background reading on pakistani sufi anthropology

muduri · 11-22-2024, 12:54 PM

I just finished Gellner's Muslim Society and Crapanzano's The Ḥamadsha—admittedly somewhat obscure books but seeming like perfect inspiration for a specific flavor of GURPS adventures, locations and characters. If you need a character who derives spiritual strength from a long-dead saint but goes into unpredictable trance if his djinn's song is played or color is shown, or a shrine whose sacredness allows warring nomadic bands to meet and trade on neutral ground, look no further.

The thing is, the focus for both of these is Morocco. This makes me extremely curious about the social structure and spirit beliefs of folk Islam on the east end of the Muslim world, in Pakistan (or, before 1947, Sind / Punjab / Baluchistan). Surprisingly, Google, AI searches, bibliographies and even Indian history professors have had scanty suggestions. Even Indonesian supernaturalism in society seems better documented, with books like Religion of Java and Trance in Bali.

It's anthropology that I'm the most interested in, probably from the 1930s when interpretation got sharper to about 1980 when (legitimately) the interest turned from village life itself to the state, colonialism and identity. But a social history would work also. Since I can't deny my ultimate interest is in roleplaying these scenarios, and since you the forum have provided insight on everything from longhouse design to fox spirit motivations, I'm turning to you for advice! Any thoughts on books or articles to read, reasons the literature's hard to find, or the social and supernatural structures themselves? Many thanks!

Pursuivant · 11-23-2024, 04:47 AM

I did a search for "Pakistani Folklore" that yielded a Wikipedia article with a promising looking starting bibliography.

Most of the folklore in the region was present long before the partition and independence and it appears that it's been written down. Google books and archive.org might also have links to old, out-of-copyright material written during the Raj.

11-22-2024, 12:54 PM	#1
muduri Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Oakland, California	background reading on pakistani sufi anthropology I just finished Gellner's Muslim Society and Crapanzano's The Ḥamadsha—admittedly somewhat obscure books but seeming like perfect inspiration for a specific flavor of GURPS adventures, locations and characters. If you need a character who derives spiritual strength from a long-dead saint but goes into unpredictable trance if his djinn's song is played or color is shown, or a shrine whose sacredness allows warring nomadic bands to meet and trade on neutral ground, look no further. The thing is, the focus for both of these is Morocco. This makes me extremely curious about the social structure and spirit beliefs of folk Islam on the east end of the Muslim world, in Pakistan (or, before 1947, Sind / Punjab / Baluchistan). Surprisingly, Google, AI searches, bibliographies and even Indian history professors have had scanty suggestions. Even Indonesian supernaturalism in society seems better documented, with books like Religion of Java and Trance in Bali. It's anthropology that I'm the most interested in, probably from the 1930s when interpretation got sharper to about 1980 when (legitimately) the interest turned from village life itself to the state, colonialism and identity. But a social history would work also. Since I can't deny my ultimate interest is in roleplaying these scenarios, and since you the forum have provided insight on everything from longhouse design to fox spirit motivations, I'm turning to you for advice! Any thoughts on books or articles to read, reasons the literature's hard to find, or the social and supernatural structures themselves? Many thanks! Last edited by muduri; 11-22-2024 at 01:52 PM.

11-23-2024, 04:47 AM	#2
Pursuivant Join Date: Apr 2005	Re: background reading on pakistani sufi anthropology I did a search for "Pakistani Folklore" that yielded a Wikipedia article with a promising looking starting bibliography. Most of the folklore in the region was present long before the partition and independence and it appears that it's been written down. Google books and archive.org might also have links to old, out-of-copyright material written during the Raj.