RELS 2509

This course introduces students to the fundamental units of the religious and political history of South Asia from the pre-Islamic period to approximately 1750 CE, guided by the following questions: who are the peoples that have made up the religious, cultural and political communities of South Asia? What, if anything, defines religious and political identity in the ancient and early modern world? What role has religion played in the formation and administration of political regimes in South Asia? And how have the identities of those whom we today call "Muslim," "Hindu" and "Sikh" changed and evolved in the centuries preceding the British Imperial period?