Dariyaa

Introduction: Welcome to another immersive episode of Dariyaa, your go-to podcast for deep dives into the captivating world of politics, culture, society, and policy. In this episode, Srushti and Omer, Hosts of Dariyaa are in conversation with, Dr. SherAli Tareen, Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Franklin and Marshall College, discussing his groundbreaking new book on the complex intra-Muslim debates surrounding Hindu-Muslim friendship and political theology in South Asia during the 18th to 20th centuries. Dr. Tareen argues that the loss of Muslim political sovereignty under colonialism led to a heightened emphasis on embodied practices and "markers of distinction" as a means of asserting Muslim identity and supremacy. He explores how Muslim scholars of diverse ideological persuasions engaged with the Islamic legal tradition and colonial modernity to articulate competing visions of Islam and inter-religious relations. Through a close reading of fascinating historical figures and texts, Dr. Tareen reveals the nuanced logics and internal contestations that shaped Muslim thought during this transformative period. He challenges simplistic binaries of "good" and "bad" Muslims, calling for a deeper, more empathetic engagement with voices that defy modern liberal categories. At a time of rising Islamophobia and Hindu nationalism in South Asia, Dr. Tareen shows how these historical debates over the boundaries of friendship and cultural exchange continue to resonate powerfully with contemporary controversies, from cow vigilantism to the Citizenship Amendment Act. For anyone seeking a more nuanced understanding of the role of Islam in South Asian history and politics, this podcast offers a wealth of insights and provocations. Join us for a stimulating exploration of sovereignty, translation, tradition, and the unexpected afterlives of colonial-era Muslim thought. Engage with Us: We invite you to engage with us on social media, share your thoughts and experiences, and join the conversation. You can reach out to us via email at [email protected] or connect with us on: Instagram: @collective_ergo Twitter: @collective_ergo Website: www.ergostudios.net Your support is invaluable, so please consider leaving a review on your favorite podcast platform. Your feedback helps us improve and reach a wider audience. Support Dariyaa: If you enjoy our podcast and would like to support us, you can buy us a virtual coffee through our 'Buy Me a Coffee' page. Your contribution directly fuels the production and growth of Dariyaa, allowing us to continue bringing you engaging episodes that explore the intricacies of South Asia. Join us on this intellectual journey by visiting www.ergostudios.net/support-us and show your support today! Thank you for tuning in to Dariyaa, where we uncover the diverse cultures and challenges of the region. Stay tuned for more thought-provoking episodes in the future. Produced By Ergo Collective

Introduction: Welcome to another immersive episode of Dariyaa, your go-to podcast for deep dives into the captivating world of politics, culture, society, and policy. I In this episode with Dr. Hadia Mubarak, we discuss her book, 'Rebellious Wives, Neglectful Husbands: Controversies in Modern Quranic Commentaries'. In this book, she examines how colonialism, nationalism, and modernization catalyzed new perspectives on women in the Qur'an. Dr. Mubarak focuses on Tafsīr al-Manār, Fī Zilāl al-Qur'an, and al-Tahrīr wa'l-Tanwīr, placing them in dialogue with medieval commentaries spanning from the ninth to the fourteenth centuries. This comparative analysis encompasses verses addressing neglectful husbands (4:128), rebellious wives (4:34), polygyny (4:3), and divorce (2:228). Contrary to viewing the exegetical tradition as uniformly patriarchal, Dr. Mubarak's work reveals a nuanced and evolving tradition with diverse interpretations of women and gender in the Qur'an. Rather than dichotomizing the Qur'an as egalitarian and the exegetical tradition as patriarchal, she advocates for a critical engagement with tafsīr studies in understanding women and gender in Islam. Dr. Hadia Mubarak is an Assistant Professor of Religion at Queens University of Charlotte, where she teaches courses on Islam, comparative scriptures, women and gender in the Muslim world, the history of Islam in America, and religious representation in popular culture. Some of her other publications include, “Gender and Qurʾanic Exegesis” in The Routledge Handbook of Islam and Gender, ed. Justine Howe (Brill, 2020); “Change Through Continuity: A Case Study of Q. 4:34 in Ibn ʿĀshūr’s Al-Taḥrīr wa-l-Tanwīr” (Journal of Qurʾanic Studies 20.1 February 2018); and “Breaking the Interpretive Monopoly: A Re-Examination of Verse 4:34” (Hawwa 2.3). Engage with Us: We invite you to engage with us on social media, share your thoughts and experiences, and join the conversation. You can reach out to us via email at [email protected] or connect with us on: Instagram: @collective_ergo Twitter: @collective_ergo Website: www.ergostudios.net Your support is invaluable, so please consider leaving a review on your favorite podcast platform. Your feedback helps us improve and reach a wider audience. Support Dariyaa: If you enjoy our podcast and would like to support us, you can buy us a virtual coffee through our 'Buy Me a Coffee' page. Your contribution directly fuels the production and growth of Dariyaa, allowing us to continue bringing you engaging episodes that explore the intricacies of South Asia. Join us on this intellectual journey by visiting www.ergostudios.net/support-us and show your support today! Thank you for tuning in to Dariyaa, where we uncover the diverse cultures and challenges of the region. Stay tuned for more thought-provoking episodes in the future. Episode Hosted By Saniya Ahmad Produced By Ergo Collective

Introduction: Welcome to another immersive episode of Dariyaa, your go-to podcast for deep dives into the captivating world of politics, culture, society, and policy. The anthropologist Samuli Schielke suggests that scholarship on the anthropology of Islam has put too much emphasis on Islam itself. He warns against the risk of essentialism, where one aspect of a Muslim's life, such as moments of piety, are portrayed as representative of their entire experience. Schielke argues that for most individuals, moral subjectivities are marked by ambiguity and a range of reference points rather than being neatly coherent. He argues that while the ‘piety turn’ has guided numerous innovative studies, it seems to overlook crucial inquiries concerning everyday religious and moral practices, particularly the ambiguity, inconsistencies, and fluidity inherent in people's lives that do not neatly fit into a single tradition. In this conversation, we speak to Dr. Sertac Sehlikoglu to understand as to where her scholarship is situated within this debate and the contribution it makes to the existing arguments. Dr. Sehlikoglu is Principal Research Fellow at the Institute for Global Prosperity at University College London. She is a social anthropologist specialising in subjectivity, gender, and sexuality in the Middle East. Her work often focuses on the intangible aspects of human subjectivity that enable humans to change and transform social life. Engage with Us: We invite you to engage with us on social media, share your thoughts and experiences, and join the conversation. You can reach out to us via email at [email protected] or connect with us on: Instagram: @collective_ergo Twitter: @collective_ergo Website: www.ergostudios.net Your support is invaluable, so please consider leaving a review on your favorite podcast platform. Your feedback helps us improve and reach a wider audience. Support Dariyaa: If you enjoy our podcast and would like to support us, you can buy us a virtual coffee through our 'Buy Me a Coffee' page. Your contribution directly fuels the production and growth of Dariyaa, allowing us to continue bringing you engaging episodes that explore the intricacies of South Asia. Join us on this intellectual journey by visiting www.ergostudios.net/support-us and show your support today! Thank you for tuning in to Dariyaa, where we uncover the diverse cultures and challenges of the region. Stay tuned for more thought-provoking episodes in the future. Episode Hosted By Saniya Ahmad Produced By Ergo Collective

A war is never a mere conflict or struggle between two or more people or communities. It is larger than that. It starts way before it has actually began and ends way after its designated termination. The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is one of the world's most enduring conflicts, with the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip reaching 54 years of conflict. While a lot of scholars also deem that the conflict has a history of  more than 100 years. Rashid Khalidi's 100 Years'  War on Palestine is one such account that elaborates the history of the region not from the observers standpoint but from the first person's experiences. Khalidi explains how the conflict in Palestine is a waged war  and why Palestinians continue to pose a stiff challenge to Israel’s growing ambitions. To dive further into the other perspective of the conflict our host @chauhanritika_  conversates with Dr Rashid Khalidi,  Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University, and director of the Middle East Institute of Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs.----------------------------------------------- We invite you to engage with us on social media, share your thoughts and experiences, and join the conversation. You can write to us on ⁠[email protected]⁠ Your support is invaluable, so please consider leaving a review or feedback for us. Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠ Website : ⁠www.ergostudios.net⁠ Insta : @ergo_studios Twitter: @ergo_studios----------------------------------------------- Produced By Ergo Studios Hosted By Ritika Chauhan Production and edited By Abhay

In This Episode Of Unslant We Talk To Elizabeth Becker to discuss her book "You Don't Belong Here: How Three Women Rewrote the Story of War". She was a war correspondent for The Washington Post in Cambodia and a correspondent for The New York Times. She has also served as NPR’s senior editor for the foreign desk and has authored various other books covering aspects of war in Vietnam and Cambodia.This book features the stories of three female war correspondents: all in the backdrop of the Vietnam War and how the kind of stories they covered broke the official and cultural barriers to women covering war.In this episode with Elizabeth Becker, our aim was to basically explore how mainstream narratives or public perceptions around wars and conflicts are shaped by who tells the story, what is being told in those stories and how we receive them. ----------------------------------------------- We invite you to engage with us on social media, share your thoughts and experiences, and join the conversation. You can write to us on ⁠[email protected]⁠ Your support is invaluable, so please consider leaving a review or feedback for us. Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠ Website : ⁠www.ergostudios.net⁠ Insta : @ergo_studios Twitter: @ergo_studios----------------------------------------------- Produced By Ergo Studios Hosted By Ritika Chauhan Production and edited By Abhay

In today’s episode of Masala Trails, we explore the fusion based music platform Coke Studio- its inception, significance, and reception. Coke Studio has brought a social movement in the realm of music industry by fusing the global and the local. It also appeals deeply to the emotional sensibilities of the South Asian populace. Ms. Makhfi has explored various aspects of Coke Studio Pakistan in her article “Coke Studio Pakistan: An Ode to Eastern Music with a Western Touch.” The political pretext underlying the foundation of Coke Studio is discussed in her article and we deal with it in detail in this episode. Shahwar Kibria Makhfi is a PHD scholar at UCLA Herp Albert School of Music. She is also an ethnographer and qualitative researcher working with Muslim hereditary practitioners of Islamic liturgical and non-liturgical music in Uttar Pradesh. In this episode, she focuses on the continuities and changes between the compositions of Coke Studio and earlier Islamic musical traditions. You can find Ms. Shahwar Kibria Makhfi here: https://schoolofmusic.ucla.edu/people/shahwar-kibria-maqhfi/ Join us as we embark on this captivating journey, where we bridge the gap between academia and public discourse, shedding light on the history, implications, and significance of caste in South Asia.We invite you to engage with us on social media, share your thoughts and experiences, and join the conversation. You can write to us on [email protected] Your support is invaluable, so please consider leaving a review on your favorite podcast platform. Email: [email protected] ; Website : www.ergostudios.net Insta : @ergo_studios Twitter: @ergo_studios Thank you for tuning in to Masala Trails, where we uncover the diverse cultures and challenges of the region. Stay tuned for more thought-provoking episodes in the future. 🔥 Support Masala Trails:If you enjoy our podcast and would like to support us, you can buy us a virtual coffee through our 'Buy Me a Coffee' page. Your contribution directly fuels the production and growth of Masala Trails, allowing us to continue bringing you engaging episodes that explore the intricacies of South Asia. Join us on this intellectual journey by visiting www.ergostudios.net/support-us and show your support today! Produced By Ergo Studios Episode Hosted By Srushti Sharma Originally Published for Masala Trails on 27/08/23

In this episode, Dr. Ilyse Morgenstein Fuerst delves into how Indian Muslims were portrayed, perceived, and essentialised after the Revolt of 1857. She argues that it is not enough to merely view the Great Rebellion through the lens of political or military history, as both its origins and impacts have been commonly explained in terms of religion. Dr. Morgenstein Fuerst explains how the Rebellion has been discursively constructed as a series of actions associated with or influenced by religion, particularly Islam, and specifically connected to the concept of jihad. She argues that this pivotal moment in Indian history continues to have an enduring influence, and despite its prominent position in historical accounts, the role of the Rebellion in facilitating the development of a categorical, racialized, and minoritized definition of Muslims, has not been adequately explored. Join us as we embark on this captivating journey, where we bridge the gap between academia and public discourse, shedding light on the history, implications, and significance of caste in South Asia. We invite you to engage with us on social media, share your thoughts and experiences, and join the conversation. You can write to us on ⁠[email protected]⁠ . Your support is invaluable, so please consider leaving a review or feedback for us. Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠ Website : ⁠www.ergostudios.net⁠ Insta : @ergo_studios Twitter: @ergo_studios Support Masala Trails: If you enjoy our podcast and would like to support us, you can buy us a virtual coffee through our 'Buy Me a Coffee' page. Your contribution directly fuels the production and growth of Ergo Studios, Join us on this intellectual journey by visiting ⁠https://bmc.link/MasalaTrails⁠ and show your support today! Produced By Ergo Studios Hosted By Saniya Ahmad Production and Edited by Abhay Originally published for Masala Trails on 06/08/2023

In this episode, we talk to Dr Uther Charlton-Stevens to discuss the themes of his book ‘Anglo India and the End of Empire’. Drawing from Uther’s expertise, the episode explores the complex identities of Anglo-Indians in colonial India, the impact of the political decisions of the British on their lives, their interaction with different phases of the nationalist movements and the social complexities of the Indian and European societies that contributed to shaping the Anglo-Indian community. Uther Charlton-Stevens is a lecturer at the Department of History, University of Hong Kong, teaching courses on the British Empire and the Second World War. His latest book – Anglo-India and the End of Empire – is available directly from Hurst Publishers, UK, and Oxford University Press, USA, and from Amazon. A Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society, Charlton-Stevens’ first book - Anglo-Indians and Minority Politics in South Asia - was published as part of the Royal Asiatic Society Books series by Routledge, UK, and is now available in paperback. Charlton-Stevens earned his doctorate from the University of Oxford, where he read Modern History as an undergraduate. Having begun his research on military technology transfers between Europe and Asia during his Master’s in Global History at the London School of Economics, his historical writing has since focused on his father's community of ‘mixed-race’ Anglo-Indians in colonial India and Burma (modern Myanmar), and similar groups of Eurasians in other former British colonies in Asia, including Singapore and his own hometown of Hong Kong. Join us as we embark on this captivating journey, where we bridge the gap between academia and public discourse, shedding light on the history, implications, and significance of caste in South Asia. We invite you to engage with us on social media, share your thoughts and experiences, and join the conversation. You can write to us on ⁠[email protected]⁠ . Your support is invaluable, so please consider leaving a review or feedback for us. Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠ Website : ⁠www.ergostudios.net⁠ Insta : @ergo_studios Twitter: @ergo_studios Support Masala Trails: If you enjoy our podcast and would like to support us, you can buy us a virtual coffee through our 'Buy Me a Coffee' page. Your contribution directly fuels the production and growth of Ergo Studios, Join us on this intellectual journey by visiting ⁠https://bmc.link/MasalaTrails⁠ and show your support today! Produced By Ergo Studios Hosted By Ritika Chauhan Production and edited by Abhay Originally Published for Masala Trails on 18/07/2023

n this episode, we delve into the fascinating research of Dr. Divya, whose focus lies on the 18th-century Western Rajasthan. Join us as we explore the history of caste, its implications, and its significance in today's South Asia. Dr. Divya's research takes us on a journey through time, exploring the reconstitution of Hindu identity in relation to caste terms and practices of untouchability. Her study reveals the significant role played by merchants in reshaping Hindu identity and imposing caste ideals as universal markers. We delve into the segregation of spaces, such as access to water and temple spaces, which further solidified caste divisions. Dr. Divya's research also sheds light on the inclusion of Muslims and untouchables in historical records, offering valuable insights into the complexities of caste dynamics. Beyond its historical significance, caste continues to be a central force that shapes society and creates divisions in present-day India. Dr. Divya's research holds contemporary relevance, helping us understand the ongoing issues surrounding caste and its impact on society. You can find Dr Cherian here : ⁠https://history.princeton.edu/people/divya-cherian⁠ and her book here : ⁠https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520390058/merchants-of-virtue⁠ Recommended Readings : Rulers, Townsmen and Bazaars: North Indian Society in the Age of British Expansion: 1770–1870 By C A Bayly Community and Public Culture: The Marwaris in Calcutta, C. 1897-1997 By ⁠Anne Hardgrov⁠ Pogrom in Gujarat: Hindu Nationalism and Anti-Muslim Violence in India : By ⁠Parvis Ghassem-Fachandi⁠ Caste Matters : By ⁠Suraj Yengde⁠ Join us as we embark on this captivating journey, where we bridge the gap between academia and public discourse, shedding light on the history, implications, and significance of caste in South Asia. We invite you to engage with us on social media, share your thoughts and experiences, and join the conversation. You can write to us on ⁠[email protected]⁠ Your support is invaluable, so please consider leaving a review or feedback for us. Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠ Website : ⁠www.ergostudios.net⁠ Insta : @ergo_studios Twitter: @ergo_studios Support Masala Trails: If you enjoy our podcast and would like to support us, you can buy us a virtual coffee through our 'Buy Me a Coffee' page. Your contribution directly fuels the production and growth of Ergo Studios, Join us on this intellectual journey by visiting ⁠https://bmc.link/MasalaTrails⁠ and show your support today! Produced By Ergo Studios Hosted By Omer Haq Production and edited by Abhay Originally Published for Masala Trails on 28/6/2023

In this episode, we talk to Dr. Amira Mittermaier whose book, ‘Giving to God: Islamic Charity in Revolutionary Times’ is set against the backdrop of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution and Abd al-Fattah al-Sisi’s rise to power. The book draws upon Dr. Mittermaier’s ethnographic fieldwork in Egypt’s Cairo that oscillates between seemingly apolitical spaces of charity and highly politicized spaces of protest. Mittermaier comes to recognize that despite their apparent disparity, these two fields share a dedication to justice and communal engagement, both of which hold ethical and political importance. Therefore, her exploration of Islamic acts of generosity navigates between these two realms, each carrying distinct concepts of justice and the definition of an ideal society. Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠ Website : ⁠www.ergostudios.net⁠ Insta : @ergo_studios Twitter: @ergo_studios Produced By Ergo Studios Hosted By Saniya Ahmad Production and edited By Abhay In this conversation, Dr. Mittermaier talks about how her interlocutors provide and accept assistance, how these actions align with Islamic ideas of divine fairness in the world, and how charity influenced people's perceptions of the Tahrir Square uprisings. Mittermaier's anthropological method enables us to comprehend the intricacies of charity as a multifaceted practice among Muslims. By exploring the relationship between donors, recipients, and God,, Dr. MIttermaier offers an alternative framework to conceptualize an Islamic ethics of giving.We invite you to engage with us on social media, share your thoughts and experiences, and join the conversation. You can write to us on ⁠[email protected]⁠ Your support is invaluable, so please consider leaving a review or feedback for us. Originally published for Haqq on 10/09/2023

In this episode, Dr. Nadia Guessous invites us to think about feminism in non-teleological ways by drawing upon her genealogical and ethnographic research with a particular generation of Leftist feminists in Morocco, often known as bnat al yassar (daughters of the Left). She dissects what requires her interlocutors to reject a traditional way of life that, paradoxically, is also acknowledged by them as the source of inspiration for their leftist feminist politics. She then probes how this first conundrum is connected to the challenge faced by leftist feminists in welcoming a new generation of young hijabi women into their organizations, despite their professed dedication to creating an all-encompassing women's movement. She refers to the leftist feminist issues surrounding tradition and the hijab as conundrums to question the notion of their inherent "naturalness." Although paradoxes and conundrums are commonly assumed to be self-evident descriptions, Dr. Guessous proposes that we view them as contextually specific, arising from distinct historical circumstances, and influenced by individual perspectives and subjectivity. Thus, through an examination of the dilemmas and contradictions informing the landscape of Moroccan leftist feminist politics, her research aims to engage in a nuanced exploration of modernity and feminism, avoiding linear and deterministic perspectives. Furthermore, it seeks to make a valuable contribution to the field of anthropology by shedding light on the dynamics of power within modern society and the formation of progressive political subjectivity. We invite you to engage with us on social media, share your thoughts and experiences, and join the conversation. You can write to us on ⁠[email protected]⁠ Your support is invaluable, so please consider leaving a review or feedback for us. Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠ Website : ⁠www.ergostudios.net⁠ Insta : @ergo_studios Twitter: @ergo_studios Produced By Ergo Studios Hosted By Saniya Ahmad Production and edited By Abhay Episode originally published on Haqq 02/07/2023

In this conversation on her book, ‘The Politics of Women’s Rights in Iran’ , Dr. Arzoo Osanloo delves into the politicization of 'rights talk' and women’s subjectivities in post-revolutionary Iran. She talks about how following the 1979 revolution, Iran underwent a transformation into an Islamic republic, during which the country's leaders employed a renewed discourse on women's rights to signify a departure from Western liberalism's perceived excesses. Dr. Osanloo's research reveals that the post-revolutionary republic combined elements of a liberal republic with principles of equality derived from Islam. Through ethnographic study, she illustrates how women's assertions of rights arise from a blend of ideas that draw from both liberal individualism and Islamic ideals. In this episode, she walks us through various settings where rights are being shaped, such as Qur'anic reading groups, Tehran's family court, and law offices. In these contexts, she highlights the fluid and constructed nature of women's understandings of their rights. By doing so, Dr. Osanloo dismantles oversimplified dichotomies between so-called liberal, universal rights and the perceived insularity of local culture. She sheds light on a contemporary non-Western perspective on the essence of liberal rights and prompts questions about the often misunderstood relationship between modernity and Islam. We invite you to engage with us on social media, share your thoughts and experiences, and join the conversation. You can write to us on ⁠[email protected]⁠ Your support is invaluable, so please consider leaving a review or feedback for us. Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠ Website : ⁠www.ergostudios.net⁠ Insta : @ergo_studios Twitter: @ergo_studios Produced By Ergo Studios Hosted By Saniya Ahmad Production and edited By Abhay The episode was originally published on 26/07/2023

In this episode with Dr. Anand Vivek Taneja, we dissect how Indian Muslims are bringing their religious tradition in conversation with the everyday lived realities of marginalization. The episode deals with Islam as a 'discursive tradition' as argued by the anthropologist, Talal Asad to understand how the ethical lives of Indian Muslims have transformed in response to the political reality of contemporary India.We invite you to engage with us on social media, share your thoughts and experiences, and join the conversation. You can write to us on ⁠[email protected]⁠ Your support is invaluable, so please consider leaving a review or feedback for us. Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠ Website : ⁠www.ergostudios.net⁠ Insta : @ergo_studios Twitter: @ergo_studios Produced By Ergo Studios Hosted By Saniya Ahmad Production and edited By Abhay Artwork Credits: Coffeehouse by Safia Latif @safialatifpaintings The episode was originally published on Haqq on 04/06/2023

Muslims and the Making of Modern Europe by Dr Emily Greble show that Muslims were citizens of modern Europe from its beginning and, in the process, rethinks Europe itself. Muslims are neither newcomers nor outsiders in Europe. In the twentieth century, they have been central to the continent's political development and the evolution of its traditions of equality and law. From 1878 into the period following World War II, over a million Ottoman Muslims became citizens of new European states. Greble uncovers Muslims' negotiations with state authorities--over the boundaries of Islamic law, the nature of religious freedom, and the meaning of minority rights. Muslims and the Making of Modern Europe offers a striking new account of the history of citizenship and nation-building, the emergence of minority rights, and the character of secularism. We invite you to engage with us on social media, share your thoughts and experiences, and join the conversation. You can write to us on ⁠[email protected]⁠ Your support is invaluable, so please consider leaving a review or feedback for us. Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠ Website : ⁠www.ergostudios.net⁠ Produced By Ergo Studios Hosted By Omer Haq Production and edited By Abhay Insta : @ergo_studios Twitter: @ergo_studios Ep Originally Published for Haqq on 24/04/22

The life and legacy of one of Mohammad's closest confidants and Islam's patron saint: Ali ibn Abi Talib is arguably the single most important spiritual and intellectual authority in Islam after the prophet Mohammad. Through his teachings and leadership as the fourth caliph, Ali nourished Islam. But Muslims are divided on whether he was supposed to be Mohammad's political successor-and he continues to be a polarizing figure in Islamic history. Hassan Abbas through his book The Prophet`s Heir provides a nuanced, compelling portrait of this towering yet divisive figure and the origins of sectarian division within Islam. While Ali's teachings about wisdom, justice, and selflessness continue to be cherished by both Shia and Sunni Muslims, his pluralist ideas have been buried under sectarian agendas and power politics. Today, Abbas argues, Ali's legacy and message stand against that of ISIS, Al-Qaeda, and the Taliban. To deliberate on all this and more catch our conversation with Dr Hassan Abbas You can write to us on ⁠[email protected]⁠ Your support is invaluable, so please consider leaving a review on your favorite podcast platform. Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠ ; Website : ⁠www.ergostudios.net⁠ Insta : @ergo_studios Twitter: @ergo_studios This Episode was originally published for India Colonised on 17/04/2022

Nile Green's Islam and the Army in Colonial India is one of those rare works that inspires both admiration and envy. It is a study that cannot fail to impress its readers with its erudition and innovation, especially when reconciling seemingly incompatible official accounts preserved in the colonial archive with subaltern memories preserved in oral traditions. This book is a study of the cultural world of the Muslim soldiers of colonial India, set in Hyderabad in the mid-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and focuses on the soldiers' relationships with the faqir holy men who protected them and the British officers they served. Islam and the Army in Colonial India contests the widely held belief that Islam was incompatible with the goals and operations of the colonial army, which was a dangerous and ultimately subversive force that sapped the morale and discipline of the Raj's armies. This Orientalist stereotype of Islam as being anti-military discipline persists, as evidenced by the numerous newspaper articles and editorials covering any aspect of Muslim life. Tune into the episode with Dr Nile Green, exploring the extraordinary lives of Muslims sepoys and the ways in which the colonial army helped promote the sepoy religion while at the same time attempting to control and suppress certain aspects of it. You can write to us on ⁠[email protected]⁠ Your support is invaluable, so please consider leaving a review on your favorite podcast platform. Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠ ; Website : ⁠www.ergostudios.net⁠ Insta : @ergo_studios Twitter: @ergo_studios This Episode was originally published for India Colonised on 03/04/2022

In this episode of Guftagu, we've with us Dr Jessica Namakkal, author of the book, "Unsettling Utopia: The Making and Unmaking of French India" In this episode of Guftagu, we've with us Dr Jessica Namakkal, author of the book, "Unsettling Utopia: The Making and Unmaking of French India" Dr Jessica Namakkal is an assistant professor of the practice in international comparative studies; gender, sexuality, and feminist studies; and history at Duke University. Jessica Namakkal's Unsettling Utopia gives a new version of twentieth-century French India's history. It demonstrates how colonial developments persisted even after official decolonization kicked in. The book analyses the colonial histories of the Aurobindo Ashram and Auroville, demonstrating how state-sponsored decolonization is rarely associated with local demands. She suggests that their ongoing growth reveals how decolonization, unfortunately, resulted in new settling spaces which preserve colonial control. This book puts into question the long-held scholarly argument on the time and place of decolonization. Unsettling Utopia puts the spotlight on colonialism's legacies and provides striking thoughts on what decolonization might yet involve. This interview explores and examines such provided stances in the book along with other broader perspectives on decolonisation. You can write to us on ⁠[email protected]⁠ Your support is invaluable, so please consider leaving a review on your favorite podcast platform. Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠ ; Website : ⁠www.ergostudios.net⁠ Insta : @ergo_studios Twitter: @ergo_studios This Episode was originally published for India Colonised on 19/12/2021

You can write to us on ⁠[email protected]⁠ Your support is invaluable, so please consider leaving a review on your favorite podcast platform. Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠ ; Website : ⁠www.ergostudios.net⁠ Insta : @ergo_studios Twitter: @ergo_studios This Episode was orignainally published on India Colonised on 12/12/2021

In this episode of Guftagu, we've with us Dr Arvind Sharma, author of the book, "The Ruler's Gaze: A Study of British Rule Over India from a Saidian Perspective" Dr Arvind Sharma, longstanding professor of comparative religion at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, now takes up the Palestinian academic's groundbreaking ideas - originally put forth predominantly in a Middle Eastern context - and tests them against Indian material. He explores in an Indian context Said's contention that the relationship between knowledge and power is central to the way the West depicts the non-West. Scholarly and accessible, The Ruler's Gaze throws fresh light on Indian colonial history through a Saidian lens. According to Said, Orientalism is inextricably tied to the imperialist societies who produced it, which makes much orientalist work inherently political and servile to power. This book is a heroic attempt to translate Said’s theories on Orientalism to British scholarship on India and Hinduism and how it faithfully followed the ups and downs of British political power in India. In a quite convincing way, the book impresses on the readers that the relationship between knowledge and power is central to the way the West depicts the non-West. Arvind Sharma served in the distinguished Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and is the Birks Professor of Comparative Religion in the School of Religious Studies at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. He has authored many books and was instrumental in facilitating the adoption of a Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the world’s religions. There is a series of such amazingly curated interactions with authors and scholars on the history of the subcontinent. You can write to us on ⁠[email protected]⁠ Your support is invaluable, so please consider leaving a review on your favorite podcast platform. Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠ ; Website : ⁠www.ergostudios.net⁠ Insta : @ergo_studios Twitter: @ergo_studios

In this episode of Guftagu, we've with us Dr Ghee Bowman, author of the book, "The Indian Contingent: The Forgotten Muslim Soldiers of Dunkirk". Dr Ghee Bowman is a historian, teacher and storyteller based in Exeter, England. He has also worked in the theatre, for NGOs and in education in the UK and around the world. This book, his very first, sprang from research he undertook to explore Exeter’s multi-cultural history which landed him onto three photos of Indian soldiers wearing pagris in Devon. This furthered him to The National Archives, an MA at Exeter University and then a PhD. His five-year-long study of the Second World War’s Indian contingent took him across five countries. As the title suggests, the book brings to light an omitted chapter of the historic Battle of Dunkirk that is the crucial role played by Indian soldiers in the evacuation of the Allies from a precarious battlefield. The Indian Contingent, through rigorous research and engrossing narration, traces the journey of Force K6 of the 25th Animal Transport Company of the Royal Indian Army Service Corps from their arrival in France on 26 December 1939, their captivity under the Germans to their return to India on the verge of partitio Interestingly, 2020 marked the 80th anniversary of the dramatic evacuation of 338,000 Allied troops from Dunkirk in May 1940, as the German army closed in. This wartime legend is also the subject of the award-winning 2017 film Dunkirk but, as is only too evident from the film and other accounts of the Second World War, the presence of Indian soldiers is neither known nor remembered, at least in the western world. Bowman’s narrative of individual soldiers’ lives in rural and urban Punjab, interwoven with his descriptions of the war, draws on his painstaking research that includes rare archives, diaries, photographs and, indeed, memories passed on to descendants. The book leads up to the aftermath of the war and the new realities. This interview explores and examines the provided stances in the book along with other broader perspectives of the event. Indian Army Special Newsreel (1940): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yq6E1luxLQQ There is a series of such amazingly curated interactions with authors and scholars on the history of the subcontinent. You can write to us on ⁠[email protected]⁠ Your support is invaluable, so please consider leaving a review on your favorite podcast platform. Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠ ; Website : ⁠www.ergostudios.net⁠ Insta : @ergo_studios Twitter: @ergo_studios This episode was originally published on India Colonised on 31/10/2021

Riaz Dean is an Engineer by profession and an independent scholar. He is also a member of the NZ Society of Authors and the NZ Cartographical Society. As the title suggests, the book is about the extraordinary explorers, spies and mapmakers who explored the vast region’s of Asia against the backdrop of imperial ambitions of powerful players like Russia and Great Britain. This expedition was at the surface to fill in large portions of the map while spying out the country for military reasons during the so-called Great Game. Set in four parts and arranged chronologically, with five informative maps, the book expands on the relevant political intricacies and the roles played by some adventurous young people like William Moorcroft, William Lambton and his cartographers, George Everest, the Pundits employed by the survey of India -- in undertaking this greatest survey. This interview explores and examines the provided stances in the book along with other broader perspectives on this great exploration. Thank you everyone for tuning into this conversation with Riaz Dean. We really hope you enjoyed the conversation and if you did, please consider subscribing to our channel and podcast for more such amazing content. There is a series of such guftagu with a line of amazingly curated authors and scholars on the history of the subcontinent. Check out our website www.indiacolonised.com  for blogs and podcasts exploring the tales of India's contemporary history. You can write to us on ⁠[email protected]⁠ Your support is invaluable, so please consider leaving a review on your favorite podcast platform. Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠ ; Website : ⁠www.ergostudios.net⁠ Insta : @ergo_studios Twitter: @ergo_studios

Dr Raghav Kishore is a historian of Modern South Asia and his research has primarily focused on the transformation of urban governance under colonial rule in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The (Un)governable City: Productive Failure in the Making of Colonial Delhi, 1857-1911, examines the production of urban space and its relation to colonial governance in Delhi in the aftermath of the Great Rebellion of 1857 until the transfer of the colonial capital to the city in 1911. Contesting the popular view that the aftermath of the rebellion was a period of political stability, the author creatively demonstrates how the tensions, contradictions and failures of colonial policies were responsible for the unintended development of state capacity and also provided opportunities for Delhi’s residents and social groups to assert their claims to city spaces. This volume brings to scrutiny Delhi’s cultural, economic and political transitions and the relationships between local, regional and imperial governments during this period. Demonstrating how conflicting agendas of urban policy could stifle specific state initiatives, Raghav further argues that such misadventures or failures should be seen as productive– on the one hand by providing a language of new legal codes for the population with which to assail the state and on the other, by enlarging the latter’s bureaucracy and regulatory capabilities. Thank you everyone for tuning into this conversation with Dr Raghav Kishore. We really hope you enjoyed the conversation and if you did, please consider subscribing to our channel and podcast for more such amazing content. There is a series of such guftagu with a line of amazingly curated authors and scholars on the history of the subcontinent. Check out our website www.indiacolonised.com  for blogs and podcasts exploring the tales of India's contemporary history. You can write to us on ⁠[email protected]⁠ Your support is invaluable, so please consider leaving a review on your favorite podcast platform. Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠ ; Website : ⁠www.ergostudios.net⁠ Insta : @ergo_studios Twitter: @ergo_studios This episode was originally published on India Colonised 03/10/2021

With his initial plans for an independent India in tatters, the desperate viceroy, Lord Mountbatten, turned to his senior-most Indian civil servant, Vappala Pangunni Menon—or VP—giving him a single night to devise an alternative, coherent and workable plan for independence. Menon met his stringent deadline, presenting the Menon Plan, which would change the map of the world forever. Menon was unarguably the architect of the modern Indian state. Yet startlingly little is known about this bureaucrat, patriot and visionary. In this definitive biography, Menon’s great-granddaughter, Narayani Basu, rectifies this travesty. She takes us through the highs and lows of his career, from his determination to give women the right to vote; to his strategy, at once ruthless and subtle, to get the princely states to accede to India; to his decision to join forces with the Swatantra Party; to his final relegation to relative obscurity. Equally, the book candidly explores the man behind the public figure— his unconventional personal life and his private conflicts, which made him channel his energy into public service. Drawing from documents—scattered, unread and unresearched until now—and with unprecedented access to Menon’s papers and his taped off-the-record and explosively frank interviews—this remarkable biography of VP Menon not only covers the life and times of a man unjustly consigned to the footnotes of history but also changes our perception of how India, as we know it, came into being.    Narayani Basu is a historian and foreign policy analyst.  A graduate in history and Chinese foreign policy from the University of Delhi, she published her first book, The United States and China: Competing Discourses of Regionalism in East Asia in 2015. Published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing, the book is available in major libraries worldwide, including the University of New South Wales, Leiden University, Cambridge University, the National Library of Scotland, the University of Toronto, and McGill University. She continues to write extensively on foreign policy for several acclaimed international journals while remaining actively involved in her parent discipline -- modern Indian history. Her current area of interest focuses on highlighting the lesser-known but key players behind the story of Indian independence. The story of VP Menon is the product of that interest and her second book. Here is my conversation with Ms Basu about her book.  Listen to our conversation on her intellectual journey and the journey of writing this book, including how we can engage with his work in relevance to today's world. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter handle: @Indiacolonised or visit us on www.indiacolonised.com. Don’t forget to visit our website for book recommendations and a complete reading list if you want to read more on India’s Modern History!  I really hope you enjoyed the Conversation. If you did please consider subscribing to our channel and podcast for more such amazing content. Join us as we embark on this captivating journey, where we bridge the gap between academia and public discourse.We invite you to engage with us on social media, share your thoughts and experiences, and join the conversation. You can write to us on ⁠[email protected]⁠ Your support is invaluable, so please consider leaving a review on your favorite podcast platform. Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠ ; Website : ⁠www.ergostudios.net⁠ Insta : @ergo_studios Twitter: @ergo_studios This Episode was originally published on India Colonised 12/09/2021

Kate Imy is a historian of culture and war in British colonial Asia. Her first book,Faithful Fighters: Identity and Power in the British Indian Army , examines culture and anti-colonialism in the 20th century British Indian army. It won the NACBS Stansky prize and the Pacific Coast Branch Book Award of the American Historical Association. Her next project considers soldier and civilian experiences of war in Singapore and Malaya. She is a recipient of a Fulbright fellowship, two CLS awards (Hindi and Urdu), a fellowship from the Institute of Historical Research (London), and a Bernadotte E. Schmitt grant from the American Historical Association. In 2021 she is the Lee Kong Chian NUS-Stanford Fellow on Southeast Asia. During the first four decades of the twentieth century, the British Indian Army possessed an illusion of racial and religious inclusivity. The army recruited diverse soldiers, known as the "Martial Races," including British Christians, Hindustani Muslims, Punjabi Sikhs, Hindu Rajputs, Pathans from northwestern India, and "Gurkhas" from Nepal. As anti-colonial activism intensified, military officials incorporated some soldiers' religious traditions into the army to keep them disciplined and loyal. They facilitated acts such as the fast of Ramadan for Muslim soldiers and allowed religious swords among Sikhs to recruit men from communities where anti-colonial sentiment grew stronger. Consequently, Indian nationalists and anti-colonial activists charged the army with fomenting racial and religious divisions. In Faithful Fighters , Kate Imy explores how military culture created unintended dialogues between soldiers and civilians, including Hindu nationalists, Sikh revivalists, and pan-Islamic activists. By the 1920s and '30s, the army constructed military schools and academies to isolate soldiers from anti-colonial activism. While this carefully managed military segregation crumbled under the pressure of the Second World War, Imy argues that the army militarized racial and religious difference, creating lasting legacies for the violent partition and independence of India, and the endemic warfare and violence of the post-colonial world. Here is my conversation with Dr Kate Imy about her book Faithful Fighters: Identity and Power in the British Indian Army . Listen to our conversation on her intellectual journey and the journey of writing this book, including how we can engage with his work in relevance to today's world. Join us as we embark on this captivating journey, where we bridge the gap between academia and public discourse.We invite you to engage with us on social media, share your thoughts and experiences, and join the conversation. You can write to us on ⁠[email protected]⁠ Your support is invaluable, so please consider leaving a review on your favorite podcast platform. Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠ ; Website : ⁠www.ergostudios.net⁠ Insta : @ergo_studios Twitter: @ergo_studios This Episode was originally published on India Colonised 22/08/2021

In His groundbreaking study, SherAli Tareen presents the most comprehensive and theoretically engaged work to date on what is arguably the most long-running, complex, and contentious dispute in modern Islam: the Barelvī-Deobandī polemic. The Barelvī and Deobandī groups are two normative orientations/reform movements with beginnings in colonial South Asia. Almost two hundred years separate the beginnings of this polemic from the present. Its spectre, however, continues to haunt the religious sensibilities of postcolonial South Asian Muslims in profound ways, both in the region and in diaspora communities around the world. Here is my conversation with Dr Sher Ali Tareen about his book Defending Muhammed in Modernity. Listen to our conversation on his intellectual journey and the journey of writing this book, including how we can engage with his work in relevance to today's world. Join us as we embark on this captivating journey, where we bridge the gap between academia and public discourse.We invite you to engage with us on social media, share your thoughts and experiences, and join the conversation. You can write to us on ⁠[email protected]⁠ Your support is invaluable, so please consider leaving a review on your favorite podcast platform. Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠ ; Website : ⁠www.ergostudios.net⁠ Insta : @ergo_studios Twitter: @ergo_studios SherAli Tareen hosts New Books in Islamic Studies : https://newbooksnetwork.com/hosts/profile/1d16c8c8-d755-4cdb-9909-ecbf4bc5c37d  Suggested talk by Dr Sher Ali Tareen : Debating Hindu-Muslim Friendship after Empire https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FH9lHQ33aeg&t=362s This Episode was originally published on India Colonised 25/07/21

Playssey by Sudeep Chakravarti is an absolutely engaging and entertaining book, written with details of the intrigues vanity and unriddling the playing of economics and politics of the time, He has wonderfully delineated the cast of characters from the prejudiced and perceived conceptions.  and dusted the layered narratives over centuries that have passed since. Here is my conversation with Mr Suddep Chakravarti on his book Playssey. SUDEEP CHAKRAVARTI is an award-winning author of bestselling works of narrative non-fiction, including Plassey: The Battle that Changed the Course of Indian History, The Bengalis: A Portrait of Community (shortlisted for The Hindu Prize 2018, and Tata Literature Live! Award 2018) An extensively published columnist, he has over three decades of experience in media. Sudeep has worked with major global and Indian media orrganisations including the Asian Wall Street Journal, where he began his career and he has  held leadership positions at Sunday, the India Today Group, and HT Media. Here is our conversation on his intellectual journey and the journey of writing this book, including how we can engage with his work in relevance to today's world. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter handle: @Indiacolonised or visit us on ⁠www.indiacolonised.com⁠ . Don’t forget to visit our website for book recommendations and a complete reading list if you want to read more on India’s Modern History! Join us as we embark on this captivating journey, where we bridge the gap between academia and public discourse.We invite you to engage with us on social media, share your thoughts and experiences, and join the conversation. You can write to us on ⁠[email protected]⁠ Your support is invaluable, so please consider leaving a review on your favorite podcast platform. Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠ ; Website : ⁠www.ergostudios.net⁠ Insta : @ergo_studios Twitter: @ergo_studios

Today in our second Guftagu we have with us Dr Rohit De Discussing with us his book the People's Constituion- Law and Everyday Life in the Indian Republic (Princeton University Press) Rohit De is a lawyer and historian of modern South Asia and focuses on the legal history of the Indian subcontinent and the common law world.  As a legal historian he moves beyond asking what the law was; to what actors thought law was and how this knowledge shaped their quotidian tactics, thoughts and actions. In recent years, this has enabled his research to move beyond the political borders to South Asia to uncover transnational legal geographies of commerce, migration and rights across Africa, Southeast Asia and the Carribean. Professor De’s book A People’s Constitution: Law and Everyday Life in the Indian Republic (Princeton University Press) explores how the Indian constitution, despite its elite authorship and alien antecedents, came to be a part everyday life and imagination in India during its transition from a colonial state to a democratic republic. Mapping the use of constitutional language and procedure by diverse groups such as butchers and sex workers, street vendors and petty businessmen, journalists and women social workers, it offers a constitutional history from the lenses of the people . He continues to write on the social and intellectual foundations of constitutionalism in South Asia. Prof De is also interested in comparative constitutional law and is an Associate Research Scholar in Law at the Yale Law School. He has assisted Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan of the Supreme Court of India and worked on constitution reform projects in Nepal and Sri Lanka. He writes on contemporary legal issues in South Asia.  Prof De received his Ph.D from Princeton University, where he was elected to the Society of Woodrow Wilson Scholars. His dissertation won the Law and Society Association Prize for best representing outstanding work in law and society research in 2013. He was the Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre for History and Economics and a fellow of Trinity Hall at the University of Cambridge before coming to Yale in 2014.  Rohit received his law degrees from the Yale Law School and the National Law School of India University, Bangalore.   Rohit teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in South Asian history; postcolonial histories of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh; on Indian constitutional culture and political thought, South Asian diasporas and migration as well as courses on global legal history, law and colonialism and the legal profession. Here is our conversation on his intellectual journey and the journey of writing this book, including how we can engage with his work in relevance to today's world. Join us as we embark on this captivating journey, where we bridge the gap between academia and public discourse.We invite you to engage with us on social media, share your thoughts and experiences, and join the conversation. You can write to us on [email protected] Your support is invaluable, so please consider leaving a review on your favorite podcast platform. Email: [email protected] ; Website : www.ergostudios.net Insta : @ergo_studios Twitter: @ergo_studios This Episode was originally published on India Colonised on 11/07/2021

Our special and first guest to our series of interviews- Guftagu Dr Diniyar  Patel, is an  Assistant Professor of History at the S.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research in Mumbai. Previously, he taught in the Department of History at the University of South Carolina. He teaches courses on modern South Asia, the Indian nationalist movement, and the British Empire. Most of his research has focused on the life and career of Dadabhai Naoroji (1825-17), who, according to Dr Patel, is arguably the most significant Indian nationalist leader before Gandhi. Naoroji was one of the founders of the Indian National Congress, became the first Indian elected to the British Parliament in 1892, and, in 1906, declared swaraj or self-government to be the policy of the Indian National Congress. In 2015, He received his PhD in History from Harvard University. His biography on Dadabhai Naoroji, Naoroji: Pioneer of Indian Nationalism, was published by Harvard University Press in May 2020. Dr Patel's academic research focuses on the Indian nationalist movement, Bombay/Mumbai, and the Parsi Zoroastrian community. He has received two Fulbright fellowships and a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities for his research. During the interview, we will discuss Dr Patel's research interests, academic and intellectual journey, and the journey of writing his first book, Dadabhai Naoroji. (In this podcast episode, )We will talk about the life and struggles of the pioneer of Indian Nationalism and various intrigues of his lesser-known public life. Join us as we embark on this captivating journey, where we bridge the gap between academia and public discourse .We invite you to engage with us on social media, share your thoughts and experiences, and join the conversation. You can write to us on [email protected] Your support is invaluable, so please consider leaving a review on your favorite podcast platform. Email: [email protected] ; Website : www.ergostudios.net Insta : @ergo_studios Twitter: @ergo_studios Episode Originally Published on India Colonised in 2020