Thus Spake the Dervish: Sufism, Language, and the Religious Margins in Central Asia, 1400-1900

240 Pages·2019·5.281 MB·

by  Alexandre Papas, Caroline Kraabel

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i
Thus Spake the Dervish
© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2019 | doi:10.1163/9789004402027_001
ii
Studies on Sufism
Edited by
Rachida Chih
Erik S. Ohlander
Florian Sobieroj
VOLUME 4
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/sufi
iii
Thus Spake the Dervish
Sufism, Language, and the Religious Margins in
Central Asia, 1400–1900
By
Alexandre Papas
Translated by
Caroline Kraabel
LEIDEN | BOSTON
iv
Cover illustration: Road from Faizabad to Mazar-e Sharif. Ethnographic views, religion and ritual. Dervish
with sheep. Josephine Powell Photograph, 1959-1961. Courtesy of Special Collections, Fine Arts Library,
Harvard University, W282976_1.
The original French edition of this book, Ainsi parlait le derviche, was published by Editions du Cerf (Paris,
France).
Published with the support of the French National Centre for Scientific Research.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Papas, Alexandre, author.
Title: Thus spake the dervish : Sufism, language, and the religious margins
in Central Asia, 1400-1900 / by Alexandre Papas ; translated by Caroline
Kraabel.
Other titles: Ainsi parlait le dervice. English
Description: Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2019. | Series: Studies on Sufism,
2468-0087 ; VOLUME 4 | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019018991 (print) | LCCN 2019022248 (ebook) | ISBN
9789004398504 (hardback : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Dervishes--Asia, Central--History. |
Mysticism--Islam--Asia, Central.
Classification: LCC BP188.8.A783 P3713 2019 (print) | LCC BP188.8.A783
(ebook) | DDC 297.409581/0903--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019018991
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019022248
Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill-typeface.
issn 2468-0087
isbn 978-90-04-39850-4 (hardback)
isbn 978-90-04-40202-7 (e-book)
Copyright 2019 by Koninklijke Brill nv, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi, Brill
Sense, Hotei Publishing, mentis Verlag, Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh and Wilhelm Fink Verlag.
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ContentCsontents v
Contents
Acknowledgements VII
List of Figures VIII IX
Introduction 1
1 A Manifesto: The Qalandarnāma, by Amīr Ḥusayn Harawī 11
2 In Search of the Margins 16
1 In the Streets of Herat  28
1 A Presentation of the ʿAlī Shīr Nawāʾī’s Maḥbūb al-qulūb  28
2 Musicians, Singers, Storytellers 33
3 Ruffians, Bohemians, Paupers  38
4 Real and False Dervishes  42
5 Other Sources: Names and Words 48
2 Outside the Madrasas of Bukhara 59
1 About the Ādāb al-ṭarīq, by Ḥājjī ʿAbd al-Raḥīm 59
2 The Head of the Dervish 61
3 The Trunk and the Arms 71
4 The Lower Body 88
5 From Lexis to Relics  97
3 In the Ruins of Aksu 104
1 Kharābātī, a People’s Poet 104
2 To Peasants, Artisans, Doctors and the Powerful  120
3 The Call to Renunciation 128
4 On the Paradox of Language  139
4 In the Depths of the Grottoes of Central Asia  144
1 Silences in Khotan  144
2 Whispers in Tashkent and Samarkand  153
3 Graffiti in Manguistaou  163
4 Legends in Fergana and Pamir 174
5 On the Road with Cantors and Itinerants 183
1 The maddāḥ in Uzbekistan and Xinjiang  183
Contents vi Contents
Contents
Acknowledgments
Figures viii 2 Abdāl tili, the Language of Outsiders 195
Introduction 1
3 Argot and Mystical Language 200
1 A Manifesto: The Qalandarnāma, by Amīr Ḥusayn Harawī 11
2 In Search of the Margins 16
Chapter 1
Conclusion: Dervishes Yesterday and Today 206
In the Streets of Herat  28
1 A Presentation of the ʿAlī Shīr Nawāʾī’s Maḥbūb al-qulūb  28
2 Musicians, Singers, Storytellers 33
Bibliography 211
3 Ruffians, Bohemians, Paupers  38
4 Real and False Dervishes  42 Index of Names 223
5 Other Sources: Names and Words 48
Index of Places 228
Chapter 2
Outside the Madrasas of Bukhara 59 226
1 About the Ādāb al-ṭarīq, by Ḥājjī ʿAbd al-Raḥīm 59
2 The Head of the Dervish 61
3 The Trunk and the Arms 71
4 The Lower Body 88
5 From Lexis to Relics  97
Chapter 3
In the Ruins of Aksu 104
1 Kharābātī, a People’s Poet 104
2 To Peasants, Artisans, Doctors and the Powerful  120
3 The Call to Renunciation 128
4 On the Paradox of Language  139
Chapter 4
In the Depths of the Grottoes of Central Asia  144
1 Silences in Khotan  144
2 Whispers in Tashkent and Samarkand  153
3 Graffiti in Manguistaou  163
4 Legends in Fergana and Pamir 174
Chapter 5
On the Road with Cantors and Itinerants 183
1 The maddāḥ in Uzbekistan and Xinjiang  183
2 Abdāl tili, the Language of Outsiders 195
3 Argot and Mystical Language 200
Conclusion: Dervishes Yesterday and Today 206
Bibliography 211
Index of Names 223
Index of Places 225
ContentAscknowledgements vii
Acknowledgements
Many friends and colleagues have contributed in one way or another to the
writing of this book. I’d like to offer my heartfelt thanks to Mehran Afshari,
Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi, Michel Bovin, Rachida Chih, Nathalie Clayer,
Stéphane Dudoignon, Arienne M. Dwyer, Aftandil Erkinov, Jürgen Wasim
Frembgen, Nile Green, Masami Hamada, Thibaut d’Hubert, Sergei Khachatu-
rian, Caroline Kraabel, Pierre Lory, Yana Pak, Anne Papas, Margot Papas, Ryoko
Sekiguchi, Marc Toutant, Sara Yontan, Thierry Zarcone.
viii Figures Figures
Figures
1 Hookah smokers in Bukhara, 1911 (@ Archives Anne & Alexandre Papas) 17
2 Ecstatic dance of the dervishes (Ḥāfiẓ, Dīwān, MS Metropolitan Museum,
Herat, ca. 1480, attributed to the painter Bihzād) 49
3 Visit of Alexander, in the guise of Sulṭān Bāyqarā, to a saint in his grotto
(Niẓāmī, Khamsa, MS British Museum Or. 6810, 1490–99, attributed to the
painter Bihzād) 58
4 Grottoes of Kashgaria (Scientific Mission in Upper Asia, 1890–1895, vol. 1,
p. 39) 145
5 Shrine of Kuhmārī (Mission Scientifique dans la Haute Asie 1890–1895, vol. 1,
p. 165) 146
6 Grottoes of Kuhmārī (Mission Scientifique dans la Haute Asie 1890–1895, vol. 3,
p. 161) 147
7 Shrine of Kuhmārī (Ancient Khotan, vol. 1, p. 186) 148
8,9 Entrance and interior of the grotto in 2008 (@ Archives Anne & Alexandre
Papas) 149
10 Cell for spiritual concentration in 2008 (@ Archives Anne & Alexandre
Papas) 151
11 Shrine of Zayn al-Dīn Bābā in Tashkent in 2007 (@ Archives Anne & Alexandre
Papas) 154
12 Cell adjoining the shrine, with the entrance on the right, in 2007 (@ Archives
Anne & Alexandre Papas) 157
13 The interior of the cell with a dervish’s staff as a relic, in 2007 (@ Archives Anne
& Alexandre Papas) 157
14 Shrine of Danyāl in Samarkand in 2013 (@ Archives Anne & Alexandre
Papas) 160
15 Uzbek pilgrims at the entrance in 2013 (@ Archives Anne & Alexandre
Papas) 160
16 Cenotaph of Danyāl in 2013 (@ Archives Anne & Alexandre Papas) 161
17 Doors at the entrance to the grotto of Danyāl in 2013 (@ Archives Anne &
Alexandre Papas) 161
18 Interior of the grotto of Danyāl in 2013 (@ Archives Anne & Alexandre
Papas) 162
19 Entrance of the shrine of Shopan Ata in 2016 (@ Archives Anne & Alexandre
Papas) 166
20 Entrance of the main grotto in 2016 (@ Archives Anne & Alexandre
Papas) 166
21 Collective yurt for pilgrims in 2016 (@ Archives Anne & Alexandre Papas) 167
Figures ix
22 Shrine of Shaqpaq Ata in 2016 (@ Archives Anne & Alexandre Papas) 170
23 Central chamber of the grotto (@ Archives Anne & Alexandre Papas) 170
24 Ritual for receiving the influx of the saint (@ Archives Anne & Alexandre
Papas) 171
25 Walkway leading to the shrine of Beket Ata in 2016 (@ Archives Anne &
Alexandre Papas) 172
26 Entrance of the grotto in 2016 (@ Archives Anne & Alexandre Papas) 173
27 Dīwāna in Keriya (Ruins of Desert Cathay, 1912, vol. 2, p. 639) 193
28 Dervishes of Kashgar (Anonymous, ‘Nasha sredneaziatskaia granitsa. Kashgar’,
Niva, 15, 1879. <http://zerrspiegel.orientphil.uni-halle.de/i126.html>) 194
x Figures