Reifying Religion While Lost in Translation: Mirza Mazhar Jan-i-Janan (d.1781) on the Hindus

Authors

SherAli Tareen, Macalester College

Abstract

This paper examines the life and thought of one of the leading Muslim revivalist thinkers in 18th century India, Mirza Mazhar Jan-i-Janan (1699-1781) in an effort to understand the relationship, if any, between the structures of knowledge that informed colonial conceptions of India’s religious topography and 18th century projects of intra-religious and cross-religious interpretation (such as that conducted by Jan-i Janan)? In addition, the project aims at informing the inquiry as to the extent to which the process of reification that led to the development of a unified notion of ‘Hinduism’ in the modern era already was underway in the works of 18th century figures such as Jan-i Janan?

Recommended Citation

Tareen, SherAli (2006) "Reifying Religion While Lost in Translation: Mirza Mazhar Jan-i-Janan (d.1781) on the Hindus," Macalester Islam Journal: Vol. 1: Iss. 2, Article 3.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/islam/vol1/iss2/3