Hist 4538
Sample "A"-grade Essays from Quiz One (a short quiz with a very tight timeframe--top-notch midterm essays will be longer and more detailed)
Drawing on lectures and readings, analyze the interaction of social groups in South Asia. Your essay must have a clear argument, and you must support your argument with specific examples.
"Social groups across South Asia have clearly played an important role in defining South Asian culture interactions prior to colonial rule. More specifically, religious institutions in South Asia have defined themselves against others. With the rise of Muslim military prowess in the 8th century, South Asia was exposed to a new type of religion. A monotheistic faith strictly contradicted their worship of deities, however the interaction of two different religious faiths led to an evolving faith of an evolving people.
Muslims used the Hind Bhakti devotionalism in the own respect. Afghan culture in food, architecture, irrigation techniques, rituals, warfare seeped into South Asian culture, and this South Asian culture redefined itself. My argument is that with the diversity, accessibility of power, and the ability to influence the South Asian people, South Asia became a fusion of all South Asian religions, cultures, and ideals."
"The interaction among social groups in India is really interesting because outside the realm of politics groups seem to support each other and respond to previous religious traditions. However, inside politics the religious groups within India don't seem to work well together, often times resorting to violence.
Let's look at the origins of religious groups to see how the religious groups influence each other. Sufism, Sikhism & Bhakti are obviously responses to India's long held religious traditions. Sufism is a mixture of Hinduism and Islam and socially was nothing more than a new ideal created from India's two main religions. Sikhism is a rejection of Hinduism and Islam and the political aspects of both, but it [is] impossible to have Sikhism without Islam or Hinduism. Bhakti, however, is a flat out rejection of Hindu traditions like Brahmins and so forth. So just by listing the traditions of India if it easy to see that these social traditions foster continued growth of newer religious traditions.
Once inside politics though social groups devolve into petty squabbling. Hindus, Islams seeks to subject their minority counterparts, causing their minorities to react violently, like the Sikhs and the Golden Temple."