ALOHA!
This week's issue features the historic and great Mughal Empire. We will highlight some of the glorious moments of this empire, manifest through its rich art and culture that showcase the growth of Islam in South Asia centered in India and later in Pakistan. Current challenges and impacts in preserving the Islamic heritage are covered in this presentation. We also include here some useful online resources for those wishing to know more about the Mughal emperors and their legacies in the art and architecture, such as the Taj Mahal.
We would also like to take a moment to ask for your suggestions on themes, topics, and fields of interest that we might feature in future editions of this newsletter. We urge your participation in making this a truly reader-directed information resource. All feedbacks and suggestions can be sent to us at msap@hawaii.edu.
Mahalo,
Program Coordinators
Muslim Societies in Asia and the Pacific
Picture figures: Humayun's Tomb |
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Mughal Emperors
Babur: First Mughal Emperor
(1526 - 1530)
 Zahiruddin Muhammad Babur founded the Mughal Empire in India after defeating Ibrahim Lodhi in the Battle of Panipat in 1526 where he became the king of Central India. Babur the first Mughal Emperor, was a descendent of Genghis Khan and Tamerlaine. At the age of 14, Babur ascended the throne of the Central Asian kingdom of Farghana. His greatest ambition was to rule Samarkand. In 1504, he ventured into what is now Afghanistan and conquered Kabul. Babur was known as the "Master of Hindustan". He died in Agra on December 26, 1530. He was buried at Kabul in accordance with his wish.
Akbar: Third Mughal Ruler
(1556 - 1605)
 Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar, also known as Akbar the Great (Akbar-e-Azam), was widely considered the greatest of the Mughal emperors. Akbar was only 14 when he ascended the throne in Delhi, following the death of his father Humayun. He descended from Turk, Mongol, and Iranian ancestors. Akbar was an artisan, artist, carpenter, technologist and theologian. His most lasting contributions were to the arts. He initiated a large collection of literature, including the Akbar-nama and the Ain-i-Akbari. He was buried with full honors and many grieved the death of this great emperor and able ruler. His magnificent tomb is located at Agra. Shah Jahan: King of the World (1628 - 1658)  Shahab-ud-din Muhammad Khurram Shah Jahan was the son of Mughal Emperor Jehangir and was originally known as Prince Khurram. The most significant part of Shah Jahan life history is the building of the one of the world's most beautiful monument, the "Taj Mahal". Shah Jahan fell in love with Arjumand Banu Begum at first sight, when he was in his teen. Five years later he married her and gave her the name of "Mumtaz Mahal". After she died while giving birth to their 14th child, Shah Jahan undertook the work of constructing the world's most beautiful monument in her memory. Shah Jahan died in 1666 in captivity and was entombed, along with his favorite wife, inside the Taj Mahal.
More information on Mughal Emperors here Get to know Mughal Emperors
 History Channel presents the Warrior Empire: The Mughals, a sweeping, in-depth portrait of India's most colorful, violent, and majestic era from 1526 to 1858. Though they conquered their kingdom with crushing brutality, the Mughals were also brilliant technological innovators and masters of art and architecture. |
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Mughal Empire Influences
on Islamic Arts
Painting
The school of Mughal painting began in 1549 when Humayun (1530-56) invited two Persian painters to his court, then at Kabul. They came to direct the illustration of the Amir Hamza, a fantastic narrative of which some 1,400 large paintings were executed on cloth. Princes of the House of Timur is the earliest known painting. The central figure is believed to be Humayun, the second Mughal Emperor; many of the heads were repainted to depict later Mughal rulers, creating a genealogical scene.
 Tutinama, literal meaning "Tales of a Parrot", is a 14th-century Persian series of 52 stories. The adventure stories narrated by a parrot, night after night, for 52 successive nights, are moralistic stories to persuade his owner not to commit any adulterous act with any lover, in the absence of her husband. The illustrations embellishing the stories created during Akbar's reign were created in a span of five years after Akbar ascended the throne by two Iranian artists named Mir Sayyid Ali and Abdus Samad working in the court of the Mughal Emperor Akbar.
More on Mughal paintings here
Carpets
 From the reign of Jahangir comes this pictorial landscape carpet. The pattern unit of the field contains real and mythological animals and a palm tree. This unit is repeated almost four times, and it is reversed with each repetition. The fourth pattern repeat, at the top, is incomplete, suggesting that the carpet was woven to order and a specific length was prescribed. The landscape design also appears in carved stone panels, manuscript illustrations, and leather bindings, showing a close relationship between various workshops. The border is a geometricized version of a Persian cartouche and medallion design, probably derived from manuscript illuminations.
 This carpet presents a portrait of a single, large, flowering plant framed in a niche. It was probably produced early in Shah Jahan's reign, is closely related to a similarly designed carpet with a finer weave, showing that cartoons might have been used to create carpets of varying grades. Although subtle shadings were not possible in the coarsely woven rugs, some attempt at shading can be seen. Rugs with directional designs were commonly called prayer rugs, but it is more likely they were used as qanats, or tent screens. Qanats surrounded the tents of the imperial cities set up when the emperor was traveling.
More on Mughal carpets here
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Mughal Empire
and Islamic Architectures
Taj Mahal
 The Taj Mahal in Agra, a dream in white marble, was built by Shah Jahan as a memorial to his beloved wife Mumtaz Begum. Built on the banks of the river Jumna, it was started in 1632 A.D. and took 22 years to complete. Emperor Shah Jahan himself described the Taj in these words:
"Should guilty seek asylum here, Like one pardoned, he becomes free from sin. Should a sinner make his way to this mansion, All his past sins are to be washed away. The sight of this mansion creates sorrowing sighs; And the sun and the moon shed tears from their eyes. In this world this edifice has been made; To display thereby the creator's glory." Fatehpur Sikri  Built during the second half of the 16th century by the Emperor Akbar, Fatehpur Sikri (the City of Victory) was the capital of the Mughal Empire for some 10 years. The complex of monuments and temples, all in a uniform architectural style, includes one of the largest mosques in India, the Jama Masjid. Fatehpur Sikri bears exceptional testimony to the Mughal civilization at the end of the 16th century. It offers a unique example of architectural ensembles of very high quality constructed between 1571 and 1585. Its form and layout strongly influenced the evolution of Indian town planning, notably at Shahjahanabad (Old Delhi).
More on Mughal Architecture here and the Legacy of Islamic Empires and their Arts. |
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Special Features
Muslim World Journal of Human Rights
Muslim World Journal of Human Rights is the only peer-reviewed journal dedicated to the pressing question of human rights in the Muslim world. The journal approaches this complex issue through multiple interdisciplinary lenses: Islam and Islamic law, socio-economic and political factors, institutions, and gender and minority rights. The editors, Mashood Baderin (School of Oriental and African Studies), Mahmood Monshipouri (Quinnipiac University), Shadi Mokhtari (York University), and Lynn Welchman (School of Oriental and African Studies) have created a unique academic forum to address real-world political issues and to encourage new methods in the field.
Call for Chapters: Muslim Women Digital Geographies Announcing a call for chapters for an edited collection "Muslim Women's Digital Geographies". The collection aims to bring together research on Muslim women's diverse activity on the Internet that may span personal writing, debates in discussion groups, political activism, networking and other forms of interaction with other people and audiences. The collection is interdisciplinary, and welcomes perspectives from all disciplines, be they Islamic studies, social sciences, technology studies, gender studies, fashion studies, linguistics, art, politics and many others. Anyone interested please send a 150-word abstract of their proposed chapter by 30 March 2011 to Dr Anna Piela (annapiela@googlemail.com). |
Online Resources Interactive Online on Mughal India Here is an interactive online resource, Mughal India, which helps you to easily learn more about the Mughals and Mughal Empire. As soon as you open Mughal Indian in your browser, it presents a Staff Room in front of you. This room has several objects, and almost all of them are clickable and hold some story or information relevant to the Mughal Empire. Mughal India is a great way of learning about the Mughals, best suited for kids and someone who is starting to know about the Mughals or Mughal Empire. Online Exhibition on Garden of the Mughals This is the first interactive Web site on the Gardens of the Mughals, an Islamic dynasty that ruled between 1526 and 1858 in territories now divided among Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kashmir, and northern India. The Web site is one result of a multi-year project that has provided substantial new documentary information for important Mughal garden sites in and near Lahore, Pakistan. This interactive on-line exhibition recreates and studies the gardens of Lahore and other garden sites on the Indian subcontinent in their cultural contexts including its musics and architectures. |
Mughal Architecture Under
the Cloud of Demolition:
Environmental Effects on Monuments
by
Adeeba Abdul Raheem
and Muhammad Akram Tahir
Lahore is the city of Mughal heritage in the true sense of the word. Grand buildings with a delicate touch of landscaping express the story of a splendid era of building construction. This paper describes the impact of aggressiveness of the environment on the gradual destruction of the three gems of Mughal architectural treasures: Lahore Fort, Jehangir's tomb and Shalimar Gardens. The main emphasis is on structural damages. Out of the three aforementioned sites, two, the Lahore Fort and Shalimar Gardens, were declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1981.
Full article available here
Through the Looking Glass:
Kingly Virtues in Safavid
and Mughal Historiography
by
Sholeh Quinn
During the reigns of the Safavid Shah `Abbās I and the Mughal Emperor Akbar, two chroniclers, one from each dynasty, included in their texts lists of "kingly virtues." This paper explores the possible historiographical precedents for this section in the chronicles, and places particular emphasis on the "mirrors for princes" literature. The paper concludes with a suggestion that reading the narrative portions of the chronicles in light of the mirrors for princes literature helps us understand why chroniclers may have included certain information in those sections.
Full article available here
The Passing of Empire:
The Mughal Case
by
M. Athar Alia
There have been numerous attempts to explain the fall of the Mughal Empire. To historians like Irvine and Sarkar, the decline could be explained in terms of a personal deterioration in the quality of the kings and their nobles. The harem influence grew-and women, for some strange unscientific reason, are always supposed to be a bad influence. The kings and nobles became more luxury loving, though no-one has yet established that the Mughals during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries enjoyed any less luxurious mode of living than their eighteenth-century successors.
Full article available here
Structure, Cecoration and Materials: Mughal Mosques of Medieval Dhaka by ATM Shamsuzzoha and Hamidul Islam Muslim architecture has been initiated from the very beginning of Islamic heritage which is started by the mosque, introduced by Prophet Muhammad (SM). From the early age of Islam, Muslim architecture has been developed from the foot point of mosque. Mosque architecture in medieval time exposes clearly its sacred identity but in secular architecture, the ideas are not spiritually motivated in cosmic sense. Mughal mosques of Dhaka are the unique example of architecture where the ideas and used materials have been effectively amalgamated in the medieval context of Bengal. Full article available here Images of Thought: Visuality in Islamic India 1550-1750 by Gregory Minissale Publications on Mughal painting are numerous, and there is no dearth of studies on methods and techniques, narrative modes and the traits of the Mughals' perception of reality. This is a review of highly specialized study focused on historiography and methodology of narrative art in Islamic India (1550-1750). Minissale has endeavoured to read the whole aesthetic experience of Persian and Mughal painting. Given the painstaking rethinking and thorough scrutiny of the Mughal miniatures, especially book-illustrations of the Akbar and Shāh Jahān periods. Full article available here The Expression of Power in Mughal Architecture by Arielle Heinby Delhi possesses much of India's finest architecture; it is the heart of Hindustan and holds an immense amount of power as the heart of Hindustan and a vital city during the Mughal Empire. The Mughal period in India was one of the most prolific and dynamic phases of architecture in India, characterized by a remarkable refinement of spatial symmetry and a classic attention to detailing. Architecture plays a crucial role in the success of the Mughal dynasty in Delhi as it provided the empire a means through which to assert power over the people and transcend time as rulers. Full article available here |
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Employment Opportunities
Academic
Mellon Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Arabic Sociolinguistics, Oriental Studies
University of Oxford, United Kingdom
Lat day to apply: 23 March 2011
Two Faculty Positions, Sociology of Religion/Cultural Sociology and Sociology of Language/ Sociology of Eomotions
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Last day to apply: 24 March 2011
Lecturer, Islamic Studies
University of Aberdeen, United Kingdom
Last day to apply: 30 March 2011
Visiting Instructor or Assistant Professor, South Asian Religions
Luther College, Iowa
Last day to apply: 31 March 2011
Assistant Professor, South or Southeast Asian History
University of Central Florida
Last day to apply: 8 April 2011
Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Full Professor, Islamic History / Studies (all ranks)
Mardin Artuklu University, Turkey
Last day to apply: 30 April 2011
Assistant Professor, Islamic or Buddhist or Confucian Religious Thought/Philosophy
Syracuse University, New York
Last day to apply: 1 May 2011
Assistant Professor (tenure-track), South Asian Religions
University of Georgia, Georgia
Last day to apply: 8 May 2011
Community
Muslim Chaplain
Corrections and Rehabilitation, Sierra Conservation Center
California
Posted: 15 February 2011 until filled
Assistant Director of Research
Karamah/Women Muslim Lawyers for Human Rights
District of Columbia, Washington D.C
Posted on: 27 February 2011 until filled
Corporate Gifts Officer
Islamic Relief USA
Alexandria, Virginia
Last day to apply: 7 March 2011
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Conferences
2012 International Conference on Religion and Spirituality in Society
20 to 22 February 2012
Vancouver, Canada
Abstract deadline: 10 March 2011
American Canadian Conference for Academic Disciplines
23 to 26 May 2011
Toronto, Canada
Abstract Deadline: 18 March 2011
4th International Indonesia Forum Conference: 2nd Call for Papers
28 to 29 June 2011
Yogyakarta State University, Indonesia
Abstract Deadline: 31 March 2011
Law and Religious Pluralism in Contemporary Asia
17 to 18 November 2011
National University of Singapore
Abstract Deadline: 1 April 2011
Workshop on Language, Literacy, and the Social Construction of Authority in Islamic Societies
3 to 4 March 2011
Stanford University, California
Grounding Kashmir Symposium: Experience and Everyday Life on Both Sides of the Line of Control
5 to 6 March 2011
Stanford University, California
11th annual East Asian Studies Graduate Conference
5 March 2011
University of Toronto, Canada
Islamic Civilization - Potentials and Challenges
9 to 10 March 2011
Lahore, Pakistan
European Conference for Academic Disciplines
10 to 15 April 2011
Gottenheim near Freiburg, Germany
Geopolitics, Geoeconomics and International Relations Problems. NATO and EU Expansion to the East - Security Problems of Russia, CIS States, Europe and Asia
23 to 24 March, 2011
Saint Petersburg, Russia
In the Mix: Asian Popular Music Conference
25 to 26 March 2011
Princeton University, USA
AAS/ICAS 2011 Honolulu Conference
31 March to 3 April 2011
Honolulu, Hawai'i, USA
28th Annual Spring Symposium "Media, Culture and Democracy in South Asia"
6 to 8 April 2011
Center for South Asian Studies, University of Hawaii, USA
10th East-West Philosophers' Conference
16 to 24 May 2011
University of Hawaii - East West Center, USA
IIUM International Accounting Conference V
12 to 13 July 2011
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Islamic Tourism Conference & Travel Mart 2011
13 to 14 October 2011
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
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and Asian Art at Boston College and the Chair of Islamic Art at Virginia Commonwealth University)
