Tobunken-Seminar \”Visions of Muhammad in Bukhara and Tabaristan: Dreams and Their Uses in Persian Local Histories\”

Speaker: Mimi Hanaoka (Assistant Professor, Department of Religious Studies, University of Richmond; http://religiousstudies.richmond.edu/faculty/mhanaoka/)

Title: Visions of Muhammad in Bukhara and Tabaristan: Dreams and Their Uses in Persian Local Histories

Abstract:
Persian authors framed claims to the religio-political authority and legitimacy of their cities through dream narratives in local histories written between the 10th and 13th centuries. Persians did not always fit neatly into Arab genealogical claims to legitimacy, and dreams form alternate avenues that sanctify and legitimate specific Persian cities and individuals. Dream narratives embedded in Tārīkh-i Bukhārā and Tārīkh-i Ṭabaristān bring the prestige of religious authority to their city and province and to specific persons. Dream narratives are windows into understanding the broader social, political, and religious contexts of local histories and the anxieties and priorities of the authors.

Date: December 27, 2012 (Thu), 16:30-18:00

Venue: 3rd floor, Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia (Tobunken), University of Tokyo

Contact Person: Kazuo Morimoto (morikazu[at]ioc.u-tokyo.ac.jp)

Organizer: Kazuo Morimoto

* The seminar is open to public: no registration required.