The es sence of this change was not so much a vital concern about the retardation of Muslim life in Bengal, for such concerns were often expressed before, as we shall see later.2 It consisted more in an unprecedented denunciation and condemnation of what came over the years to represent the dominant notions and meanings of Bengalis being Muslims.
Not long after I began my excursions into this area of study I became increasingly aware of a very significant beginning of a qualitative and quantitative change of self-perceptions among Bengal Muslims through the 19th century. As I grew up I sought to understand this, if I could.
Preface ι It is conventional to recognize this study as an out growth of my doctoral dissertation, but I should rather like to trace its beginning much farther back to those few years before the partition of 1947 when, as a boy, I found myself at pains to understand, far less to accept, that my Muslim friends in a small suburban town in east Bengal1 (present Bangladesh) were so different as to make it impos sible for all of us even to "live together separately" as we always did in a society divided by castes and creeds. Esoterism-Mysticism Section I: The Mainstream Section II: The Muslim 'Ύαύηαν" Lyrical Literatureī. The Emergence of the Bengali Muslim Cultural Mediators and the Syncretistic TraditionĪ. In Loving Memory of my Grandfather and FatherĢ. Printed in the United States of America by Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey
Paperbacks, although satisfactory for personal collections, are not usually suitable for library rebinding.
Princeton University Press Princeton, New JerseyĬopyright © 1983 by Princeton University Press Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540 In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, Guildford, Surrey All Rights Reserved Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data will be found on the last printed page of this book ISBN 7-1 Publication of this book has been aided by a grant from the Paul Mellon Fund of Princeton University Press This book has been composed in Linotron Caslon type Clothbound editions of Princeton University Press books are printed on acid-free paper, and binding materials are chosen for strength and durability. The Islamic Syncretistic Tradition in Bengal THE ISLAMIC SYNCRETISTIC TRADITION IN BENGAL
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