SHUM 6664 - [Death in the City: Funerary Architecture in Muslim South Asia]

(crosslisted) ARTH 6664, ASIAN 6641

Fall. Not offered: 2020-2021. Next offered: 2021-2022. 4 credits. Student option grading.

Enrollment limited to: graduate students. Co-meets with ARTH 4664/ASIAN 4471/SHUM 4664/VISST 4664.

F. Quraishi.

This seminar examines the development and transformation of Muslim funerary landscapes in the Indian subcontinent from the twelfth to the nineteenth centuries. It explores the relationship between sepulchral spaces and the urban environments with which they are connected, highlighting their role as spaces of sociability as well as piety. We will study the long history of funerary architecture through a series of case studies. This examination will involve architectural analysis of sites such as the shrine of Nizam al-Din Awliya in Delhi, close readings of poetic compositions, for example, the Maklinamah of Mir Sher ‘Ali Qani, and travelogues like the Rihla of Ibn Battuta, to unravel the processes by which sites are re-imagined and re-made over time. For longer description and instructor bio, please visit the Society for the Humanities website.