Chitralekha Zutshi is Class of 1962 Professor of History at William & Mary. She is the author of multiple books, including Kashmir’s Contested Pasts, which received Honorable Mention for the Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy Book Prize. She lives in Williamsburg, VA.
Longlisted for the New India Foundation Book prize “Chitralekha Zutshi has crafted a complex and moving portrayal of Sheikh Abdullah, the Sher-e-Kashmir who spent much of his political life trying to achieve a just resolution for Kashmir and Kashmiris within the shifting circumstances of the twentieth century. This biography is rigorously researched, well-written and will be read widely.”—Neeti Nair, author of Hurt Sentiments: Secularism and Belonging in South Asia “This book provides critical insights into the ebbs and flows of Sheikh Abdullah’s turbulent relationship with India. In weaving the complex threads of Abdullah’s life together, Chitralekha Zutshi broadens our understanding of the failures of Indian federalism and compels us to engage with the multiple understandings of sovereignties in conflict-ridden Kashmir.”—Shahla Hussain, author of Kashmir in the Aftermath of Partition