tradition acquires new dimensions and possibilities in the region. In a first, the volume provides a detailed overview of the origin and development of Islamic sacred architecture while contextualizing it within the history of Islam in Kashmir. Covering the entirety of Muslim rule in the region, the book throws light on Islamic religious architecture introduced with the establishment of the Muslim Sultanate in the early fourteenth century, and focuses on both monumental and vernacular architecture. It examines the establishment of new styles in architecture, including ideas, materials and crafts introduced by non-Kashmiri missionaries in the late-fourteenth to fifteenth century. Further, it discusses how the Mughals viewed Kashmir and embellished the land with their architectural undertakings, coupled with encounters between Kashmir’s native culture, with its identity and influences introduced by Sufis arriving from the medieval Persianate world. The book also highlights the transition of the traditional architecture to a pan-Islamic image in the post-Independence period. With its rich illustrations, photographs and drawings, this book will interest students, researchers, and professionals in architecture studies, cultural and heritage studies, visual and art history, religion, Islamic studies and South Asian studies. It will also be useful to professional architecture institutes, public libraries, museums, cultural and heritage bodies as well as the general reader interested in the architectural and cultural history of South Asia.

Languages of Belonging

Languages of Belonging
Author: Chitralekha Zutshi
Publisher: C. HURST & CO. PUBLISHERS
Total Pages: 382
Release: 2004
Genre: Islam and politics
ISBN: 9781850656944

Using local language sources and every important archive, this major history of the formation of Kashmir shows precisely how the Kashmir Valley assumed the position it has come to occupy in postcolonial South Asia."--Jacket.

Munnu: A Boy From Kashmir

Munnu: A Boy From Kashmir
Author: Malik Sajad
Publisher: HarperCollins UK
Total Pages: 356
Release: 2015-06-18
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0007513739

A beautifully drawn graphic novel that illuminates the conflicted land of Kashmir, through a young boy’s childhood.

Kashmir's Transition to Islam

Kashmir's Transition to Islam
Author: Mohammad Ishaq Khan
Publisher: Manohar Publishers
Total Pages: 322
Release: 2002
Genre: History
ISBN: 9788173041990

The book breaks fresh ground in historical research. Based on a critical and empathic understanding of Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian and Kashmiri sources, it provides a critique of Orientalist scholarship against the background of an historical enquiry conducted into the processes of Islamisation and its dynamics in relation to the role of Muslim Rishis (Kashmiri Sufis). Professor Ishaq Khan has brought together a number of perspectives -- the historical, the sociological, and the religious. The crux of his argument is that Islam is not merely a matter of theological propositions, but also a historical realisation: realising the Oneness of Allah by total surrender, dedication, service and above all self-sacrifice for the good of humankind. The Rishi movement is an integral component of the process of Islamisation that started in the picturesque Valley in the wake of the introduction of Sufi orders from Central Asia and Persia in the fourteenth century. The author particularly focuses on the paradox and tension that the Kashmiri Brahmanic society experienced as a result of the Rishi's advocacy of virtues such as self-imposed poverty, identification with the poor and the down-trodden, and above all opposition to the caste system. A significant feature of the book is a perceptive analysis of legends and miracles associated with Muslim Rishis. The author advocates the idea of looking at history from a fresh point of view, and argues in favour of studying the history of human civilisation in its totality, involving an interaction between religion and society. The author has shown that the history of human civilisation cannot be studied in watertight compartments of matter and faith. The present work is therefore worthy of attention and should be of interest to a wide range of readers, rather than merely to specialists.

Islamic Civilization in South Asia

Islamic Civilization in South Asia
Author: Burjor Avari
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 347
Release: 2013
Genre: History
ISBN: 0415580617

Muslims have been present in South Asia for 14 centuries. Nearly 40% of the people of this vast land mass follow the religion of Islam, and Muslim contribution to the cultural heritage of the sub-continent has been extensive. This textbook provides both undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as the general reader, with a comprehensive account of the history of Islam in India, encompassing political, socio-economic, cultural and intellectual aspects. Using a chronological framework, the book discusses the main events in each period between c. 600 CE and the present day, along with the key social and cultural themes. It discusses a range of topics, including: How power was secured, and how was it exercised The crisis of confidence caused by the arrival of the West in the sub-continent How the Indo-Islamic synthesis in various facets of life and culture came about Excerpts at the end of each chapter allow for further discussion, and detailed maps alongside the text help visualise the changes through each time period. Introducing the reader to the issues concerning the Islamic past of South Asia, the book is a useful text for students and scholars of South Asian History and Religious Studies.

Cultural Heritage of Jammu and Kashmir

Cultural Heritage of Jammu and Kashmir
Author: K. Warikoo
Publisher: Pentagon Press
Total Pages: 360
Release: 2009
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9788182743762

Situated at the crossroads of South and Central Asia, the State of Jammu and Kashmir has made a lasting contribution to Indian philosophy, arts and aesthetics, and historiography. Numerous sacred shrines of Jammu and Kashmir are revered and regularly visited by millions. Powerful cultural movements developed and spread not only to other parts of India but beyond India's borders.

Islamic Shangri-La

Islamic Shangri-La
Author: David G. Atwill
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 258
Release: 2018-10-09
Genre: History
ISBN: 0520971337

A free ebook version of this title is available through Luminos, University of California Press’s Open Access publishing program for monographs. Visit www.luminosoa.org to learn more. Islamic Shangri-La transports readers to the heart of the Himalayas as it traces the rise of the Tibetan Muslim community from the 17th century to the present. Radically altering popular interpretations that have portrayed Tibet as isolated and monolithically Buddhist, David Atwill's vibrant account demonstrates how truly cosmopolitan Tibetan society was by highlighting the hybrid influences and internal diversity of Tibet. In its exploration of the Tibetan Muslim experience, this book presents an unparalleled perspective of Tibet's standing during the rise of post–World War II Asia.