عنوان

'The Colossal Elephant' Shaykh Ahmad-i Jām: Legacy and hagiography in Islam

Number

TL48406

.Language of Text, Soundtrack etc

انگلیسی

Title Proper

'The Colossal Elephant' Shaykh Ahmad-i Jām: Legacy and hagiography in Islam

General Material Designation

[Thesis]

First Statement of Responsibility

John Dechant

Subsequent Statement of Responsibility

DeWeese, Devin

Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.

Indiana University

Date of Publication, Distribution, etc.

2015

Specific Material Designation and Extent of Item

357

Text of Note

Committee members: Jaques, Robert K.; Losensky, Paul; Walbridge, John

Text of Note

Place of publication: United States, Ann Arbor; ISBN=978-1-339-05469-8

Dissertation or thesis details and type of degree

Ph.D.

Discipline of degree

Near Eastern Languages and Cultures

Body granting the degree

Indiana University

Text preceding or following the note

2015

Text of Note

This dissertation is a case study in how the spiritual authority of Ahmad-i Jām (c. 1059-c. 1139), also known as Zhanda Pīl or "the Colossal Elephant," has endured and manifested itself over space and time, from the eleventh century to the nineteenth century. Utilizing a wide variety of evidence drawn from a large number of sources-including hagiographies, traditional histories, theological works, travel accounts, architectural data, poetry, shrine guides, and even shrine graffiti-we can see how this one man's image and popularity has varied and evolved over different times and places, and come to understand how his descendants, his hagiographers, and other fans and devotees have utilized and manipulated his image and popularity for their own benefit. Through their interest and involvement, Ahmad-i Jām has remained relevant and meaningful for Muslims in Khurāsān and beyond for centuries, and this relevancy and meaningfulness has had a real world impact. Specifically, the power of Ahmad's spiritual authority-which survived through his hagiographic image, his reputation for wisdom and knowledge, his ancestry and descendants, his shrine, his silsila, his cloak, etc.-and later people's deft use of these legacies, made Ahmad fill an important niche in the local sacred geography, which in turn allowed the awlād, Ahmad's shrine, and the region of Jām to endure and remain relevant through centuries of invasions, regime and religious changes.

Religious history; Islamic Studies; History

Subject Term

Philosophy, religion and theology;Social sciences;Hagiography;Iran;Islam;Saints;Shrine;Sufism

Gates, Tina Marie

DeWeese, Devin

Subdivision

Near Eastern Languages and Cultures

Indiana University

Call Number

1722048341; 3722988

Electronic name

p

[Thesis]

276903

a

Y