| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 108.1

You have not been recognized as a subscriber to the AHR online. About 195 words from this article are provided below; about 514 words remain.

If you are a individual member of the American Historical Association, you may:: • login here if you have already registered for online access.; • Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.
• Set up your online account for the first time. AHA members can go to the AHA individual membership section to locate their member numbers.
If you are not a member of the American Historical Association, you can:: • Join the AHA and receive many member benefits including print and electronic issues of the American Historical Review.
• Purchase a research pass to gain two hour access to the entire History Cooperative web site. You will have full access to current issues of the American Historical Review (104.3-present). Note: the Research Pass does not provide access to JSTOR's holdings of the American Historical Review.
Instititutions can:: • Subscribe to this journal and receive print and electronic issues.
• Activate your existing subscription so that we recognize your IP number ranges.

| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 108.1 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Comparative/World

Brian Keith Axel. The Nation's Tortured Body: Violence, Representation, and the Formation of the Sikh "Diaspora." Durham, N.C.: Duke Univesity Press. 2001. Pp. xi, 297. Cloth $64.95, paper $22.95.

It is fair to ask whether there is a Sikh diaspora. In a 1999 study entitled The Sikh Diaspora: The Search for Statehood, Darshan Singh Tatla carefully considered the question. Over ninety percent of the global Sikh population resides in India, and most Sikh emigrants have gone abroad voluntarily. If a forced dispersal is the criteria for a diaspora, Tatla conceded that the Sikh case did not fit. But if the sense of a contested homeland is sufficient, then it does. What made Tatla's answer particularly interesting was his position that Sikhs abroad did not constitute a diaspora until June 1984, when Indian troops attacked their most important shrine, the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Punjab. It was at that point that Sikhs in Britain, Europe, North America, East Africa, and the Far East lost their sense of a secure homeland in India and became psychological exiles. Until then, Tatla said, these people belonged to emigrant communities but not a diaspora. . . .

There are about 514 more words in this article. Please log in (or, if you are not yet an authorized user, please go to the User Setup page) to gain full access rights. Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.