Sacralising Soldier
Dynamics of Collective Memory in Syncretic Shrines
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6449535 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Karan Singh (0000-0002-0179-6763, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 2025 |
| Issue | 1-2 |
| Pages | 19-37 |
| Publication date | 2025-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Revista de etnografie și folclor / Journal of Ethnography and Folklore (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0034-8198 |
| Publisher | Editura Academiei Romane (PUBLISHER • RO) |
| DOI | 10.59277/jef.2025.1-2.02 |
| OpenAlex | W4407896700 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 29 |
The present paper investigates social and religious transitions inherent in the figure of a deceased foreign warrior who is metamorphosed into a syncretic saint in a conquered land through cultural mediations and collective amnesia. This shift from a martyred mercenary soldier to a miracle-working saint is facilitated through his transplantation into a syncretic mix of the invading and the recipient cultures’ religio-cultural space. This process is not automatic but is embedded into the material needs, shared communal space, amnesia inherent in collective memory, and common patterns in the cosmology of both religious communities. Though the signs of a prior conflict are never totally erased, a systematic reorientation in the soldier’s tale takes place in which the conflictual elements are de-emphasised, and his sudden, violent death becomes a vehicle of charisma, thus rechristening the fallen soldier as a saintly figure. The present study discusses the dynamics of this collective amnesia in both invading and recipient religious communities through a case study of some selected North Indian Islamic saints such as Meera Meharban, pirs of Ghadsidha, and Hajib Sakarbar
Cognitive science · Collective memory · Dynamics (music · Economic geography · Geography · Political science · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Law · Memory, Trauma, and Commemoration · Psychology · Religious Tourism and Spaces
Standing Soldiers, Kneeling Slaves
Remembering Partition
Dreaming Baba, resituating memory
Nāth Yogīs’ Encounters with Islam
Collective Memory from a Psychological Perspective
The Worship of Pir Sakhi Sarvar
Saints in Shining Armor
The Marble Man
Holy warriors
Conquest and Community
Written in Stone
Situating Sufism and Yoga
Negotiating Knightly Piety
The Colors of Violence
Between Memory and History
Transformations between History and Memory
The Mohammedan Saints of the Western Punjab
Death and Deification
Warrior Ascetics in Indian History
Social Memory as Ritual Practice
The Sufi Shrines of Gwalior City
The Rathore Rajput Hero of Rajasthan
Social Memory Studies
Invention, Memory, and Place
Genre and Devotion in Punjabi Popular Narratives
Symbols of Power
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |