Presented By: Center for South Asian Studies
CSAS Annual Thomas R. Trautmann Honorary Lecture 2026 | Sufis and Sufi Institutions in Premodern South Asia: a Comparative Approach by Richard M. Eaton
Richard M. Eaton, University of Arizona
Please note: This lecture will be held in person and livestreamed on Zoom. The webinar is free and open to the public, but registration is required. Once you've registered, joining information will be sent to your email. Register for the Zoom webinar at: https://myumi.ch/Qw4dD. Note, this lecture will not be recorded and published at a later date.
Building on earlier studies of Sufism as Islam’s mystical dimension, scholars have explored the social roles that Sufis played across the pre-modern Persianate world. Advancing this line of inquiry, my talk, focusing on premodern South Asia, will identify some processes by which Sufis (or Sufi institutions) acted as cultural mediators, contributed to the Islamization of non-Muslim societies, and interacted with regional economies and political power. Looking at the social roles of Sufis or Sufi institutions from a comparative perspective, the talk will draw on cases from very different regions – e.g., Punjab, Deccan, Bengal, Kashmir – with a view to suggesting how environmental factors unique to particular regions within South Asia might explain different roles played by Sufis or Sufi institutions.
Lecture at Kalamazoo Room, Michigan League followed by a reception at Conference Room 4, Michigan League
A graduate of the universities of Virginia and Wisconsin, Professor Eaton teaches South Asian history at the University of Arizona. His published works include Sufis of Bijapur(Princeton, 1978), The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204-1760 (California, 1993), Essays on Islam and Indian History (Oxford, 2000), India's Islamic Traditions, 711-1750 (Oxford, 2002), Social History of the Deccan, 1300-1761: Eight Indian Lives (Cambridge, 2005), Slavery and South Asian History (co-edited with Indrani Chatterjee, Indiana, 2006), Power, Memory, Architecture: Contested Sites on India’s Deccan Plateau, 1300-1600 (co-authored with Phillip Wagoner, Oxford, 2014), India in the Persianate Age, 1000-1765 (Penguin Books, 2020), The Lotus and the Lion: Essays on India’s Sanskritic and Persianate Worlds (Primus Books, 2022), and The Oxford Handbook of the Mughal World (co-edited with Ramya Sreenivasan, Oxford, 2025).
Building on earlier studies of Sufism as Islam’s mystical dimension, scholars have explored the social roles that Sufis played across the pre-modern Persianate world. Advancing this line of inquiry, my talk, focusing on premodern South Asia, will identify some processes by which Sufis (or Sufi institutions) acted as cultural mediators, contributed to the Islamization of non-Muslim societies, and interacted with regional economies and political power. Looking at the social roles of Sufis or Sufi institutions from a comparative perspective, the talk will draw on cases from very different regions – e.g., Punjab, Deccan, Bengal, Kashmir – with a view to suggesting how environmental factors unique to particular regions within South Asia might explain different roles played by Sufis or Sufi institutions.
Lecture at Kalamazoo Room, Michigan League followed by a reception at Conference Room 4, Michigan League
A graduate of the universities of Virginia and Wisconsin, Professor Eaton teaches South Asian history at the University of Arizona. His published works include Sufis of Bijapur(Princeton, 1978), The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204-1760 (California, 1993), Essays on Islam and Indian History (Oxford, 2000), India's Islamic Traditions, 711-1750 (Oxford, 2002), Social History of the Deccan, 1300-1761: Eight Indian Lives (Cambridge, 2005), Slavery and South Asian History (co-edited with Indrani Chatterjee, Indiana, 2006), Power, Memory, Architecture: Contested Sites on India’s Deccan Plateau, 1300-1600 (co-authored with Phillip Wagoner, Oxford, 2014), India in the Persianate Age, 1000-1765 (Penguin Books, 2020), The Lotus and the Lion: Essays on India’s Sanskritic and Persianate Worlds (Primus Books, 2022), and The Oxford Handbook of the Mughal World (co-edited with Ramya Sreenivasan, Oxford, 2025).
Related Links
Co-Sponsored By
Explore Similar Events
-
Loading Similar Events...
