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Pious Labor: Islam, artisanship, and technology in colonial India
Pious Labor: Islam, artisanship, and technology in colonial India
My first monograph, Pious Labor (UC Press, 2024/Three Essays Collective 2025), analyzes colonial-era social, economic, and technological change in north India through the perspectives of Muslim workers and artisan laborers. The book centers the stories and experiences of Muslim metalsmiths, stonemasons, tailors, press workers, and carpenters across urban north India. It provides an in-depth analysis of vernacular-language sources, including technical manuals and community histories, that were produced by members of working class and artisan communities.
My first monograph, Pious Labor (UC Press, 2024/Three Essays Collective 2025), analyzes colonial-era social, economic, and technological change in north India through the perspectives of Muslim workers and artisan laborers. The book centers the stories and experiences of Muslim metalsmiths, stonemasons, tailors, press workers, and carpenters across urban north India. It provides an in-depth analysis of vernacular-language sources, including technical manuals and community histories, that were produced by members of working class and artisan communities.
The book builds on research that I conducted in underutilized local archives in India and Pakistan. My work has been supported by grants from the American Institute of Indian Studies, the Fulbright Hays Program, the American Historical Association, the Library of Congress, and other funders. During my research, I identified Urdu- and Persian-language manuals on practices ranging from electroplating to stonemasonry to sewing, which form the backbone of my project.
The book builds on research that I conducted in underutilized local archives in India and Pakistan. My work has been supported by grants from the American Institute of Indian Studies, the Fulbright Hays Program, the American Historical Association, the Library of Congress, and other funders. During my research, I identified Urdu- and Persian-language manuals on practices ranging from electroplating to stonemasonry to sewing, which form the backbone of my project.
The book is now available open access through UC-Press-Luminos.
It can be purchased in India through Three Essays Collective
The book is now available open access through UC-Press-Luminos.
It can be purchased in India through Three Essays Collective
Pious Labor has been widely reviewed in academic journals, including in the American Historical Review, the Journal of Social History, SAMAJ, and Religion. See my CV for full list of reviews and links.
I am currently writing two new book projects. The first is tentatively titled Out of Empire: A History of the 1920 Mass Migration from India to Afghanistan and is under contract with UNC Press. It tells the dramatic stories of the tens of thousands of Indian Muslims who left their homeland as part of a mass migration known as the hijrat of 1920. The migrants sought to leave colonized India and resettle in an independent, Muslim-ruled state: Afghanistan. Through its focus on the memoirs and experiences of the migrants of 1920, the book uncovers diverse transregional Muslim solidarities that were shaped by individuals’ gendered, class, and linguistic identities. These solidarities vastly exceeded the flattening category of “Pan-Islamism,” a concept often used to explain migrants' motivations. Through my study of the hijrat, I reevaluate the ideological and social diversity within Muslim anti-colonial politics.
I am currently writing two new book projects. The first is tentatively titled Out of Empire: A History of the 1920 Mass Migration from India to Afghanistan and is under contract with UNC Press. It tells the dramatic stories of the tens of thousands of Indian Muslims who left their homeland as part of a mass migration known as the hijrat of 1920. The migrants sought to leave colonized India and resettle in an independent, Muslim-ruled state: Afghanistan. Through its focus on the memoirs and experiences of the migrants of 1920, the book uncovers diverse transregional Muslim solidarities that were shaped by individuals’ gendered, class, and linguistic identities. These solidarities vastly exceeded the flattening category of “Pan-Islamism,” a concept often used to explain migrants' motivations. Through my study of the hijrat, I reevaluate the ideological and social diversity within Muslim anti-colonial politics.
I am also researching a monograph on Pashtun labor migration in the British Empire, tentatively titled Peripheral Subjects: Pashtun migration, Islam, and subjecthood across the British Empire. I trace the experiences of communities of Pashtun migrants from Afghanistan and the Indo-Afghan frontier who worked and established communities across the empire's industrializing cities and towns. The project analyzes how colonial and post-colonial states policed migration. I argue that in their attempts to identify, control, and deport migrants, colonial administrators made borders productive of identity and belonging. The project will center migrants’ own narratives of their regional geographies and histories through Persian, Urdu, and Pashto-language materials, emphasizing how their communities challenged state geographies.
I am also researching a monograph on Pashtun labor migration in the British Empire, tentatively titled Peripheral Subjects: Pashtun migration, Islam, and subjecthood across the British Empire. I trace the experiences of communities of Pashtun migrants from Afghanistan and the Indo-Afghan frontier who worked and established communities across the empire's industrializing cities and towns. The project analyzes how colonial and post-colonial states policed migration. I argue that in their attempts to identify, control, and deport migrants, colonial administrators made borders productive of identity and belonging. The project will center migrants’ own narratives of their regional geographies and histories through Persian, Urdu, and Pashto-language materials, emphasizing how their communities challenged state geographies.
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