The Secret Life of Another Indian Nationalism
Transitions from the Pax Britannica to the Pax Americana

It highlights shifts over two centuries as the geopolitical context has transitioned from the Pax Britannica to the Pax Americana.

Shail Mayaram (Author)

9781108832571, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 16 June 2022

310 pages
23.6 x 15.8 x 2.4 cm, 0.55 kg

'The Secret Life of Another Indian Nationalism is a fearless exploration into many different archives that have a compelling story to tell of paths taken or not taken in the history of empire and of different nationalisms in India. Shail Mayaram's deep engagement with the dispersed archives that criss-cross with the official archives have much to teach us on questions of theory and method. Accessing experiences that have left indelible traces in vernacular tracts, folklore and stories that grow around local sites, this book opens new paths of discovery and recovery that are thought-provoking even when, and especially when, they challenge settled ideas about Indian political history.' Veena Das, Johns Hopkins University

Nationalism is among the most influential ideas that has shaped the 'Metamorphoses of the Political' in the long twentieth century. This book focuses on exclusivist Indian nationalism and identifies its distinction from inclusivist nationalism. It highlights shifts in 'another Indian nationalism' over the last two centuries as the geopolitical context has transitioned from the Pax Britannica to the Pax Americana and its war on terror. The books braids the following three strands together: first, a majoritarian nationalist ideology called Hindutva; second, the making of popular history as a precolonial epic is highlighted, depicting the defeat of the last Hindu Emperor by a conquering Muslim Sultan purportedly leading to eight centuries of Hindu enslavement and third, the 'reconversion' of a community by the Visva Hindu Parishad with consequences for Lived Hinduism and Indic civilisation with its complex identities.

Preface
Acknowledgements
List of abbreviations
List of illustrations
Note on transliteration
1. Introduction: colonialism, orientalism, nationalism and the shaping of popular history and religion
2. James Tod and popular Indian nationalism
3. War and violence in Savarkar's view of Indian history
4. The Vishva Hindu Parishad's Fantasmagorical history
5. The politics of Vishva Hindu Parishad conversion
6. Another history of religion
7. Myth and medical pluralism as resistance to Hindu nationalism
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Nationalism [JPFN], Political science & theory [JPA], Sociology [JHB], Sociology & anthropology [JH], History of religion [HRAX], Religion & politics [HRAM2], Colonialism & imperialism [HBTQ], Regional & national history [HBJ]