Intimacies of Global Sufism

“Intimacies of Global Sufism is the first scholarly study dedicated to the well-known Ne’matullahi Sufi community whose extraordinary fortunes are traced here through the intersections between their spiritual and material cultures, and through the making and patronage of art, architecture and spaces of ritual retreat and collective practice. This beautifully produced book offers an overlooked but compelling example of transregional conditions through which art and architectural history should be studied. Through the analytical lens of ‘intimacy’, Firouzeh captures the nuanced relationship between perceived polarities: between sensorial richness and asceticism; between the global and the local. Profoundly erudite with a remarkably lucid prose and splendidly colourful illustrations, this book studies Sufi material culture through a combination of sensorial and transregional methods of art history, and makes major and original contributions to the field at large.“—Sussan Babaie, author of Isfahan and Its Palaces“Firouzeh, perhaps more effectively than any other scholar to date, has brought a divergent body of materials from multiple sites in Iran and India into rich, fluid dialogue… . Few scholars have managed to access all of these sites in India and Iran, let alone with the depth and critical eye that Firouzeh has brought to that endeavor.“—Yael Rice, author of The Brush of Insight: Artists and Agency at the Mughal Court“Employing architecture, epigraphy, hagiography, and art history, Peyvand Firouzeh’s sumptuously illustrated study explores the many ways that a Sufi tradition based in 15th c. southern Iran became truly transregional, connecting Iran with India in the Timurid and Safavid/Mughal periods.“—Richard M. Eaton, author of India in the Persianate Age: 1000–1765“In this book, Peyvand Firouzeh brilliantly shows how close readings of individual Nematullahi Sufi shrines and artworks can enrich broader conversations happening in the field of art history.“—Deborah Hutton, author of The History of Asian Art: A Global View“Sufi ties between India and Iran have been more often assumed than investigated. In this fascinating study, Peyvand Firouzeh weaves together inscriptions, textiles, ritual objects, and architecture into cycles of gift-giving and patronage that bridged the Indian Ocean.“—Nile Green, author of Sufism: A Global History

Peyvand Firouzeh is Lecturer in Islamic Art at the University of Sydney, Australia.