Synopsis The Asia Annual is the cross-disciplinary journal of the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies, Calcutta. The Institute is a centre for research and learning with focus on social, cultural, economic and political administrative developments in Asia, from the middle of nineteenth century onwards with special emphasis on their links with India and on the life and works of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. These remain the principal foci of the journal. It seeks to explore the complex interconnections between cultural and socio-economic structure of society and provides a critical dialogue around questions of ethnicity, nationalism and related themes like identity politics. This book focuses on a range of such issues and includes a summary of Asian events for 1999.