An Islamicate Body: A Case Study of a Nomadic Burial from the Core Territory of the Golden Horde.
Abstract: This paper addresses the topic of Islamisation among the nomads of the Golden Horde in the Lower Volga Region in the 13-14th centuries. Due to ideological and methodological constraints, this topic has been neglected, and the lack of reliable written and emic/native sources have led to sch...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Université de Provence
2018-10-01
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| Series: | Revue des Mondes Musulmans et de la Méditerranée |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/remmm/10777 |
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| Summary: | Abstract: This paper addresses the topic of Islamisation among the nomads of the Golden Horde in the Lower Volga Region in the 13-14th centuries. Due to ideological and methodological constraints, this topic has been neglected, and the lack of reliable written and emic/native sources have led to scholarly misunderstandings and an underestimation of this conversion process, which pervaded nomadic society far beyond its ruling elite. In order to gain a more holistic perspective on this issue, recent research on native conversion stories of the denizens of the Golden Horde can be fruitfully supplemented by evidence of native beliefs and actions from archaeological data. As an example, I introduce and analyse an Islamicate burial from the remote region of the steppe in modern day Kalmykia (Russian Federation) that was populated exclusively by nomads in the Middle Ages. By evaluating the details of this burial, such as its construction and the grave goods, against the norms prescribed in Muslim legal writings, I argue that this burial represents indigenous Islam. It demonstrates the concerns of the Islamicised nomads with kinship, ancestry, and status. My paper stresses how indigenous Islam, which was embraced and promulgated by the nomads’ agency, should not be seen as a superficial phenomenon, but as a crucial ingredient of nomadic ritual life, identity, and political power that served their society and the Golden Horde at large. |
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| ISSN: | 0997-1327 2105-2271 |