Religion

'A Tyranny Against Nature': The Untouchables in Western India

In this article Rosalind O'Hanlon describes the effects of Hindu religious hierarchies upon the daily life of Untouchables in traditional Indian society and discusses some of the forces associated with British rule that worked to change both the social position of Untouchables and their perception of their position.

Saints and Soul-Caking

Maggie Black takes a look at the seasonal celebration of All Saints and serves up a Hallowe'en recipe.

Jews and Judaism in the Ancient World

Neither the Greeks nor the Romans paid much attention to the achievements or customs of the peoples that they conquered. As Jenny Morris shows here, in the case of their Jewish subjects this indifference caused problems that had both religious and political repercussions.

Charles V and the Turks

The loss to the Turks of Constantinople, the ancient capital of the Eastern Empire, in 1453 had been a terrible blow to Christendom. It was the crusading dream of Charles V, argues Sinclair Atkins, to reconquer the Byzantine city.

Religion in the Victorian City

The census of religious worship taken in England and Wales in 1851 gives a unique insight into the religious habits of our Victorian predecessors which, as Bruce Coleman explains, is very much at variance with the popular image of them.

The Resurgence of Islam: The Return to the Source

In the second article of The Resurgence of Islam Dr. Leila Ahmed, an Egyptian scholar who has taught at the United Arab Emirates University, examines the Islamic past - that of the Prophet Muhammad and the first four 'right-guarded caliphs' - to which the leaders of the current resurgence in the Islamic world seek a return.