The Secret Life of Another Indian Nationalism : Transitions From the Pax Britannica to the Pax Americana

Nationalism is among the most influential ideas that has shaped the 'Metamorphoses of the Political' in the long twentieth century. This book focuses on exclusivist Indian nationalism and identifies its distinction from inclusivist nationalism. It highlights shifts in 'another Indian nationalism' over the last two centuries as the geopolitical context has transitioned from the Pax Britannica to the Pax Americana and its war on terror. The books braids the following three strands together: first, a majoritarian nationalist ideology called Hindutva; second, the making of popular history as a precolonial epic is highlighted, depicting the defeat of the last Hindu Emperor by a conquering Muslim Sultan purportedly leading to eight centuries of Hindu enslavement and third, the 'reconversion' of a community by the Visva Hindu Parishad with consequences for Lived Hinduism and Indic civilisation with its complex identities. "The Secret Life of An Other Indian Nationalism is a study of the genealogy of right-wing Indian nationalism. Identifying two different kinds of nationalisms, the proposal focuses on exclusivist (Savarkar) as distinct from inclusivist Indian nationalism (Gandhi) that would deny belonging to a major section of the population. At its core are the Mer, a forest community that was subject to violent colonial conquest and sedentarisation and later to the colonisation of the mind through popular history and ideological religion. This book tracks the conjuncture of this community, ideology and texts over two centuries, from 1820 to 2019 based on conventional, textual and oral history archives. Two of the main themes of the book are popular history and popular religion. It examines how religious nationalism fabricates a popular and phantasmagorical history to craft identity, individual and collective, and details how the modern category of "religion" fostered by Hindutva seeks to overlay the complex world of lived Hinduism"-- Provided by publisher Nationalism is among the most influential ideas that has shaped the 'Metamorphoses of the Political' in the long twentieth century. The Secret Life of AnOther Indian Nationalism focuses on exclusivist Indian nationalism and identifies its distinction from inclusivist nationalism. It highlights shifts in 'anOther Indian nationalism' over the last two centuries as the geopolitical context has transitioned from the Pax Britannica to the Pax Americana and its war on terror. The book braids the following three strands together: first, a majoritarian nationalist ideology called Hindutva; second, the making of popular history as a precolonial epic is highlighted, depicting the defeat of the last Hindu emperor by a conquering Muslim sultan purportedly leading to eight centuries of Hindu enslavement; and third, the 'reconversion' of a community by the Visva Hindu Parishad with consequences for lived Hinduism and Indic civilisation with its complex identities 00. 9781108832571 01.0_pp_i_iv_Frontmatter 02.0_pp_v_vi_Dedication 03.0_pp_vii_viii_Contents 04.0_pp_ix_x_List_of_Figures 05.0_pp_xi_xii_List_of_Abbreviations 06.0_pp_xiii_xvi_Preface 07.0_pp_xvii_xx_Acknowledgements 08.0_pp_xxi_xxii_Note_on_Transliteration 09.0_pp_1_43_Introduction_Colonialism_Orientalism_Nationalism_and_the_Shaping_of_Popular_History_and_Religion 10.0_pp_44_85_Orienting_the_Vernacular_Imaginaire_James_Tod_and_Indian_Nationalism 11.0_pp_86_120_War_and_Violence_in_Savarkars_View_of_Indian_History 12.0_pp_121_151_Nationalism_and_Time_The_Vishva_Hindu_Parishads_Fantasmagorical_History 13.0_pp_152_190_Transforming_Hinduism_The_Politics_of_Vishva_Hindu_Parishad_Conversion 14.0_pp_191_226_AnOther_History_of_Religion 15.0_pp_227_264_Sushila_Rawat_the_Healer_of_Husain_Tekri_Myth_and_Medical_Pluralism_as_Resistance_to_Hindutva 16.0_pp_265_289_Index