Institutions and Ideologies: A SOAS South Asia Reader

This collection of 15 articles, several of them already classics in their field and all written by scholars currently at School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London (SOAS), provides an informative, up-to-date and accessible introduction to the study of South Asia. In focusing upon religious, social and political ideologies and institutions, it demonstrates the importance of a multi-disciplinary approach to this vast and complex region: history, geography, politics, economics, law, philosophy, religion, art, literature and language are all well represented. The contributors examine the past as well as the present, but there is particular emphasis upon the nature and impact of the colonial encounter, the reworking of traditional institutions in recent times, and the role of ideologies in forging identities or creating divisive trends.