Pathway to India’s Partition: The Foundations of Muslim Nationalism (Volume 1)

$32.40

$36.00

In stock

Free & Quick Delivery Worldwide

This is the first of a three volume study of the background of India’s partition, decidedly one of the seminal developments in the history of the subcontinent. Rejecting the widely held view that partition was the result mainly of British manipulation and the mistakes or intransigence of certain Indian leaders, the author asserts that it was the result primarily of a powerful movement of Muslim nationalism. This volume is devoted to a discussion of the foundations of that nationalism. Dealing at the outset with the legacy of the past, the author disputes the theory of a perpetual, centuries-old conflict between two antagonistic civilisations in the political arena. At the same time he shows how both the Muslim and the Hindu elites had already become conscious of their separate identities before the era of their modern political awakening began in the second half of the nineteenth century. He then moves on to discuss the nature of the economic divide between the two communities and the intellectual as well as emotional environment of the Muslim elite. At the end the focus turns to Hindu nationalism and British policy both of which, in varying degrees, worked as props for Muslim nationalism. In every chapter an effort has been made to synthesize the results of latest researches as also to present fresh interpretations.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Bimal Prasad

Professor Bimal Prasad, formerly Professor of South Asian Studies and Dean, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University (New Delhi) and Indiaâ€™s Ambassador to Nepal, is at present Honorary Director, Rajendra Prasad Academy and Honorary Fellow, Nehru Memorial Museum & Library (both in New Delhi). Before joining the School of International Studies, Professor Prasad was Research Fellow at the Columbia University (New York) and Professor of History, Patna University. In later years he was Senior Fellow at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London and Visiting Professor at the University of Leeds. Professor Prasad has authored and edited several books relating to Modern Indian History and Foreign Policy. His latest work, Pathway to Indiaâ€™s Partition, is a trilogy of which two volumes have already been published: The Foundations of Muslim Nationalism (New Delhi, 1999) and A Nation within a Nation (New Delhi, 2000). A close associate of J.P., Professor Prasad has earlier edited three single-volume selections of his writings: Socialism, Sarvodaya and Democracy (Bombay, 1964), A Revolutionaryâ€™s Quest (New Delhi, 1980) and Jayaprakash Narayan: Essential Writings, 1929-79 (New Delhi, 2002). Besides, he has authored Gandhi, Nehru and J.P. : Studies in Leadership (New Delhi, 1985) and Jayaprakash Narayan: Quest and Legacy (New Delhi, 1992).