Devin Deweese
Encyclopedia
Devin Deweese is a professor of Islamic
and Central Eurasian Studies
at Indiana University, Bloomington
.
He received his PhD in 1985 at Indiana University, and since then has continued to do research on Central Asian Islam
, particularly Sufism
and its political and social dimensions. He has published major studies of Central Asian religion and history using Persian
, Arabic
and Turkic manuscript sources he has painstakingly accumulated from collections all over the world. Until 2008, he served as the Director of the Denis Sinor Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies at Indiana University. He received a Guggenheim Fellowship
in 2003 and was named a Carnegie Scholar in 2006.
His work is widely acknowledged for its importance in Central Asian studies because his precise analysis of manuscript sources helps understand the motivations of the authors of these texts, and places them within the cultural contexts of the manuscript traditions. He is one of a small group of scholars (including Jürgen Paul, Adeeb Khalid, Robert D. McChesney
, Jo-Ann Gross, Ashirbek Muminov, Maria Subtelny, Beatrice Forbes Manz, and Stéphane A. Dudoignon who have worked seriously to debunk prevailing essentialist and ahistorical stereotypes about Sufism, Islam, and politics in the history of Central Asia. Like a very few Central Asian scholars before them, these experts work with equal facility on Arabic, Persian and Turkic, but have also developed working methods that understand concepts and practices of Islam and Islamic communities on the believers' own terms, rather than through biased and invariant concepts.
His most well-known work is Islamization and Native Religion in the Golden Horde: Baba Tükles and Conversion to Islam in Historical and Epic Tradition, published in 1994. Called "a truly groundbreaking work" and "an epic book" that has "opened up whole new vistas onto the religious landscape of the Mongol empire
and post-Chingizid Inner Asia", the book examines a narrative of Uzbeg Khan's
conversion to Islam in the 14th century. It also examines pre-Islamic religious life in Inner Asia, the use of narratives as foundational myths, and the role of Islam and conversion in identity formation. The work won the Albert Hourani Book Award
in 1995, and has received praise from many scholars.
Islamic studies
In a Muslim context, Islamic studies can be an umbrella term for all virtually all of academia, both originally researched and as defined by the Islamization of knowledge...
and Central Eurasian Studies
Central Asian studies
Central Asian studies is the discipline of studying the culture, history, and languages of Central Asia. The roots of Central Asian studies as a social science discipline goes to 19th century Anglo-Russian Great Game...
at Indiana University, Bloomington
Bloomington, Indiana
Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County in the southern region of the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 80,405 at the 2010 census....
.
He received his PhD in 1985 at Indiana University, and since then has continued to do research on Central Asian Islam
Islam in Central Asia
Islam is the most widely practiced religion in Central Asia. The Hanafi school of thought is the most popular.-Medieval:The Battle of Talas in 751 between the Abbasid Caliphate and the Chinese Tang Dynasty for control of Central Asia was the turning point initiating mass conversion into Islam in...
, particularly Sufism
Sufism
Sufism or ' is defined by its adherents as the inner, mystical dimension of Islam. A practitioner of this tradition is generally known as a '...
and its political and social dimensions. He has published major studies of Central Asian religion and history using Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
, Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
and Turkic manuscript sources he has painstakingly accumulated from collections all over the world. Until 2008, he served as the Director of the Denis Sinor Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies at Indiana University. He received a Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
in 2003 and was named a Carnegie Scholar in 2006.
His work is widely acknowledged for its importance in Central Asian studies because his precise analysis of manuscript sources helps understand the motivations of the authors of these texts, and places them within the cultural contexts of the manuscript traditions. He is one of a small group of scholars (including Jürgen Paul, Adeeb Khalid, Robert D. McChesney
Robert D. McChesney
Robert Duncan McChesney is a scholar of the social and cultural history of Central Asia, Iran, and Afghanistan.-Academic career:Robert D...
, Jo-Ann Gross, Ashirbek Muminov, Maria Subtelny, Beatrice Forbes Manz, and Stéphane A. Dudoignon who have worked seriously to debunk prevailing essentialist and ahistorical stereotypes about Sufism, Islam, and politics in the history of Central Asia. Like a very few Central Asian scholars before them, these experts work with equal facility on Arabic, Persian and Turkic, but have also developed working methods that understand concepts and practices of Islam and Islamic communities on the believers' own terms, rather than through biased and invariant concepts.
His most well-known work is Islamization and Native Religion in the Golden Horde: Baba Tükles and Conversion to Islam in Historical and Epic Tradition, published in 1994. Called "a truly groundbreaking work" and "an epic book" that has "opened up whole new vistas onto the religious landscape of the Mongol empire
Mongol Empire
The Mongol Empire , initially named as Greater Mongol State was a great empire during the 13th and 14th centuries...
and post-Chingizid Inner Asia", the book examines a narrative of Uzbeg Khan's
Uzbeg Khan
Sultan Mohammed Öz-Beg, better known as Uzbeg or Ozbeg , was the longest-reigning khan of the Golden Horde, under whose rule the state reached its zenith...
conversion to Islam in the 14th century. It also examines pre-Islamic religious life in Inner Asia, the use of narratives as foundational myths, and the role of Islam and conversion in identity formation. The work won the Albert Hourani Book Award
Albert Hourani Book Award
The Albert Hourani Book Award is a non-fiction book award given by the Middle East Studies Association to the year's most notable book in Middle Eastern and Islamic studies. On occasion the award has been shared by two authors. Named after the scholar Albert Hourani, the award was first given in...
in 1995, and has received praise from many scholars.
Selected works
- Islamization and Native Religion in the Golden Horde: Baba Tükles and Conversion to Islam in Historical and Epic Tradition. Pennsylvania State University Press, 1994 Series "Hermeneutics: Studies in the History of Religions", 638 pp.
- "Khojagani Origins and the Critique of Sufism: The Rehtoric of Communal Uniqueness in the Manaqib of Khoja 'Ali 'Azizan Ramitani," in Islamic Mysticism Contested: Thirteen Centuries of Controversies and Polemics, ed. Frederick De Jong and Bernd Radtke (Leiden: E.J. Brell, 1999) 492-519.
- "The Masha'ikh-i Turk and the Khojagan: Rethinking the Links between the Yasavi and Naqshbandi Sufi Traditions," Journal of Islamic Studies (Oxford), 7/2 (July 1996), 180-207.
- "The Tadhkira-i Bughra-khan and the "Uvaysi" Sufis of Central Asia: Notes in Review of Imaginary Muslims," Central Asiatic Journal, 40 (1996), 87-127.
- "The Descendants of Sayyid Ata and the Rank of Naqib in Central Asia," Journal of the American Oriental Society, 115 (1995), 612-634.
- "Sacred Places and 'Public' Narratives: The Shrine of Ahmad Yasavi in Hagiographical Traditions of the Yasavi Sufi Order, 16th-17th Centuries," Muslim World, Fall 2000, Vol. 90, Issue 3/4
- "Baba Kamal and Jandi and the Kubravi Tradition among the Turks of Central Asia," Der Islam, 71 (1994), 58-94.
External links
- Devin DeWeese - Department of Central Eurasian Studies, Indiana University