The authors in this volume explore Indo-Muslim cultures developing in South Asia from the sixteenth through twentieth centuries, sharing central themes but showing significant contextual variations by time and place. They focus a much-needed analytical gaze on the rich layers of circulation and exchange of art, architecture, and literature within South Asia and testify to the interaction of Muslims and Islamic traditions with other people and traditions in India for centuries. About the Author Alka Patel, Ph.D. (Harvard 2000), is Associate Professor of South Asian Art, University of California, Irvine. Her publications explore Indian Ocean material history and twelfth through sixteenth-century architecture in northern India. Her current interests include Ghurid (late twelfth century) architecture, and a collaborative investigation of Hyderabad’s merchant-bankers. Karen Isaksen Leonard, earned a Ph.D. in History from the University of Wisconsin in 1969 and now chairs the Anthropology Department at the University of California, Irvine. She has published on the history of Hyderabad, India, and Hyderabadis abroad, South Asian immigrants to the United States, and Muslim Americans.