The Languages of Political Islam: India 1200-1800

by Muzaffar Alam

The Languages of Political Islam illuminates the diverse ways in which Islam, from the time of its arrival in India in the twelfth century through its height as the ruling theology to its decline, adapted to its new cultural context to become "Indianized."

Muzaffar Alam shows that the adoption of Arabo-Persian Islam in India changed the manner in which Islamic rule and governance were conducted. Islamic regulation and statecraft in a predominately Hindu country required strategic shifts from the original Islamic injunctions. Islamic principles could not regulate beliefs in a vast country without accepting cultural limitations and limits on the exercise of power. As a result of cultural adaptation, Islam was in the end forced to reinvent its principles for religious rule. Acculturation also forced key Islamic terms to change so fundamentally that Indian Islam could be said to have acquired a character substantially different from the Islam practiced outside of India.

Genres: History, Islam, India, Nonfiction, Religion, Politics

200 pages, Hardcover

First published March 5, 2013

About the author

Muzaffar Alam is a historian and professor of south asian languages and civilization trained at Jamia Millia Islamia (New Delhi), Aligarh Muslim University and Jawaharlal Nehru University (New Delhi), where he obtained his doctorate in history in 1977. Before joining the SALC at the University of Chicago in 2001, he taught for three decades at the Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, and has held visiting positions in the Collège de France (Paris), Leiden University, University of Wisconsin (Madison), and the EHESS (Paris). His working languages include Persian, Arabic, Hindi and Urdu. Professor Alam has taught courses on the history of the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughal empire, and he has also worked closely with students on advanced Urdu and Persian literary and historical texts.

Reviews

[Humaira Afreen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This scholarly work is much a history of ideas than political history. It is written thematically and is quite unique in its approach to shedding light on the unexplored areas of the medieval and early modern period in South Asia. It succinctly explores the nature of ethical literature, and also discusses the role of Persian during this period. The only shortcoming is its highly generalized nature where the ideas and information are broadly discussed and are not sufficiently backed by political history.
I would personally not recommend this book to anyone who is not well versed with Sultanate or Mughal historiography or political history. For those who are obsessed with scholarly works on the Sultanate and Mughal period, do give it a try. It is lucidly composed and has some mind-blowing arguments.

[MM · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good reference book.

Thesis = to deal with the political nuances of managing a diverse (religiously/culturally/linguistically) populace, during the Mughals there were several streams of Islamic and Islamic-adjacent thought that modified or were in tension with sharii requirements

Studied =
1) Sufis (Chishtis, primarily, as well as Naqshbandis)
2) Poets (Amir Khusrau, primarily)
3) Badauni

Concern = lack of clarity around the sharii requirements regarding dhimmis- more or less taken for granted that it would correspond with the most stringent/harshest views

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

So boring and difficult if you don't know anything about the topic; my entire class struggled with it.

[Azam Ch. · Rating 5 out of 5]

really insightful book,
muzaffar alam is perhaps one of the most (if not the most) insightful human beings on the topic of indo-persianate islam,

this book spoke of the language, motif, ideas and ideals in political islam and dealt from the non-secular early ideas to the secular ideals based on tusi and its massive influence,
and it also spoke to indo-sufism which is a gem and perhaps one of a kind from chisti folkfore, to muslim-pagan syncretic motifs to perennialism and blurring of lines,
and it was really beautiful and insightful to read.

loved dis book.