Manan Ahmed: On the Loss of Hindustan
CGT Chair Vishakha N. Desai speaks with committee member Manan Ahmed about his new book "The Loss of Hindustan: The Invention of India." Ahmed provides a radical interpretation of how India came to its contemporary political identity. He argues that a European understanding of India as Hindu has replaced an earlier, native understanding of India as Hindustan, a home for all faiths. Turning to the subcontinent’s medieval past, Ahmed uncovers a rich network of historians of Hindustan who imagined, studied, and shaped their kings, cities, and societies. Manan Ahmed is an Associate Professor of History at Columbia University and a member of the Committee on Global Thought. Ahmed is interested in the relationship between text, space, and narrative. Copies of the book are available at: https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674987906