Overview

A compelling biography of Sheikh Abdullah, the charismatic, combative, and controversial Kashmiri politician Written by the leading historian of modern Kashmir, this is a comprehensive portrayal of one of the most enigmatic politicians in modern South Asia, Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah, known as the Lion of Kashmir. Abdullah (1905–1982) devoted much of his life to mobilizing Kashmiris to assert their rights, to trying to achieve a fair resolution for their politically contested state, to shaping its turbulent relationship with India, and to bridging the divide between India and Pakistan. Although he forged ties with the Indian National Congress, Abdullah's support for Kashmir's accession to India and his advocacy for a more autonomous position for the state within the Indian Union complicated his relationship with India and led to his fall from grace, arrest, and imprisonment. In 1975 he reached a compromise with India that alienated generations of Kashmiris for whose self-determination he had long fought. The people of Kashmir, India, and Pakistan continue to grapple with and contest his legacy. Zutshi's rigorously researched and elegantly crafted biography brings this complex figure to life and offers a window onto the political fissures of twentieth-century South Asia more broadly.

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"""Chitralekha Zutshi has crafted a complex and moving portrayal of Sheikh Abdullah, the Sher-e-Kashmir who spent much of his political life trying to achieve a just resolution for Kashmir and Kashmiris within the shifting circumstances of the twentieth century. This biography is rigorously researched, well-written and will be read widely.""--Neeti Nair, author of Hurt Sentiments: Secularism and Belonging in South Asia ""This book provides critical insights into the ebbs and flows of Sheikh Abdullah's turbulent relationship with India. In weaving the complex threads of Abdullah's life together, Chitralekha Zutshi broadens our understanding of the failures of Indian federalism and compels us to engage with the multiple understandings of sovereignties in conflict-ridden Kashmir.""--Shahla Hussain, author of Kashmir in the Aftermath of Partition"

Longlisted for the New India Foundation Book prize “Chitralekha Zutshi has crafted a complex and moving portrayal of Sheikh Abdullah, the Sher-e-Kashmir who spent much of his political life trying to achieve a just resolution for Kashmir and Kashmiris within the shifting circumstances of the twentieth century. This biography is rigorously researched, well-written and will be read widely.”—Neeti Nair, author of Hurt Sentiments: Secularism and Belonging in South Asia “This book provides critical insights into the ebbs and flows of Sheikh Abdullah’s turbulent relationship with India. In weaving the complex threads of Abdullah’s life together, Chitralekha Zutshi broadens our understanding of the failures of Indian federalism and compels us to engage with the multiple understandings of sovereignties in conflict-ridden Kashmir.”—Shahla Hussain, author of Kashmir in the Aftermath of Partition

“Chitralekha Zutshi has crafted a complex and moving portrayal of Sheikh Abdullah, the Sher-e-Kashmir who spent much of his political life trying to achieve a just resolution for Kashmir and Kashmiris within the shifting circumstances of the twentieth century. This biography is rigorously researched, well-written and will be read widely.”—Neeti Nair, author of Hurt Sentiments: Secularism and Belonging in South Asia “This book provides critical insights into the ebbs and flows of Sheikh Abdullah’s turbulent relationship with India. In weaving the complex threads of Abdullah’s life together, Chitralekha Zutshi broadens our understanding of the failures of Indian federalism and compels us to engage with the multiple understandings of sovereignties in conflict-ridden Kashmir.”—Shahla Hussain, author of Kashmir in the Aftermath of Partition

Author Information

Chitralekha Zutshi is Class of 1962 Professor of History at William & Mary. She is the author of multiple books, including Kashmir’s Contested Pasts, which received Honorable Mention for the Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy Book Prize. She lives in Williamsburg, VA.

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