Eastern African doyens in South Asia: Premodern Islamic intellectual interactions

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter (peer-reviewed)peer-review

Abstract / Description of output

This article explores fragmented historical references on African itinerants in South Asia between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries who worked in the coastal regions as Islamic scholars, jurists, benefactors, and leaders. Utilizing epigraphic, architectural, and textual sources on a few such personalities from Malabar and Bengal, I take a preliminary step towards debunking the exclusive association of Africans in South Asia with slavery and military labor. These historical figures are not anomalies, rather they are representatives of a larger intellectual, legal, and religious network that fared between Asia and Africa. Although they are evident in historical sources, they have been systematically forgotten in contemporary memories and scholarship, while this forgetfulness befits the prevalent stereotyping tendencies of Africa and Africans in South Asia.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationRoutledge Handbook on Islam in Asia
EditorsChiara Formichi
Place of PublicationLondon
PublisherRoutledge
Chapter6
Number of pages13
Edition1st
ISBN (Electronic)9780429275364
ISBN (Print)9780367225285, 9781032106649
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 30 Sept 2021

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