Muslim saints of South Asia
Subtitle: the eleventh to fifteenth centuries
By: Anna Suvorova ; translated from Russian by M. Osama Faruqi.
Series: RoutledgeCurzon Sūfī series
Publisher: RoutledgeCurzon
Published: 2004
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 244
Subjects: Muslim saints -- South Asia -- Biography.; Sufism -- South Asia -- History.
Genres: Biography.
Description: "This book studies the veneration practices and rituals of the Muslim saints. It outlines the principle trends of the main Sufi orders in India, the profiles and teachings of the famous and less well-known saints, and the development of pilgrimage to their tombs in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. A detailed discussion of the interaction of the Hindu mystic tradition and Sufism shows the polarity between the rigidity of the orthodox and the flexibility of the popular Islam in South Asia. Treating the cult of saints as a universal and all pervading phenomenon embracing the life of the region in all its aspects, the analysis includes politics, social and family life, interpersonal relations, gender problems and national psyche. The author uses a multidimensional approach to the subject: a historical, religious and literary analysis of sources is combined with an anthropological study of the rites and rituals of the veneration of the shrines and the description of the architecture of the tombs." --Book Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: The Indian tomb; title: The hermit of Lahore; title: The old man of Ajmer; title: The ascetic of Pakpattan; title: The peacemaker of Delhi; title: The spiritual sovereign of Multan; title: The warrior saints; title: The mendicant saints.