desitotkay:

mehreenkasana:

I often receive questions from you lovely folks about how should one start reading up on issues and intellectual discourse related to South Asian affairs of all sorts including our history, politics, ideology(s), economy, rift(s) and a lot more. Since it’s an extremely rich history, it can get (quite naturally) tough to know where to start from. You don’t need to worry for now because I’ve brought four of my personal favorite South Asian history/information links. Let’s see what we got:

• Columbia’s archive of South Asian history under the title of Indian Routes consists of a timeline of events throughout the region with interesting commentary and analysis. Just ignore the horrible font chosen: Comic Sans.
• Another great link is offered by Berkeley under the title of Colonial India. This is one aspect of South Asian history that is constantly discussed by those attempting to instill stability in a post-colonial region. Offered in the form of extensive chapters, this website has been a great source of knowledge for me and the students I’ve taught. Best part? It’s not in Comic Sans.
• Then we have - oh, this is a great treat for righteously angry brown discourse - Sepia Mutiny. Recently ended, SM still maintains an active Twitter account where you can send questions and comments regarding contemporary South Asian political, cultural, social debates. Sepia Mutiny offers one of the best slam downs on racism, discrimination, immigrant issues among other important issues.
• Last but certainly not the least, Chapati Mystery. Maintained by Manan Ahmed (whom I’ve met off Twitter and become friends with - thanks for the book by Frantz Fanon, Manan!) who “holds a Ph.D in the history of Islam in South Asia from the University of Chicago, blogs under the sobriquet sepoy. He can also be found hanging out at Juan Cole’s Informed Comment: Global Affairs.” Chapati Mystery tackles the subjects of neo-orientalism, Islamophobia, political ideologies in South Asian history, Jinnah and Gandhi’s swag, Pakistan’s terribly brutal history with Bangladesh and much more. It’s one of the many e-libraries I love spending hours in.

That’s one, two, three and four. Four links on South Asian history, political dynamics, various religions and modern day issues for you to browse through. I’ll share more next time. Till then, happy uncolonized learning!

Adding SAMAJ to this list: “The South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal (SAMAJ) is a peer-reviewed journal devoted to social science research on South Asia. It specializes in the publication of comparative thematic issues as well as individual research articles, review essays, and book reviews. Committed to disseminating rigorous scientific research to the widest possible audience, SAMAJ is fully and freely accessible online.”

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9:06 pm  •  7 September 2012  •  260 notes