The establishment of the Indian National Congress in 1885 marked a turning point in modern South Asian history. At the time, few grasped the significance of the event, nor understood the power that its leader would come to wield. From humble beginnings, the Congress led by Gandhi would go on to spearhead India s fight for independence from British rule: in 1947 it succeeded the British Raj as the regional ruling power. Ian Copland provides both a narrative and analysis of the process by wh...

Offering the first long-duration analysis of the relationship between the state and religion in South Asia, this book looks at the nature and origins of Indian secularism. It interrogates the proposition that communalism in India is wholly a product of colonial policy and modernisation, questions whether the Indian state has generally been a benign, or disruptive, influence on public religious life, and evaluates the claim that the region has spawned a culture of practical toleration....

Since the partition of the subcontinent along communal lines, political violence has increased in South Asia. Terrorism is one such manifestation of this violence. This book witnesses serious assessment of various aspects of terrorism that are affecting South Asia as eight scholars of international repute take a closer look at the problem. These essays discuss how terrorist activity in the region during the past few decades can be directly linked to religion-centric violence. Apart from ot...