This book investigates the historical development and identity formation of the Shi'a Muslim minority in colonial India. Drawing on newly available sources such as religious writings, polemical literature, and clerical biographies, the book examines the period leading up to India's Independence in 1947. It focuses on the Shi'a community in Lucknow and the United Provinces, analyzing key developments like the rise of religious activism, madrasa education, missionary efforts, ritual changes, and the community's increasing political engagement. These transformations led to the solidification of a distinct Shi'a identity, separate from their Sunni counterparts, and contributed to the emergence of modern sectarianism with lasting consequences in South Asia.

The book makes a significant contribution to the global history of Shi'ism and to understandings of inner-Islamic conflicts in the colonial and post-colonial worlds. It is noted for its focus on the influential Shi'a minority of Lucknow and the United Provinces, a region with a history of Shi'a rule. The research draws on a range of new sources to assess seminal developments in Shi'a religious and social transformations. As a consequence of these changes, a Shi'a sectarian identity developed that existed in separation from rather than in interaction with its Sunni counterparts, initiating the birth of modern sectarianism.