Rai is the author of the prizewinning book Hindu Rulers, Muslim Subjects: Islam, Rights, and the History of Kashmir (2004).
[1][3] She has held senior research fellowships at Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center, Yale University (2007–2010) and the American Institute of Indian Studies (2007–2008).
[4] W.W. Reinhardt of Randolph-Macon College notes that Rai's scholarly work examines Kashmiri history since the state of Jammu and Kashmir was "bizzarely [sic?]
created" in 1846, how Gulab Singh cemented his "dubious position" with reference to Hindu symbolism and how the Kashmiri Muslim population fell into a condition of "abject helplessness" by the 1930s.
[5] Sumit Ganguly in a review in the Journal of Asian Studies, notes "Rai's contribution lies in the extremely thorough and painstaking documentation".
He adds that, "her account of the growth of Muslim religio-political consciousness in the early part of the twentieth century ... unearths a wealth of detail.
Those interested in understanding the background of the continuing tragedy in Kashmir will find much to consider in her substantial account of the historical backdrop".
[6] Tapan Raychaudhri calls Rai's account of the way the sovereignty of the Dogras, with no basis in Kashmir, interacted with the British rule, "illuminating.
"[8] Peter van der Veer of the University of Amsterdam notes that the book reminds readers of the "crucial importance of colonial history to the present".
Rai examines the legitimacy of the Dogra state and argues that its fall lay in its sidelining of the Muslim population in favour of Hindu nationalism.