Did you know that up to the Partition of India in 1947, Kashmiri Muslims lived in conditions that very much resembled serfdom? Exploitation of Kashmiri Muslims was particularly notable during the Dogra Dynasty, which ruled the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir from 1846 to 1947.
In this interview, I bring historical perspective to conflicts and crises about Kashmir by asking my guest scholar the following questions:
►Is Jammu and Kashmir different than Kashmir?
►Who are Kashmiris?
►Why did Persian missionaries visit Kashmir?
►What happened to Kashmir after the Mughal Empire?
►What does it mean that Kashmir was a princely state?
►Did the British introduce a more egalitarian system in Kashmir? If so, why?
►Why Kashmir was an autonomous region under British rule and until recently in the Republic of India?
►Why is Kashmir called the Indian Administered Kashmir?
►How did Kashmir become a part of India?
►What was the Kashmir massacre that happened in 1947?
►How are Kashmiris 'othered' in India?
►What is it about Kashmir that makes it different from all other Indian states?
►Is Kashmir an integral part of India?
►Would my guest scholar be able to freely talk about Kashmir's history in India?
🚩About My174th Guest: Dr. Hafsa Kanjwal is a historian of modern Kashmir, and the author of Colonizing Kashmir: State-building Under Indian Occupation, a book that we discuss in this interview. She is a professor of South Asian History in the Department of History at Lafayette College, where she teaches courses on the history of the modern world, SouthAsian history, and Islam in the Modern World.
Dr. Kanjwal also tells us something highly unexpected about her other book (seepodcast image): A Fate Written OnMatchboxes.
I hope you enjoy these episodes.
Adel Aali
I rely on your support to continue this program. So thank you in advance.
🎶Music attributions:
1. Opening and closing music of the program:
Santur: Peyman Heydarian playing on the Santur some Iranian music. Recorded with a Sony PCM-D50 at the School of Oriental and African Studies of London on April 7th 2011.
Music available on at https://freesound.org/people/xserra/sounds/125654/
Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0 DEED)
This music has been cut in shorter pieces and its volume has been adjusted in different portions of our program.
2. Background music to guest introduction:
The Desert | The Grand Score
The Desert | The Grand Score by Alexander Nakarada (CreatorChords) | https://creatorchords.com
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/The volume and lengths of this piece have been modified.
3. Background music to promoting History Behind News episodes:
The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon. Musicpromoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0): https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The volume and lengths of this piece have been modified.