ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book is an introductory exploration of how the basic and universal icons of Mecca and Medina may have been imported into Indian popular print culture and what variants it resulted in. It goes back into the past, trying to reconstruct the popular visual culture of Muslims in pre-modern India, to understand the context in which print culture may have arrived. The book explores the contemporary prints of the different localised images found in India and what role they play in the users' lives, especially in the augmentation of their popular faith and cultural practices. It briefly compares the Muslim visual culture of India with that of Pakistan, as different trends in both countries significantly reflect their different socio-political trajectories.
