Reinventing caste : Islam and hierarchy in late colonial India / Ashish Koul.

Author/creator Koul, Ashish author.
Format Book
PublicationStanford, California : Stanford University Press, [2026]
Descriptionxvii, 267 pages : illustrations, map ; 24 cm.
Subjects
Arains--History. --19th century.
Arains--History. --20th century.
Muslims--India. --History. --19th century.
Muslims--India. --History. --20th century.
Caste--India. --History. --19th century.
Caste--India. --History. --20th century.
Caste--Religious aspects. --Islam.

SeriesSouth Asia in motion
South Asia in motion http://id.loc.gov/resources/hubs/e5970285-124d-adb5-1142-6f8f79eb52c8
Contents Arab-Muslims -- Market-gardeners Muslim in little but name -- Caste anjuman and Muslim politics -- Caste between colonial and Quranic law -- Caste for Muslim unity.
Abstract "This book reveals that caste, usually assumed to be a feature of Hindu society, was in fact a trans-religious phenomenon in colonial India, as it is today. Even in an Islamic religious milieu that was supposed to be more egalitarian than hierarchical Hinduism, colonial Indian subjects thought and acted in terms of caste. Through a focus on one agrarian Muslim caste of colonial India known as Arains, Ashish Koul shows how some Muslims transmuted caste and emplaced it within the Islamic tradition of their time. In late nineteenth-early twentieth century India, Arain Muslims were derogatively called mali-- gardener--instead of what they wished to be seen as--respectable landholders. Seeking to refute such negative portrayals, a group of elite Arain Muslim landholders and educated professionals came together to develop a new Islamic vocabulary for caste. Through a variety of primary sources in English and Urdu, Koul analyzes the intricacies of caste, religion, and politics among Muslims in colonial India. By asserting that being Arain was a true way of being Muslim, elite Arains were able to intervene in significant debates about Muslim identity, colonial law, and political representation. Ultimately, this book demonstrates that in order to understand why caste persists among South Asians, we must examine how caste consciousness has been entrenched within multiple religious traditions"-- Provided by publisher.
Bibliography noteIncludes bibliographical references and index.
Issued in other formOnline version http://id.loc.gov/entities/relationships/onlineversion Koul, Ashish Reinventing caste Stanford, California : Stanford University Press, 2026 9781503646728
LCCN 2025051274
ISBN9781503646711
ISBN9781503645455 hardcover
ISBN1503645452 hardcover
ISBN1503646718 paperback
ISBNelectronic publication

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