"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards."
- Søren Kierkegaard
- Søren Kierkegaard
The Fourth Khoja Studies Conference invites paper proposals for a workshop on “Syncretic Traditions of South Asia: Texts, Thoughts, and Interpretations,” to be held at the University of Exeter on 9–10 July 2025.
Religious and cultural interactions have long shaped South Asia and the Indian Ocean world, giving rise to syncretic traditions that challenge conventional categorisations of religious identity. Communities— including Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Muslim, Sikh, and Parsi groups—have historically engaged in shared spaces of devotion, exchange, and textual production. This workshop aims to examine the texts that document, embody, and disseminate these interactions.
The conference focuses on the role of texts in articulating and sustaining syncretic traditions across the Indian subcontinent. Texts—ranging from devotional poetry, liturgical hymns, and theological treatises to folk narratives—have served as instruments of ritual, carriers of theological and devotional ideas, and reflections of evolving belief systems. We seek to explore how these texts facilitated interreligious engagements, shaped communal identities, and adapted to shifting socio-political landscapes. We welcome contributions that investigate the literary, ritualistic, and ideological dimensions of texts within syncretic traditions, particularly those that traverse Islam and broader Indic religious traditions.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
We are considering publishing an anthology of texts presented at the conference. This volume will showcase significant works that embody syncretic traditions, accompanied by scholarly analysis. Each chapter will typically include an introduction to the text and its author, contextualisation within its tradition, an analytical discussion of its ideas and thought, and translations of selected passages.
As the publication of the conference proceedings is being planned, scholars are encouraged to submit an abstract if they are able to commit to the project. Abstracts should not exceed 250 words and must be accompanied by a short bio of 100 words. Submissions should be emailed to Kumail Rajani at [email protected] by 21 April 2025. Authors of accepted abstracts will be invited to submit working drafts (4000 words) of their chapters by early July 2025. Travel, accommodation and meals will be covered by the conference for all the contributors.
