A Neo-Fatimid Treasury of Books: Arabic Manuscripts among the Alawi Bohras of South Asia

409 Pages·2022·6.755 MB·English

by  Olly Akkerman

A N -F T
EO ATIMID REASURY
B
OF OOKS
The Royal Asiatic Society was founded in 1823 ‘for the investigation of subjects connected with,
and for the encouragement of science, literature and the arts in relation to Asia’. Informed by these
goals, the policy of the Society’s Editorial Board is to make available in appropriate formats the
results of original research in the humanities and social sciences having to do with Asia, defined in
the broadest geographical and cultural sense and up to the present day.
The Monograph Board
Professor Francis Robinson, CBE, DL, Royal Holloway, University of London (Chair)
Professor Tim Barrett, SOAS, University of London
Dr Barbara Brend, Royal Asiatic Society
Dr Evrim Binbas, Institute of Oriental and Asian Studies, University of Bonn
Professor Anna Contadini, SOAS, University of London
Professor Michael Feener, National University of Kyoto
Dr Gordon Johnson, University of Cambridge
Dr Firuza Melville, University of Cambridge
Dr Taylor Sherman, London School of Economics
Dr Alison Ohta, Director, Royal Asiatic Society
For a full list of publications by the Royal Asiatic Society see www.royalasiaticsociety.org
A N -F
EO ATIMID
T B
REASURY OF OOKS
A M
RABIC ANUSCRIPTS AMONG THE
A B S A
LAWI OHRAS OF OUTH SIA
O A
LLY KKERMAN
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© Olly Akkerman, 2022, under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-
NonDerivative licence
Cover image: Courtesy of the author
Cover design: Andrew McColm
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A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 1 4744 7956 1 (hardback)
ISBN 978 1 4744 7958 5 (webready PDF)
ISBN 978 1 4744 7959 2 (epub)
The right of Olly Akkerman to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in
accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and the Copyright and
Related Rights Regulations 2003 (SI No. 2498).
Published with the support of the University of Edinburgh Scholarly Publishing Initiatives Fund.
C
ONTENTS
Maps and Figures vii
Acknowledgements xii
Notes on Transliteration and Dates xv
Sources xvi
Prologue: Fatimid Encounters across the Indian Ocean xix
Introduction: Reading Sijistani in Gujarat: the Bohra Treasury of Books 1
Inside the Treasury of Books: Reflections on the Ethnography of Manuscripts 21
1 Community: Introduction to the Alawi Bohras 45
1.1 Shrine Custodians 47
1.2 Secret Manuscripts and their Social Lives 59
1.3 Everyday Documents and the Organisation of the Daʿwa 72
1.4 An Indian Muslim Caste 86
2 Treasury of Books 98
2.1 Neither Library nor Archive: the Khizana as a Treasury of Books 105
2.2 A Lost Fatimid Khizana in Gujarat? 119
2.3 A Treasury of Books across the Indian Ocean 142
2.4 A Neo-Fatimid Treasury of Books in Baroda 146
3 Secret Universe 158
3.1 Bohra Spaces and their Modes of Access 162
3.2 Access I: A Profane Topography of the Bohra Universe 164
3.3 Access II: A Sacred Geography of the Bohra Universe 188
3.4 Gender, Etiquette and Access 202
4 Manuscript Stories 209
4.1 Secret Khizana, Social Manuscripts 218
4.2 Manuscripts of Alawi Provenance 220
vi A NEO-FATIMID TREASURY OF BOOKS
4.3 Manuscripts of Non-Alawi Provenance 229
4.4 Practices of Borrowing, Lending and Appropriation 239
5 Materiality of Secrecy 249
5.1 Codicology of the Treasury of Books 251
5.2 Anatomy of Bohra Manuscripts: Paratexts from Head to Tail 272
5.3 Occult Paratexts: Batini Manuscript Culture 285
5.4 Magical Marginalia: Zahiri Manuscript Culture 290
6 Script and Scribal Politics 300
6.1 A Modern Isma’ili Manuscriptorium 301
6.2 Script and the Language of Secrecy 304
6.3 Khizana Scripts 312
6.4 Scribal Politics 328
Conclusion: A Jihad for Books 345
Epilogue: A Case for Social Codicology 351
Glossary 353
Bibliography 359
Index 374
M F
APS AND IGURES
All photographs taken by the author unless otherwise stated
Maps
I.1 Map of India 22
I.2 Map of Gujarat 22
2.1 Map of khizana sites in the Bohra tradition 120
2.2 Map of Yemen and the western Indian Ocean 130
Figures
I.1 His Royal Highness the late Dai, the Mazoon Saheb and the Mukasir
Saheb and his entourage on their ceremonial procession to the masjid 27
I.2 The researcher with the royal women, including the Ma Saheba 37
I.3 Interior view of the Mazoon Saheb’s office 39
I.4 Two mu’minin consulting the Mazoon Saheb 40
I.5 Jahangir’s peacock throne 40
I.6 First page of the handwritten khizana catalogue, including the Mazoon
Saheb’s entry about the author in the community 41
I.7 Official khizana vignette 42
I.8 A written request to the Mazoon Saheb to take a photo, lying on a pile
of manuscripts 43
1.1 Map in Gujarati of Bohra pilgrimage sites in Ashab al-Yamin in Yemen 46
1.2 Historic picture of the original grave of Sy. Ali Shamsuddin and
Sy. Zakiyuddin 49
1.3 The invisible grave of Sy. Ali ibn Ibrahim 50
1.4 Devotees directing their prayer to the corner where Sy. Ali Shamsuddin
is buried. Saraspur, Ahmedabad 50
1.5 Alawi Bohras in the musafir khana, waiting for the thali to be served.
Saraspur, Ahmedabad 52
1.6 Folio from the Diwān-e Ḥasan, containing an Arabic poem in praise of
the Mughal courtier of Jahangir and Shah Jahan, Shaa’istah Khan, the
twenty-sixth viceroy of Gujarat under Shah Jahan 56
viii A NEO-FATIMID TREASURY OF BOOKS
1.7 Diagram illustrating the transference of knowledge from God to believers,
via the speakers, the Imams and the Dais 63
1.8 Gathering in the mosque, with the Dai seen surrounded by the Bhai Sahebs 77
1.9 The chawri (fly whisk) in action during a ceremony 79
1.10 The late Dai (middle) and the hudud wearing their ceremonial ghagras,
pagris, choris and shawls 80
1.11 One of the historic registers of the community, read by the Mazoon
Saheb and his assistant, Badruddin 81
1.12 The Mazoon Saheb reading a historic register of the community 82
1.13 A Dawoodi website for religious artefacts, advertising the sale of
an ʿalamat plank 84
1.14 The late Dai blowing his ruh in the coconut during an engagement
ceremony 87
1.15 Nikah sehra (veil) of the groom, with a beaded inscription that
reads Allah, Muhammad, Ali, Fatima, Husayn, Hasan 89
1.16 The grave of the shahid parrot. Saraspur, Ahmedabad 95
1.17 Hussain feeding the peacocks, at the Saraspur graveyard, Ahmedabad 95
2.1 Marginal note, ‘dalhī rutlām dāyrikt kār’, on the second flyleaf of
manuscript no. 49075, Dar al-Kutub 99
2.2 The entrance of the royal haveli and the khizana 110
2.3 The Mazoon Saheb during his office hours, receiving believers in
the treasury of books 112
2.4 The Mazoon Saheb standing in front of a manuscript cupboard 114
2.5 Manuscript preservation: neem leaf and pouch stuffed with rice 116
2.6 The Mukasir Saheb seen wrapping a cotton thread around a manuscript, and
cotton envelopes protecting the fragile manuscripts 117
2.7 Genealogical shajara of the Alawi Bohras 123
2.8 Flyleaf of Qaratis al-Yaman with the title of the work, the dates of
the letters, Hamdani owner stamp and khizana number 129
2.9 Fragment of Qaratis al-Yaman , the correspondence between al-Bharuchi
and Moulai Raj Bin Moulai Hasan 136
2.10 The fortification of Thula, today a UNESCO heritage site,
known as Husn al-ghurab 140
2.11 Historic photograph of the Alawi royal family, with Syedna Jiwabhai
Fakhr al-Din b. Amir al-Din sitting in the middle 150
3.1 Girl from the city of Pune during her ʿahd ceremony 159
3.2 The girl’s younger brother has taken a ‘mini-ʿahd’, his face decorated
with garlands 161
3.3 Researcher’s field sketch of Badri Mohallah 166
3.4 Badri Mohallah seen on a rainy day through the grills of the royal haveli 168
3.5 Entrance of the Noorani masjid 170
3.6 Façade of the Noorani masjid 171
3.7 Interior of the Noorani masjid 171
3.8 Spoons of salt on a communal thali plate symbolising the tears of Karbala 173
3.9 Bohra women finishing their communal thali in the jamaat khana 173
MAPS AND FIGURES ix
3.10 Life in the jamaat khana 174
3.11 An undated painting entitled ‘Bohra Dastarkhan’ by Abbas Batliwala,
depicting a thali family meal 175
3.12 Bohra vernacular architecture 177
3.13 Art deco with an Islamic twist: a historic manzil in the mohallah 178
3.14 Wooden façade of a manzil 178
3.15 Another façade of a manzil 179
3.16 Entrance of manzil, with a mu’mina, her son and a goat, pictured
during eid 180
3.17 Alawi Heritage Walk poster, with drawings of the traditional wooden
façades of the Alawi manzils 181
3.18 Topi weaving in the mohallah, with the Ra’s ul Hudood Saheb with a
microphone in his hand 182
3.19 Painting entitled ‘Telephoon’ by Abbas Batliwala, depicting communication
in the mohallah 184
3.20 The Dai is seen blowing his ruh into a coconut during the public royal
birthday party of his grandson Luqman Bhai, held in the jamaat khana 198
3.21 Ladies’ majlis in the masjid with the author sitting on the upper left of
the ‘royal’ square 202
3.22 The researcher observing an all-male ʿurs commemoration at the maqbara
in Baroda 205
4.1 Dissolving the sacred: pictures taken during the Ganpati Dussehra, 2013,
in Baroda 222
4.2 Discarding sacred trash. Pictures of the Darul Shifa Jama Masjid and roza
in Hyderabad 223
4.3 Hand-copied yet photocopied Jamea tus Saifiyah edition, including
catchwords, pagination and footnotes 231
4.4 The personal archive of student identity cards of the Mazoon Saheb 233
4.5 Example of a Hamdani manuscript, dated 4th of Rajab 1306 (6 March
1889), with burgundy deer-leather binding and two library vignettes 236
4.6 Inside the same Hamdani manuscript is this first flyleaf with notes,
including the title written twice 237
4.7 Preparation of the catalogue: social-codicological notes taken by the
author on the second tome of a Hamdani copy of Kitāb Jāmiʿ al-Ḥaqā’iq 238
4.8 The private owner stamp reading Sharafalisheikhmamujee Rangoonwala,
resembling an Ottoman tughra 238
4.9 Practices of erasure by previous owner in a copy of the Daʿa’im al-Islam,
a Bohra manuscript of non-Alawi provenance 241
4.10 Practices of erasure by previous owner: Hamdani manuscript 242
4.11 Example of a non-Alawi manuscript, in which the history of its social
life has been preserved beneath the intact colophon and the following
folio 243
4.12 Alawi khizana stamps in English and Arabic 244
4.13 Example of blank spaces in a Bohra manuscript 245