14222
Seminar
WiSe 16/17: Saintly Kings and Kingly Saints: Kingship, Sainthood, and Authority in Indian Muslim States
Torsten Tschacher
Comments
The contrast between ruler and Sufi saint, Sultan and pīr, is a popular image in Indian historiography. Whereas worldly rulers inhabited the vain, violent, and often immoral sphere of temporary power, the supposedly humble and patient Sufi striving only towards rewards of the hereafter provided a counter-image of critique. Yet that there is something amiss in this contrast is increasingly recognized by historians. On the one hand, the language of sainthood was itself increasingly cast in the terminology of worldly authority, by identifying both living and deceased Sufis as “kings”, their tomb-shrines as “royal courts”, and the regions of their authority as “provinces”. On the other hand, rulers were depicted not only as patrons of saints, who procured blessings for their realms by supporting the “friends of God”, but as saints themselves, as perfect beings in a cosmic hierarchy wherein their own closeness to the creator ensured the worldly well-being of their subjects. In this seminar, we will discuss recent scholarship on the intersection of royal and saintly authority in medieval India against the backdrop of the historical development of Muslim-ruled states from ca. 1200-1700.
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15 Class schedule
Additional appointments
Tue, 2017-01-31 10:00 - 12:00Nachholsitzung
Regular appointments
Tue, 2016-10-25 12:00 - 14:00
Tue, 2016-11-01 12:00 - 14:00
Tue, 2016-11-08 12:00 - 14:00
Tue, 2016-11-15 12:00 - 14:00
Tue, 2016-11-22 12:00 - 14:00
Tue, 2016-11-29 12:00 - 14:00
Tue, 2016-12-06 12:00 - 14:00
Tue, 2016-12-13 12:00 - 14:00
Tue, 2017-01-03 12:00 - 14:00
Tue, 2017-01-10 12:00 - 14:00
Tue, 2017-01-17 12:00 - 14:00
Tue, 2017-01-24 12:00 - 14:00
Tue, 2017-01-31 12:00 - 14:00
Tue, 2017-02-07 12:00 - 14:00
Tue, 2017-02-14 12:00 - 14:00