Sovereign Violence

Temple Destruction in India and Shrine Desecration in Iran and Central Asia

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2108908
AutoresA Azfar Moin (0000-0002-9948-1005, The University of Texas at Austin, autor de correspondencia)
Año2015
Volumen57
Número2
Páginas467-496
Fecha de publicación2015-04-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaComparative Studies in Society and History (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0010-4175 • E-ISSN: 1475-2999
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0010417515000109
OpenAlexW2322783853
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas18
Referencias citadas60

Was the destruction of Sufi and 'Alid saint shrines as a rite of conquest in Iran and Central Asia a phenomenon comparable to the desecration of temples in war in India? With this question in mind, this essay examines the changing nature of Islamic kingship in premodern Iran and Central Asia and compares it to developments in Indic kingship. It begins with the thesis that the decline of the caliphate and the rise of Muslim saints and shrines in thirteenth-century Iran and Central Asia led to a new form of 'shrine-centered' sovereignty practiced by the rulers of these regions. This development, in turn, gave rise to a notable pattern in which Muslim kings threatened or attacked the shrines of their enemies' patron saints in times of war. A focus on this ritual violence, which remains neglected in the studies of Islamic iconoclasm and jihad, reveals how the protocols of violence and accommodation that governed these Muslim milieus became analogous to those enacted by Indic kings who also sacked temples of rival sovereigns in times of war. With the spread of Muslim shrines and the related belief that the 'real' sovereign was not the caliph but the enshrined saint, Islam and Hinduism developed comparable grammars of 'gifting' and 'looting.' This argument allows for a new, transcultural perspective to examine the premodern history of India, Iran, and Central Asia, connected by the rise of Muslim saints and their shrines

Ancient history · Archaeology · Caliphate · Geography · Hinduism · Iconoclasm · Islam · Looting · Monarchy · Patron saint · Pilgrimage · Political science · Politics · SAINT · Sovereignty · Byzantine Studies and History · Eurasian Exchange Networks · History · Islamic Studies and History · Law · Philosophy · Religious studies