Locating Religion in South Asia: Islamicate Definitions and Categories

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilyse R Morgenstein Fuerst
Keyword(s):  
South Asia ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Religious Studies ◽  
Islamic Studies ◽  
Growing Body ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Relationship

The category of Islam as a religion—as defined within religious studies discourses—informs Islamic studies across disciplines, even as it appears in fields that may not have methodological, theoretical, or topical overlaps with the study of religion. By locating Islamicate, South Asian definitions of religion as analogous, related, and, in some cases, influences to Euro American definitions of religion, this article troubles the relationship between the study of religion, definitions of religion, and non-European, non Christian actors. This essay contributes to the growing body of literature asking how and when native definitions of categories of (or like) religion have been incorporated or ignored within the broadest definitions and specifically how Islamicate texts contribute to the history of the study of religion.

Northeast India as an Indigenous Centre for the Domestication of Plants and Animals

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manjil Hazarika
Keyword(s):  
South Asian ◽  
Close Association ◽  
Northeast India ◽  
Indian Culture ◽  
Rice Agriculture ◽  
Animal Domestication ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Diverse Cultures

Northeast India is situated at the nexus of the South Asian, Southeast Asian, and East Asian biogeographical realms and harbours diverse biota, providing a unique opportunity to archaeologists and anthropologists for the study of the relationship between humans and their environment over the ages. Moreover, this region, the abode of diverse ethnic groups with diverse cultures and customs, hints at a long history of continuous and close association between humans and nature, which is important in the understanding of plant and animal domestication. Genetic analysis of present-day domesticates with their wild counterparts provides valuable insights into their differentiation, time of domestication, and changes in their morphological traits through control by humans. The chapter also elucidates the role played by rice in Northeast Indian culture and highlights the long-term history of rice agriculture in the region.

scholarly journals Analysis of whole-genome re-sequencing data of ducks reveals a diverse demographic history and extensive gene flow between Southeast/South Asian and Chinese populations

2021 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fan Jiang ◽  
Ruiyi Lin ◽  
Changyi Xiao ◽  
Tanghui Xie ◽  
Yaoxin Jiang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Flow ◽  
South Asia ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Demographic History ◽  
Nervous System Development ◽  
Chromosome 1 ◽  
Whole Genome ◽  
Chinese Populations ◽  
Asian Populations ◽  
History Of

Abstract Background The most prolific duck genetic resource in the world is located in Southeast/South Asia but little is known about the domestication and complex histories of these duck populations. Results Based on whole-genome resequencing data of 78 ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) and 31 published whole-genome duck sequences, we detected three geographic distinct genetic groups, including local Chinese, wild, and local Southeast/South Asian populations. We inferred the demographic history of these duck populations with different geographical distributions and found that the Chinese and Southeast/South Asian ducks shared similar demographic features. The Chinese domestic ducks experienced the strongest population bottleneck caused by domestication and the last glacial maximum (LGM) period, whereas the Chinese wild ducks experienced a relatively weak bottleneck caused by domestication only. Furthermore, the bottleneck was more severe in the local Southeast/South Asian populations than in the local Chinese populations, which resulted in a smaller effective population size for the former (7100–11,900). We show that extensive gene flow has occurred between the Southeast/South Asian and Chinese populations, and between the Southeast Asian and South Asian populations. Prolonged gene flow was detected between the Guangxi population from China and its neighboring Southeast/South Asian populations. In addition, based on multiple statistical approaches, we identified a genomic region that included three genes (PNPLA8, THAP5, and DNAJB9) on duck chromosome 1 with a high probability of gene flow between the Guangxi and Southeast/South Asian populations. Finally, we detected strong signatures of selection in genes that are involved in signaling pathways of the nervous system development (e.g., ADCYAP1R1 and PDC) and in genes that are associated with morphological traits such as cell growth (e.g., IGF1R). Conclusions Our findings provide valuable information for a better understanding of the domestication and demographic history of the duck, and of the gene flow between local duck populations from Southeast/South Asia and China.

Towards a More Varied Picture of Slavery

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 249-261
Author(s):  
Jessica Hinchy ◽  
Girija Joshi
Keyword(s):  
South Asia ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Historical Memory ◽  
Multiple Forms ◽  
Subaltern Studies ◽  
Crucial Question ◽  
Revenue Collection ◽  
History Of ◽  
Forms Of Violence ◽  
Slavery Studies

Abstract Indrani Chatterjee’s ground-breaking research has shown the centrality of obligation and provision to historical forms of slavery in South Asia, deepening our understanding of slave-using societies beyond the plantation systems that have dominated historiography, as well as historical memory. In this interview, Chatterjee explains why the crucial question in the context of South Asian slavery was: who do you serve and for what purpose? Enslavers were obliged to materially provide for their slaves, in return for the enslaved person’s service, labor and loyalty, creating varied relationships of dependence. By foregrounding the complex set of relationships and obligations in which slaves were enmeshed, Chatterjee seeks to “make people out of laborers.” This has led her to rethink the ways that resistance and agency have been conceptualized in slavery studies and Subaltern Studies, emphasizing the relationships within which a person became an agent. Her research has also deepened our understanding of colonialism and slavery. British colonizers generally ignored slaves’ entitlements to certain labor or taxation exemptions from the state, and colonial revenue-collection made the already-burdened doubly burdened. But in a hetero-temporal colonial context, older ways of identifying and forms of relationships endured. Chatterjee argues that this history of the provision of survival in contexts of enslavement is not “romanticizing,” but rather historicizes multiple forms of violence and shows a fuller, more varied picture of slavery.

Development of verb-verb complexes in Indo-Aryan

2021 ◽  
pp. 249-274
Author(s):  
Benjamin Slade
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
South Asia ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Historical Development ◽  
History Of ◽  
Verb Compounds

This chapter discusses the historical development and properties of verb-verb compounds in Indo-Aryan, with reference to verb-verb compounds in Dravidian. The history of modern Indo-Aryan verb-verb compounds is explored, including an examination of the precursors of such constructions in early Indo-Aryan, as well as the apparent earliest examples in late Middle and early modern Indo-Aryan. A number of morphosyntactic and lexical differences between verb-verb structures in different modern Indo-Aryan languages are examined, focusing particularly on differences between Hindi and Nepali. The larger picture of South Asian verb-verb compounds is examined through comparison of lexical inventories of Indo-Aryan and Dravidian languages, with some evidence pointing to independent developments within South Asia, with some later partial convergence.

South Asian Entanglements

2020 ◽  
pp. 43-79
Author(s):  
Daniel S. Markey
Keyword(s):  
South Asia ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Nuclear Weapons ◽  
Economic Security ◽  
International Pressure ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Military

This chapter describes the intersection of Chinese, Pakistani, and Indian economic, political, and security interests in South Asia. It introduces a brief history of China’s interaction with South Asia and explains how China now perceives its economic, security, and diplomatic goals in the region. It shows how Pakistanis are divided in their perceptions of China and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, and explains how the military and other establishment figures are likely to gain from closer ties, while liberals and other opposition groups stand to lose. It details how Pakistan benefits from its military ties to China, especially in the areas of nuclear weapons, missiles, and drone technologies, and how China’s diplomatic support shields Pakistan from international pressure. It evaluates that on balance, China’s deepened regional presence and economic, military, and diplomatic assistance to Pakistan will tend to raise tensions with India.

Karbala in London: Battle of Expressions of Ashura Ritual Commemorations among Twelver Shia Muslims of South Asian Background

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 158-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sufyan Abid Dogra
Keyword(s):  
South Asia ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Transnational Networks ◽  
Power Struggle ◽  
Asian Origin ◽  
South Asian Origin ◽  
History Of

Abstract The roots of the struggle for authority among various groups of Twelver Shias of South Asian background living in London revolves around the idea of what is ‘true and authentic’ Shia Islam. The theological and political genealogy of this power struggle can be traced by examining the history of Shia Islam in South Asia. This article provides historical analyses and ethnographic accounts of Shia Islam and how it is practised in London. It investigates the influence of London-based Iranian and Iraqi Shia transnational networks on South Asian Hussainias and those who attend them. While some London-based Shias of South Asian origin conform to the Iran-backed reformist versions of globally standardised ritual commemoration of Ashura, others detest this and search for religious reinterpretations that assert South Asian ways of commemorating the Ashura ritual.

The King and the People

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abhishek Kaicker
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
South Asia ◽  
The People ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Relationship

An unprecedented exploration of the relationship between the Mughal emperor and his subjects in the space of the Mughal empire’s capital, The King and The People overturns an axiomatic assumption in the history of premodern South Asia: that the urban masses were merely passive objects of rule and remained unable to express collective political aspirations until the coming of colonialism. Set in the Mughal capital of Shahjahanabad (Delhi) from its founding to Nadir Shah’s devastating invasion of 1739, this book instead shows how the trends and events in the second half of the seventeenth century inadvertently set the stage for the emergence of the people as actors in a regime which saw them only as the ruled.

A Dictionary of Sikh Studies

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pashaura Singh
Keyword(s):  
South Asian ◽  
Religious Studies ◽  
Major Focus ◽  
Asian Studies ◽  
Sacred Sites ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
South Asian Studies ◽  
Northern India ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of

Over 350 entries This new dictionary provides accessible definitions of the terms that the growing number of students of Sikhism will encounter. It covers beliefs, practices, festivals, sacred sites, and principal languages, as well as the social and religious processes through which Sikhism has evolved. A major focus is the teachings of the founder of Sikhism, Gurū Nānak, and doctrinal developments under subsequent Gurūs. Incorporating the 500-year history of Sikhism, from its birth in northern India to its more recent spread around the world, it covers the interplay between the Sikh tradition and other religious traditions, including Hindu and Sufi. It is an invaluable first reference for students and teachers of Sikhism, religious studies, South Asian studies, philosophy, and the related disciplines of history, sociology, and anthropology, as well as for all practising Sikhs and anyone with an interest in Sikh religion and culture.

Catalogue of Tamil manuscripts in the Library of the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine

1990 ◽  
Vol 122 (2) ◽  
pp. 359-369
Author(s):  
S. Gunasingam
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
South Asia ◽  
History Of Medicine ◽  
British Empire ◽  
South Asian ◽  
African Countries ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
History Of

Since the time South Asia, together with other Asian and African countries, became an integral part of the British Empire, the significance of manuscripts, published works and other artefacts, relating to those regions has stimulated continued appreciation in the United Kingdom, albeit with varying degrees of interest. It is interesting to note that the factors which have contributed in one way or another to the collecting of South Asian I material for British institutions vary in their nature, and thus illuminate the attitudes of different periods. During the entire nineteenth century, the collectors were primarily administrators; for most of the first half of the twentieth century, it was the interest and the needs of British universities that led to the accumulation of substantial holdings in many academic or specialist libraries.

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