: Invention of India Manan Ahmed Asif creator text London Harvard 2020 1 monographic eng Eng lis h

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This book argues that before European colonial rule, the peoples of present-day India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh shared a broader political and cultural identity known as "Hindustan." Through an examination of Persian, Sanskrit, Urdu, and other historical sources, especially the writings of the seventeenth-century historian Muhammad Qasim Firishta, Asif explores how colonial historiography transformed the idea of a pluralistic Hindustan into the modern concept of India defined primarily through religious categories. The work is a significant contribution to South Asian historiography, intellectual history, and debates about identity, nationhood, and colonial knowledge production. South Asia—History Colonialism and historical interpretation Historical geography—South Asia 954 MAN/LO 9780674252745 260609