Islam, Irrigation and Religious Identity: Canal Colonies and Muslim Revivalism in Multan.

The aim of the essays is to analyse the development of the Muslim religious identity in the region of Multan in south-western Punjab in the 19th and 20th century. The core argument of the chapter is the connection between the social and economic transformations brought about by the British administration and the growth of communal divisions in Multan. The essays underlines the change in religious style taking place in the region, and the evolving role of the Sufi shrines of Multan. These events are analysed in the framework of the general movement of religious revival in Northern India in the late 19th and 20th century.