Between Muslim Pīr and Hindu Saint: Laldas and the Devotional Culture in North India

Cover
Advance Praise
Between Muslim Pīr and Hindu Saint
Title
Copyright
Dedication
Contents
List of Figures, Maps and Tables
Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations
A Note on Transliteration
Maps
1 The Spectre of Binaries
	The Area, Mewat and the Making of the Other
	Social, Religious and Economic Profile of the Meo Community
	The Researcher’s Life in the Field
	Structure of the Book
	Notes
2 Laldas and Religious Duality of Pīr and Sant
	The Laldas Order: An Orchard of Diversity
	Laldas and Cow Veneration
	Ordained and Non-Ordained Sādhs
	Notes
3 The Laldas Shrines and Inter-religious Disputes
	The Emergence of Disputes
	Communal Relations in Alwar
	Disputes and Differences in Devotional Styles
	Notes
4 A Fait Accompli: The Complete Hinduisation of the Laldas Order
	The Invention of Traditions: Strategies of Appropriating Laldas
		Temples
		New Genealogy
		Pilgrimage
		Prayers and Bhajans (Hindu Religious Songs)
		Temple Committees
		Methods of Advertising
		The Role of Money
	Notes
5 Religious Reform and Shared Shrines
	Making Muslims ‘More Muslim’
	Local Non-Islamic Practices of Shirk and Bidāh/Bidat
	Notes
6 Concealment and Secrecy: Hidden in Plain Sight
	Ethnographic Stories of Secrecy and Concealment
		Ahmad’s Secrecy
		The Religious Dilemma of the two Sisters
		Abid’s Longing for and Belonging to the Saint
		Haruni’s Trick to Negotiate Pressure
		Forms of Everyday Reliance on the Saint: Hazra’s Story
		The Reluctant Hindu Fundamentalist: Shiva Shankar’s Anxieties
	Notes
7 Poetic Response to Religious Puritanism
	The Patrons and the Clients
	Islamic Reformism and Muslim Bards
	The Style of Rendition
	New Songs of Hindu–Muslim Composite Heritage
	Notes
8 An Ephemeral Line in the Sand
	Laldas and Syncretism
	Mixing, Sharing and Borrowing
	Opposing and Appropriating
	Notes
Appendices
	Appendix A.1
Glossary
Bibliography
Index