Audrey Truschke
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, History, Faculty Member
- History, Area Studies, South Asian Studies, Cultural History, South Asia (History), Mughal History, and 19 moreSanskrit language and literature, Indo-Persian, Indian studies, Persian Literature, Asian Studies, Sanskrit, Indian Literature, Jainism, Persian, Perso-Indica, Cultural Studies, South Asia, Translation Studies, Religious Studies, Oral Traditions, Textual Criticism, Manuscripts, Indology, and Oralityedit
- Audrey Truschke is professor of South Asian history at Rutgers University–Newark. She writes about cultural and intel... moreAudrey Truschke is professor of South Asian history at Rutgers University–Newark. She writes about cultural and intellectual history, the relationship between empire and literature, and cross-cultural interactions in early modern South Asia. She has secondary research interests in modern-day Hindu nationalism, especially abuses of history.edit
In the past several years, Hindu nationalists have accelerated their agenda to transform the constitutionally secular nation of India into an ethnonationalist state intolerant of religious minorities. This chapter surveys three major... more
In the past several years, Hindu nationalists have accelerated their agenda to transform the constitutionally secular nation of India into an ethnonationalist state intolerant of religious minorities. This chapter surveys three major developments in this ongoing transition: the 2019 state policy changes regarding Kashmir, the late 2019 Citizenship Amendment Act, and the February 2020 Delhi riots. These three case studies vary significantly in terms of their locations and the specific communities involved, while occurring within a short timeframe. Common across all three cases is Hindu nationalists' penchant for using force and coercion to achieve their aims at the expense of Muslim communities. This chapter situates each case study against the overlapping backdrops of Hindu supremacy and Islamophobia, arguing that Hindu nationalists deploy these intertwined frameworks in contemporary India with dangerous results for the nation’s largest religious minority
Research Interests:
Not everybody at the Mughal court supported translating Sanskrit texts into Persian...
Research Interests:
Reporting Guide on Hindu Nationalism, also known as Hindutva and Hindu Supremacy.
Aimed at North American reporters; also useful for teaching.
By 6 co-authors, edited by the South Asia Scholar Activist Collective
Aimed at North American reporters; also useful for teaching.
By 6 co-authors, edited by the South Asia Scholar Activist Collective
Research Interests:
India has long been a profoundly multilingual space, and the Mughal court is no exception. When the Persian language was given a boost of imperial patronage during Akbar's reign, the process was governed not so much by supersession as by... more
India has long been a profoundly multilingual space, and the Mughal court is no exception. When the Persian language was given a boost of imperial patronage during Akbar's reign, the process was governed not so much by supersession as by dynamic interaction with other local poetic and intellectual traditions. This chapter foregrounds two of India's "other" early modern textual cultures, Hindi and Sanskrit, exploring how they ll out the picture of Mughal courtly life. The chapter also considers representations of the polyglot Mughal court and imperial politics beyond the royal center, including in Rajput courts and in popular sources.
Editorʼs Note: Allison Busch drafted much of this chapter before her untimely death in 2019. Audrey Truschke synthesized Dr. Buschʼs notes, filled in where needed, and edited. This chapter is being published as co-authored, and we are honored to present some of Dr. Buschʼs hitherto unpublished research.
Editorʼs Note: Allison Busch drafted much of this chapter before her untimely death in 2019. Audrey Truschke synthesized Dr. Buschʼs notes, filled in where needed, and edited. This chapter is being published as co-authored, and we are honored to present some of Dr. Buschʼs hitherto unpublished research.
Research Interests:
The Hindu/Han Letters: Audrey Truschke and Gina Anne Tam discuss the prospects for new India-China comparisons
Research Interests:
HINDU RIGHT assaults on North American academics unfold within, to borrow WEB Du Bois's phrase, a "white world" (Du Bois 2007, 69). This context is critical for understanding how Hindu supremacists have advanced some of the broad goals of... more
HINDU RIGHT assaults on North American academics unfold within, to borrow WEB Du Bois's phrase, a "white world" (Du Bois 2007, 69). This context is critical for understanding how Hindu supremacists have advanced some of the broad goals of white supremacy through anti-intellectual attacks. Scholars have long recognized that the Hindu Right-a broad group of individuals who sympathize with aspects of the political ideology known as Hindutva or Hindu nationalism-advances a narrow agenda of prejudice within the white-dominated context of North America. In 2000 Vijay Prashad argued "Yankee Hindutva fights a bigoted culture [racist culture in the US] with its own bigoted worldview" (Prashad 2000, 320). In 2000 Biju Mathew and Vijay Prashad drew attention to "Yankee Hindutva's affinity with US racism" (Mathew and Prashad 2000, 523). In 2007 Prema Kurien warned about the essentialist tendencies of "Hindu American groups," whose "challenge to Eurocentrism is grounded in an essentialist, unicultural, valorized model of Indianness that is in many respects the mirror image of what they seek to critique" (Kurien 2007, 184). In 2022 the Feminist Critical Hindu Studies (FCHS) Collective analyzed how Hindu supremacist discourse "mimics and reformulates the discursive grievances of white supremacy culture" (Feminist Critical Hindu Studies 2022). I build on these arguments by analyzing one key shift indicated by the South Asia Scholar Activist Collective's (SASAC) Selective Timeline of Hindu Harassment of Scholars: namely, the Hindu Right predominantly targeted white scholars in the 1990s to early 2000s, whereas in more recent years they have directed their ire primarily against scholars of South Asian descent. In progressing from white targets to scholars of color, I argue that the Hindu Right has relied on the tools of white supremacy readily available in the United States context and, in so doing, has erected roadblocks to progressive attempts to diversify the North American academy.
Research Interests:
This article provides a textured history of the multivalent term "hindu" over 2,500 years, with the goal of productively unsettling what we think we know. "Hindu" is a ubiquitous word in modern times, used by scholars and practitioners in... more
This article provides a textured history of the multivalent term "hindu" over 2,500 years, with the goal of productively unsettling what we think we know. "Hindu" is a ubiquitous word in modern times, used by scholars and practitioners in dozens of languages to denote members of a religious tradition. But the religious meaning of "hindu" and its common use are quite new. Here I trace the layered history of "hindu," part of an array of shifting identities in early and medieval India. In so doing, I draw upon an archive of primary sources-in Old Persian, New Persian, Sanskrit, Prakrit, Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, and more-that offers the kind of multilingual story needed to understand a term that has long cut across languages in South Asia. Also, I do not treat premodernity as a prelude but rather recognize it as the heart of this tale. So much of South Asian history-including over two thousand years of using the term "hindu"-has been misconstrued by those who focus only on British colonialism and later. We need a deeper consideration of South Asian pasts if we are to think more fruitfully about the terms and concepts that order our knowledge. Here, I offer one such contribution that marshals historical material on the multiform and fluid word "hindu" that can help us think more critically and precisely about this discursive category.
Research Interests:
This article presses on some of the key insights from Mack’s seminal essay on Christianity vis-à-vis scholarship on a different religion, namely Hinduism. I suggest some extensions of Mack’s argument to the academic study of Hindu... more
This article presses on some of the key insights from Mack’s seminal essay on Christianity vis-à-vis scholarship on a different religion, namely Hinduism. I suggest some extensions of Mack’s argument to the academic study of Hindu traditions, such as identifying the harms posed by the soft inclusion of Christian theology within the discipline of Religious Studies. I argue that this is a structural problem in the modern academy that sidelines scholars of non-Christian, especially non-Abrahamic, religions and creates a model for uncritical influence from ideological and political sources. Following on Mack’s analysis of the pressures of Christian theology, I identify specific non-academic threats to critical studies of Hinduism, namely the political commitments of Hindu nationalists and the embrace of orientalist ideas by scholars and practitioners. I argue it is imperative to counter both harmful trends, while recognizing significant challenges to doing so. I also draw on insights from scholarship on Hinduism to point to strategies potentially beneficial to scholars of Christianity keen to pursue Mack’s ideas, such as a milder interest in questions of origins that embraces multiplicity. I conclude that scholars of Hinduism are ready to tell our stories – based on critical analyses of a diverse and complicated religious tradition – but whether our academic peers in Religious Studies are ready to hear and incorporate our insights is another matter.
Research Interests:
In this essay, I explicate the distorting Hindu nationalist claim of indigeneity, unpacking the expansive and exclusive notion of “indigenous status for all Hindus and only Hindus.” Hindu majoritarian mistreatment of religious minorities... more
In this essay, I explicate the distorting Hindu nationalist claim of indigeneity, unpacking the expansive and exclusive notion of “indigenous status for all Hindus and only Hindus.” Hindu majoritarian mistreatment of religious minorities bears marked similarities to how white Christians have abused native communities in North America. More broadly, Hindutva ideology on indigeneity resonates with a global far-right agenda to enforce nativist policies and undercut multiculturalism. I explore Hindutva’s global links and North American parallels to help highlight the ethical and material implications of Hindutva aggressions that target others’ identities and land. Claiming indigeneity for the politically powerful, Hindu nationalists seek to disempower already precarious marginalized communities and use the implausible projection of themselves as oppressed to further harsh majoritarian goals.
Research Interests: History, South Asia, Nationalism, Rights of Indigenous Peoples, 'Decolonization' and the politics of settler state/Indigenous relations, and 9 moreAdivasi Studies, Decolonial Thought, Indian Muslims, Hindu nationalism, Hindutva, Manifest Destiny, Hindu Nationalism in Modern India, White Nationalism, and Indian Society & Culture
The Hindu Right is a dense network of organizations across the globe that promote Hindutva or Hindu nationalism, a political ideology that advocates for an ethnonationalist Hindu identity and to transform India into a Hindu state governed... more
The Hindu Right is a dense network of organizations across the globe that promote Hindutva or Hindu nationalism, a political ideology that advocates for an ethnonationalist Hindu identity and to transform India into a Hindu state governed by majoritarian norms. Hindutva ideology was first articulated in India in the 1920s, and Hindu Right groups began expanding overseas in the 1940s, coming to the United States in 1970. Collectively, the Hindu Right groups that stretch across dozens of nations in the 21st century are known as the Sangh Parivar (the family of Hindutva organizations). From within the United States, Hindu Right groups exercise power within the global Hindutva movement and place pressure on American institutions and liberal values. The major interlinked Hindu Right groups in America focus on a variety of areas, especially politics, religion, outreach, and fundraising. Among other things, they attempt to control educational materials, influence policy makers, defend caste privilege, and whitewash Hindutva violence, a critical tool for many who espouse this exclusive political ideology. The U.S.-based Hindu Right is properly understood within both a transnational context of the global Sangh Parivar and as part of the American landscape, a fertile home for more than fifty years.
Research Interests:
In the 1620s Siddhicandra, a Jain monk, wrote a Sanskrit text about Jain-Mughal relations titled Bhanucandraganicarita (Biography of Bhanucandra). As I argue below, the Bhanucandraganicarita is an innovative work, both for its topic and... more
In the 1620s Siddhicandra, a Jain monk, wrote a Sanskrit text about Jain-Mughal relations titled Bhanucandraganicarita (Biography of Bhanucandra). As I argue below, the Bhanucandraganicarita is an innovative work, both for its topic and its approach to that topic. The Bhanucandraganicarita claims, by its title, to be a biography of a specific Jain mendicant, but it is both more and less than one man's life story. The work begins and ends with episodes that feature inter actions between Jain and Mughal elites. It includes narratives through out that, with only a few exceptions, focus on emperors Akbar and Jahangir, along with a few of their close associates such as Abu al-Fazl and Nur Jahan. The Bhanucandraganicarita is, to my knowledge, the first Sanskrit text to focus on Mughal figures, not intermittently or in part, but rather through out its basic narrative strucure. Moreover, Siddhicandra describes both Mughal and Jain elites in unusual ways when we read his text against the wider Sanskrit tradition. He styles the Mughal kings and key members of the imperial court as participants in a Sanskrit-based culture of king ship. Siddhicandra mainly recognizes the Persianate culture that flourished at the Mughal court when he discusses his own activities as a Jain monk. In this article, I first discuss Siddhicandra's topic choice and then turn to his eye-catch ing approach to depicting Mughals and Jains. I argue that Siddhicandra's Bhanucandraganicarita marks a moment in Sanskrit historiography when Muslim kings had ceased to be other and so could be fully integrated within Sanskrit literary norms, even as their Persianate ruling culture pr vided a fresh model for Siddhicandra's own self-fashioning.
Research Interests:
A bulldozer — celebrating far-right Hindu nationalist violence against Muslims — drove through the streets of Edison, last month at an Indian Independence Day parade. Many New Jersey politicians were present and claim to have been unaware... more
A bulldozer — celebrating far-right Hindu nationalist violence against Muslims — drove through the streets of Edison, last month at an Indian Independence Day parade. Many New Jersey politicians were present and claim to have been unaware of the bulldozer’s appalling symbolism of praising, even encouraging, the violent oppression of Indian religious minorities.
The backlash is continuing to grow, including calls for the organizers to be held accountable (they have since apologized) and for more people to learn about Hindutva hate.
The backlash is continuing to grow, including calls for the organizers to be held accountable (they have since apologized) and for more people to learn about Hindutva hate.
Research Interests:
In the hands of the Hindu Right, “decolonize” has become a contronym.
Research Interests:
Description of a unique manuscript in the Jaipur royal collection.
Research Interests:
The premodern Sanskrit textual universe and the history of Hinduism—two partially overlapping things—cannot be understood without knowledge of caste, a hereditary system of social hierarchy and oppression. I appreciate this now, but I did... more
The premodern Sanskrit textual universe and the history of Hinduism—two partially overlapping things—cannot be understood without knowledge of caste, a hereditary system of social hierarchy and oppression. I appreciate this now, but I did not always. I studied premodern Sanskrit texts for more than a decade before I seriously thought about caste. Moreover, I am not alone in this blind spot. Judging from their scholarship, many academics who study premodern South Asia rarely, if ever, critically consider caste, which is to the detriment of our collective quest to better understand Indian history, including Hindu traditions.
In what follows, I briefly reflect on the context of my own error and what this oversight—repeated by many—causes us to miss about the South Asian past and our present.
In what follows, I briefly reflect on the context of my own error and what this oversight—repeated by many—causes us to miss about the South Asian past and our present.
Research Interests:
Though you aren’t likely to read about it on the front page of the New York Times or spot it in trending topics on Twitter, for over two decades now North America has had a Hindu Nationalism problem. Scholars in the US and Canada working... more
Though you aren’t likely to read about it on the front page of the New York Times or spot it in trending topics on Twitter, for over two decades now North America has had a Hindu Nationalism problem. Scholars in the US and Canada working in the areas of Hinduism, Indian politics, and South Asian history have been targeted in campaigns of harassment and intimidation by right-wing Hindu nationalists. And despite the fact that such attacks have escalated significantly in 2021 in both frequency and scale, most Americans remain unaware of this growing threat to academic freedom and know little about its anti-intellectual instigators. We, as members of the South Asia Scholar Activist Collective, seek to change that by publishing a timeline that tracks the harassment of South Asian academics in North America as part of a larger project we call the Hindutva Harassment Field Manual.
Research Interests:
A reflection on what the modern tale of 'love jihad' and a premodern story of Brahminical conversion and persecution in Kashmir tell us, about their respective narrators.
Research Interests:
Hindu nationalism is a political ideology that advocates for Hindu supremacy and the exclusion of members of other Indian religious groups from equal participation in Indian society. It is a fiercely anti-intellectual ideology, in both... more
Hindu nationalism is a political ideology that advocates for Hindu supremacy and the exclusion of members of other Indian religious groups from equal participation in Indian society. It is a fiercely anti-intellectual ideology, in both conception and practice. I want to speak with you today about the threat
Research Interests:
The Hindu right has attacked U.S.-based scholars for the past few decades, attempting to dissuade and discredit academic research.
Research Interests:
In early March 2021, I awoke to a social media barrage of misogynist and bigoted slurs, unhinged accusations, and threats to hurt me and my family. For a few days, I thought little about this. Since 2015, I have suffered online harassment... more
In early March 2021, I awoke to a social media barrage of misogynist and bigoted slurs, unhinged accusations, and threats to hurt me and my family. For a few days, I thought little about this. Since 2015, I have suffered online harassment from those who dislike my scholarship, especially a branch of the global right known as the Hindu Right that advocates a political doctrine of Hindu supremacy and targets US-based scholars. Over the past six years, I have become, by necessity, calloused to the worst humanity has to offer: hate, prejudice, and rage. This recent bout was the worst yet.
Research Interests:
Hindu nationalists are heavily invested in rewriting Indian history to advance their modern and unrepentantly hateful political agenda. Hindu nationalism or Hindutva is a political ideology that advocates Hindu supremacy, specifically... more
Hindu nationalists are heavily invested in rewriting Indian history to advance their modern and unrepentantly hateful political agenda. Hindu nationalism or Hindutva is a political ideology that advocates Hindu supremacy, specifically over Muslims who comprise around fourteen percent of modern India’s population. The similarity in name notwithstanding, Hindutva is distinct from Hinduism, a broad-based religious tradition, although Hindutva ideologues seek to constrict and flatten Hindu traditions. In this article, I describe some of the contours of the Hindutva investment in remaking the past as a means of advancing a modern political project. I also offer some thoughts on why Hindu nationalists care so much about history and explore some of the implications of Hindutva’s growing political influence for the field of South Asian history and academics who work therein.
Research Interests:
“The Text of the Doha Ramayana.” In The Ramayana of Hamida Banu Begum Queen Mother of Mughal India, co-authored by Marika Sardar, John Seyller, and Audrey Truschke, 24-31, Cinisello Balsamo (Italy): Silvana Editoriale, 2020.
Research Interests:
The Mahabharata is a tale for our times. The plot of the ancient Indian epic centres around corrupt politics, ill-behaved men and warfare. In this dark tale, things get worse and worse, until an era of unprecedented depravity, the Kali... more
The Mahabharata is a tale for our times. The plot of the ancient Indian epic centres around corrupt politics, ill-behaved men and warfare. In this dark tale, things get worse and worse, until an era of unprecedented depravity, the Kali Yuga, dawns. According to the Mahabharata, we’re still living in the horrific Kali era, which will unleash new horrors on us until the world ends.
Research Interests:
A scholar of Indian history describes the dangers women academics can face when they share their expertise with the public.
Research Interests:
I focus here on three arenas where Indian history is being produced—in Hindutva mythology about the past, through the named and built landscape of Uttar Pradesh (UP), and through responses to protests at three major universities in... more
I focus here on three arenas where Indian history is being produced—in Hindutva mythology about the past, through the named and built landscape of Uttar Pradesh (UP), and through responses to protests at three major universities in northern India. These case studies allow me to focus, in turn, on exclusion, affect, and violence as key mechanisms in the construction of history, an exercise that must always be, to some degree, about the present day.
This is a lightly modified version of my keynote address at the Global SouthAsia@NYU conference, on Friday, February 28, 2020
This is a lightly modified version of my keynote address at the Global SouthAsia@NYU conference, on Friday, February 28, 2020
Research Interests:
In the late sixteenth century, the Mughal Emperor Akbar sponsored the translation of more than one dozen Sanskrit texts into Persian, chief among them the Mahābhārata. The epic was retitled the Razmnāma (Book of War) in Persian and... more
In the late sixteenth century, the Mughal Emperor Akbar sponsored the translation of more than one dozen Sanskrit texts into Persian, chief among them the Mahābhārata. The epic was retitled the Razmnāma (Book of War) in Persian and rapidly became a seminal work of Mughal imperial culture. Within the Razmnāma, the Mughal translators devoted particular attention to sections on political advice. They rendered book twelve (out of eighteen books), the Śānti Parvan (Book of Peace), into Persian at disproportionate length to the rest of the text and singled out parts of this section to adorn with quotations of Persian poetry. Book twelve also underwent significant transformations in terms of its content as Mughal thinkers reframed the Mahābhārata's views on ethics and sovereignty in light of their own imperial interests. I analyze this section of the Razmnāma in comparison to the original Sanskrit epic and argue that the Mughal translators reformulated parts of the Mahābhārata's political advice in both style and substance in order to speak directly to Emperor Akbar. The type of advice that emerged offers substantial insight into the political values that Mughal elites sought to cultivate through translating a Sanskrit work on kingship.
Research Interests:
Entry for Brill's Encyclopedia of Jainism on Jains and Muslims.
Research Interests:
Maps of the Hindu Rashtra typically depict the Indian subcontinent drenched in a uniform saffron. Some see a lofty vision of unity in that colouring, but I see the violent and painful erasures of buildings, cultures and people that such... more
Maps of the Hindu Rashtra typically depict the Indian subcontinent drenched in a uniform saffron. Some see a lofty vision of unity in that colouring, but I see the violent and painful erasures of buildings, cultures and people that such uniformity would require. On 6 December 1992, a Hindu mob enacted one such purge by ripping apart a historical monument, a rare sixteenth-century mosque, brick by brick. This year, what the mob began extrajudicially, the Supreme Court finished through judicial opinion...
Research Interests:
This chapter contains translations from two texts associated with the Mughal Emperor Akbar's court: an excerpt from the Razmnama (Book of War), the Persian translation of the Sanskrit Mahabharata, and the entirety of Shanticandra's... more
This chapter contains translations from two texts associated with the Mughal Emperor Akbar's court: an excerpt from the Razmnama (Book of War), the Persian translation of the Sanskrit Mahabharata, and the entirety of Shanticandra's Kriparasakosa (Treasury of Compassion), a Sanskrit praise poem about Akbar. The translations are accompanied by a short introduction.
Research Interests: Hinduism, Jainism, Translation Studies, South Asian Studies, Poetry, and 13 moreSanskrit language and literature, Sanskrit, Translation of Poetry, Mughal History, Islamic Studies, South Asian Literature, Patronage (History), Translation, Indian Epics, Mahabharata, Indian History, Mughal India, and Akbar
A translation of a debate between the Mughal Emperor Jahangir and the Jain monk Siddhicandra concerning Jain ascetic vows. The translated excerpt comes from Siddhicandra's Bhanucandraganicarita (Acts of Bhanucandra), and is accompanied... more
A translation of a debate between the Mughal Emperor Jahangir and the Jain monk Siddhicandra concerning Jain ascetic vows. The translated excerpt comes from Siddhicandra's Bhanucandraganicarita (Acts of Bhanucandra), and is accompanied here by a short introduction.
Research Interests:
In 2009, we began Perso-Indica, an Analytical Survey of Persian Works on Indian Learned Traditions, a transnational research project that recovers how Hindu culture was represented and understood in Persian-medium texts composed between... more
In 2009, we began Perso-Indica, an Analytical Survey of Persian Works on Indian Learned Traditions, a transnational research project that recovers how Hindu culture was represented and understood in Persian-medium texts composed between the 13th century CE and the 19th century CE. Both Muslims and Hindus wrote these texts, which generally feature Sanskrit-based knowledge in a wide range of subjects, including astronomy, astrology, the epics, Ayurveda, popular stories, language, philosophy, and more. Altogether, this huge corpus of works easily constitutes one of the largest attempts to translate knowledge systems across linguistic boundaries in world history.
Research Interests: Hinduism, Cultural History, Cultural Studies, Translation Studies, Persian Literature, and 15 moreIndian studies, South Asian Studies, Sanskrit language and literature, Persian Language, Sanskrit, South Asian History, Cross-Cultural Studies, Islam, South Asian Literature, Persian Culture, Translation, Indo-Persian, India, Islamic History and Muslim Civilization, and Muslim philosophy and thought
Hindu nationalists increasingly use anti-Semitic slurs to target me – and that isn’t surprising. (Also published in India Abroad)
Research Interests: Indian studies, Hate Speech, Muslim Minorities, Anti-Semitism, Islam, and 15 moreIsrael, India, Communal Conflict, communalism in India, Nazism, Hindu nationalism, Adolf Hitler, Hindutva, Nazi Propaganda, Academics, Communalism, Sangh Parivar, Hindu Nationalism in Modern India, Hitler, and Narendra Modi
Rational voices are being drummed out of India's public sphere. How can scholars be expected to speak when the intolerant demands of haters are put above the pursuit of knowledge?
Research Interests:
From the beginning, the Ramayana resisted singularity. Valmiki's Sanskrit Ramayana is the earliest extant version of Rama's story, written 2,000 years ago, give or take a few centuries. Thousands of handwritten manuscripts of Valmiki's... more
From the beginning, the Ramayana resisted singularity. Valmiki's Sanskrit Ramayana is the earliest extant version of Rama's story, written 2,000 years ago, give or take a few centuries. Thousands of handwritten manuscripts of Valmiki's text survive today, and no two are identical. Like the Mahabharata, its sister epic, Valmiki's Ramayana was an " open " text, subject to alterations and additions with every new handwritten copy in premodernity.
Research Interests: Religion, Hinduism, Cultural Studies, Translation Studies, History of Religion, and 19 moreLiterature, Indian studies, South Asian Studies, Poetry, Sanskrit language and literature, South Asia, Sanskrit, Translation of Poetry, Feminism, Epic poetry, Translation, India, Religious Studies, Ramayana, Sita Sings the Blues, Ramayana retellings, Dharma in Ramayana and Mahabharata a Comparative Analysis, Valmiki, and Valmiki Ramayana
Scholarship on Buddhist and Muslim interactions has long proposed that Islam was largely responsible for the decline of Buddhism in its homeland of India during the medieval period. The popularity of the idea that Islam not only injured... more
Scholarship on Buddhist and Muslim interactions has long proposed that Islam was largely responsible for the decline of Buddhism in its homeland of India during the medieval period. The popularity of the idea that Islam not only injured by actually killed off Indian Buddhism c. 1200 CE far outstrips the historical evidence for such a proposition. Nonetheless, this narrative of an antagonistic, fatal relationship between Islam and the Buddhist dharma on the subcontinent is widespread and oft repeated in modern scholarship, especially introductory-level textbooks. This paper considers the sparse historical sources that undergird the “Islam killed Indian Buddhism” narrative and traces how this storyline has nonetheless been resilient and embellished over time. I argue that the notion that Islam finished off Indian Buddhism endures in both premodern and modern sources because of its rhetorical force and assumptions about the life cycles of religious traditions. Prejudices about both Buddhism and Islam are also partly responsible for the persistence of this narrative in contemporary scholarship. The paper closes by analyzing the difficulties of reframing the question of what happened to Indian Buddhism and suggests some shifts that may better position future scholars to move beyond the tired and largely ahistorical approach of crudely blaming Islam and more accurately capture the elusive end (or near end) of Indian Buddhism.
Research Interests:
Several days ago, I pointed out on Twitter that Valmiki’s Ramayana contains episodes where Sita criticises Rama, whereas representing Sita as chiding Rama today – as did a recent cartoon – often leads to extreme controversy. I soon found... more
Several days ago, I pointed out on Twitter that Valmiki’s Ramayana contains episodes where Sita criticises Rama, whereas representing Sita as chiding Rama today – as did a recent cartoon – often leads to extreme controversy. I soon found out that many now find intolerable even criticisms preserved within Valmiki’s text, especially when rendered into idiomatic English...
Research Interests: Religion, Hinduism, Translation Studies, History of Religion, Literature, and 18 moreProfessionalism, Sanskrit language and literature, Sanskrit, Translation and Interpretation, Women In Hinduism, Translation, Public Engagement, Religious Studies, Literary translation, Hindu Mythology, Hindutva, Hindu Studies, Ramayana, Hindu Nationalism in Modern India, Ramayana retellings, Sita and Draupadi, Dharma in Ramayana and Mahabharata a Comparative Analysis, and Valmiki
Published in Newsweek Pakistan
Research Interests:
Ignorance is bliss for the Hindu Right.
Research Interests:
Laws against religious offence in India have altered the writing and understanding of the nation’s past.
Research Interests: History, Cultural History, Censorship, Publishing, Indian studies, and 18 moreSouth Asian Studies, South Asia, Nationalism, South Asian History, Mughal History, Islamic Studies, Censorship (History), Censorship (Law), Indian Politics, India, Books, Book Censorship (history), Indian History, Mughal India, Scholarly Publishing, Aurangzeb, Academic Pubishing, and Shivaji
‘Some of the hate mail is chilling’: Historian Audrey Truschke on the backlash to her Aurangzeb book
Research Interests:
Research Interests: History, Medieval History, Early Modern History, Religion and Politics, Indian studies, and 13 morePolitics, Pakistan, Mughal History, Islamic Studies, Islamic History, Islam, Empire, India, Medieval Indian History, Politics of History, The Mughal Empire, Hindu Nationalism in Modern India, and Aurangzeb
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Christianity, History, European History, Cultural History, European Studies, and 16 moreArt History, History of Christianity, Indian studies, South Asian Studies, South Asian History, Jesuit history, Religious Conversion, Mughal History, Travel Literature, India, Jesuits, Mughal India, Mughal painting, Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal History, Mughal Emperor Jahangir, and Mughal Emperor Akbar
In this set of essays, three authors provide different perspectives on whether personal religious sensibilities and identities affect the ways we teach religion. Elliott Bazzano discusses how, as a white Muslim convert teaching at a... more
In this set of essays, three authors provide different perspectives on whether personal religious sensibilities and identities affect the ways we teach religion. Elliott Bazzano discusses how, as a white Muslim convert teaching at a Catholic college, he incorporates selective autobiographical anecdotes into his classes as a way to problematize the meaning of “insider” and “outsider,” and pushes his students to recognize the many layers of identity that any given person embodies at a given time. In the second essay, Audrey Truschke explains why she makes no reference to her own religious beliefs or affiliations in class as part of her strategy to demonstrate how students can study any religion regardless of personal convictions. In the third essay, Jayme Yeo explores the benefits of discussing personal religious identity as a means to resist the categories of “inside” and “outside,” which she sees as heterogeneous concepts that do not always offer explanatory power upon close examination.
Research Interests:
In this set of essays, three authors provide different perspectives on whether personal religious sensibilities and identities affect the ways we teach religion. Elliott Bazzano discusses how, as a white Muslim convert teaching at a... more
In this set of essays, three authors provide different perspectives on whether personal religious sensibilities and identities affect the ways we teach religion. Elliott Bazzano discusses how, as a white Muslim convert teaching at a Catholic college, he incorporates selective autobiographical anecdotes into his classes as a way to problematize the meaning of " insider " and " outsider, " and pushes his students to recognize the many layers of identity that any given person embodies at a given time. In the second essay, Audrey Truschke explains why she makes no reference to her own religious beliefs or affiliations in class as part of her strategy to demonstrate how students can study any religion regardless of personal convictions. In the third essay, Jayme Yeo explores the benefits of discussing personal religious identity as a means to resist the categories of " inside " and " outside, " which she sees as heterogeneous concepts that do not always offer explanatory power upon close examination.
Research Interests:
#RemoveMughalsfromBooks
Research Interests:
In this class, students investigate how religious traditions intersect with social and political identities and movements in modernity. We begin by investigating the category of "religion" and considering our own preconceptions. We then... more
In this class, students investigate how religious traditions intersect with social and political identities and movements in modernity. We begin by investigating the category of "religion" and considering our own preconceptions. We then proceed through several case studies, examining articulations of Islam in black communities, claims about inequality within Hinduism, the legal and social struggles for recognition within African and indigenous religions in America, and more. By design, each case study showcases a different aspect of religion in social life. Students can expect to gain a nuanced understanding of the manifestations of religion in public life for different communities.
Research Interests:
This course covers the history of the Indian subcontinent from the advent of the Mughal Empire in 1526 until the present day. We proceed roughly chronologically and analyze some of the major political, social, religious, and cultural... more
This course covers the history of the Indian subcontinent from the advent of the Mughal Empire in 1526 until the present day. We proceed roughly chronologically and analyze some of the major political, social, religious, and cultural developments in early modern, colonial, and independent South Asia. Students will be exposed to primary sources, written by diverse people and translated from numerous languages, as well as the modern politics of history. Students will also learn about the practice of history more broadly, including how to read primary and secondary texts, how to weigh evidence, and how to formulate coherent historical arguments.
Research Interests:
South Asia is one of the most religiously diverse places on earth, and this course offers a whirlwind tour of numerous traditions, including Indian tribal religions, Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, and more. We approach these... more
South Asia is one of the most religiously diverse places on earth, and this course offers a whirlwind tour of numerous traditions, including Indian tribal religions, Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, and more. We approach these religions from a variety of angles, analyzing both practices and beliefs. In the second half of the course, we take-up specific topics—such as appropriation, reform movements, and religious nationalism—to further understand South Asian religions and their modern resonances, as well as points of contestation.
In addition to learning about specific traditions and debates, students will become conversant with academic approaches to the study of religion, one of the most enduring and influential aspects of human society. Religion isn’t a bed of roses for everyone, and we cover both fierce criticisms of traditions and religious offense, seeking to cultivate empathy and value multiple perspectives.
In addition to learning about specific traditions and debates, students will become conversant with academic approaches to the study of religion, one of the most enduring and influential aspects of human society. Religion isn’t a bed of roses for everyone, and we cover both fierce criticisms of traditions and religious offense, seeking to cultivate empathy and value multiple perspectives.
Research Interests:
In this course, we discover the history of the Indian subcontinent from the Indus Valley Civilization (2600-1900 BCE)-one of the centers of the ancient world-until the 1520s CE. We cover some amazing human milestones, including the birth... more
In this course, we discover the history of the Indian subcontinent from the Indus Valley Civilization (2600-1900 BCE)-one of the centers of the ancient world-until the 1520s CE. We cover some amazing human milestones, including the birth of numerous world religions, classical stories and art that still inspire today, and some of the world's most impressive empires. History also has dark corners, and we investigate trends of oppression and exploitation as part of premodern Indian life.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Syllabus for History of South Asia 1, at Rutgers-Newark, a synchronous remote course, Fall 2021. Syllabus as of August 13, 2021
Research Interests:
Syllabus for Archiving COVID-19, Fall 2020 course at Rutgers-Newark.
Research Interests:
In the first half of this course, we collectively engage with and analyze different sorts of Muslim lives, as told from different perspectives. We focus, in turn, on American Muslims and South Asian Muslims. Both subjects are of... more
In the first half of this course, we collectively engage with and analyze different sorts of Muslim lives, as told from different perspectives. We focus, in turn, on American Muslims and South Asian Muslims. Both subjects are of contemporary interest in the world broadly and in New Jersey in particular. In addition to learning about specific topics, students will gain familiarity with how to approach different types of sources and be exposed to various methods of historical analysis. Each set of readings is accompanied by a short group of questions, given on this syllabus, that offers some starting points for thinking critically about those materials.
In the second half of the course, students devote themselves to researching and writing a paper of approximately 15 pages on a topic of their choosing. We will begin laying the groundwork for formulating and advancing this project from the first day of class. By conducting archival work and writing an original paper, students will gain in-depth knowledge about their chosen topic and will also develop research methods, critical thinking skills, and writing strategies.
In the second half of the course, students devote themselves to researching and writing a paper of approximately 15 pages on a topic of their choosing. We will begin laying the groundwork for formulating and advancing this project from the first day of class. By conducting archival work and writing an original paper, students will gain in-depth knowledge about their chosen topic and will also develop research methods, critical thinking skills, and writing strategies.
Research Interests:
This course examines the diverse ways that religious traditions have intersected with the brokering of power in modern South Asia. We investigate the intersection of religion and power in different arenas, including historical memory,... more
This course examines the diverse ways that religious traditions have intersected with the brokering of power in modern South Asia. We investigate the intersection of religion and power in different arenas, including historical memory, religious festivals, political upheavals, and violent actions. We cover both the British colonial period and post-independence India and, to a lesser degree, neighboring nations. We necessarily interrogate the history of the term " religion " as used in South Asia as an idea whose contours were formed during the colonial encounter with the West. At the core of our inquiry are how specific religious traditions have been invoked in political contexts (and vice-versa), public displays of religiosity, and the complex dynamics of religion and the state. We employ case studies involving numerous traditions, including Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism, Christianity, and Buddhism. Among other issues, we engage with questions of religious identity, networks of knowledge, and violence.
Research Interests:
Review of Manan Ahmed Asif, The Loss of Hindustan: The Invention of India (Harvard University Press, 2020).
Research Interests:
Recent biographies of Jahangir and Nur Jahan may have made the royal couple more accessible, but they often slip into the realm of conjecture. A Review of Parvati Sharma's Jahangir : An Intimate Portrait of a Great Mughal and Ruby Lal's... more
Recent biographies of Jahangir and Nur Jahan may have made the royal couple more accessible, but they often slip into the realm of conjecture. A Review of Parvati Sharma's Jahangir : An Intimate Portrait of a Great Mughal and Ruby Lal's Empress: The Astonishing Reign of Nur Jahan.
Research Interests: History, Southeast Asian Studies, Narrative, Indian studies, South Asia, and 15 moreHistorical memory, South Asian History, Biography, Mughal History, Biographical Methods, Religion and Popular Culture, Ancient Biography, India, Book Reviews, Medieval Indian History, Biography and Life-Writing, Indian History, Mughal India, Historical Methodology, and Mughal Emperor Jahangir
Paradise Found: The Nearly Forgotten Universe of Mughal Persian Poetry. Sunil Sharma’s Mughal Arcadia: Persian Literature in an Indian Court has implications for how we understand Mughal culture as “Indian”.
Research Interests: Comparative Literature, Persian Literature, Literature, Poetry, Iranian Studies, and 13 morePersian Language, History of Iran, Mughal History, Safavids (Islamic History), Persian Culture, Translation, India, Medieval Indian History, Indian History, Mughal India, Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal History, Literary Culture and History of the Mughal Book, and Mughal Literary Culture
Review of Cynthia Talbot's The Last Hindu Emperor: Prithviraj Chauhan and the Indian Past, 1200-2000.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Use code CUP30 for 30% the list price. https://cup.columbia.edu/book/culture-of-encounters/9780231173629