The Hindu Sufis of South Asia: Partition, Shrine Culture and the Sindhis in India: Library of Islamic South Asia Michel Boivin I.B. Tauris

The Hindu Sufis of South Asia

Partition, Shrine Culture and the Sindhis in India

The Hindu Sufis of South Asia

Partition, Shrine Culture and the Sindhis in India

Description

Within the complex religious landscape of modern India, the community of Sindh stands out as a powerful example of interfaith relations. This Hindu community moved to India and practiced Sufism following Sindh's inclusion to Pakistan in the 1947 partition. Drawing on a close analysis of literature and poetry, interviews with key informants, and a reading of historic rituals and architectures, Michel Boivin demonstrates that this active religious minority has managed to retain its unique Hindu-Sufi identity amidst the rigidification of official religions in both India and Pakistan. Of particular significance, Boivin argues, was the creation of sacred spaces called darbars. These shrines include a religious building where the Hindu Sindhis worship Sufi saints, chant Sufi poetry and perform Sufi rituals.
In looking at this vibrant community as a trans-religious culture capable of navigating the challenges of the modern nation state, this book is an important contribution to understanding the Muslim-Hindu encounter in India.

Acknowledgements

Table of maps, charts, and photos

Table of annexes

introduction

Mapping the issue: From Sindh to the Sindhicate area
Sufism and the Sufi culture of Sindh
The Sufi and Hindu Encounter as an issue in Social Sciences
Hinduism and Sufism in the Sindhicate area

Chapter 1
the religious market in sindh ON the eve of partition

Social structure and religious belonging in colonial Sindh
The Amils, the intelligentsia, and the objectification of Sufism
The recomposition of the religious scene and thedarbar culture
The birth of a middle class and the emergence of Hindu Sufi paths
Partition in Sindh
Conclusion

Chapter 2
the new settlement and the making of the darbars

Building the darbars in India
Authority, the legitimization process, and succession
Naming the shrine in India as a first step
Sacralising the new territory
Conclusion

Chapter 3
Sufi poetry and the production of the mystical space…

Bhakti and Vedanta
The classical Sufi corpus
The modern Sufi corpus
The vernacular ideology of the wahdat-e wujud
Hindu references in the Sufi Poetry
Conclusion

Chapter 4
alternative Sufi structures as networking india and beyond…
The darbar and its extensions
The samadhias an alternative Sufi structure
The Sufi mandir and the pilgrimage to Bijapur
Mulchand Kafi
Conclusion

Chapter 5
rituals as connecting spaces and community

Iconography as an idiom of transference
Initiation and meditation
Daily rituals and informal Sufi practices
Annual fairs: From urs to versi
The 'Darazi satsangs'
Conclusion

Chapter 6
the transmission of the sufi legacy in india

Ram Panjwani (1911-1987) and the challenge of post-partition transmission
Non-poetic chains for the transmission of Sufism
Other networks of transmission
The role of the diaspora in the transmission of the Sufi legacy
Conclusion

Chapter 7
the sufi paths and the Hindus of Sindh in Pakistan

Sindhi Encounters between Sufism and Hinduism
The Hindus and the Sehwan system
The “Hindu dargah” of Tando Ahmad Khan, or framing a new category
Neither Hindu, nor Muslim: The Sufi-related cults of the Sindhi Dalits
Conclusion

GENERAL Conclusion

Glossary

Annexes
1. Abstracts of Sufi poetry in Sindhi and English translation
2. Hindu Sufis'silsilas in Sindh

Bibliography

Index

Product details

Published	Sep 05 2019
Format	Hardback
Edition	1st
Extent	256
ISBN	9781788315319
Imprint	I.B. Tauris
Illustrations	12 bw illus.
Dimensions	9 x 6 inches
Series	Library of Islamic South Asia
Publisher	Bloomsbury Publishing

Fascinating ... Sheds much light on an important subject.

Asian Affairs
Michel Boivin is highly established in this field of study, and this book demonstrates his adroit. An in-depth exploration of a subject that is of considerable interest to South Asian religious thought, it provides a new and complementary addition to the literature on Hinduism and Islam by examining the way religious norms and beliefs are carried across time and space, and how these can persist in what would be assumed to be unwelcoming terrain.

Charles M. Ramsey, Baylor University, USA