Papers by Audrey Truschke
Global Islamophobia and the Rise of Populism, 2024
In the past several years, Hindu nationalists have accelerated their agenda to transform the cons... more In the past several years, Hindu nationalists have accelerated their agenda to transform the constitutionally secular nation of India into an ethnonationalist state intolerant of religious minorities. This chapter surveys three major developments in this ongoing transition: the 2019 state policy changes regarding Kashmir, the late 2019 Citizenship Amendment Act, and the February 2020 Delhi riots. These three case studies vary significantly in terms of their locations and the specific communities involved, while occurring within a short timeframe. Common across all three cases is Hindu nationalists' penchant for using force and coercion to achieve their aims at the expense of Muslim communities. This chapter situates each case study against the overlapping backdrops of Hindu supremacy and Islamophobia, arguing that Hindu nationalists deploy these intertwined frameworks in contemporary India with dangerous results for the nation’s largest religious minority
Hopscotch Translation
Not everybody at the Mughal court supported translating Sanskrit texts into Persian...
Reporting Guide on Hindu Nationalism, also known as Hindutva and Hindu Supremacy.
Aimed at North... more Reporting Guide on Hindu Nationalism, also known as Hindutva and Hindu Supremacy.
Aimed at North American reporters; also useful for teaching.
By 6 co-authors, edited by the South Asia Scholar Activist Collective
This course covers the history of the Indian subcontinent from the advent of the Mughal Empire in... more This course covers the history of the Indian subcontinent from the advent of the Mughal Empire in 1526 until the present day. We proceed roughly chronologically and analyze some of the major political, social, religious, and cultural developments in early modern, colonial, and independent South Asia. Students will be exposed to primary sources, written by diverse people and translated from numerous languages, as well as the modern politics of history. Students will also learn about the practice of history more broadly, including how to read primary and secondary texts, how to weigh evidence, and how to formulate coherent historical arguments. SYLLABUS OVERVIEW General Information Pages 1-4 Weekly Schedule, Readings & Assignments Pages 5-7 PEDAGOGY 101-WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW We meet on Tuesdays 2:30-5:20 p.m. Each class will be partly lecture and partly in-class activities. On-time attendance is a must, and missing even one class is problematic. Our Canvas class site has a module for each week, with all readings, assignments, and additional information. The professor wants you to succeed; if you have issues or concerns, please be in touch. LEARNING OBJECTIVES Students can expect the following through successful completion of this course: Acquire basic knowledge of South Asian history from 1526 until the present day, including major political, social, religious, and cultural developments.
The Oxford Handbook of the Mughal World, 2023
India has long been a profoundly multilingual space, and the Mughal court is no exception. When t... more India has long been a profoundly multilingual space, and the Mughal court is no exception. When the Persian language was given a boost of imperial patronage during Akbar's reign, the process was governed not so much by supersession as by dynamic interaction with other local poetic and intellectual traditions. This chapter foregrounds two of India's "other" early modern textual cultures, Hindi and Sanskrit, exploring how they ll out the picture of Mughal courtly life. The chapter also considers representations of the polyglot Mughal court and imperial politics beyond the royal center, including in Rajput courts and in popular sources.
Editorʼs Note: Allison Busch drafted much of this chapter before her untimely death in 2019. Audrey Truschke synthesized Dr. Buschʼs notes, filled in where needed, and edited. This chapter is being published as co-authored, and we are honored to present some of Dr. Buschʼs hitherto unpublished research.
Comparative Studies in Society and History, In Dialogue, 2023
The Hindu/Han Letters: Audrey Truschke and Gina Anne Tam discuss the prospects for new India-Chin... more The Hindu/Han Letters: Audrey Truschke and Gina Anne Tam discuss the prospects for new India-China comparisons
Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 2023
HINDU RIGHT assaults on North American academics unfold within, to borrow WEB Du Bois's phrase, a... more HINDU RIGHT assaults on North American academics unfold within, to borrow WEB Du Bois's phrase, a "white world" (Du Bois 2007, 69). This context is critical for understanding how Hindu supremacists have advanced some of the broad goals of white supremacy through anti-intellectual attacks. Scholars have long recognized that the Hindu Right-a broad group of individuals who sympathize with aspects of the political ideology known as Hindutva or Hindu nationalism-advances a narrow agenda of prejudice within the white-dominated context of North America. In 2000 Vijay Prashad argued "Yankee Hindutva fights a bigoted culture [racist culture in the US] with its own bigoted worldview" (Prashad 2000, 320). In 2000 Biju Mathew and Vijay Prashad drew attention to "Yankee Hindutva's affinity with US racism" (Mathew and Prashad 2000, 523). In 2007 Prema Kurien warned about the essentialist tendencies of "Hindu American groups," whose "challenge to Eurocentrism is grounded in an essentialist, unicultural, valorized model of Indianness that is in many respects the mirror image of what they seek to critique" (Kurien 2007, 184). In 2022 the Feminist Critical Hindu Studies (FCHS) Collective analyzed how Hindu supremacist discourse "mimics and reformulates the discursive grievances of white supremacy culture" (Feminist Critical Hindu Studies 2022). I build on these arguments by analyzing one key shift indicated by the South Asia Scholar Activist Collective's (SASAC) Selective Timeline of Hindu Harassment of Scholars: namely, the Hindu Right predominantly targeted white scholars in the 1990s to early 2000s, whereas in more recent years they have directed their ire primarily against scholars of South Asian descent. In progressing from white targets to scholars of color, I argue that the Hindu Right has relied on the tools of white supremacy readily available in the United States context and, in so doing, has erected roadblocks to progressive attempts to diversify the North American academy.
Comparative Studies in Society and History, 2023
This article provides a textured history of the multivalent term "hindu" over 2,500 years, with t... more This article provides a textured history of the multivalent term "hindu" over 2,500 years, with the goal of productively unsettling what we think we know. "Hindu" is a ubiquitous word in modern times, used by scholars and practitioners in dozens of languages to denote members of a religious tradition. But the religious meaning of "hindu" and its common use are quite new. Here I trace the layered history of "hindu," part of an array of shifting identities in early and medieval India. In so doing, I draw upon an archive of primary sources-in Old Persian, New Persian, Sanskrit, Prakrit, Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, and more-that offers the kind of multilingual story needed to understand a term that has long cut across languages in South Asia. Also, I do not treat premodernity as a prelude but rather recognize it as the heart of this tale. So much of South Asian history-including over two thousand years of using the term "hindu"-has been misconstrued by those who focus only on British colonialism and later. We need a deeper consideration of South Asian pasts if we are to think more fruitfully about the terms and concepts that order our knowledge. Here, I offer one such contribution that marshals historical material on the multiform and fluid word "hindu" that can help us think more critically and precisely about this discursive category.
Method & Theory in the Study of Religion, 2023
This article presses on some of the key insights from Mack’s seminal essay on Christianity vis-à-... more This article presses on some of the key insights from Mack’s seminal essay on Christianity vis-à-vis scholarship on a different religion, namely Hinduism. I suggest some extensions of Mack’s argument to the academic study of Hindu traditions, such as identifying the harms posed by the soft inclusion of Christian theology within the discipline of Religious Studies. I argue that this is a structural problem in the modern academy that sidelines scholars of non-Christian, especially non-Abrahamic, religions and creates a model for uncritical influence from ideological and political sources. Following on Mack’s analysis of the pressures of Christian theology, I identify specific non-academic threats to critical studies of Hinduism, namely the political commitments of Hindu nationalists and the embrace of orientalist ideas by scholars and practitioners. I argue it is imperative to counter both harmful trends, while recognizing significant challenges to doing so. I also draw on insights from scholarship on Hinduism to point to strategies potentially beneficial to scholars of Christianity keen to pursue Mack’s ideas, such as a milder interest in questions of origins that embraces multiplicity. I conclude that scholars of Hinduism are ready to tell our stories – based on critical analyses of a diverse and complicated religious tradition – but whether our academic peers in Religious Studies are ready to hear and incorporate our insights is another matter.
The Immanent Frame, 2022
In this essay, I explicate the distorting Hindu nationalist claim of indigeneity, unpacking the e... more In this essay, I explicate the distorting Hindu nationalist claim of indigeneity, unpacking the expansive and exclusive notion of “indigenous status for all Hindus and only Hindus.” Hindu majoritarian mistreatment of religious minorities bears marked similarities to how white Christians have abused native communities in North America. More broadly, Hindutva ideology on indigeneity resonates with a global far-right agenda to enforce nativist policies and undercut multiculturalism. I explore Hindutva’s global links and North American parallels to help highlight the ethical and material implications of Hindutva aggressions that target others’ identities and land. Claiming indigeneity for the politically powerful, Hindu nationalists seek to disempower already precarious marginalized communities and use the implausible projection of themselves as oppressed to further harsh majoritarian goals.
Oxford Research Encyclopedia of American History, 2022
The Hindu Right is a dense network of organizations across the globe that promote Hindutva or Hin... more The Hindu Right is a dense network of organizations across the globe that promote Hindutva or Hindu nationalism, a political ideology that advocates for an ethnonationalist Hindu identity and to transform India into a Hindu state governed by majoritarian norms. Hindutva ideology was first articulated in India in the 1920s, and Hindu Right groups began expanding overseas in the 1940s, coming to the United States in 1970. Collectively, the Hindu Right groups that stretch across dozens of nations in the 21st century are known as the Sangh Parivar (the family of Hindutva organizations). From within the United States, Hindu Right groups exercise power within the global Hindutva movement and place pressure on American institutions and liberal values. The major interlinked Hindu Right groups in America focus on a variety of areas, especially politics, religion, outreach, and fundraising. Among other things, they attempt to control educational materials, influence policy makers, defend caste privilege, and whitewash Hindutva violence, a critical tool for many who espouse this exclusive political ideology. The U.S.-based Hindu Right is properly understood within both a transnational context of the global Sangh Parivar and as part of the American landscape, a fertile home for more than fifty years.
Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, 2022
In the 1620s Siddhicandra, a Jain monk, wrote a Sanskrit text about Jain-Mughal relations titled ... more In the 1620s Siddhicandra, a Jain monk, wrote a Sanskrit text about Jain-Mughal relations titled Bhanucandraganicarita (Biography of Bhanucandra). As I argue below, the Bhanucandraganicarita is an innovative work, both for its topic and its approach to that topic. The Bhanucandraganicarita claims, by its title, to be a biography of a specific Jain mendicant, but it is both more and less than one man's life story. The work begins and ends with episodes that feature inter actions between Jain and Mughal elites. It includes narratives through out that, with only a few exceptions, focus on emperors Akbar and Jahangir, along with a few of their close associates such as Abu al-Fazl and Nur Jahan. The Bhanucandraganicarita is, to my knowledge, the first Sanskrit text to focus on Mughal figures, not intermittently or in part, but rather through out its basic narrative strucure. Moreover, Siddhicandra describes both Mughal and Jain elites in unusual ways when we read his text against the wider Sanskrit tradition. He styles the Mughal kings and key members of the imperial court as participants in a Sanskrit-based culture of king ship. Siddhicandra mainly recognizes the Persianate culture that flourished at the Mughal court when he discusses his own activities as a Jain monk. In this article, I first discuss Siddhicandra's topic choice and then turn to his eye-catch ing approach to depicting Mughals and Jains. I argue that Siddhicandra's Bhanucandraganicarita marks a moment in Sanskrit historiography when Muslim kings had ceased to be other and so could be fully integrated within Sanskrit literary norms, even as their Persianate ruling culture pr vided a fresh model for Siddhicandra's own self-fashioning.
New Jersey Star-Ledger, 2022
A bulldozer — celebrating far-right Hindu nationalist violence against Muslims — drove through th... more A bulldozer — celebrating far-right Hindu nationalist violence against Muslims — drove through the streets of Edison, last month at an Indian Independence Day parade. Many New Jersey politicians were present and claim to have been unaware of the bulldozer’s appalling symbolism of praising, even encouraging, the violent oppression of Indian religious minorities.
The backlash is continuing to grow, including calls for the organizers to be held accountable (they have since apologized) and for more people to learn about Hindutva hate.
Shuddhashar, 2022
In the hands of the Hindu Right, “decolonize” has become a contronym.
Masterpieces at the Jaipur Court
Description of a unique manuscript in the Jaipur royal collection.
Canopy Forum, 2022
The premodern Sanskrit textual universe and the history of Hinduism—two partially overlapping thi... more The premodern Sanskrit textual universe and the history of Hinduism—two partially overlapping things—cannot be understood without knowledge of caste, a hereditary system of social hierarchy and oppression. I appreciate this now, but I did not always. I studied premodern Sanskrit texts for more than a decade before I seriously thought about caste. Moreover, I am not alone in this blind spot. Judging from their scholarship, many academics who study premodern South Asia rarely, if ever, critically consider caste, which is to the detriment of our collective quest to better understand Indian history, including Hindu traditions.
In what follows, I briefly reflect on the context of my own error and what this oversight—repeated by many—causes us to miss about the South Asian past and our present.
We write in alarm to inform you that we have found a pervasive, long-standing pattern of plagiari... more We write in alarm to inform you that we have found a pervasive, long-standing pattern of plagiarism in the work of a recently elected fellow of the Society, Dr. Vikram Sampath. As a world-renowned and venerable institution devoted to representing history as a discipline and historians as a group, these blatant violations of the stated ethics of the Society by a member subverts the very aims and principles of the Society. We draw your attention to the relevant sections of your Statement of Ethics, which even our cursory survey of Dr. Sampath's published work has shown that he has repeatedly violated in spirit and in letter.
Catanach (1984): "The general tendency in Poona was to assert, again, that the deeds were the wor... more Catanach (1984): "The general tendency in Poona was to assert, again, that the deeds were the work of isolated cranks. But Kal, a newspaper edited by the impetuous S.M. Paranjpe, published an editorial which appeared to argue that the assassins in both 1897 and 1899 had acted according to what they believed to be the law of God-a higher law than the law of man. 102" p. 9
Religion Dispatches, 2021
Though you aren’t likely to read about it on the front page of the New York Times or spot it in t... more Though you aren’t likely to read about it on the front page of the New York Times or spot it in trending topics on Twitter, for over two decades now North America has had a Hindu Nationalism problem. Scholars in the US and Canada working in the areas of Hinduism, Indian politics, and South Asian history have been targeted in campaigns of harassment and intimidation by right-wing Hindu nationalists. And despite the fact that such attacks have escalated significantly in 2021 in both frequency and scale, most Americans remain unaware of this growing threat to academic freedom and know little about its anti-intellectual instigators. We, as members of the South Asia Scholar Activist Collective, seek to change that by publishing a timeline that tracks the harassment of South Asian academics in North America as part of a larger project we call the Hindutva Harassment Field Manual.
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Papers by Audrey Truschke
Aimed at North American reporters; also useful for teaching.
By 6 co-authors, edited by the South Asia Scholar Activist Collective
Editorʼs Note: Allison Busch drafted much of this chapter before her untimely death in 2019. Audrey Truschke synthesized Dr. Buschʼs notes, filled in where needed, and edited. This chapter is being published as co-authored, and we are honored to present some of Dr. Buschʼs hitherto unpublished research.
The backlash is continuing to grow, including calls for the organizers to be held accountable (they have since apologized) and for more people to learn about Hindutva hate.
In what follows, I briefly reflect on the context of my own error and what this oversight—repeated by many—causes us to miss about the South Asian past and our present.
Aimed at North American reporters; also useful for teaching.
By 6 co-authors, edited by the South Asia Scholar Activist Collective
Editorʼs Note: Allison Busch drafted much of this chapter before her untimely death in 2019. Audrey Truschke synthesized Dr. Buschʼs notes, filled in where needed, and edited. This chapter is being published as co-authored, and we are honored to present some of Dr. Buschʼs hitherto unpublished research.
The backlash is continuing to grow, including calls for the organizers to be held accountable (they have since apologized) and for more people to learn about Hindutva hate.
In what follows, I briefly reflect on the context of my own error and what this oversight—repeated by many—causes us to miss about the South Asian past and our present.
In addition to learning about specific traditions and debates, students will become conversant with academic approaches to the study of religion, one of the most enduring and influential aspects of human society. Religion isn’t a bed of roses for everyone, and we cover both fierce criticisms of traditions and religious offense, seeking to cultivate empathy and value multiple perspectives.
In the second half of the course, students devote themselves to researching and writing a paper of approximately 15 pages on a topic of their choosing. We will begin laying the groundwork for formulating and advancing this project from the first day of class. By conducting archival work and writing an original paper, students will gain in-depth knowledge about their chosen topic and will also develop research methods, critical thinking skills, and writing strategies.