INTRODUCTION
Across the spice routes of the Indian Ocean world, religious and cultural connections between South and Southeast Asia have manifested in diverse forms of material culture. While these connections have often been described as unidirectional, this conference aims to explore the multidirectional religious and cultural exchanges between both subcontinents. Building upon the success of our previous conference, titled “Spiced Islam and Textual Circulation: India, Indonesia, and the Indian Ocean” (28-29 November 2022), which focused on the role of Islamic texts in connecting people across the spice routes, this year’s conference shifts its focus to material culture.
Material culture, as abundant as textual sources if not more so, allows us to delve into how remnants of the past along the spice routes serve as repositories of collective memories for communities in the Indian Ocean regions. Diverse forms of material culture bear witness to the exchanges of Islamic influence between South and Southeast Asia, which intensified alongside the flourishing spice-based maritime trade from the fifteenth century onwards. Muslims from South Asian countries played various roles in Southeast Asian polities, such as travellers, traders, preachers, pilgrims, exiles, scholars, authors, sailors, and soldiers. Similarly, people from Southeast Asia also took on similar roles, although historical records on this subject remain insufficiently explored. The movement of people between both subcontinents had profound implications for the circulation of material aspects of Islam in the two regions. In this conference, we aim to explore the multidirectional peregrinations of Muslims across the Indian Ocean, moving beyond a unidirectional framework.
This conference represents a significant milestone in ongoing conversations between colleagues and institutions regarding the cultural and material connections across the oceanic world. We envision this event as a transdisciplinary platform and, therefore, extend an invitation to historians, archaeologists, philologists, anthropologists, scholars of religions and regions, and others whose research relates to the Islamic connections between South and Southeast Asia. We particularly encourage papers that emphasize the vital role of material culture in shaping socio-cultural formations and transformations.
SUBTHEMES
- Maritime, spice, and trading routes;
- Inscriptions and sculptures;
- Tombs, gravestones, pilgrimages, and funerary practices;
- Architecture, built environment, and spatial practices;
- Mints, coins, and trade 6. Jewellery, ornaments, and identity;
- Texts and spiritual networks;
- Textile traditions;
- Music and instruments;
- Shadow puppet show (wayang) and performative traditions;
- Culinary, medicinal, and aromatic cultures;
- Cities, ports, and fortresses;
- Shipbuilding and navigation technology
FORMAT AND SUBMISSION
The conference will be conducted in a hybrid format, utilizing a virtual presentation system to provide accepted paper presenters with the same opportunities as regular presenters. However, we strongly encourage all speakers to deliver their presentations in person. To accommodate the diverse research interests among the speakers, we will arrange multiple panels, both online and offline. If you wish to participate, please submit an abstract of 500 words, along with a brief 150-word biography, to NurulAzizah at [email protected] before September 15, 2023. The selection committee will review the abstracts and notify the selected participants. In addition, we are delighted to announce that we will be inviting renowned speakers from various parts of the world to engage in discussions on this topic.
VENUE
The conference will be held at the Faculty of Adab and Humanities, Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University Jakarta, Indonesia.
IMPORTANT DATES
– Abstracts are due by September 15, 2023
– Announcement of selected abstracts: September 25, 2023
– Press meet: September 27, 2023
– Abstract Presentation: October 16, 2023
– Technical Meeting: October 20, 2023
– Conference: October 23-24, 2023
– Submission of revised papers: December 15, 2023
ORGANISERS
Jajat Burhanudin, UIN Jakarta
Mahmood Kooria, Leiden
Ahmad Suaedy, UNUSIA
Nia Deliana, UIII
Day 1: Monday, 23 October, 2023
Opening Session: 08.55 to 09.05
Welcoming and Opening:
Asep Saepudin Jahar
(Rector of Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University Jakarta, Indonesia)
Ade Abdul Hak
(Dean, Faculty of Adab & Humanities, Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University Jakarta, Indonesia)
Keynote Speech: 09.05 to 09.35
Restu Gunawan (Director of Cultural Personnel and Institutions Development, Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology)
Introduction: 09.35 to 09.45
Jajat Burhanudin & Mahmood Kooria
(Conference Conveners)
Mojang Priangan Dance Performance
09.45 to 10.00: Lunch Break
Panel 1: 10.00 to 12.00 | Chair: Awalia Rahma
Eri Soedewo (National Research and Innovation Agency, Indonesia), “Bongal Site a Port in the Eastern Indian Ocean Spice Route”.
Furqon Muhammad Faiz and Tori Nuariza Sutanto (The Sultanate Institute, Indonesia), “Inscribed Seals from the Islamic World on the West Coast of Sumatra”.
Abu Bakar, Muhammad Sidiq (The Sultanate Institute, Indonesia), “Ingots and Early Indonesia’s Copper Trade for Abbasid Fals Coins (8th-10th Century AD)”.
Muhammad Faiz (Independent Researcher, Indonesia), “Minaret, Ablution Pool, and Islamic School: The Development of Surakarta Great Mosque Under the Rule of Pakubuwana X (1893-1939)”.
Bastian Zulyeno (University of Indonesia, Indonesia), “The Zabaj Kingdom and the Fansur Port: Akhbar al-Sin wa al-Hind of al-Sirafi”.
12.00 to 13.00: Lunch Break
Panel 2: 13.00 to 15.00 | Chair: Nia Deliana
Raja Mohamad (Centre for Islamic Tamil Cultural Research, Jamal Mohamed College, India), “Coromandel Muslims’ Maritime Trade with the Indonesian Archipelago: Islam, Spices, Culture and Fragrance”.
Awalia Rahma (Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University Jakarta, Indonesia), “Brewing Spiced Coffee in Java: Race and Coffee Preference during the 19-20th Centuries”.
Nurul Azizah (Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University Jakarta, Indonesia), “TBA”.
Mohd Affendi bin Mohd Sabri (International Islamic University Malaysia, Malaysia), “Ramuan Berempah: Medicinal Spices in Malay Medical Manuscripts”.
15.00 to 15.30: Coffee Break
Panel 3: 15.30 to 17.30 | Chair: Jajat Burhanudin
Mahmood Kooria (Leiden University, The Netherlands), “TBA”.
Ömer Koçyiğit (Marmara University, Turkey), “Refutation of the Phonograph: Quranic Recitations Echoing from the Indian Ocean to the Ottoman Territories”.
Irmawati Marwoto (University of Indonesia, Indonesia), “Materiality and Ideology in the Sultanate of Banten: Microarchaeological Approach”.
Ping-hsiu Alice Lin (Harvard University, United States), “In Pursuit of Royal Blue: Geographies of Relatedness in the Indian Ocean”.
17.45 to 21.00: Gala Dinner at (only for speakers) at Kayu Kayu Restaurant
Day 2: Tuesday, October 24, 2023
Panel 4: 09.30 to 11.30 | Chair: Nabila
Ruby Maloni (Mumbai University, India), “Trends of Gujarati Trade to Southeast Asia (16th-18th Centuries)”.
Nia Deliana (Indonesian International Islamic University, Indonesia), “TBA”.
Jajang Nurjaman (National Archives of Indonesia, Indonesia), “Between War and Diplomacy: Pepper Trade in 17th and 18th Banten Sultanate”.
Frial Ramadhan (National Library of Indonesia, Indonesia), “Writing Indian Ocean in Malay Press: Dr. Soetomo’s Travel Writings (1936-1937)”.
11.30-13.00: Lunch Break
Panel 5: 13.00 to 15.00 | Chair: Mahmood Kooria
Mehmet Özay (ISTAC-IIUM, Malaysia), “Through the Bonds of Spice Routes: The Attahashi Family in North Sumatra“.
Daya Negeri Wijaya (State University of Malang, Indonesia), “Baked Sago: Exploring Iberian-Tidorese Culinary Hybridity”.
Muhamed Riyaz (The Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, India) ““When I Die at Sea Bury my Nail in the Soil of Mecca”: Oceanic Deathscapes and Funerary Cultures in the Indian Ocean World”.
Endi Aulia Garadian & Bilqis Khoiriyyah (Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University Jakarta, Indonesia), “Tracing Intellectual Network on the Eastern Spice Route: The Philosopher King, Sultan ‘Aydrūs of Buton (r. 1824-1851)”.
15.00 to 15.15: Coffee Break
Panel 6: 15.15 to 17.15 | Chair: Suaidy/Ginanjar
Alexander Wain (University of St. Andrews, United Kingdom), “Traditional Javanese Mosque Architecture”.
Jessica Rahardjo (Oxford University, United Kingdom), “Between Law and Legibility: The Case of ‘Pseudo-Inscriptions’ on Batu Aceh”.
Afeef Ahmed (The Indian Institute of Technology in Gandhinagar, India), “Being Muslim from Head to Toe: The Production and Circulation of ‘Lungis’ and ‘Fez’ in the Indian Ocean World”.
Teren Sevea (Harvard University, United States), “Islamic Histories, in and from Malay Ruins”.
17.15 to 17.55: Policy Brief and Conference Press
17.55 to 18.00: Closing Remarks
Jajat Burhanudin and Mahmood Kooria
