History, piety and factional politics in the Arabic chronicle of the Maldives : Ḥasan Tāj al-Dīn’s Ta’rīkh and its continuations
Abstract
The Arabic chronicle (Ta’rīkh) of the Maldives composed by the qadi Ḥasan Tāj al-Dīn (d. 1139/1727) and continued by his nephew Muḥammad Muḥibb al-Dīn (1118/1706-1199/1785) and his grandson Ibrāhīm Sirāj al-Dīn (d. after 1243/1827) is major but unexploited source for not just Maldivian but also Indian Ocean history more broadly. Covering Maldivian history from the purported date of the islands’ conversion to Islam in 548/1143, the Ta’rīkh is also imbued with a specific pious and ethical agenda. It seeks to situate the Maldives in the broader context of Islamic history stretching back to the Rāshidūn Caliphs, while using the past to impart ethical lessons to its audience, ostensibly the Maldivian sultans. However, its authors were also deeply involved in the Maldives’ tumultuous political life, and their presentation of events is also influenced by their own personal experiences and factional affiliations. This article explores the pious, ethical and political agenda of the Ta’rīkh.
Citation
Peacock , A C S 2020 , ' History, piety and factional politics in the Arabic chronicle of the Maldives : Ḥasan Tāj al-Dīn’s Ta’rīkh and its continuations ' , Asiatische Studien , vol. 74 , no. 1 , pp. 195-220 . https://doi.org/10.1515/asia-2020-0015
Publication
Asiatische Studien
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
0004-4717Type
Journal article
Rights
Copyright © 2020 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston. This work has been made available online in accordance with publisher policies or with permission. Permission for further reuse of this content should be sought from the publisher or the rights holder. This is the author created accepted manuscript following peer review and may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at https://doi.org/10.1515/asia-2020-0015.
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