Gaining Authority and Legitimacy: Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee and the Golden Temple c. 1920–2000 by Gurveen Kaur Khurana A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Anthropology and History) in The University of Michigan 2019 Doctoral Committee: Associate Professor Farina Mir, Co-Chair Professor Mrinalini Sinha, Co-Chair Associate Professor William Glover Professor Paul C. Johnson Professor Webb Keane Gurveen Kaur Khurana
[email protected] ORCID iD: 0000-0002-5452-9968 © Gurveen Kaur Khurana 2019 DEDICATION To Samarth, Ozzie and Papa ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation is only a part of the journey that began more than ten years ago, and there are many that have made it possible for me to get here. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their support along the way. My greatest debt is to my dissertation advisors Mrinalini Sinha and Farina Mir. Mrinalini has supported me through out and has always been a source of intellectual support and more. She has allowed me the freedom to grow and gain from her vast knowledge, while being patient with me finding my way. There are no words that can express my gratitude to her for all that she has done. Farina Mir’s rigor sets high standards for us all and will guide my way over the years. The rest of my committee, Webb Keane, William Glover and Paul Johnson have all been wonderful with their time and support through this dissertation writing. My deepest thanks also to Dilip Menon, Shahid Amin, Sunil Kumar and Neeladri Bhattacharya for the early intellectual training in historical thinking and methodology.