Religion and Colonialism

To Get Rich for Our Homeland: The Company of Scotland and the Colonization of the Isthmus of Darien

by Dennis Hidalgo

The Question of the Separate Identities of Buddhism and Shinto in Japan

by Nolan Bensen

This is pretty straightforward. It rehashes an argument out of Buddhology in the 80's and early 90's, over whether... more This is pretty straightforward. It rehashes an argument out of Buddhology in the 80's and early 90's, over whether it's right to faithfully accept the word of the Meiji state of over a century ago by parsing Buddism and Shinto as they did, and considering the latter to be a genuinely "Japanese" belief system. It also addresses the question of to what extent European concepts of distinct and implicitly competitive religions can be exported to premodern Japan.

Athens and Lemnos (Hdt. 6.136-140)

by Aneurin Ellis-Evans

Text of an oral paper given at the Herodotus VI seminar at Oxford (1/12/11).

In this paper I look at the Lemnian digression at the end of Herodotus Book 6 and pursue two themes - what the... more In this paper I look at the Lemnian digression at the end of Herodotus Book 6 and pursue two themes - what the digression can tell us about what Herodotus thinks of Athenian imperialism, and what the Athenian logos which constitutes the heart of the digression tells us about Athenian attitudes to Lemnos in the fifth century. The sections relating to the latter theme are particularly concerned with ideas that I have been pursuing in the very different context of Mytilene and its peraia in my doctoral thesis. All criticism/thoughts very welcome.

Place Et Intérêt De La Photographie Dans Une étude Anthropologique Sur L'Islam Au Sénégal

by Pezeril Charlotte

The Indian Dimension of An-Na'Im's Islam and the Secular State

by Prakash Shah

This paper focuses on the chapter on India in An-Na'im's Islam and the secular state. It first sets out the general... more This paper focuses on the chapter on India in An-Na'im's Islam and the secular state. It first sets out the general context of An-Na'im's writing and his specific commitment in Islam and the secular state to distinguish between the secularity of the state, on the one hand, and the basically private realm of shari'a. This forms the basis of An-Na'im's contention that shari'a and state law should be kept separate and that the state is not competent to enforce shari'a. The paper then goes on to examine the basis for secularism in India's experience of British colonialism, and locates its roots in India's encounter with British Protestantism. The discourse of secularism has survived in post-colonial India and become a constitutional commitment, although its theological underpinnings continue to exacerbate ethno-religious conflict. The answer to such conflict must lie outside the domain of the opposition between religion and secularism therefore, and potentially in India's long consciousness of pluralism, including legal pluralism. As an example of the continued vitality of such pluralism the issue of courts and judging in the Muslim law context is taken up, with a focus on some controversial litigation in matters of Muslim personal law. These examples actualize the claim of the paper that An-Na'im's thesis in Islam and secular state may actually not be workable in concrete contexts outside of the theological premises which underpin it.

Achaemenids in Labraunda. A case of imperial presence in a rural sanctuary in Karia

by Anne Marie Carstens

in L. Karlsson & S. Carlsson (eds.), Labraunda and Karia. Proceedings of teh International Symposion Commemorating Sixty Years of Swedish Archaeological Work in Labraunda. Boreas Uppsala University Studies in Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Civilisations 32, 2011, 121-131.

The Karians were organized in political federations. Smaller towns met in fellowshps where common issues were handled... more The Karians were organized in political federations. Smaller towns met in fellowshps where common issues were handled in federal assemblies, in koina. We know that the oldest and most important of the Karian koina, "The Karians", met in the Zeus Karios sanctuary in Mylasa, and at some occasions also in the Zeus Labraundos sanctuary.
The relationship between these fellow sanctuaries and the political federation of "The Karians" obviously made them political as well as religious meeting places. The Hekatomnids took advantage of this traditional role of the Karian sanctuary at Labraunda and turned it into the key monument of the Hekatomnid dynasty.
The andrones at Labraunda were used for ritual banquets and they were evidently meant to attract a great deal of attention. It is assumed that the activities taking place in the andrones stood at the core of the life of the sanctuary. I suggest that a vital part of court life, the audiences, were transferred to Labraunda, where the multifaceted capacities of the Hekatomnid dynasts as high priests and kings on high, and satraps were omnipresent. One of the crucial components creating this image was the sphinxes crowning Andron B. 

Under the Banner of Islam: Mobilising Religious Identities In West Java

by Lynda Newland

Abstracts for Journal of Early American History, vol. 1, no. 1 (2011)

by L.H. Roper

The abstracts and contents of the first issue of The Journal of Early American History published by Brill (Leiden).  For more information, please visit http://www.brill.nl/journal-early-american-history.

Caravan of Recognition: Israel-Palestine Stalemate

by Kasım İLERİ

As an agent of a prosperous colonial power, that is British Empire, Israelis came to the Middle East firstly to Uganda... more As an agent of a prosperous colonial power, that is British Empire, Israelis came to the Middle East firstly to Uganda in accordance with the Belfour Declaration and then to Palestine where they defined as the lands bestowed to them two millennia ago by God in the Bible. The US and all other European powers remained silent to this settlement and in 1948 the Israel State was recognized internationally which was also the beginning of the conflict of sixty years under the surveillance of United Nations. Israel generated more and more power in order to have a prosperous life in her native lands where they left hundreds years ago according to Zionist mythology.

Long-Term Indigenous History on a Colonial Frontier: Archaeology at a 15th-17th Century Maya Village, Progresso Lagoon, Belize

by Maxine Oland

2009  Oland, Maxine H. Long-Term Indigenous History on a Colonial Frontier: Archaeology at a 15th-17th Century Maya Village, Progresso Lagoon, Belize. Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University.

This study examines Maya community change at the 15th-17th century occupation of Progresso Lagoon, in northern Belize.... more This study examines Maya community change at the 15th-17th century occupation of Progresso Lagoon, in northern Belize. This community was known historically for its role in the 16th century anti-Spanish resistance movement of the Colonial Period. Yet aside from the addition of some Spanish artifacts at the site, there are few material changes that occur with the imposition of colonial rule. This study found that the most substantial changes at the site came during the 15th century, one hundred years before the Spanish arrival, because of Indigenous political and economic changes throughout the Maya lowlands. Indigenous Maya changes during the 15th century indicate increasing political instability, a declining economy, and a decrease in activities that promoted intra- and inter-community integration. I argue that these changes significantly affected the Colonial Period relationships between the Maya residents of Progresso Lagoon, the Spanish authority, and other Maya groups.

This dissertation adopts a postcolonial perspective, in an attempt to illuminate the motivations and worldviews of the 15th-17th century residents at Progresso Lagoon. I argue that Colonial Period events must be viewed within a long-term historical perspective, particularly on colonial frontiers, where Indigenous people had less contact with Europeans. and the ability to interact with other semi-conquered or unconquered Indigenous groups. I suggest that we use the pre-colonial archaeological record to situate colonial events on a deep Indigenous timeline.

To establish a deep history of pre-colonial change at Progresso Lagoon, I call on historical political economy and household archaeology. This allows me to explore the intersection between structural changes and everyday life, in both the Pre-Colonial and Colonial Periods. Using household archaeological data, I detail political, economic and social changes of the 15th century, and reflect on how these changes would have informed the decisions and actions of Progresso Lagoon residents during the Colonial Period.

SILENCED MAJORITY

by Suresh Pillai

Written in 2005-06 . Edited four times.

It is an essay reflectinhg on how Indians in Guyana, even being a majority are silenced both by their own government... more It is an essay reflectinhg on how Indians in Guyana, even being a majority are silenced both by their own government and larger society

(2009) The Transformation of Religion in East and Southeast Asia—Paradigmatic Change in Regional Perspective

by Thomas David DuBois

This is the introductory chapter to the edited volume _Casting Faiths: Imperialism and the Transformation of Religion in East and Southeast Asia_ (Palgrave 2009). This essay explores some of the ideas that run through the ten content chapters:

Introduction: The Transformation of Religion in East and Southeast Asia—Paradigmatic Change in Regional Perspective: Thomas DuBois

Part I Orientalism and the Western Recasting of Buddhism
1. From Thathanadaw to Therav̄ada Buddhism: Constructions of Religion and Religious Identity in Nineteenth- and Early Twentieth-Century Myanmar: Alexey Kirichenko
2. Publishing Eastern Buddhism: D. T. Suzuki’s Journey to the West: Judith Snodgrass

Part II Mission and Meaning in Christianity
3. The Education of Annie Howe: Missionary Transformations in late Meiji Japan: Roberta Wollons
4. Idols and Art: Missionary Attitudes toward Indigenous Worship and the Material Culture on Nias, Indonesia, 1904–1920: Mai Lin Tjoa-Bonatz
5. The Virgin Heads South: Northern Catholic Refugees and their Clergy in South Vietnam, 1954–1964: Peter Hansen

Part III State and Religious Ethnicity
6. The Making of Islamic Law: Local Elites and Colonial Authority in British Malaya: Iza Hussin
7. Christian Conversion and Ethnic Identity in East Kalimantan: Jennifer Connolly
8. Recasting Religion and Ethnicity: Tourism and Socialism in Northern Sichuan, 1992–2005: Donald S. Sutton and Xiaofei Kang

Part IV New Media and New Religion
9. Japanese Print Media and Manchurian Cultural Community: Religion in the Pages of the Shengjing Times, 1906–1944: Thomas DuBois
10. Showing Faith: Exhibiting Omoto to Consumers in Early-Twentieth-Century Japan: Nancy Stalker

Afterword: Questioning Faiths? Casting Doubts: Oscar Salemink

(2005) Hegemony, Imperialism and the Construction of Religion in East and Southeast Asia

by Thomas David DuBois

History and Theory, 44, 4 "Theorizing Empire" theme issue

This article began as a think-piece on the topic of how religion as a concept and set of practices has transformed since the early 1800s.

It led to the edited volume_Casting Faiths: Imperialism and the Transformation of Religion in East and Southeast Asia_, which was published by Palgrave in 2009. The first chapter of that book also appears on this page.

(2008) Manchukuo’s filial sons: States, sects and the transformation of graveside piety

by Thomas David DuBois

East Asian History, 36

This article shows how the popular custom of keeping vigil at the grave of a deceased parent took root in Manchuria, and why different governments either supported, suppressed or ignored these "filial tombs."

For this research, I had to go tramping around rural Jilin at 30 degrees below zero, but I think the final product made all the freezing worthwhile!

NEW! (2011) Religion and the Making of Modern East Asia - book introduction

by Thomas David DuBois

Cambridge University Press, 2011


From the back cover: Religious ideas and actors have shaped Asian... more Cambridge University Press, 2011


From the back cover: Religious ideas and actors have shaped Asian cultural practices for millennia, and have played a decisive role in charting the course of its history. In this engaging and informative book, Thomas David DuBois sets out to explain how religion has influenced the political, social, and economic transformation of Asia from the fourteenth century to the present day. Crossing a broad terrain from Tokyo to Tibet, the book highlights long-term trends and key moments, such as the expulsion of Catholic missionaries from Japan, or the Taiping Rebellion in China, when religion dramatically transformed the political fate of a nation. Contemporary chapters reflect on the wartime deification of the Japanese emperor, Marxism as religion, the persecution of the Dalai Lama, and the fate of Asian religion in a globalized world.

For a more complete description of the book, see the Cambridge University Press site at

< http://www.cambridge.org/gb/knowledge/isbn/item6035468 >

The Reception of Medieval Europe in the Baltic Sea Region. Papers of the XIIth Visby Symposium held at Gotland University, Visby. Ed. Jörn Staecker. Acta Visbyensia XII. Visby 2009

by Jonathan Jarrett

In Fornvännen: Journal of Swedish Antiquarian Research 2011/1, pp. 65-67.

Dge lugs pa divided: some aspects of the political role of Tibetan Buddhism in the expansion of the Qing dynasty

by Nikolay Tsyrempilov

Pulished in Power, Politics, and the reinvention of tradition. Tibet in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Ed. by Bryan J. Cuevas and Kurtis R. Shaeffer. Brill, 2006. P. 47-64.

Alien Lamas: Russian policy towards foreign Buddhist clergy in the 18th — early 20th centuries.

by Nikolay Tsyrempilov

Published in 'Vestnik SPbGU. Ser. 13. 2010. Vyp. 4. P. 9-18.

This article analyzes the Russian policy towards foreign Buddhist clergy who penetrated into the
Russian Empire... more This article analyzes the Russian policy towards foreign Buddhist clergy who penetrated into the
Russian Empire from Mongolia and Tibet between the 18th and early 20th centuries. Based on archive
materials, the origins of this policy are identified. The attitude of the official Buddhist administration of
East Siberia led by Khambo Lama to the so-called alien Lamas is discussed.
Keywords: Tibet-Mongol Buddhism, Russian Empire, religious policy, Khambo Lama administration,
Buddhist clergy.

Lubsang-Samdan Tsydenov and his idea of Buddhist theocracy in Siberia

by Nikolay Tsyrempilov

Samdan Tsydenov and his Buddhist Theocratic Project in Siberia

by Nikolay Tsyrempilov

Published in Biographies of Eminent Mongol Buddhists. Ed. by Johan Elverskog. International Institute for Tibetan and Buddhist Studies, 2008. P. 117-137.

The period from the second half of the 19 th through the first third of the 20 th century marks the highest... more The period from the second half of the 19 th through the first third of the 20 th century marks the highest development of Buryat Buddhism. Once a derivative and integral part of the Tibetan-Mongol Buddhist world, by the end of the 19 th century Buddhism in Transbaikalia was subject to conditions that differed sharply from those in the remaining Tibetan Buddhist world. Accelerating modernization and the development of capitalist relations during this period of Russian history, resulted in a revision of the center's politics towards its national minorities, thereby exacerbating internal contradictions within the centralized Siberian Buddhist monastic institution.

In 1918, the former head of the Kudun datsan, Sandan Tsydenov, finding himself in the eastern regions of Transbaikalia after 20 years of solitary mediation, laid the foundation for one of the most surprising movements in the history of Tibeto-Mongolian Buddhism by founding an independent theocratic government. Despite the fact that this Buddhist theocracy was crushed, and its leader arrested by the authorities within a few months, followers of the Balagat (supporters of Tsydenov’s theocracy) movement opposed the Soviet government until the middle of the 1930's. In addition, indirectly, Sandan Tsydenov's ideas continue to influence members of the Russian intelligentsia to the present day: I am referring to followers of the Buryat Tibetologist, Bidya Dandaron, who founded a religio-philosophical school of neo-Buddhism, and considered himself Tsydenov's spiritual son and successor.

Despite the considerable and long-reaching consequences of Sandan Tsydenov's actions, scholars still know very little about the theocratic government founded in the Kudun valleys and even less about the religio-philosophical views of its founder. An extensive legendary tradition has developed around the figure of Tsydenov, further obscuring his true portrait. Until recently, Sandan Tsydenov's personal archive, confiscated by the Buryat People's Duma, was considered lost. Recently, files were found in the Buryat History Museum archives, containing an entire series of valuable materials written in Tibetan and Mongolian, which reveal the philosophical foundations of the Balagat theocratic movement and its historical development. One of these documents is Sandan Tsydenov's diary during his trip to Moscow, as a member of a delegation of Buddhist monks invited to the coronation of Nicholas II in 1896, where Tsydenov grounded arguments for the future theocracy in ideas about the essence of monarchy and the sacredness of this governmental form. Among other materials, the most interesting is Tsydenov's philosophical notebook, completely devoted to his conceptions of power, government, monarchic privileges and theocratic forms of government supported by quotes from canonical and non-canonical Buddhist texts.

The reasons for the rise of the theocratic movement, headed by Tsydenov, can be found in the clash between conservative and modernist models for Buryat ethnic development in the first third of the 20 th century. The so-called Volost reforms sparked processes of political nation-building, leading to the preeminence of a new generation of young Buryat intellectuals, who based their goals for the national rebirth of the Buryats on progressive European values. To this end, they united with a faction of Buddhist clergy, gathered around the official Buddhist administration, who advocated radical liberal reforms in administrative and economic spheres of the Buddhist church. Although officially part of the conservative Buddhist movement opposed to these liberal reforms, the Balagat leaders suggested an alternative form of government, sharply differing from the conservative movement's ideology of monarchic restoration. With the fall of the Romanovs, Tsydenov's piety for the monarchy, emotionally expressed in all his essays, transformed into the idea of theocracy. The sacred character of the Russian emperors, who in the eyes of Buddhists were the incarnations of White Tara, denied legitimacy to any form of power not endowed with religious blessing. The fall of the monarchy created a vacuum in the perception of thousands of believers which Tsydenov offered to fill with a local Buddhist form of government, declaring himself Dharmaraja of the three worlds. However, the use of traditional Buddhist terminology should not be taken as evidence of an archaic form of government. Preserved official administrative documents of the Balagat government (meeting protocols, decrees, materials from nomenclature commissions, etc.) demonstrate its debt to European governmental traditions and their inherent parliamentarianism.

The theocratic movement reveals fundamental contradictions among the ranks of the Buryat Buddhist clergy, related to the administrative system of the Buddhist church in Russia – the institution of the Pandito Khambo-Lama. Tsydenov's attempt to secure the preeminence of his power by establishing a line of reincarnations (the first of which is supposed to have been Bidya Dandaron) demonstrated a crisis in the system of electing monastic leadership. Despite the fact that this opposition ended after the destruction of the Buddhist church in the 1930's, Buryatia is once again undergoing a new phase of Buddhist development and Tsydenov's ideas are again evoking interest in modern Buryat society.