This course provides the historical depth and the comparative context in which to understand contemporary South Asia through an historical inquiry into the making and multiple meanings of modernity. It explores the history, culture, and political economy of the subcontinent which provides a fascinating laboratory to study such themes as colonialism, nationalism, partition, the modern state, economic development, refashioning of religious identities, center-region problems and relations between Asia and the West. Significant use of primary written sources (in English) and multi-media...