The Mughal Empire was an Islamic dynasty that ruled much of South Asia from the 16th-19th centuries. It was one of the grandest empires the world has ever known. But the Mughals did not rely on military might alone to consolidate their rule. They also used works of literature—stories that evoked peoples, cultures, and far-flung landscapes. Through stories, regional factions competed for influence at the Mughal court—and sought to define themselves. My guest today is Tanvir Aktar Ahmed, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Religious Studies at Brown University. Tanvir works at the intersection of Islam and politics in early modern Central Asia. He’s currently finishing his dissertation, "Radical Shadows of God: Islam and Sociopolitical Dissent, 1240-1600." We focus on a literary compendium from the Mughal era which narrates the often supernatural adventures of saints, power-brokers, and rebels.

Show notes:

Our conversation focuses on Ni‘mat Allah Harawi’s Afghan Treasury (c. 1630; Tārīkh-i Khān Jahānī wa Makhzan-i Afghānī, ed. Sayyid Muḥammad Imām al-Dīn. Dhaka: Zīkū Parīs, 1932).

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