Abstract
This chapter focuses on the first step in the emergence of the Sufi paradigm. It began by the printing of a key work of vernacular Sufism—the Shah jo Risalo authored by Shah Abd al-Latif (d. 1752). The publication was funded by the commissioner in Sindh, Sir Bartle Frere, and undertaken by a German missionary, Ernst Trumpp. The objective was to make a reference text available to British officers and missionaries who wanted to learn Sindhi. This text perfectly reflected the religious situation in Sindh, where Muslims and Hindus frequented the same shrines that they could sometimes even share. The publication of this text would initiate a process of objectification of Sufism that would constitute the first stage of the Sufi paradigm. The chapter will also provide evidence that contrary to what the majority of the British and Europeans claim, the Sufi paradigm in Sindh was not built on the exclusive Persian Sufi pattern, as demonstrated by the Shah jo Risalo, who uses many local folk themes transformed into Sufi symbols. The chapter will conclude with a summary of the contents of the Sufi paradigm at this early stage.
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Notes
- 1.
For this part on Trumpp’s life, I draw mostly upon the paper written by Annemarie Schimmel (Schimmel 1985: 19–53).
- 2.
Guru Gobind Singh (1666–1708) was the tenth and last of the Sikh gurus. He was the founder of the Khalsa in 1699, as well as of the standardization of the Adi Granth. He claimed that he was the last guru and that after the Adi Granth would be the next and eternal guru. He fought many battles against the Mughals, especially when Aurangzeb was emperor.
- 3.
The dargah of Shah Abd al-Latif keeps a manuscript known as Ganj, which must have been written by a close follower of the Sufi poet. I shall deal with the issue of the relationship between oral/manuscript and printed knowledge in the last chapter.
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Boivin, M. (2020). The Archaeology of the Sufi Paradigm. In: The Sufi Paradigm and the Makings of a Vernacular Knowledge in Colonial India. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41991-2_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41991-2_5
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