includes index and biblioraphy

This book interrogates Uttar Pradesh`s identity as India`s heartland and unravels the historical processes that have shaped this region. In looking at this constructed identity of the state it argues that UP`s existence as a region cannot be taken uncritically as a given, considering the complex and divergent traditions that have been constituent of the state. It makes the case that UP has been imagined in multiple ways and explores five such distinct, though overlapping, constructions through its modern history: UP as a colonial heartland, as a nationalist heartland, as a Hindu Heartland, as a Muslim heartland, and finaly as a postcolonial heartland. The book closely examines UP`s transformation from a colonial to a postcolonial society, looking at issues of identities, mobilization and governance.