English
What does "genealogy" mean in the following context?
I understand that genealogy means the study of the history of families but here it's about places, not people! Would it mean the history of places?
What about "contrapuntally"?
"Manan Asif informs us that Farishta’s history of India was actually very different: drew on Hindu and Islamic histories and heroes, including Krishna and Rustam; began its history of India with the Mahabharata; established a chronology of India based on Brahmin time, instead of Quranic; noted the great variety of beliefs in Hindustan, and provided a genealogy of places in India “that were neither Hindu nor Muslim, but contrapuntally intertwined”.
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Genealogy could either be a history of the relationships between the locations (more likely I think) or a history of the people living in those places.
Contrapuntal music is music that uses multiple contrasting melodies to create complex harmonies. It's being used metaphorically here to refer to the religions of the places and how they related to each other in these places.
Thank you so much!