Contours of Contact: A Zoroastrian Lens on Interfaith Theological and Philosophical Exchanges in Early Modern India

Objective

This project investigates theological and philosophical exchange in Mughal India (1526–1858) through the understudied Zoroastrian (Parsi) corpus, offering a novel lens on interfaith interactions. While interreligious contact in this period has received scholarly attention, Zoroastrian contributions remain largely overlooked, despite their active roles as scribes, scholars, and participants in courtly and non-courtly debates. Drawing on the Rivāyat corpus and related manuscripts from multiple traditions, the project constructs a typology of religious contact, distinguishing forms of translation, intentionality, agency, and negotiation of religious otherness. It is framed by a triadic theoretical model: Stünkel’s typology of contact (e.g. polemical, dialogical, structural), Krech’s relational theory of religion, and Shaw’s concept of dynamic hybridity, operationalized through philological analysis, textual comparison, discourse study, and manuscript history. Frankfurter’s theory of religious bricolage is used as a secondary reference, highlighting the role of scribes and ritual specialists in shaping interfaith encounters. The project examines how Zoroastrian scholars engaged with Muslim, Hindu, Jain, and Christian counterparts in dialogical and textual forms, contributing to shared epistemological, metaphysical, and ethical discourses. By foregrounding interpretive translation as both a conceptual and theological act, it introduces categories such as “Mutual Translation” and “Interpretive Latency,” offering a new methodological framework for analyzing interreligious exchange in pluralistic societies.