Islamic, Persianate and Indigenous Traditions in Medieval India: An Institutional Translation and Negotiated Political Authority

Abstract

The article revisits Muslim rule in India by moving beyond the conventional dichotomy of imperial domination and cultural synthesis. It is argued that political authority was sustained through ‘institutional translation’: the selective incorporation of local personnel, administrative practices, languages, religious networks and cultural expertise into emerging structures of sovereignty. In this respect, translation is more than a mere language transfer. It traces the transformations of political and religious claims, from the shrine to the town, the court, and the regional community. This article identifies and analyses four interrelated integration mechanisms: administrative brokering, religious mediation, linguistic and intellectual exchange, and cultural patronage. It draws on the writings of Sibte Hassan, Kazi Javed and Mubarak Ali, and scholarship on Arab Sindh, Ismaili Multan, the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal India. These mechanisms encouraged cooperation, not equality per se. Other groups were taxed, excluded or coerced but local elites could potentially be co-opted. Cultural exchange could occur within an unequal distribution of resources. The article therefore considers interaction as a practical and contested form of governance, rather than as an indication of harmony or domination. It concludes with a research agenda on regional comparison, intermediary actors and institutional interfaces.

Keywords: Muslim rule in India; negotiated sovereignty; institutional translation; local intermediaries; religious networks; Persianate governance; Arab Sindh; Delhi Sultanate; Mughal India; political culture

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23841371