Witness to Marvels: Sufism and Literary ImaginationA free open access ebook is available upon publication. Learn more at www.luminosoa.org. There is a vast body of imaginal literature in Bengali that introduces fictional Sufi saints into the complex mythological world of Hindu gods and goddesses. Dating to the sixteenth century, the stories—pir katha—are still widely read and performed today. The events that play out rival the fabulations of the Arabian Nights, which has led them to be dismissed as simplistic folktales, yet the work of these stories is profound: they provide fascinating insight into how Islam habituated itself into the cultural life of the Bangla-speaking world. In Witness to Marvels, Tony K. Stewart unearths the dazzling tales of Sufi saints to signal a bold new perspective on the subtle ways Islam assumed its distinctive form in Bengal. |
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Abdur Rahim Āllā avatar Baḍa satya pīr Badar Bādsvā Bangla Bangladesh Bāṇlā Bengal Bhaṭṭācāryya Bibi bibīs Bonbibi Bonbibī jahurā nāmā brāhmaṇ Caitanya Calcutta cāmpāvatī kanyār century Conceptual Blending cultural Dakṣin Ray Dakṣiņā Rāy Delhi Dhākā Dhaka University discourse divine Dudbibi Dukhe Dvija edited Ekāḍemī emplotment færies fictional figures flower forest Gāji Gāji kālu Gāji's Gangā genre goddess hagiographies heaven Hindu hinduyāni intertextual invokes Islamic jāti Kalikātā kanyār puthi Kavi Khater Khodā Khoyājā king Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇahari Dās Kṛṣṇarām Dās Lāibrerī Listen literary literature Mahābhārata Manasā Manik manuscript Mohammad mother musalmāni Muslim Nārāyaṇ narrative Oxford University Press pālā parody Persian phakir pīr o sandhyāvatī Pīr's pūjā purāṇa Qur'ān Rājā Rām Rāmeśvar Rāy Ray mangal religious ritual romance Sāheb sāhitya Sanskrit Satya Pīr Satyanārāyaṇ Satyanārāyaṇ pāñcālī Sītā Śrī Śrīśrīsatyanārāyaṇer story Sufi Summoner Sunderbans sūphī tale tigers tion traditional trans translation vaiṣṇav vols worship