This book studies how a dominant strand of Hinduism in North India—the tradition which uses and misuses the slogan ‘Hindi–Hindu–Hindustan’—came into being in the late nineteenth century. It uses the life and writings of Bharatendu Harischandra (often called the Father of Modern Hindi) as its focal point for an analysis of some of the vital cultural processes through which modern North India, as we experience it today, came to be formed.

First published in 1997, this book has been widely recognized as a work of exceptional scholarship with politically vital implications. It is reissued now with a new Foreword by Francesca Orsini, highlighting the nature of its importance.

VASUDHA DALMIA is a Professor of Hindi and Modern South Asian Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.