1st Edition

New Perspectives on India and Turkey Connections and Debates

Edited By Smita Jassal, Halil Turan Copyright 2018
    252 Pages
    by Routledge

    252 Pages
    by Routledge

    India and Turkey, Asia Minor and the Subcontinent of Hindustan, and the Ottomans and Mughals have had shared histories of contact, engagement, and dialogue over the centuries. Much of northern India was under the control of rulers from Central Asia since at least the thirteenth century. Startling glimpses of the presence of Turkic-speaking peoples from Central Asia are still visible, for example, in north Indian material cultures - languages, cuisine, religion, architecture, and medicine. 



    This book places the Indian subcontinent side by side with the Turkic-speaking world, both past and present, in order to understand one geographical context in relation to the other. The juxtaposition of the two countries throws up some startling commonalities as well as considerable differences, and it is the variations as well as the similarities that allow for comparability. By exploring historical connections and providing a comparative perspective in terms of spirituality and religion, social movements, political economy, and foreign policy, the book initiates productive cross-cultural conversations, allowing concerns from one location to illuminate the other. The book is split into five parts: History and Memory, Nationhood and Leadership, Secularism, Debating Development, and claiming the City.



    The first comparison of the Subcontinent and present-day Turkey, the book emphasizes the importance of cross-regional comparative analysis in order to overcome some of the pitfalls of area-focused analysis. Filling a gap in the existing literature, it will be of interest to scholars in various disciplines, including politics, religion, history, urbanization, and development in the Middle East and Asia.

    Introduction  Part 1: History and Memory  1. India and Turkey: Interplay of Shadows and Trajectories in the Longue Durée, Eyup Özveren  2. The Salafi War against Sufism: Reflections on Love and Violence, Shail Mayaram  3. Echoes in the Shrine: Remembering and Forgetting in Two Contexts, Smita Tewari Jassal  Part 2: Nationhood and Leadership  4. Republican Turkey and Tamil Self-respecters - Kemal Pasha in Southern India, V. Geetha  5. Halide Edib and Gandhi: Literary Modernity in India and Turkey, Emrah Efe Khayyat  Part 3: Secularism  6. Secularism in Two Contexts, Srirupa Roy  7. Nehru against Nehruvians: on Religion and Secularism, Rajeev Bhargava  8. Redefining the Minority: Alevis in Turkey, Mustafa Şen  Part 4: Development Debates  9. Locating Agency in Global Connections: The Case of India and Turkey as ‘Rising Powers’, Derya Göçer Akder & Meliha Benli Altunışık  10. Diaspora Engagement in the United States: the Case of India and Turkey, Şebnem Köşer Akçapar  11. Perspectives on Development Incentives: 18th Century Philosophers, India and Turkey, Halil Turan  12. Waterproof Development? Impact of Advocacy Networks on Anti-Dam Movements in India and Turkey, Zeynep Kadirbeyoğlu  Part 5: Claiming the City  13. Notes on Informal Vending in Istanbul and Calcutta, Durba Chattaraj  14. The Endangered Pleasures of Indian Cities: Notes from the Good Life in Istanbul, Kushanava Choudhury  15. A Political Analysis of Middle Class-Based Social Movements: India and Turkey Compared, Ceren Ergenç

    Biography

    Smita Tewari Jassal is Professor of Sociology and Coordinator of the Sociology Program at Ambedkar University, Delhi, India



    Halil Turan is Professor and Chairperson, Department of Philosophy, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey.