Dear Colleagues,
The Kakenhi Grant-in-Aid “‘Sunnis’ and ‘Shiʿis’: Historical Inquiries into Confessional Identities and Mutual Perceptions” and the Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia (IASA), University of Tokyo, together with the Japan Office of the Association for the Study of Persianate Societies (ASPS), are pleased to co-host a lecture by Dr Shamim Homayun (IASA, from November 2025) entitled “Legends of ‘Ali b. Abi Talib and Sacred Geographies in Central Asia.” The lecture is open to the public. Please note that advance registration is required. The co-organizers look forward to your participation.
Lecture Title:
Legends of ‘Ali b. Abi Talib and Sacred Geographies in Central Asia
Speaker:
Dr Shamim Homayun (JSPS Postdoctoral Fellow, IASA, from November 2025)
Chair:
Professor Kazuo Morimoto (IASA / Japan Office, ASPS)
Date and Time:
19 October (Sun) 2025, at 16:00-17:30 (JST)
Venue:
Online via Zoom
Abstract:
Sacred places associated with ‘Ali b. Abi Talib (d. 661) exist widely across Afghanistan and Central Asia. In this lecture, I trace these place narratives to legends that flourished in the Turko-Persianate world after the Mongol conquests. These popular legends, which portray ‘Ali as a warrior hero, appear to have become localized to explain the arrival of Islam and the formation of unusual geographies such as the Band-i Amir lakes in Bamiyan. But ‘Ali is not merely a culture hero who intervenes in local history and geography. He is the object of intense devotion via his epithets Shah-i Mardan (“the king of men”) and Mushkil-gusha (“the problem solver”). Why did legendary accounts of ‘Ali flourish so widely across the region? Did a process of syncretization occur in which ‘Ali was integrated into pre-Mongol cosmological landscapes? And how do these legends cohere with more “orthodox” representations of the historical ‘Ali?
Speaker’s Bio:
Shamim Homayun obtained his PhD in anthropology from the Australian National University, focusing on senses of place and landscape in Afghanistan. He was awarded a JSPS postdoctoral fellowship in August 2025, and will join the Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia at the University of Tokyo in November. His postdoctoral project will examine the late medieval and early modern history of Bamiyan. His publications include “Unearthing Rabiʿa’s Grave: Placemaking, Shrines, and Contested Traditions in Balkh, Afghanistan,” which appeared in the International Journal of Middle East Studies in 2023, and “Deceptive Sanctity: Fake Shrines, Geopolitical Schemes, and Cunning Intelligence in Afghanistan,” forthcoming in the journal Cultural Anthropology.
How to Participate:
Pre-registration is required for participation.
Please fill in the form at https://forms.gle/sHzKwVhLuswCWLrLA by 17 October, at 24:00 JST. Registrants will receive a Zoom link by the noon of the following day.
Contact Person: Naoki Nishiyama (nishiyama@ioc.u-tokyo.ac.jp)
This event is co-organized by the Kakenhi Grant-in-Aid “‘Sunnis’ and ‘Shiʿis’: Historical Inquiries into Confessional Identities and Mutual Perceptions” (23K25371), the Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, University of Tokyo (organized by the Regular Research Project W-1: Approaches to the “Persianate World” as a Tobunken Seminar), and the Japan Office of the Association for the Study of Persianate Societies (as a Gilas Lecture).