Séminaire "Interactions between Islamicate and Indic Societies in South and South-East Asia: Comparative Perspectives"

Séminaire 

Interactions between Islamicate and Indic Societies in South and South-East Asia: Comparative Perspectives

Jeudi 6 avril 2023, 12h00-14h00

Stefania Cavaliere (université de Naples – EHESS), “The Kachvaha-Mughal political machine and the making of Early Modern Indian devotional cults”

Numerous studies have highlighted the development of Braj as a centre of cult and pilgrimage during the 16th century connected to the Mughal-Kachvāhā axis of power. The rulers of Amer were the first Rājpūts to enter into close relations with the Mughals by initiating the practice of matrimonial alliances that granted them a position of prestige among the imperial nobility. Like many other Rājpūts, they became prominent patrons of Vaiṣṇava cults, meaning to elevate their status and access a pan-Indian religious arena, surfing the devotional trends of the time. Religious and architectural patronage within this political machine shaped the symbolic geography of Braj. Though related to Kṛṣṇa mythology from earlier, the sanctity of the region progressively grew to the point that, at the end of the century, Akbar issued a farmān, listing more than thirty temples receiving grants and guarantees from the Mughal throne. Sub-imperial architecture adapted cosmopolitan models to local cases. By promulgating a uniform aesthetic across North India, temple architecture strengthened the link between religion and state. We will give a few examples of this development in the literature as recorded in vernacular sources.

Edwin P. Wieringa (University of Cologne), “The Founding Myth of Java’s Islamisation and its Indic Prototype.”

This paper will look into the popular narrative of Java’s peaceful Islamisation which is attributed to the “nine saints” (wali songo) who are said to have propagated a non-violent, moderate, and tolerant form of Islam, integrating a foreign religion with Javanese culture. This is the founding myth of the nationalistic ideology of “Islam Nusantara” as an exceptional, genuinely Indonesian form of tolerant Islam which embraces multiculturalism. The focus of the presentation will be on contemporary textual and visual interpretations of Java’s Islamisation process in graphic novels which show Muslim warriors led by the wali songo waging war against the Hindu-Buddhist empire of Majapahit. It will be argued that the narrative solution to the paradox of going to war to fight for peace goes back to a Hindu core text, namely the Bhagavadgītā and the ethics of war.

Lieu et horaire : de 12h à 14h, EHESS, Centre de la Vieille-Charité, salle B, 2 rue de la Charité 13002 Marseille.

Les séances du séminaire auront lieu en présentiel. Un accès via Zoom est proposé pour celles/ceux ne pouvant pas être présent.e.s au campus de Marseille.

lien deconnexion : https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82811786645?pwd=UXBLWDMvRFd5N1FMVVFwS0NZa2I4UT09

Meeting ID: 828 1178 6645

Passcode: 499219

Pour plus d’informations, voir : https://enseignements.ehess.fr/2021-2022/ue/237.