Hindu-Muslim-Jewish Origin Legends in Circulation between the Malabar Coast and the Mediterranean, 1400s-1800s

传说中的印度教国王切拉曼·佩鲁马尔的名字早在14世纪就被记载在不同的亚洲和欧洲语言的文本中。这位传奇的国王与马拉巴王国(印度西南部)在皈依伊斯兰教并前往麦加之前划分为12个区有关。该传说的多重讲述及其对不同宗教背景的“转化”为研究区域和社区边界内外的宗教划界过程和模式提供了丰富的经验数据。马拉巴海岸作为印度、阿拉伯世界和欧洲之间海上网络的中心节点，在早期现代时期之前和整个时期都突显了海洋和宗教网络相互交织的性质。我们的项目是第一次对起源传说的流传及其各自的文本传统所反映的宗教划界模式进行系统的分析和历史化。该项目考察了七个来源，这些来源对阿拉伯语、马拉雅拉姆语和希伯来语中的切尔马曼Perumal传说有不同的说法。这七个故事中有四个是单独研究的，两个是学者们知道但没有研究的，一个是本项目中第一次研究的。研究这些故事的方法是创新的，将文本的文学和语言特征记录下来，而不仅仅是它们的内容，同时在相互对话中阅读它们。这种互文对话支撑了社区内部和社区间的哪些关系模式？语言和文学数据如何解释社区内和政治实体之间以及社区和政治实体之间对宗教划界的更广泛关切，无论是包容性还是排他性，凝聚力还是分裂性？解决这些问题对我们对所谓的“宗教认同”的认识有着深远的影响，挑战了宗教是稳定实体的观念。文本传统，如正在调查的传统，更强调了社区感知自己和互动方式的多样性和流动性。到项目结束时，将完成三种语言的七种说法的第一个学术版和英文翻译，并将进行批判性分析。此外，还将开发一种接触语言的语言特征类型学，其特点是在描述性语法方面是第一次。每个文本中提到的海洋节点和联系的可视化数字地图将显示马拉巴海岸和地中海之间海上路线沿线的宗教网络之间的交集和分歧。这些文本传统、它们的传播和它们的演变是分析早期现代西印度洋宗教网络历史的关键。

The name of the legendary Hindu king Cheraman Perumal is documented in texts in different Asian and European languages as far back as the 1400s. This legendary king is associated with the division of the kingdom of Malabar (southwestern India) into twelve districts before converting to Islam and traveling to Mecca. The multiple tellings of the legend and its "conversion" into different religious settings provides rich empirical data for investigating processes and patterns of religious demarcation within and beyond regional and communal boundaries. The centrality of the Malabar Coast as a node in maritime networks between India, the Arab World, and Europe before and throughout the early modern period highlights the intertwined nature of maritime and religious networks. Our project is a first attempt to systematically analyse and historicise patterns of religious demarcation as reflected in the circulation of origin legends and their respective textual traditions.The project examines seven sources with different tellings of the Cheraman Perumal legend in Arabic, Malayalam, and Hebrew. Four of the seven tellings have been studied separately, two are known to scholars but not studied, and one will be studied for the first time in this project. The approach to the study of these tellings is innovative in historicising the literary and linguistic features of the texts rather than their contents alone, while reading them in conversation with each other. What patterns of inter- and intra-communal relations are underpinned by this intertextual conversation? How do linguistic and literary data account for broader concerns of religious demarcation, be it inclusive or exclusive, cohesive or divisive, within communities and political entities and between them? Addressing these questions has far-reaching implications for our knowledge on so-called 'religious identities', challenging the notion of religions as stable entities. Textual traditions such as the one under investigation rather underscore the multiplicity and fluidity in the ways communities perceive themselves and interact. By the end of the project, the first scholarly editions of the seven tellings in the three languages with English translations will be completed along with a critical analysis. Additionally, a typology of the linguistic features of languages-in-contact will be developed, featuring the first of its kind in terms of descriptive grammars. A digital map visualising the maritime nodes and links referred to in each text will demonstrate the intersections and divergences between religious networks along the maritime routes between the Malabar Coast and the Mediterranean. These textual traditions, their circulation, and their evolution are key to analysing the history of religious networks in the early modern Western Indian Ocean.