Skip to content
ISSN NO. : 0970-4175 (Print)

 

Search

The Book Review, Monthly Review of Important BooksThe Book Review, Monthly Review of Important Books
The Book Review, Monthly Review of Important Books
  • HOME
  • THE BOOK REVIEW
    • ABOUT
    • FOUNDER TRUSTEES
    • THE JOURNAL
  • SUBSCRIPTIONS
    • PRINT & DIGITAL EDITION
  • PUBLICATIONS
  • ARCHIVES
    • Table of Contents
    • Reviews
  • MEDIA & EVENTS
    • EVENTS
  • CONTACT
  • ADVERTISEMENT
  • HOME
  • THE BOOK REVIEW
    • ABOUT
    • FOUNDER TRUSTEES
    • THE JOURNAL
  • SUBSCRIPTIONS
    • PRINT & DIGITAL EDITION
  • PUBLICATIONS
  • ARCHIVES
    • Table of Contents
    • Reviews
  • MEDIA & EVENTS
    • EVENTS
  • CONTACT
  • ADVERTISEMENT

Questioning Paradigms and Stereotypes

Review Details

Book Name: THE MUSLIM WORLD IN MODERN SOUTH ASIA: POWER, AUTHORITY, KNOWLEDGE
Author name: Francis Robinson
Book Year: 2020
Book Price: 995.00
Reviewer name: Barbara D. Metcalf
Volume No: 44
Publisher Name: Permanent Black, Ranikhet, in association with Ashoka University
Book Pages: 418

The Muslim World in Modern South Asia: Power, Authority, Knowledge consists of a dozen articles (including an introduction) along with a roughly equal number of book reviews written by one of the leading historians of South Asian Muslims during the modern period. Like two earlier volumes of Francis Robinson’s collected articles and reviews, this welcome volume brings together previously published but widely scattered writings that might well be missed by many readers. Full disclosure: one of the articles was first delivered as a keynote address on the occasion of my retirement. And I confess to coming to this volume with the happy anticipation of someone who has valued Francis Robinson’s work in our shared field over many decades.

These are contributions by a consummate professional, grounded in his own research and enriched by extensive reading and synthetic analysis of Muslim societies generally.

The book reviews, many published in the Times Literary Supplement, are evidence of that breadth. Deftly, even elegantly written, they unfailingly reflect an appreciation of the historical and scholarly context each study represents. The reviews mostly deal with works focused on the pre-modern period, but they emphatically belong here as part of Indian cultural life well into the modern period. Several are of translations: of a Persian romance of the 11th century; of Sa`di’s Gulistan, long a staple of elite education in India; of the early 16th century Hindavi Sufi romance from Jaunpur, the Mirigawati; of a new edition of Annette Beveridge’s translation of the important document of Mughal India, the Babur Nama; and, finally, of a new edition of the 19th century Urdu version of the great staple of oral story-telling across vast geographies, The Tale of Amir Hamza, now transitioned to print and thus, itself, a document to 19th century history. Two of the works are biographies of Mughal emperors, of Babur, the founder, and of Shah Jahan, remembered above all for his architectural wonders. The review of a remarkably imaginative book on scent in the Mughal garden gives Robinson the occasion to emphasize, as he does in regard to others of these books, the need for further study of an enormous range of subjects dealing with Muslims and what is sometimes called the ‘Islamicate’ culture in South Asia—the field to which he has dedicated his career.

Please Login or Register to Read Entire Article !

Username:
Password:
Register
Lost your password?

Post navigation

PreviousPrevious post:The Book Review Literary Trust has announced the winning entries for the Short Story Competition 2020 on its website.NextNext post:Post-Partition State-making in South Asia

Related posts

Questioning Paradigms and Stereotypes
June 25, 2020
Post-Partition State-making in South Asia
June 14, 2020
The Story of Transnational Islam
June 14, 2020
A Portrait of Rich Friendships
June 15, 2020
From Political Freedom to a Socialist Revolution
June 15, 2020
A Spectacular Art Heritage
June 15, 2020
Current Issue
  • Gandhi’s Tryst with Modernity April 5, 2021
  • How a Farman Gave an Inch and Lost a Mile April 5, 2021
Search in website

ABOUT US | DISCLAIMER | ADVERTISEMENT

All Right Reserved with The Book Review Literacy Trust | Powered by Digital Empowerment Foundation

FacebookTwitter