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 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