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Muslim Societies in South Asia Seminar

Pasha M. Khan, Professor, Urdu Language and Culture, McGill University
Chair: Sunil Sharma, Modern Languages and Comparative Literature, Associate Professor of Persianate and Comparative Literature, Convener of Persian and Hindi-Urdu, Boston University

Cosponsored with the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Islamic Studies Program

This talk will consider the career of Mir Baqir ‘Ali Dastan-go (1850-1928), an Urdu storyteller of Delhi who performed the Story of Amir Hamzah for royal and middle-class patrons, and before the public, in an age of changing attitudes toward the “fantastic” romance (qissah/dastan) genre. By examining Baqir ‘Ali, his biographers, and other commentators on the genre in South Asia, it will analyze the supposed decline of the romance and of storytelling in colonial India from the 19th century onward.