[INDOLOGY] Alchemy and South Asia

[Fabrizio Speziale]

Dear Paolo,
there is the case of Mir Mahmud (d. 1689), a Sufi master of the Ni'matullahi order who migrated from Iraq to the Hyderabad in the Deccan and to which alchemical knowledge is attributed in hagiographical sources. On Mir Mahmud you can check my articles which however do not focus on alchemy:
“À propos du renouveau ni‘matullāhī. Le centre de Hyderabad au cours de la première modernité”, Studia Iranica, 42, 2013, p. 91-118.

« The mujaddid and the majdhūb. Shāh ‘Alī Riḍā (d. 1215/1801) and the Different Narratives of the Ni‘mat Allāhī Renewal », in Denis Hermann – Mathieu Terrier, eds., Shi‘i Sufism in Modern Times, London, I. B. Tauris – Institute of Ismaili Studies, 2020, pp. 157-174.

I also mention several Sufis expert in alchemy who however were Indian Muslims, in my work Soufisme, religion et médecine en Islam indien. Paris, Karthala, 2010.
All the best,
Fabrizio 



FabrizioSpezialeDirecteurd’études - ProfessorÉcoledes Hautes Études en Sciences SocialesCenterfor South Asian Studies54Boulevard Raspail75006,Paris  
http://www.perso-indica.net/https://ehess.academia.edu/FabrizioSpeziale



 

    Il giovedì 8 ottobre 2020, 12:19:11 CEST, Paolo Eugenio Rosati via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info> ha scritto:  
 
 Dear Dagmar,
Yes, I did. But I would like to understand if any European or Arabic alchemist went to South Asia or had any contact with South Asian alchemists or royal courts in pre-Modern time.
Best wishes, 
Paolo

Il giorno gio 8 ott 2020 alle ore 06:22 Dagmar Wujastyk <d.wujastyk at gmail.com> ha scritto:

Dear Paolo,You may have heard of Marco Polo's description of alchemists in India and also of Al Biruni describing rasāyana. Both accounts are featured in David White's The Alchemical Body. There is also the story of Siddha Iramatevar/ Yakoppu visiting Mecca. I don't know of any journeys by European or Arabic alchemists to the Indian subcontinent. However, Fabrizio Speziale may know something about that: He has been working on Persian sources on alchemy and iatrochemistry and these may feature accounts of visiting or at least corresponding alchemists. Very best wishes,Dagmar

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Paolo E. RosatiPhD in Asian and African Studies
https://uniroma1.academia.edu/PaoloERosati/paoloe.rosati@gmail.com
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