This is the first of a three-volume study of the background ofIndias Partition,
decidedly one of the seminal developments in thehistory of the subcontinent.
Rejecting the widely held view thatPartition was the result mainly of British
manipulation and themistakes or intransigence of certain Indian leaders, the
authorasserts that it was the result primarily of a powerful movement ofMuslim
nationalism. This volume is devoted to a discussion of thisfoundations of that
nationalism. Dealing at the outset with thelegacy of the past, the author
disputes the theory of a perpetual,centuries-old conflict between two
antagonistic civilisations inthe political arena. At the same time he shows how
both the Muslimand the Hindu