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A Probing Look Beyond Hindutva To Get To The Heart Of Gujarat. Many Aspects Of Modern Gujarati Society And Polity Appear Puzzling. A Society Which For Centuries Absorbed Diverse People Today Appears Insular And Parochial, And While It Is One Of The Most Prosperous States In India, A Quarter Of Its Population Lives Below The Poverty Line. Drawing On Academic And Scholarly Sources, Autobiographies, Letters, Literature And Folksongs, Achyut Yagnik And Suchitra Sheth Attempt To Understand And Explain These Paradoxes. They Trace The History Of Gujarat From The Time Of The Indus Valley Civilization, When Gujarati Society Came To Be A Synthesis Of Diverse Peoples And Cultures, To The State S Encounters With The Turks, Marathas And The Portuguese, Which Sowed The Seeds Of Communal Disharmony. Taking A Closer Look At The Nineteenth And Twentieth Centuries, The Authors Explore The Political Tensions, Social Dynamics And Economic Forces That Contributed To Making The State What It Is Today: The Impact Of The British Policies; The Process Of Industrialization And Urbanization, And The Rise Of The Middle Class; The Emergence Of The Idea Of Swadeshi ; The Coming Of Gandhi And His Attempts To Transform Society And Politics By Bringing Together Diverse Gujarati Cultural Sources; And The Series Of Communal Riots That Rocked Gujarat Even As The State Was Consumed By Nationalist Fervour. With Independence And Statehood, The Government Encouraged A New Model Of Development, Which Marginalized Dalits, Adivasis And Minorities Even Further. This Was Accompanied By The Emergence Of Identity Politics Based On The Hindutva Ideology, And Violence In Multiple Forms Became Increasingly Visible, Overshadowing Gujarat S Image As One Of The Most Industrialized, Urbanized And Globalized Societies In India. The Authors Conclude That This Trajectory Of Gujarat S Modern History Has Been Propelled By Its Powerful Middle Class And Future Directions Would Depend On How This Section Of Society Resolves Global Local Tensions And How They Make Their Peace With The Past.
Looking at the 19th and 20th centuries, and drawing on scholarly sources, this book traces the history of Gujurat from the time of the Indus Valley civilization, where Gujarati society came to be a synthesis of diverse cultures, to the state's encounters with the Turks, Marathas and the Portuguese.
This book is a collection of essays written over the last five decades to document events related to the communal politics that have flourished in Gujarat. It features chapters on the historical aspects of communalism and the growth of the BJP in Gujarat, particularly focusing on its electoral politics.
The birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi and the land that produced Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, Gujarat has been at the centre-stage of South Asia’s political iconography for more than a century. As Gujarat, created as a separate state in 1960, celebrates its golden jubilee this collection of essays critically explores the many paradoxes and complexities of modernity and politics in the state. The contributors provide much-needed insights into the dominant impulses of identity formation, cultural change, political mobilisation, religious movements and modes of communication that define modern Gujarat. This book touches upon a fascinating range of topics – the identity debates at the heart of the idea of modern Gujarat; the trajectory of Gujarati politics from the 1950s to the present day; bootlegging, the practice of corruption and public power; vegetarianism and violence; urban planning and the enabling infrastructure of antagonism; global diasporas and provincial politics – providing new insights into understanding the enigma of Gujarat. Going well beyond the boundaries of Gujarat and engaging with larger questions about democracy and diversity in India, this book will appeal to those interested in South Asian Studies, politics, sociology, history as well as the general reader. This book was published as a special issue of South Asian History and Culture.
Founded in 1411 by Sultan Ahmed Shah on the banks of the river Sabarmati, Ahmedabad is today India's seventh largest city and also one of the subcontinent's few medieval cities which continues to be prosperous and important. Soon after it was established, the royal city of Ahmedabad became the commercial and cultural capital of Gujarat. When the Mughal Empire annexed Gujarat in 1572, Ahmedabad lost its political pre-eminence, but continued to flourish as a great trading centre connecting the silk route with the spice route. Briefly under the Marathas in the eighteenth century, Ahmedabad experienced a dimming of its fortunes, but with the beginning of British control from the early nineteenth century the city reasserted its mercantile ethos, even as it began questioning age-old social hierarchies. The opening of the first textile mill in 1861 was a turning point and by the end of the century Ahmedabad was known as the Manchester of the East. When Gandhi returned to India from South Africa in 1915, looking for a place where he could establish 'an institution for the whole of India', it was Ahmedabad he chose. With the setting up of his Sabarmati Ashram, the great manufacturing centre also became a centre for new awakening. It became the political hub of India, radiating the message of freedom struggle based on truth and non-violence. After Independence, it emerged as one of the fastest-growing cities of India and in the 1960s Ahmedabadis pioneered institutions of higher education and research in new fields such as space sciences, management, design and architecture. Yet, through the centuries, Ahmedabad's prosperity has been punctuated by natural disasters and social discord, from famines and earthquakes to caste and religious violence. Ahmedabadis have tried to respond to these, trying to meld economic progress with a new culture of social harmony. Coinciding with the 600th anniversary of the founding of Ahmedabad, this broad brush history highlights socio-economic patterns that emphasize Indo-Islamic and Indo-European synthesis and continuity, bringing the focus back to the pluralistic heritage of this medieval city. Evocative profiles of Ahmedabadi merchants, industrialists, poets and saints along with descriptions and illustrations of the city's art and architecture bring alive the city and its citizens.
India, Modernity and the Great Divergence is an original and pioneering book about India’s transition towards modernity and the rise of the West. The work examines global entanglements alongside the internal dynamics of 17th to 19th century Mysore and Gujarat in comparison to other regions of Afro-Eurasia. It is an interdisciplinary survey that enriches our historical understanding of South Asia, ranging across the fascinating and intertwined worlds of modernizing rulers, wealthy merchants, curious scholars, utopian poets, industrious peasants and skilled artisans. Bringing together socio-economic and political structures, warfare, techno-scientific innovations, knowledge production and transfer of ideas, this book forces us to rethink the reasons behind the emergence of the modern world.
Ramachandra Guha’s India after Gandhi is a magisterial account of the pains, struggles, humiliations and glories of the world’s largest and least likely democracy. A riveting chronicle of the often brutal conflicts that have rocked a giant nation, and of the extraordinary individuals and institutions who held it together, it established itself as a classic when it was first published in 2007. In the last decade, India has witnessed, among other things, two general elections; the fall of the Congress and the rise of Narendra Modi; a major anti-corruption movement; more violence against women, Dalits, and religious minorities; a wave of prosperity for some but the persistence of poverty for others; comparative peace in Nagaland but greater discontent in Kashmir than ever before. This tenth anniversary edition, updated and expanded, brings the narrative up to the present. Published to coincide with seventy years of the country’s independence, this definitive history of modern India is the work of one of the world’s finest scholars at the height of his powers.