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Horse of Karbala

Horse of Karbala is a study of Muharram rituals and interfaith relations in three locations in India: Ladakh, Darjeeling, and Hyderabad. These rituals commemorate an event of vital importance to Shia Muslims: the seventh-century death of the Imam Husain, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, at the battlefield of Karbala in Iraq. Pinault examines three different forms of ritual commemoration of Husain's death - poetry-recital and self-flagellation in Hyderabad; stick-fighting in Darjeeling; and the 'Horse of Karbala' procession, in which a stallion representing the mount ridden in battle by Husain is made the center of a public parade in Ladakh and other Indian localities. The book looks at how publicly staged rituals serve to mediate communal relations: in Hyderabad and Darjeeling, between Muslim and Hindu populations; in Ladakh, between Muslims and Buddhists. Attention is also given to controversies within Muslim communities over issues related to Muharram such as the belief in intercession by the Karbala Martyrs on behalf of individual believers.

Caste and Race in India

Caste is perhaps the most dominant aspect of Indian society and its study is incomplete without getting into the ramifications of the Hindu caste system. Caste and Race in India, since its first publication in the History of Civilization series, edited by C. K. Ogden in 1932, has remained a basic work for students of Indian sociology and anthropology. Over the years, this book has been highly acclaimed by teachers and reviewers alike, as a sociological classic. The present edition, an expanded version with five new chapters, elaborates on the evolution of sub-castes, and examines caste, sub-caste and kinship. It also presents a provocative and thorough analysis of the relationship between caste and politics by drawing examples from Tamil Nadu as experienced over the years. The concluding chapter is an incisive analysis of Indian society—the author apprehends that India will develop into a plural society and not a casteless one, which was the dream of the architects of her Constitution. Key Feature • Focuses principally on caste • Elaborates on the evolution of sub-castes, and examines caste, sub-caste and kinship. • A provocative and thorough analysis of the relationship between caste and politics by drawing examples from Tamil Nadu as experienced over the years • Caste—whatever it actually is at any given time—is always the momentary outcome of a structured constellation of historical processes.

Beyond Turk and Hindu