Richard Eaton. Shrines, Cultivators, and Muslim ‘Conversion’ in Punjab and Bengal, 1300-1700

This historiographical analysis of conversion in northern India suggests a much more nuanced approach to the introduction and adoption of Muslim culture during the 10th-16th centuries. Eaton challenges several established paradigms about how and why southern Asians adopted “Islam”. Following a long discussion about why we should reconsider our understanding of “conversions” on the southern Asian frontier, Eaton examines two zones with respect to Indo-Islamic interactions and conversion practi..