A History of Syncretism of the Khoja Muslim Community
Publication Type | Article | |
Year of Publication | 2017 | |
Date Published | 2017 | |
Authors | Ranjan, Amit | |
Original Publication | The Apollonian | |
Volume | 4: 1-2 | |
Issue | March-June | |
Pagination | 53-65 | |
Publisher | The Apollonian | |
Key Words | Religious Polemic; Khoja Ismaili sect; Hindu Nizarpanthis; Indian Islamic scholarship; Ismaili Nizari’ism | |
Abstract | Medieval India seems to have been at the confluence of various grassroots religious/spiritual traditions. One of the important texts in this regard is Dasavatar credited to have been written Pir Sadr-ud-din, the founder of the Khoja Ismaili sect in the 15th century, in Sindh. The Dasavatar renames Kalki of Puranic literature as Nikalanak – the last messiah who is to come at the end of this era; acknowledges Vishnu, and also names Buddha as one of the avatars. Apart from the said text, this paper would also look at Nizarpanthis, a Hindu sect of Rajasthan; and Nizari Ismailis and their syncretic values. In the 19th century, a Nizari Ismaili Gujarati writer, Nanjiani, made an interesting discovery about the Hindu Nizarpanthis – that their practices incorporated various tenets from Ismaili Nizari’ism. In the Ginans – hymns of Khojas, and both the Nizari sects, one can hear echoes of a syncretic culture that was passive political resistance, grassroots and pervasive. How pervasive these movements were - can be gauged from one of the Ginans of Sadr-ud-din: “We have explained in thirty-six languages and forty-two melodies and yet, the deaf would not listen, oh my brother!” |
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A History of Syncretism of the Khoja Muslim Community
Medieval India seems to have been at the confluence of various grassroots religious/spiritual traditions. One of the important texts in this regard is Dasavatar credited to have been written Pir Sadr-ud-din, the founder of the Khoja Ismaili sect in the 15th century, in Sindh. The Dasavatar renames Kalki of Puranic literature as Nikalanak – the last messiah who is to come at the end of this era; acknowledges Vishnu, and also names Buddha as one of the avatars. Apart from the said text, this paper would also look at Nizarpanthis, a Hindu sect of Rajasthan; and Nizari Ismailis and their syncretic values. In the 19th century, a Nizari Ismaili Gujarati writer, Nanjiani, made an interesting discovery about the Hindu Nizarpanthis – that their practices incorporated various tenets from Ismaili Nizari’ism. In the Ginans – hymns of Khojas, and both the Nizari sects, one can hear echoes of a syncretic culture that was passive political resistance, grassroots and pervasive. How pervasive these movements were - can be gauged from one of the Ginans of Sadr-ud-din: “We have explained in thirty-six languages and forty-two melodies and yet, the deaf would not listen, oh my brother!”
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