Sufism and Society in Medieval India

This volume brings together seminal essays on the perennial debate regarding the role of Sufis in Indian history and society. The reader focuses on crucial issues like the Sufis’ encounters or interactions in Indian environment, episodic conversion, process of Islamicization, and expansion of Islam in India. The essays provide counterpoints on the major debate about the political intervention of Sufis and their interaction with the rulers and state. The introduction weaves together the varied strands of the debates on this subject and makes a defining statement on understanding the peculiarities of Sufism in India. The volume has well known contributors- K.A. Nizami, Aziz Ahmad, S.A.A. Rizvi, Richard M. Eaton, Carl W. Ernst, Yohanan Friedmann, Simon Digby, and Muzaffar Alam. The editor’s introduction deals with the debates and the historiography while posing new questions and providing new dimensions to the study of Sufism in India. The selection has essays from very prominent social historians like K.A. Nizami, Aziz Ahmad, S.A.A. Rizvi, Richard M. Eaton, Carl W. Ernst, Yohanan Friedmann, Simon Digby, and Muzaffar Alam. This book forms the eleventh volume of the prestigious Debates in Indian History and Society series. The debates and themes volumes in general have been very popular among the students and teachers and are being used as teaching tools for undergraduate and post-graduate courses in history at many universities.