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Browsing Book chapters by Author "Faucher, Carole"

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    Religious Identity in the Pamirs: The Institutionalization of the Ismāʿīlī Daʿwa in Shughnān
    (in: Identity, History and Trans-Nationality in Central Asia: The Mountain Communities of Pamir. Routledge, 2018) Beben, Daniel; Dagiev, Dagikhudo; Faucher, Carole
    One of the most conspicuous aspects of the culture and identity of the Pamiri peoples today is the prevalence of Jsma'TIT ShT'ism within the region. Yet the prominence of Jsma'Tlism in the Pamirs in the present day is matched equally by the uncertainty that surrounds the question of the date and circumstances of its introduction. While both scholarship and the oral traditions of the Parniri peoples ascribe a foundational role in the introduction and spread of lsma'Tlism in the region to the 11 th-century lsma'TIT poet, hilosopher and missionary (dii 'l) Na$ir-i Khusraw, the subsequent history of the Isma'TITmission or da 'wa in the region in the centuries foJlowing his death remains almost entirely obscure (Beben, 2017a). Alongside Na~ir-i Khusraw, the lsma'TITs of Shughnan also maintain oral traditions concerning the role of a legendary figure by the name of Shah Khamush, who, along with several companions, is likewise credited with a later role in the establishment or re-establishment of the Isma'TIT da 'wa in the region (Gross, 2013). By contrast with Na$ir-i Khusraw, whose historical role as a representative of the lsma'TIT da 'iva is well -attested, the figure of Shah Khamush and his historical identify is far more ambiguous. A closer examination of the evidence reveals a much more diverse and equivocal array of narratives connected with this individual that circulated in the past, in comparison with those that are reflected in public memory today.