The Kashmiri Pandits: A Study of Cultural Choice in North India

The Kashmiri Pandits have long played a vital role in Indian politics, and have made outstanding contributions to Indian culture and society. This study attempts to present a balanced history of the Pandits, drawing on both documented fact and legendary history. An important focus of the latter analysis is the use made, by a group vulnerable to changes in the "host" society, of reconstructed versions of historical tradition when the need to conform assumed primary importance. Sender consequently provides an invaluable analysis of the nature of a minority cultural group.