This examination of the formally autonomous state of Hyderabad in a global comparative framework challenges the idea of the dominant British Raj as the sole sovereign power in the late colonial period. Beverley argues that Hyderabad's position as a subordinate yet sovereign 'minor state' was not just a legal formality, but that in exercising the right to internal self-government and acting as a conduit for the regeneration of transnational Muslim intellectual and political networks, Hyderabad was indicative of the fragmentation of sovereignty between multiple political entities amidst empires. By exploring connections with the Muslim world beyond South Asia, law and policy administration along frontiers with the colonial state, and urban planning in expanding Hyderabad City, Beverley presents Hyderabad as a locus for experimentation in global and regional forms of political modernity. This book recasts the political geography of late imperialism and historicises Muslim political modernity in South Asia and beyond.

Sufism is often regarded as standing mystically aloof from its wider cultural settings. By turning this perspective on its head, Indian Sufism since the Seventeenth Century reveals the politics and poetry of Indian Sufism through the study of Islamic sainthood in the midst of a cosmopolitan Indian society comprising migrants, soldiers, litterateurs and princes. Placing the mystical traditions of Indian Islam within their cultural contexts, this interesting study focuses on the shrines of four Sufi saints in the neglected Deccan region and their changing roles under the rule of the Mughals, the Nizams of Haydarabad and, after 1948, the Indian nation. In particular Green studies the city of Awrangabad, examining the vibrant intellectual and cultural history of this city as part of the independent state of Haydarabad. He employs a combination of historical texts and anthropological fieldwork, which provide a fresh perspective on developments of devotional Islam in South Asia over the past three centuries, giving a fuller understanding of Sufism and Muslim saints in South Asia.

About the Book : - The first-ever study of one of the most outstanding collections of gemstones and jewellery of a fabulously wealthy dynasty of India that ruled the Deccan for seven generations. Sometimes worn but never shown, these jewels belonged to the Nizams of Hyderabad, once reputed to be the richest men in the world. Finely crafted from gold and silver and exquisitely enamelled, the jewels are set with Colombian emeralds, Golconda diamonds, Burmese rubies and spinels, and pearls from Basra and India. About the Author : - Usha R Bala Krishnan is a jewellery historian, lecturer and fine arts consultant based in Mumbai.Bharath Ramamrutham is internationally recognised as one of the foremost photographers in India of the built, human and natural environment.

This book examines Sai Baba of Shirdi from the standpoint of Islamic mysticism - the Deccani Sufism of 19th century Maharashtra - in order to resolve the mystery surrounding the saint. Two new pieces of work are used in this book. First, Dr Warren elucidates the English translation of part of the works of some 17th and 18th century Maharashtrian Sufi poet-saints. Secondly, she includes the English translation of the previously untranslated Urdu notebook, jotted down by Abdul - Sai Baba's faqiri pupil - from teachings based on the Qur'an given to him by his pir Sai Baba. Both of these contributions allow us to look into a world hitherto closed, and expand our awareness of the famous miracle-worker of Shirdi.