Pankov I. Eshon Bobo and His Descendants: The Sacred Status and the Religious Role of the Ishan Lineage

Igor Pankov
Saint Petersburg, Russia
ORCID: 0000-0002-4444-6077
E-mail: pankov@almaqam.ru

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ABSTRACT. The historically cyclical nature of Islamic culture is visible in the repetition of heydays and periods of decline of Islamic piety and education. The most important factor influencing the religious upsurge was the activity of individual spiritual leaders, whose role in Central Asia since the 14th century most often have been played by the sheikhs of the Naqshbandiyya Sufi brotherhood. Sheikhs were recognized as spiritual authorities not only for a narrow circle of their disciples (murids) but for the entire community. People spoke about them with reverence: “They (pers. – Ishan)!” – thereby emphasizing the special sacred status of Sufi shaikhs. This article considers the specifics of religious processes in contemporary Uzbekistan, examining the activities of the Ishan lineage going back to Muhammad Sharif al-Bulghari, a sheikh of the Naqshbandiyya-Mujaddidiyya, well known in Khorezm as Eshon bobo. When exploring the history of this family, we will see how a single man of faith contributed to the symbolic capital of a sacral blood-related group and helped shape the dynamics of a transregional family and religious network, which members have greatly influenced local religious tradition. The article argues that the al-Bulghari network “reactivation” is part of the state-supported discourse on “traditional Islam” in contemporary Uzbekistan.

KEYWORDS: Sufism, Naqshbandiyya-Mujaddidiyya, tariqa, Ishan, mazar, Uzbekistan

FOR CITATION: Pankov I. Eshon Bobo and His Descendants: The Sacred Status and the Religious Role of the Ishan Lineage. Kunstkamera. 2023. 1(19): 135–150. (In Russian). doi 10.31250/2618-8619-2023-1(19)-135-150

DOI 10.31250/2618-8619-2023-1(19)-135–150
УДК 281(575.1)

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