San Antonio College Library

"Following the routes of the cotton, tea, and opium trade that connected the West and the East throughout history, Gilbert describes South Asia's classical Hindu and Buddhist empires, the coming of Islam to South Asia, the local impact of the Mongol invasions, the splendors of the Mughal Empire, the expansion of British colonial dominion, and the development of South Asian modern nations-Nepal, Pakistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, India, the Maldives, and...

"In Jonah Blank's important, myth-shattering book, the West gets its first look at the Daudi Bohras, a unique Muslim denomination who have found the core of their religious beliefs largely compatible with modern ideology. Combining orthodox Muslim prayer, dress, and practice with secular education, relative gender equality, and Internet use, this community serves as a surprising reminder that the central values of 'modernity' are hardly limited to...

"The Self Possessed is a multifaceted, diachronic study reconsidering the very nature of religion in South Asia, the culmination of years of intensive research. Frederick M. Smith proposes that positive oracular or ecstatic possession is the most common form of spiritual expression in India, and that it has been linguistically distinguished from negative, disease-producing possession for thousands of years. In South Asia possession has always been...

"In Midnight's Descendants, John Keay presents the first general history of present-day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka and its peoples. The book examines the complex web of affiliations--of kinship, locality, language, tribe, clan, profession, and caste--that shape relations among the countries in the region. Keay argues that correlating and contrasting the fortunes of all the constituent nations since the 1947 partition affords...

"Since 1971, Pakistan has evolved into a praetorian state plagued by army interventions and corrupt civilian governments. Nevertheless, the tunnel-vision of General Musharraf triggered a political implosion in 2007, and widespread dismay over the assassination of Benazir Bhutto has led Pakistanis to vote overwhelmingly for unfettered civilian rule and the diminishment of religious parties. In contrast, the Bangladesh Army seems intent on returning...

"Each of the book's 15 chapters introduces readers to a significant Indian, Pakistani, or Sri Lankan writer. A brief biographical background focuses on the elements most relevant to the understanding of his or her fiction. A concise overview of the author's major works is provided, while the bulk of the chapter is devoted to the explication of a single work. Critical perspectives are offered, as well as background information enabling readers to view...

This hard-hitting and timely book explores the roots of militant Islam in South Asia and how it has grown to become a source of profound global alarm. By meticulously tracking the rise of the jihadist movement from its initial violence in Afghanistan in 1980 to the present day, Dilip Hiro challenges conventional narratives of the roles of Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Soviet Union, the United States, and India. He warns that the Line of Control in Kashmir,...