Mridu Rai

Mridu Rai is an Indian historian who serves as a professor at Presidency University, Kolkata. Rai is the author of the prizewinning book Hindu Rulers, Muslim Subjects: Islam, Rights, and the History of Kashmir.

Education Mridu Rai graduated with an honours in history from the University of Delhi in 1986. She completed her master's degree, with a major in medieval Indian history, from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in 1988. She finished her M.Phil. in 1991, with medieval Indian history as her major. She completed her M.Phil. in modern South Asian history at Columbia University in 1994. Then she completed her PhD in modern South Asian history from the same university in 2000. Her Ph.D. dissertation was called: 'The Question of Religion in Kashmir: Sovereignty, Legitimacy and Rights, 1846–1947'. The dissertation analysed the mixture of religion and politics in Kashmir and examined the Hindu state in princely Jammu and Kashmir.

Career In 1997–1998, Rai taught as a visiting lecturer at Tufts University. In 1999, she taught as an adjunct instructor at Columbia University. Between 1999 and 2007, she served as assistant professor first at Bowdoin College and later at Yale University. From 2007 to 2010, she served as an associate professor at Yale University. In 2010–2011, Rai was a research fellow at the Davis Centre for Historical Studies at Princeton University. From 2011 to 2014, she taught at Trinity College, Dublin, where she was a member of the Department of History.

W.W. Reinhardt of Randolph-Macon College notes that Rai's scholarly work examines Kashmiri history since the state of Jammu and Kashmir was " created" in 1846, how Gulab Singh cemented his "dubious position" with reference to Hindu symbolism and how the Kashmiri Muslim population fell into a condition of "abject helplessness" by the 1930s. Weinhardt concludes by giving the book his highest recommendation for all levels.

Sumit Ganguly in a review in the Journal of Asian Studies, notes "Rai's contribution lies in the extremely thorough and painstaking documentation". He adds that, "her account of the growth of Muslim religio-political consciousness in the early part of the twentieth century ... unearths a wealth of detail. He further adds that, "Rai's book is a useful one. Those interested in understanding the background of the continuing tragedy in Kashmir will find much to consider in her substantial account of the historical backdrop". Tapan Raychaudhri calls Rai's account of the way the sovereignty of the Dogras, with no basis in Kashmir, interacted with the British rule, "illuminating."

Alexander Evans of the King's College London calls the book "a major contribution to Kashmir studies". He adds that it sets "the standard for the next generation of publications on Kashmir. Challenging the existing literature, this work is heady and fresh—and deserves attention."

Peter van der Veer of the University of Amsterdam notes that the book reminds readers of the "crucial importance of colonial history to the present". He adds that Rai is "able to de-essentialize religion and secularism in the Kashmir conflict, which is very useful in light of India's secularist claims and the ways in which some sociologists have theorized those claims". He further adds: "Carefully researched and lucidly conceptualized and written, this book forwards an important thesis on an important topic". He further added that it is "a pioneering historical study of rights, religion, and regional identity in Kashmir that could also inspire future studies on other regions of the subcontinent". Aaron Peron Ogletree reiterates the value of Rai's work on Kashmiri history.

Chandra D. Bhatta calls it an "excellent piece of historical scholarship." Raychaudhri observes that this "highly scholarly work" examines the role of religion in Kashmir's geopolitics since 1846. Rai examines the legitimacy of the Dogra state and argues that its fall lay in its sidelining of the Muslim population in favour of Hindu nationalism. Bhatta concludes by highlighting that the book is a "valuable contribution" to the scholarship on Kashmir.

Chapters in books

Journal articles

Review essays

Book reviews