Mridu Rai | |
---|---|
Nationality | Indian |
Title | Professor |
Academic background | |
Education | University of Delhi Jawaharlal Nehru University Columbia University |
Thesis | The Question of Religion in Kashmir: Sovereignty, Legitimacy and Rights, 1846–1947 (2000) |
Doctoral advisor | Ayesha Jalal |
Academic work | |
Discipline | Historian |
Sub-discipline | Modern History of South Asia |
Institutions | Presidency University,Kolkata Trinity College,Dublin Yale University Bowdoin College |
Notable works | Hindu Rulers,Muslim Subjects |
Mridu Rai is an Indian historian who serves as a professor at Presidency University,Kolkata. Rai is the author of the prizewinning book Hindu Rulers,Muslim Subjects:Islam,Rights,and the History of Kashmir (2004).
Mridu Rai graduated with an honours in history from the University of Delhi in 1986. She completed her master's degree,with a major in medieval Indian history,from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in 1988. She finished her M.Phil. in 1991,with medieval Indian history as her major. She completed her M.Phil. in modern South Asian history at Columbia University in 1994. Then she completed her PhD in modern South Asian history from the same university in 2000. Her Ph.D. dissertation was called:'The Question of Religion in Kashmir:Sovereignty,Legitimacy and Rights,1846–1947'. The dissertation analysed the mixture of religion and politics in Kashmir and examined the Hindu state in princely Jammu and Kashmir. [1] [2] [3]
In 1997–1998,Rai taught as a visiting lecturer at Tufts University. In 1999,she taught as an adjunct instructor at Columbia University. Between 1999 and 2007,she served as assistant professor first at Bowdoin College and later at Yale University. From 2007 to 2010,she served as an associate professor at Yale University. In 2010–2011,Rai was a research fellow at the Davis Centre for Historical Studies at Princeton University. From 2011 to 2014,she taught at Trinity College,Dublin,where she was a member of the Department of History. [2] Since 2014,she is serving as a professor at Presidency University,Kolkata. [1] [3]
She has held senior research fellowships at Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center,Yale University (2007–2010) and the American Institute of Indian Studies (2007–2008). She was an Honorary Fellow of Netaji Institute for Asian Studies in Kolkata from 2017 to 2018. She also held the Whitney Griswold Fellowship at Yale University. Rai has also obtained the Morse Fellowship at Yale University (2004–2005),the Freeman Foundation Fellowship for Faculty Research at Bowdoin College (2000) and the University Traveling Fellowship in Columbia University (1994–1995). In 2016,Rai also was on a Cambridge-Hamied Visiting Lecturership at the Centre of South Asian Studies in the University of Cambridge. [3]
Rai teaches all aspects of Indian history.,including imperial and colonial history. She also supervises master's degree dissertations. [1] She is currently working on a history of Kashmir and on the geography of justice pertaining to caste violence in North India. [3]
Her book Hindu Rulers, Muslim Subjects won a prize for the "first best book on an international subject" from Yale University. [3]
In 2004, Rai published Hindu Rulers, Muslim Subjects: Islam, Rights, and the History of Kashmir. [4]
W.W. Reinhardt of Randolph-Macon College notes that Rai's scholarly work examines Kashmiri history since the state of Jammu and Kashmir was "bizzarely[ sic?] created" in 1846, how Gulab Singh cemented his "dubious position" with reference to Hindu symbolism and how the Kashmiri Muslim population fell into a condition of "abject helplessness" by the 1930s. Weinhardt concludes by giving the book his highest recommendation for all levels. [5]
Sumit Ganguly in a review in the Journal of Asian Studies, notes "Rai's contribution lies in the extremely thorough and painstaking documentation". He adds that, "her account of the growth of Muslim religio-political consciousness in the early part of the twentieth century ... unearths a wealth of detail. He further adds that, "Rai's book is a useful one. Those interested in understanding the background of the continuing tragedy in Kashmir will find much to consider in her substantial account of the historical backdrop". [6] Tapan Raychaudhri calls Rai's account of the way the sovereignty of the Dogras, with no basis in Kashmir, interacted with the British rule, "illuminating." [7]
Alexander Evans of the King's College London calls the book "a major contribution to Kashmir studies". He adds that it sets "the standard for the next generation of publications on Kashmir. Challenging the existing literature, this work is heady and fresh—and deserves attention." [8]
Peter van der Veer of the University of Amsterdam notes that the book reminds readers of the "crucial importance of colonial history to the present". He adds that Rai is "able to de-essentialize religion and secularism in the Kashmir conflict, which is very useful in light of India's secularist claims and the ways in which some sociologists have theorized those claims". He further adds: "Carefully researched and lucidly conceptualized and written, this book forwards an important thesis on an important topic". [8]
Sugata Bose of Harvard University calls it "a brilliant work of historical scholarship that will become indispensable reading". [9] He further added that it is "a pioneering historical study of rights, religion, and regional identity in Kashmir that could also inspire future studies on other regions of the subcontinent". [8]
Roger D. Long in the 'History: Reviews of New Books' journal, notes that the book "is a post-modernist tract and an exercise in the usual identity politics that aims to 'reinsert' the people of Kashmir into the history of the state". Long concludes that this is a useful work for Kashmir's history since 1846. [10] Aaron Peron Ogletree reiterates the value of Rai's work on Kashmiri history. [11]
Chandra D. Bhatta calls it an "excellent piece of historical scholarship." Raychaudhri observes that this "highly scholarly work" examines the role of religion in Kashmir's geopolitics since 1846. Rai examines the legitimacy of the Dogra state and argues that its fall lay in its sidelining of the Muslim population in favour of Hindu nationalism. Bhatta concludes by highlighting that the book is a "valuable contribution" to the scholarship on Kashmir. [12]
Kashmir is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. The term has since come to encompass a larger area that includes the India-administered territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, the Pakistan-administered territories of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, and the Chinese-administered territories of Aksai Chin and the Trans-Karakoram Tract.
The history of Kashmir is intertwined with the history of the broader Indian subcontinent in South Asia with influences from the surrounding regions of Central, and East Asia. Historically, Kashmir referred to only the Kashmir Valley of the western Himalayas. Today, it denotes a larger area that includes the Indian-administered union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, the Pakistan-administered territories of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, and the Chinese-administered regions of Aksai Chin and the Trans-Karakoram Tract.
The Kashmiri Pandits are a group of Kashmiri Hindus and a part of the larger Saraswat Brahmin community of India. They belong to the Pancha Gauda Brahmin group from the Kashmir Valley, located within the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Kashmiri Pandits are Hindu Kashmiris native to the Kashmir Valley, and the only remaining Hindu Kashmiris after the large-scale conversion of the Valley's population to Islam during medieval times. Prompted by the growth of Islamic militancy in the valley, large numbers left in the exodus of the 1990s. Even so, small numbers remain.
Sir Hari Singh was the last ruling Maharaja of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir of the Dogra dynasty.
The Kashmir conflict is a territorial conflict over the Kashmir region, primarily between India and Pakistan, and also between China and India in the northeastern portion of the region. The conflict started after the partition of India in 1947 as both India and Pakistan claimed the entirety of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. It is a dispute over the region that escalated into three wars between India and Pakistan and several other armed skirmishes. India controls approximately 55% of the land area of the region that includes Jammu, the Kashmir Valley, most of Ladakh, the Siachen Glacier, and 70% of its population; Pakistan controls approximately 30% of the land area that includes Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan; and China controls the remaining 15% of the land area that includes the Aksai Chin region, the mostly uninhabited Trans-Karakoram Tract, and part of the Demchok sector.
Kashmiris are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group speaking the Kashmiri language and originating from the Kashmir Valley, which is today located in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir.
Bhimber is a town and the headquarters of the eponymous district in Pakistan-administered Azad Kashmir. The town and district are between the Jammu region of Indian-administered Kashmir and Pakistan proper, about 47 km (29 mi) by road southeast of Mirpur.
Pratap Singh was the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, and head of the Jamwal Rajput clan of the ruling Dogra dynasty.
Jamwal is a toponymic surname for a Dogra Rajput clan of the same name from Jammu, in Jammu and Kashmir, India. They claim descent from the traditional founder of Jammu, Jambu Lochan, and there at one time some of their members were rulers of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, often referred to as the Dogra dynasty.
Kashmiri Muslims are ethnic Kashmiris who practice Islam and are native to the Kashmir Valley of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir. The majority of Kashmiri Muslims are Sunni, while Shias form a minority. They refer to themselves as "Koshur" in the Kashmiri language.
Jammu and Kashmir, also known as Kashmir and Jammu, was a princely state in a subsidiary alliance with the British East India Company from 1846 to 1858 and under the paramountcy of the British Crown, from 1858 until the Partition of India in 1947, when it became a disputed territory, now administered by three countries: China, India, and Pakistan. The princely state was created after the First Anglo-Sikh War, when the East India Company, which had annexed the Kashmir Valley, from the Sikhs as war indemnity, then sold it to the Raja of Jammu, Gulab Singh, for rupees 75 lakhs.
Islam is the majority religion practised in Kashmir, with 97.16% of the region's population identifying as Muslims as of 2014. The religion came to the region with the arrival of Mir sayed Ali shah Hamdani, a Muslim Sufi preacher from Central Asia and Persia, beginning in the early 14th century. The majority of Kashmiri Muslims are Sunni Muslims.
Miyan are Rajput clans of Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh states in India.
Pir Budhan Shah, also called Baba Budhan Ali Shah, Peer Baba, and Sayyed Shamsuddin, was a venerated Sufi pir who held a religious discourse with Guru Nanak in Rawalpindi and later accepted Gurmat thought during the times of Guru Hargobind. He was a Sufi Muslim by birth he was born in Talwandi, the same village as Guru Nanak. He is venerated by Sikhs, Muslims, and Hindus. It is believed that he lived for around 500 years.
Jammu is a city in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region. It is the winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir, which is an Indian-administered union territory. It is the headquarters and the largest city in Jammu district. Lying on the banks of the river Tawi, the city of Jammu, with an area of 240 km2 (93 sq mi), is surrounded by the Himalayas in the north and the northern plains in the south. Jammu is the second-most populous city of the union territory. Jammu is known as "City of Temples" for its ancient temples and Hindu shrines.
The Exodus of Kashmiri Hindus, or Pandits, is their early-1990 migration, or flight, from the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley in Indian-administered Kashmir following rising violence in an insurgency. Of a total Pandit population of 120,000–140,000 some 90,000–100,000 left the valley or felt compelled to leave by the middle of 1990, by which time about 30–80 of them are said to have been killed by militants.
A widespread agitation throughout the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir in British Raj occurred in 1931 against the Maharaja's government. The Maharaja was forced to appoint the Glancy Commission to investigate the people's concerns. Various political reforms were adopted including the introduction of the Jammu and Kashmir Praja Sabha. The movement also saw the rise of Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah as the leader of Kashmiris. The movement was funded by some well-to-do Muslim Zaildars and business houses.
The following is a timeline of the Kashmir conflict during the period 1846–1946.
Under Dogra rule, people in the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir launched several political movements. Despite ideological differences and varying goals they aimed to improve the status of Muslims in a state ruled by a Hindu dynasty.
Chitralekha Zutshi is a historian of Kashmir and an endowed chair Professor of History at the College of William and Mary, USA.