Keywords:聽Bhakti, batini,聽da鈥榠聽鈥楢bd Allah, ginans, Imam-Caliph al-Mustansir bi鈥檒lah, Kalki, India, IsmailisAdherents of a branch of Shi’i Islam that considers Ismail, the eldest son of the Shi’i Imam Ja士far al-峁⒛乨iq (d. 765), as his successor., Ismaili聽KhojasA term probably derived from the Persian khw膩ja (lord, master). The Khojas are one of the Ismaili communities originating from the Indian subcontinent and now living in many countries of…, Jats, Nizari Ismailis,聽Nur聽Muhammad Shah,聽Pir聽Shams, Puranas, Rajputs, Satgur聽Nur, Satpanthi, Siddharaja, South Asia, Sufi, Vaishnavism.
Abstract:聽Recent research on the Ginans the devotional poems of the Ismailis of South Asia has opened up avenues of inquiry that have the potential to throw light on unexplored aspects of religion and society in South Asia. The following article reviews some recent research on the Ginans against the backdrop of religious change in medieval and early modern South Asia. It suggests that Ismailis may well have played a greater part in South Asian religious and literary history than previously suspected.
Author
Dr Samira Sheikh
Dr Samira Sheikh was awarded a DPhil in Modern History (completed at Wolfson College, Oxford in 2004) on the society and politics of Gujarat between 1200 and 1500 CE. Before commencing her studies at Oxford, Samira had completed an MA and MPhil in Medieval History from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India.