Region, Nationality and Religion

What are the points at which religion and nationality interconnect within the history of any region? How is nationalist thought structured and moulded? In what way does it work towards influencing the reading of history? These are few of the questions that continue to perplex, even as various schools of thought attempt to find ways of understanding the present through an analysis of the past.This book undertakes a cultural study of colonial India, with a special focus on Maharashtra as the site of changing political, socio-economic, religious trends. The interface between rural-urban identities, liberal and conservative political traditions, modern secular and socialist ideologies is analyzed in the context of the shadow of colonial rule. The different essays examine imperialism and the politics of power, the struggle between tradition and modernity, the impact of the missionaries and the fervour of nationalist thought that reverberated through the streets in the form of Prabhat Pheris.These essays offer significant insights into the history and culture of Maharashtra, and shed light on several issues concerning the Indian nation-state.