Religion and Governance in India, c.1000-2000 CE

In the 1950s India was considered a showcase of secular democracy. Today, secularism in India is under attack from religious fundamentalists and from liberal intellectuals convinced that India does not need 'Western secularism' because practical toleration is an integral part of the Hindu tradition. Implicit in this hypothesis is a notion that Indian rulers and giovernments have contributed little to the maintenance of grass roots communal harmony. We intend to subject this unsubstantiated claim to rigorous empirical investigation with a view to explicating, in ways not attempted before, the complex inter-play of religion and governance throughout Indian history.