The Muhammad Avatara

Acknowledgments A Note on Transliteration and Other Conventions A Map of Medieval Bengal and Arakan 1. The Prophet of Light and Love: Nur Muhammad in Bengal's Mirror A Historical Overview of Ca??agrama Islamic Bangla Literature and Islamization Literary Portraits of the Author Inscribing Islam in the Bengali Religious Landscape Nur Muhammad as the Ontological Principle of Light and Love The Islamic Cosmogony of Om̐ Later Developments in Islamic Bengali Cosmogonical Discourse Cosmogony, Translation, and Conversion 2. Text, Author, and Authority: The Nabivaṃsa and the Making of Islamic Community Genre and Performance The Structure of the Nabivaṃsa's Salvation History The Critical Edition of the Nabivaṃsa vis-à-vis the Manuscript Tradition Author and Authority in the Making of Islamic Community 3. Translation and the Historiographic Process: The Work of a Text in the Making of Bengali Islam The Terms of Translation Translation as Qurʾanic Exegesis The Representation and Transculturation of Musalmani and Hinduani Traditions Translation as Entextualizing Conversion A Hermeneutic Model of Muslim Missionary Translation Frontier Literature 4. A New Prophetology for Bengal: Puraṇa-Koran Salvation History An Indo- Islamic Salvation History for Bengal The Original Couple, Maric- Marijat or Siva- Parvati The Puraṇic Predecessors of Adam The Account of Adam, the First Man Righteous Sis and Islam's Triumph over Hinduani Adharma Evil Iblis as Primal Guru of the Hinduani Clans Translation as Renewal, Subversion, and Manipulation 5. Hari the Fallen Prophet: An Avatara's Descent into Disgrace In the Shadow of Gauṛiya Vai?ṇavism Recasting the Acts of Kr̥?ṇa The Polemics of the Tale of Kr̥?ṇa An Islamic Reappraisal of Vai?ṇava Theology Messianic Intersections of the Avatara and Nabi Missionary Translation as Creative Iconoclasm 6. Ascension and Ascendancy: Constructing the Prophet for Bengal The Nabivaṃsa's Ascension Narrative in the Perso- Turkic Miʿraj Tradition The Prophet as God's Beloved The Prophet as Perfect Phakir The Prophet as Intercessor The Historiographer and Legitimation Conclusion: Historiography, Translation, and Conversion Appendix: Distribution of Manuscripts of the NV in Various Bangladeshi Archives Works Cited Index