Tag Archives: Pakistan

Book: Historical Dictionary of the Sufi Culture of Sindh in Pakistan and India by Michel Boivin

Michel Boivin, Historical Dictionary of the Sufi Culture of Sindh in Pakistan and India, Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2015.

Michel Boivin is currently Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for South Asian Studies, CNRS-EHESS, in Paris.

“This book tackles the issue of delimiting Sufism: where does it start and where does it end? Speaking about Sufism does not typically account for its wide range of influence on societies and cultures. Thus this Dictionary aims to highlight the extent of Sufism’s reach, specifically in the context of Sindh. Various forms and Continue reading Book: Historical Dictionary of the Sufi Culture of Sindh in Pakistan and India by Michel Boivin

Book: The Pakistan Paradox: Instability and Resilience by Christophe Jaffrelot

Jaffrelot, C., 2014, The Pakistan Paradox: Instability and Resilience, Hurst Publishers.

Dr Christophe Jaffrelot is Research Director at CNRS and teaches South Asian politics and history at Sciences Po (Paris).

“Pakistan was born as the creation of elite Urdu-speaking Muslims who sought to govern a state that would maintain their dominance. After rallying non-Urdu speaking leaders around him, Jinnah imposed a unitary definition of the new nation state that obliterated linguistic diversity. This centralisation — ‘justified’ by the Indian threat — fostered centrifugal forces that resulted in Bengali secessionism in 1971 and Baloch, as well as Mohajir, separatisms today. Continue reading Book: The Pakistan Paradox: Instability and Resilience by Christophe Jaffrelot

Balochistan Archives now online

“The Balochistan Archives has an impressive collection of the official records, rare books, and rare photographs of the British period. The Directorate has catalogued 27,000 files for research purposes in addition to 29,000 files of defunct Commissioners’ Office. Our collections include the Agent to the Governor General (AGG) Balochistan’s Records (1831-1947), Revenue Commissioner’s Records (1855-1955), Chief Commissioner’s Records (1910-1937), and Balochistan Secretariat Records (1903-1954).” Continue reading Balochistan Archives now online

Workshop: Pilgrims and Politics in Pakistan, 21 May 2013 (Paris)

This Workshop, whose proceedings will be conducted in English, aims to focus attention on the adaptation of the institutions and languages of Sufism to the political economy of different regions of Pakistan and to explore the potential of Sufism to negotiate the impact of radical Islam on the Pakistani state. Bringing together established and early career scholars working across a range of disciplines, including history, anthropology and political science, the Workshop is intended to deepen our understanding of Sufism in Pakistan not as a ‘degraded’ form of Islamic mysticism but as a living tradition ever responsive to wider social and political changes at the local and national levels.  By doing so, it hopes to shed light on the resilience of Sufism to survive the challenge of more ‘modern’ forms of reformist Islam sweeping Pakistan as well as Sufism’s capacity to withstand the historical pressures brought to bear on it by the state’s own ‘modernist’ agenda. Continue reading Workshop: Pilgrims and Politics in Pakistan, 21 May 2013 (Paris)

Workshop: Discussing recent work on Islam in South Asia

The research team “History and Sufism in the Indus Valley“, coordinated by Michel Boivin at the Center for South Asian Studies (CEIAS) in Paris, organizes a workshop to discuss on recent publications focusing on Islam in India and Pakistan. It will be held at the CEIAS on 24 January 2013 between 9 am and 1 .30 pm. For more information about this event, you can contact Delphine Ortis. Continue reading Workshop: Discussing recent work on Islam in South Asia

Preserving endangered Urdu language periodicals

The University of Chicago has been awarded a grant from the British Library’s Endangered Archives Programme (EAP), funded by Arcadia, for the digitization and preservation of 60 rare and endangered Urdu language periodicals. You can read more about the project EAP566: Endangered Urdu periodicals: preservation and access for vulnerable scholarly resources. Continue reading Preserving endangered Urdu language periodicals