INTRODUCTION 2Inot fit the genre of conquest narrative, by examining it against the ear-
liest Arabic conquest texts. Finally, I demonstrate the presence of a
diverse and intertwined political and cultural space in medieval Sind
by reading the Arabic and Persian archives from the ninth to the thir-
teenth centuries.
In Chapter 3, "My Son, What Is the Matter with You?" I argue that
advice-dialogic, didactic, and demonstrative-is the mode for pre-
senting a theory of politics in Chachnama. Letters are the primary
template for the models of advice in the text. They provide the clearest
articulation of Chachnama's theory of politics. I argue that Chachnama
is a fully Indic text influenced by texts and genres from Persian as well
as Sanskrit, reflecting the intertwined world of thirteenth-century
Sind.
In Chapter 4, "A Demon with Ruby Eyes," I turn explicitly to the
question of difference in Chachnama's theory of the political. This
chapter explores the political theory of understanding difference as
presented in Chachnama to consider the question of religious differ-
ence, cohabitation, and political organization in the thirteenth
century. I show that Chachnama focuses on the recognition of diverse
sacrality, the quest for accommodation of different communities, and
the role of politics in governing difference.
Chapter 51 "The Half Smile," presents the broader social world of
Chachnama, which included powerful women in key political roles
such as queens and advisors. It shows how Chachnama utilizes narra-
tives of politically powerful women to articulate a theory of ethical
subjecthood by focusing on their political will, desire, intuition, and
critical acuity for political risks.
In Chapter 6, "A Conquest of Pasts," I show how the European trans-
lation project in the eighteenth century created the fundamental
question of origins for Islam in India and then posited Chachnama as
the key text. Hence, I look at the longue duree interest in Chachnama
from the fourteenth century to the present. I begin with the history of
the text through medieval and early modern periods. The transition for
Chachnama as a history of conquest occurs after the English transla-
tion of Alexander Dow (1735-1779). I trace Chachnama in the works of
British colonial historians, Indian nationalist historians, scholars of
Islam, and Indian Marxist historians.