Indian Sufism since the Seventeenth Century

Based on his doctoral dissertation submitted to the University of London, the present book is a wonderful study of the Sufis ofAurangabad (and, more generally, in the Deccan realms of Hyderabad’s Nizams) and their consequent legacy in independent India. Green builds upon earlier research on the Musl...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Sajjad H. Rizvi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: International Institute of Islamic Thought 2008-07-01
Series:American Journal of Islam and Society
Online Access:https://www.ajis.org/index.php/ajiss/article/view/1457
_version_ 1828139667772407808
author Sajjad H. Rizvi
author_facet Sajjad H. Rizvi
author_sort Sajjad H. Rizvi
collection DOAJ
description Based on his doctoral dissertation submitted to the University of London, the present book is a wonderful study of the Sufis ofAurangabad (and, more generally, in the Deccan realms of Hyderabad’s Nizams) and their consequent legacy in independent India. Green builds upon earlier research on the Muslim Deccan undertaken by Carl Ernst (Sufism at Khuldabad, which is adjacent to Aurangabad) and Richard Eaton (Sufis of Bijapur) and brings to the fore insights from religious studies on the nature of holy men and their interaction with politics, words, and worlds. The Deccan has a rich Muslim heritage: Persianate from the fourteenth century and then dominated by the Mughals and their successor states from the end of the seventeenth century. This heritage also accounts for the significance of Sufis and their shrines in the region: theAurangabad shrines are an important facet of this landscape, and this book is a welcome introduction to them. Green also furthers the theoretical position of Ernst and Eaton: the centrality of the cult of saints for Sufism means that the studies should focus on shrines as “realms of the saint.” Sufism is thus not merely about masters and disciples or obscure and metaphysical arguments about gnosis, enlightenment and themarvellous; rather, it concerns sacred spaces and geographies of spiritual vitality and currency centered on the saints’ shrines. Starting fromAurangzeb’s conquest of the Deccan and establishment of his capital at Aurangabad (the former Khirki of the Nizam Shahs) and following through to the legacy of the Panchakki shrine in the 1990s, Green’s work comprises five chapters that weave together an incisive textual analysis of Persian and Urdu sources, readings of architecture as repositories of Sufi text, and fieldwork among Aurangabad’s Sufis ...
first_indexed 2024-04-11T18:56:03Z
format Article
id doaj.art-25e38844455e43de8146cc9d1289421a
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2690-3733
2690-3741
language English
last_indexed 2024-04-11T18:56:03Z
publishDate 2008-07-01
publisher International Institute of Islamic Thought
record_format Article
series American Journal of Islam and Society
spelling doaj.art-25e38844455e43de8146cc9d1289421a2022-12-22T04:08:10ZengInternational Institute of Islamic ThoughtAmerican Journal of Islam and Society2690-37332690-37412008-07-0125310.35632/ajis.v25i3.1457Indian Sufism since the Seventeenth CenturySajjad H. RizviBased on his doctoral dissertation submitted to the University of London, the present book is a wonderful study of the Sufis ofAurangabad (and, more generally, in the Deccan realms of Hyderabad’s Nizams) and their consequent legacy in independent India. Green builds upon earlier research on the Muslim Deccan undertaken by Carl Ernst (Sufism at Khuldabad, which is adjacent to Aurangabad) and Richard Eaton (Sufis of Bijapur) and brings to the fore insights from religious studies on the nature of holy men and their interaction with politics, words, and worlds. The Deccan has a rich Muslim heritage: Persianate from the fourteenth century and then dominated by the Mughals and their successor states from the end of the seventeenth century. This heritage also accounts for the significance of Sufis and their shrines in the region: theAurangabad shrines are an important facet of this landscape, and this book is a welcome introduction to them. Green also furthers the theoretical position of Ernst and Eaton: the centrality of the cult of saints for Sufism means that the studies should focus on shrines as “realms of the saint.” Sufism is thus not merely about masters and disciples or obscure and metaphysical arguments about gnosis, enlightenment and themarvellous; rather, it concerns sacred spaces and geographies of spiritual vitality and currency centered on the saints’ shrines. Starting fromAurangzeb’s conquest of the Deccan and establishment of his capital at Aurangabad (the former Khirki of the Nizam Shahs) and following through to the legacy of the Panchakki shrine in the 1990s, Green’s work comprises five chapters that weave together an incisive textual analysis of Persian and Urdu sources, readings of architecture as repositories of Sufi text, and fieldwork among Aurangabad’s Sufis ...https://www.ajis.org/index.php/ajiss/article/view/1457
spellingShingle Sajjad H. Rizvi
Indian Sufism since the Seventeenth Century
American Journal of Islam and Society
title Indian Sufism since the Seventeenth Century
title_full Indian Sufism since the Seventeenth Century
title_fullStr Indian Sufism since the Seventeenth Century
title_full_unstemmed Indian Sufism since the Seventeenth Century
title_short Indian Sufism since the Seventeenth Century
title_sort indian sufism since the seventeenth century
url https://www.ajis.org/index.php/ajiss/article/view/1457
work_keys_str_mv AT sajjadhrizvi indiansufismsincetheseventeenthcentury