A Place where “Mahol” is Right: The Impact of Religious Practices on the Settlement and Mobility of Muslim Communities in Northern India
Abstract
India is the country with the third largest Muslim population in the world, and most of this Muslim population can be called indigenous. However, the uneven distribution of Muslims in India is not only visible at the regional level (which has a historical explanation), but it is also prominent on the local level: in cities and villages with a significant percentage of the Muslim population, one can see separate clusters and districts where various Muslim communities live. In our article, based on the field observations made in Northern India (in Aligarh, Delhi, Agra, Sikri, Fatehpur Sikri, Lucknow, Dewa Sharif) 2023 and 2024, we will examine the settlement and mobility patterns of local communities of Indian Muslims and focus on religiously conditioned strategies for choosing a suitable place to live and the characteristics of religious locations, which, as we suggest, define, along with socio‑political reasons, the territorial coun daries of the communities.
Supporting agencies: This research was supported by the Russian Science Foundation, project No. 24– 28–00439, “Indigenous India on the eve of great changes: ethnographic observations during the Indo-Soviet expeditions of the 1970–80th, and contemporary outlook”. https://rscf.ru/project/24–28–00439/
About the Author
A. V. Kinyaeva
N.N. Miklukho-Maklai Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Russian Academy of Science
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Anastasia V. Kinyaeva — Postgraduate and Research Intern.
Moscow
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Review
For citations:
Kinyaeva A.V. A Place where “Mahol” is Right: The Impact of Religious Practices on the Settlement and Mobility of Muslim Communities in Northern India. State, Religion and Church in Russia and Worldwide. 2025;43(3):173-198. (In Russ.)
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