Religion and Religiousity Course
Religion and Religiousity Course
Religion and Religiousity Course
Course Objectives:
This course seeks to provide an understanding of (a) multiple religious traditions that flourished
through the ages in the Indian subcontinent; (b) how each religious tradition is dynamic and
changing in relation to each other and in relation to its own past; (c) the ways in which each ex-
panded or contracted; (d) how the modern Indian state and its constitution dealt with the issue of
multiplicity of beliefs; and (e) to understand the varied scholarly approaches to each of the issues
outlined above.
Learning Outcomes:
Course Content:
Unit-III: Socialisation and Dissemination in the Medieval and Early Modern Era
a. Scholarly Approaches to Brahmanization in the Early Medieval Era
b. Scholarly Approaches to Islamisation (or ‘Conversion to Islam’) in the Medieval
Period
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c. Religious Identities in the Medieval Period; Representation of the Self and the Other
Unit-I. The unit should familiarise students with diverse religious traditions that originated in the
Indian –subcontinent. It also explores intellectual currents that questioned them.(Teaching Time:
3 weeks Approx.)
Unit.2. The unit equips students toanalyse and articulate the long-term changes that each reli-
gious tradition undergoes in a dynamic relationship with its own past, with non-religious aspects
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of life, and with other religious traditions.(Teaching Time: 3 weeks Approx.)
• Rizvi, S.A.A. (1978). A History of Sufism, vol. 1. Delhi: MunshiramManoharlal. (The chap-
ters on Chishtiyya and Suhrawardiyya are useful)
• Digby, Simon. (1986). ‘The Sufi Shaykh as a Source of Authority in Medieval India’, Pu-
rusartha, vol. 9, pp. 57-78. Reprinted in India’s Islamic Traditions, 711-1750, edited by
Richard M. Eaton, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2003, pp. 234-62.
• Digby, Simon. (1990). ‘The Sufi Shaykh and the Sultan: A Conflict of Claims to Authority in
Medieval India’, Iran, vol. 28, pp. 71-81.
• Grewal, J. S. (1993). Contesting Interpretations of the Sikh Traditions, Delhi: Manohar.
Unit-3. The segment enquires into varied scholarly approaches to the issues pertaining to mul-
tiple religious traditions that flourished through the ages and how each religious tradition is
changing in relation to each other and in the ways in which each expanded or contracted.(Teach-
ing Time: 3 weeksApprox.)
• Eaton, Richard. (1987). ‘Approaches to the Study of Conversion to Islam in India’, in Islam
in Religious Studies, edited by Richard C. Martin, New York: One World Press, pp. 106-23.
• Chakrabarti, Kunal. (1992). ‘Anthropological Models of Cultural Interaction and the Study of
Religious Process’, Studies in History, vol. 8 (1), pp. 123-49.
• Eck, Diana L. (1981). “India’s ‘Tirthas’: ‘Crossings’ in Sacred Geography”, History of Reli-
gions, vol. 20 (4), pp. 323-44.
• Wagoner, Philip. (1996). ‘Sultan among Hindu Kings: Dress, Titles, and the Islamicization of
Hindu Culture at Vijayanagara,’ Journal of Asian Studies, vol. 55, no. 4, pp. 851-80.
• Chattopadhyaya, B. D. (1998). Representing the Other: Sanskrit Sources and the Muslims
(Eighth to Fourteenth Centuries), Delhi: Manohar.
• च ट्टो पा ध्या य , बृ ज दु ल ा ल . (2007). “ आ क्र ा म क ों औ र श ा स क ों क ी छ ि व य ां ” ,
मध्यकालीनभारतकासांस्कृितकइितहास.मीनाक्षीखन्ना, (संपािदत) (अनुवादउमाशंकरशमार्' ऋिष’), नयीिदल्ली:
ओिरएण्टलब्लैकस्वान, पृष्ठ, 107-133
• Talbot, Cynthia. (1995). ‘Inscribing the Other, Inscribing the Self: Hindu-Muslim Identities
in Pre-colonial India’, Comparative Studies in Society and History, vol. 37, no. 4, pp.
692-722.
Unit-4:This section should apprise students toIdentify and describe the formation of religious
boundaries, identities and the scope for the liminal spaces in between. (Teaching Time: 3 week-
sApprox.)
• Green, Nile. (2011). Bombay Islam: The Religious Economy of the West Indian Ocean, Delhi:
Cambridge. (Particularly relevant is pp. 49-89)
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• Oberoi, Harjot. (1994). The Construction of Religious Boundaries: Culture, Identity and Di-
versity in the Sikh Tradition, Delhi: OUP. (Particularly relevant is pp. 1-40).
• Pandey, Gyanendra. (2006). The Construction of Communalism in Colonial North India,
Delhi: OUP. (Especially relevant portion is pp. 201-261).
Unit-5. The focus is on how the modern Indian state and its constitution dealt with the issue of
multiplicity of beliefs and practices.(Teaching Time: 2 weeksApprox.)
SUGGESTED READINGS:
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Teaching Learning Process:
Assessment Methods:
Students will be regularly assessed for their grasp on debates and discussions covered in class.
Two written submissions; one of which could be a short project, will be used for final grading of
the students. Students will be assessed on their ability to explain important historical trends and
thereby engage with the historical approach.
Internal Assessment: 25 Marks
Written Exam: 75 Marks
Total: 100 Marks
Keywords:
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