Description
This book casts lexicographers as key figures in the political realignment of South Asia under British rule and
in the years after independence. Prior to the nineteenth century, South Asian dictionaries, glossaries, and
vocabularies reflected a hierarchical vision of nature and human society. By the turn of the twentieth century,
the modern dictionary had democratized and politicized language. Compiled ‘scientifically’ through ‘historical
principles’, the modern dictionary became a concrete symbol of a nation’s arrival on the world stage. Their
dictionaries document how a single, mutually intelligible language evolved into two competing registers—
Urdu and Hindi—and became associated with contrasting religious and nationalist goals. Each chapter in
this book focuses on a key lexicographical work and its fateful political consequences. Effectively, this book
recovers overlooked texts and denigrated authors to provide insights into the forces that turned intimate