Religious Tradition and Culture in Eighteenth Century North India

Book excerpt: Religious Tradition and Culture in Eighteenth Century Northern India contends that the 'decline' in the political scenario of eighteenth century India did not imply an all-round decay and stagnation of society, especially in its religious and cultural realms. The emergence of regional forces, following the disintegration of the Mughal empire, greatly aided the promotion of regional centres which provided the grounds for a religious and cultural efflorescence. Shifting the focus away from the oft-examined political and economic aspects of the eighteenth century transition, the book studies a wide array of primary sources in Persian and in Urdu, to instead bring the study of intellectual and cultural trends to the centre-stage of historiography. It has brought into prominence the vibrant religious-intellectual outpouring, the Shia-Sunni polemics, educational innovations, growth and spread of Urdu and its entanglement with regional sensibilities and regional networks of patronage.