Sufi Soul
December 9, 2017 10:25 AM Subscribe
William Dalrymple is a Scottish historian and writer who lives in India. He has featured now and again on the blue (see below the fold). A good place to start is the documentary he made about Sufi music: Sufi Soul
Past contributions of note include:
* Why the Taliban is winning in Afghanistan (New Statesman article from 2010, MF)
* How to look at the art of the British Empire (Guardian article, MF)
* Serving the Goddess: The dangerous life of a sacred sex worker (New Yorker article, MF)
* The Last Mughal A touching lecture on the catastrophic clash between the East India Company and the Mughal emperor (Vimeo)
YouTube has plenty more on offer. His own website collects the many articles.
Past contributions of note include:
* Why the Taliban is winning in Afghanistan (New Statesman article from 2010, MF)
* How to look at the art of the British Empire (Guardian article, MF)
* Serving the Goddess: The dangerous life of a sacred sex worker (New Yorker article, MF)
* The Last Mughal A touching lecture on the catastrophic clash between the East India Company and the Mughal emperor (Vimeo)
YouTube has plenty more on offer. His own website collects the many articles.
I have his books on my eReader and I just never get around to it. I am from India and yet I have large gaps of knowledge with its long and fascinating history. This is just a reminder that I need to just pick it up and start reading on the side, a chapter here and there. Great post.
posted by Fizz at 1:18 PM on December 9, 2017
posted by Fizz at 1:18 PM on December 9, 2017
Seven years later it seems he greatly overplayed the value of lessons from British Imperial history so far as Afghanistan is concerned.
posted by Segundus at 11:15 PM on December 9, 2017
posted by Segundus at 11:15 PM on December 9, 2017
I read the same books Nelson mentions, and they're both great. Thanks for the pointers to more Dalrymple!
posted by zompist at 7:18 AM on December 10, 2017
posted by zompist at 7:18 AM on December 10, 2017
There's been no discussion here, which is sad, but perhaps predictable given how demanding the links are to absorb. So let me ask the question...
What do Indians think of Dalrymple? I feel guilty liking his stuff since he's an outsider from Great Britain. He's 100% self aware about that and seems respectful both of actual Indians and his role as an outsider, but he's still an outsider. And India has had a very long and frustrating history with British outsiders telling them what India is. So how about Dalrymple?
posted by Nelson at 8:23 AM on December 10, 2017 [3 favorites]
What do Indians think of Dalrymple? I feel guilty liking his stuff since he's an outsider from Great Britain. He's 100% self aware about that and seems respectful both of actual Indians and his role as an outsider, but he's still an outsider. And India has had a very long and frustrating history with British outsiders telling them what India is. So how about Dalrymple?
posted by Nelson at 8:23 AM on December 10, 2017 [3 favorites]
Dalrymple: Sufis - The Muslims in the Middle and Gateway of the Heart, Sufism is Islam's most tolerant face - but it is under attack.
To my way of thinking no discussion of Sufism is complete without reference to the poetry of Rumi
posted by adamvasco at 3:44 PM on December 10, 2017
To my way of thinking no discussion of Sufism is complete without reference to the poetry of Rumi
posted by adamvasco at 3:44 PM on December 10, 2017
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posted by Nelson at 11:29 AM on December 9, 2017 [2 favorites]