Written by well-known scholars, the eleven essays in this book present sub-cultures in diverse regional settings of the subcontinent. The contribution suggest that culture does not exist as fragments of the “great” and “little”, or “classic” and “folk” in any given tradition. In fact, variants within a given tradition interact with one another and assimilate new characteristics over time. These interactions also take place across boundaries of different religious and cultural spheres, and in the process, give meaning to the notions of the ‘self’ and the ‘other’. These readings introduce a new way of understanding medieval Indian history by engaging with interdisciplinary methods of research on issues that are significant to everyday existence in a plural society like that of India.
