Papers by Daniel J Sheffield
Modern Asian Studies, 2022
In 1650, an encyclopedia of comparative religion known as Dabistān-i Maẕāhib (the School of Doctr... more In 1650, an encyclopedia of comparative religion known as Dabistān-i Maẕāhib (the School of Doctrines) was completed near the city of Hyderabad. Asserting that the religions of the world are reflections of a single inner truth, its author Mīrzā Ẕu'l-fiqār Āẕarsāsānī, known by the poetic penname 'Mūbad', travelled widely across India to record encounters with diverse religious figures. This article reexamines the composition and legacy of the Dabistān in light of new manuscript evidence relating to its author and the world he inhabited. It argues that the Dabistān's universalist project reflects a widely held theory of the interrelatedness of the macrocosm, in which sociality with diverse populations was understood to be a spiritual exercise leading to saintly perfection in the same way that venerating the cosmos and ascetic bodily practices were. The article provides a close reading of the Dabistān's shortest chapter on the religion of the Tibetans, the earliest such description in Persian. Situating the Dabistān within the diverse expressions of 'Universal Peace' (ṣulḥ-i kull) during the Safavid and Mughal periods, it argues that the Dabistān's project of recovering a universal theology that was attributed to ancient Iran and India led to expressions of dual religious belonging-to particular religions of revelation as well as to the universal religion of the philosophers-parallel to and connected with what Jan Assmann has termed the 'religio duplex phenomenon' in early modern Europe. Finally, the article briefly traces the legacy of the Dabistān into the modern period.
Journal of the K R Cama Oriental Institute, 2018
Encyclopedia of Indian Religions: Islam, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism, 2018
Near and Middle Eastern Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton: 1935–2018, 2018
Gorgias Handbooks provides students and scholars with reference books, textbooks and introduction... more Gorgias Handbooks provides students and scholars with reference books, textbooks and introductions to different topics or fields of study. In this series, Gorgias welcomes books that are able to communicate information, ideas and concepts effectively and concisely, with useful reference bibliographies for further study.
The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Zoroastrianism, 2015
The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Zoroastrianism, 2015
No Tapping around Philology: A Festschrift in Honor of Wheeler McIntosh Thackston Jr.'s 70th Birthday, Sep 1, 2014
Journal of the K. R. Cama Oriental Institute 72 (2012 [2014]), 2012
On the Wonders of Land and Sea: Persianate Travel Writing, 2013
Bulletin of the Asia Institute 19, 2005
The Wizirgerd ī Dēnīg is a little-known Zoroastrian Pahlavi text with a complicated history. When... more The Wizirgerd ī Dēnīg is a little-known Zoroastrian Pahlavi text with a complicated history. When it was published by Peshotanji Behramji Sanjana in 1848, it quickly attracted a great deal of criticism within the Parsi community for the "unorthodox" views it contained and was dismissed as a recent forgery, resulting in the destruction of most of the printed copies of the text. In this paper, a brief account of the history of the text is given. Following this, one passage from the text is discussed, in which it is stated that the head of the Zoroastrian pantheon, Ohrmazd, created the Evil Spirit Ahrimen for the expiation of the souls of the wicked. This passage is particularly striking since it stands in opposition to other Pahlavi texts which depict a dualist cosmogony in which Ohrmazd and Ahrimen both exist prior to the creation of the cosmos.
The Transmission of the Avesta, 2012
Book Reviews by Daniel J Sheffield
Bulletin of the Asia Institute 24, 2014
Books by Daniel J Sheffield
Cosmopolitan Zarathustras: Religion, Translation, and Prophethood in Iran and South Asia
The Pahlavi Book of Religious Judgments (Wizirgerd ī Dēnīg): Zoroastrian Religious and Legal Thought in the Early Medieval Period. Edition, Translation, and Commentary
Talks by Daniel J Sheffield
Disenchanting the Dēn: Parsi Reactions to Paine and Voltaire
The Language of Heaven in Safavid Iran: The Linguistic Philosophy of Āzar Kayvān and His Followers
The Loss of the Persianate and the Recovery of the Iranian: On Parsi Antiquarianism and the Genealogy of Modernity
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Papers by Daniel J Sheffield
Book Reviews by Daniel J Sheffield
Books by Daniel J Sheffield
Talks by Daniel J Sheffield