Evolution of the figure of the Brahmin in early Muslim writings

Autores/as

  • Dunkin Jalki CIRHS, SDM PG Centre

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35295/osls.iisl/0000-0000-0000-1318

Palabras clave:

Al-Biruni, brahmán, brahmanismo, indología, islam, India medieval, sistema de castas, India

Resumen

Cuando se habla hoy del sistema de castas, se habla, entre otras cosas, de los astutos, taimados y ostentosos brahmanes que fundaron y mantuvieron un conjunto de normas de interés propio que adoptaron efectivamente la forma del sistema de castas. ¿Qué saben las ciencias sociales sobre estos brahmanes? Como están demostrando hoy un conjunto de nuevos estudiosos, los antiguos textos indios –como los Vedas o el Mahabharata– no hablan del sistema de castas ni de la clase sacerdotal dominante de los brahmanes. Dichos textos ni siquiera muestran un impulso para poner en marcha un sistema que se asemeje siquiera remotamente al llamado sistema de castas. ¿De dónde surge, entonces, esta idea del brahmán? Este artículo examina los primeros escritos islámicos disponibles sobre la India, desde principios del siglo VIII hasta la época de Al-Biruni, para trazar una genealogía de la figura del brahmán legislador y astuto que surge en los escritos musulmanes del siglo XI.

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Biografía del autor/a

Dunkin Jalki, CIRHS, SDM PG Centre

Dr. Dunkin Jalki is currently running a research centre in a rural college in India: SDM College, Ujire, Karnataka. Besides his recent co-edited volume, The Western Foundations of the Caste System (Palgrave 2020, II ed.), he has spent most of his time working on the issue of the caste system and the Bhakti traditions of India. His forthcoming work will deal with the Ancient Greek, Christian and the subsequent Muslim picture of the Brahmins.

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Publicado

2022-10-04 — Actualizado el 2023-02-01

Cómo citar

Jalki, D. (2023) «Evolution of the figure of the Brahmin in early Muslim writings», Oñati Socio-Legal Series, 13(1), pp. 29–57. doi: 10.35295/osls.iisl/0000-0000-0000-1318.