[INDOLOGY] Hybrid talk: The Figure of the Faqīr (Prof. Anne Murphy), October 29th @ 16.00 CET

[Akshara Ravishankar]

Dear all,

Just a reminder that this talk is happening today at 4 pm Central Time. The
registration link is here
<https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/b66fdbfb-4471-4c45-8483-02036a15f6be@d7811cde-ecef-496c-8f91-a1786241b99c>
for
online participants.

Warmly,

Akshara

On Fri, Oct 24, 2025 at 12:45 PM Akshara Ravishankar <
akshara.ravishankar at gmail.com> wrote:

> Dear all,
>
> We are delighted to announce a talk by Prof. Anne Murphy next Wednesday at
> the Ghent Center for South Asian Studies. The talk will be hybrid: the
> registration link is here
> <https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/b66fdbfb-4471-4c45-8483-02036a15f6be@d7811cde-ecef-496c-8f91-a1786241b99c> for
> online participants, and can also be accessed via the QR code on the
> attached poster.
>
>
> *The Figure of the Faqīr*
> Prof. Anne Murphy (Associate Professor, Dept of History, University of
> British Columbia)
>
> October 29, 2025 @ 16:00 CET in-person and online
> Location: Faculty Council Room (Faculteitszaal),
> Blandijnberg 2, 9000 Gent
>
> Recent literature on the figure of the jogī/faqīr has suggested a period
> of transition in the early modern period from the logic of “magic” and
> technical accomplishment to that of bhakti, or devotion (Burchett 2019;
> Pinch 2003, 2006). Was the faqīr understood in such terms, across North
> India? This essay explores this question through examination of two texts
> from the Punjab region, each of which provides a rendition of the story of
> the star-crossed lovers Hīr and Rāṅjhā, an example of a local iteration of
> the qissā literary form that was so remarkably productive across diverse
> linguistic domains in early modern South Asia. Analysis of the figure of
> the faqīr in these texts allows consideration of the relationship between
> jog and bhakti—as well as the relationship between, and dating, of the two
> texts under consideration: Damodar’s version of the text, which is
> attributed to the sixteenth century but has relatively recent and limited
> manuscript attestation, with compelling evidence for at least a seventeenth
> century dating, if not before,and the classic version of the tale by Waris
> Shah, dated to C.E. 1766/7. The narrative embellishments of the tale in
> these two versions allows us to consider their historical relation, and
> significance of the figure of the jogī in the complex religious landscape
> of early modern Punjab.
>
> Hope to see many of you there!
>
> Warmly,
>
> Akshara Ravishankar
> FWO Junior Postdoctoral Fellow 2024-27
> Ghent Centre for South Asian Studies
> Department of Languages and Cultures
> UGent
>
>
>
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