A Sufi Mathnavī from the Golden Horde: The Case Study of the Qalandar-nāma (Ms. Tashkent 11668)
Online ZOOM lecture by Andrea Amato | Fondazione per le scienze religiose Giovanni XXIII (Fscire)
Abstract The conversion of prominent figures in the Golden Horde, such as Barkā, Ūzbek Khān, and Jānībek Khān, to Islam marked a pivotal turning point in the Islamization of Western Eurasia. Despite the significance of this event, primary religious literary production directly from the Golden Horde remains surprisingly limited. A notable exception is the Qalandarnāma, a mystical Persian work dating from 1320 to 1360, preserved in only one copy at the Al-Biruni Institute in Tashkent (Ms. Tashkent 11668). Attributed to Abū Bakr Qalandar Rūmī, originally from Aksaray in Anatolia, the Qalandarnāma provides invaluable insight into the circulation of Sufi ideas and practices within the Golden Horde during the first half of the fourteenth century.
Composed in the mathnawī genre, the work reveals a profound influence of the Anatolian mystical tradition. As a primary source, the Qalandarnāma offers unparalleled access to the narratives and mystical conceptions that circulated among certain Sufi ṭarīqas in the Golden Horde, including that of Qalandar Rūmī himself. By analyzing this text, it is possible to illuminate the cultural and religious contexts in which Sufism developed in this region, highlighting its connections to the more established mystical traditions of Anatolia and the Islamic world, such as the Akhīs, the Qalandars of Jamāl al-Dīn al-Sāwī and Quṭb al-Dīn Ḥaydarī, and the Mawlawīs of Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī and Sulṭān Walad.
This presentation will investigate the extent to which these influences are discernible within the work and how the Qalandarnāma contributes to the diffusion and adaptation of Sufi ideas in the specific context of the Golden Horde. Through an examination of key chapters from this monumental work – consisting of 5 books with 852 chapters in a 400-folio codex – we aim to contextualize the Qalandarnāma within the vibrant historical, religious, and social milieu of the Golden Horde, which was significantly influenced by a dense network of cultural exchanges with the broader Islamic world.
Please register with:
Poster (PDF)
This is the 6th lecture in the webinar series for the academic year 2024-25 - organised by the NoMansLand research project (FWF Y 1232) dedicated to the study of Islamic manuscripts in pre-modern Iran and Central Asia.
Convenor: Project team "Nomads' Manuscripts Landscape"
Visit our YouTube channel to watch recordings of past lectures:
https://www.youtube.com/@IFI_Media
For a list of upcoming lectures in the webinar series, please see Webinar series "Pre-modern Islamic manuscripts"