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9781108477185

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'This is a truly remarkable book. Combining empathy for Malay miracle-workers (pawang) with a sensitive analysis of 'magical' texts, Terenjit Sevea draws readers into a nineteenth century Malay world where the entwining of Islam with indigenous beliefs equipped pawangs with the esoteric knowledge that made them essential consultants in a range of socioeconomic activities.' Barbara Watson Andaya, University of Hawai'i 'Based on fine-grained analyses of a rich set of unexplored Malay sources, this book illuminates religion's constitutive role in economic and political relations. Informative and absorbing, it is an outstanding addition to the study of Islam, Sufism, and modern Asian history.' Shahzad Bashir, Aga Khan Professor of Islamic Humanities, Brown University, Rhode Island 'In this subtle and evocative work, Terenjit Sevea links the world of religiosity and wonders in colonial and Islamic Southeast Asia with the material world of agriculture, mining and hunting. Drawing on a wide variety of sources, some very unusual, he brings together material and cultural histories in ways that will be profitable for scholars of many other world regions. His analysis takes us far beyond the 'disenchantment' paradigm that long dominated colonial histories.' Sanjay Subrahmanyam, University of California, Los Angeles

'This is a truly remarkable book. Combining empathy for Malay miracle-workers (pawang) with a sensitive analysis of 'magical' texts, Terenjit Sevea draws readers into a nineteenth century Malay world where the entwining of Islam with indigenous beliefs equipped pawangs with the esoteric knowledge that made them essential consultants in a range of socioeconomic activities.' Barbara Watson Andaya, University of Hawai'i 'Based on fine-grained analyses of a rich set of unexplored Malay sources, this book illuminates religion's constitutive role in economic and political relations. Informative and absorbing, it is an outstanding addition to the study of Islam, Sufism, and modern Asian history.' Shahzad Bashir, Aga Khan Professor of Islamic Humanities, Brown University, Rhode Island 'In this subtle and evocative work, Terenjit Sevea links the world of religiosity and wonders in colonial and Islamic Southeast Asia with the material world of agriculture, mining and hunting. Drawing on a wide variety of sources, some very unusual, he brings together material and cultural histories in ways that will be profitable for scholars of many other world regions. His analysis takes us far beyond the 'disenchantment' paradigm that long dominated colonial histories.' Sanjay Subrahmanyam, University of California, Los Angeles 'This is a truly remarkable book. Combining empathy for Malay miracle-workers (pawang) with a sensitive analysis of 'magical' texts, Terenjit Sevea draws readers into a nineteenth century Malay world where the entwining of Islam with indigenous beliefs equipped pawangs with the esoteric knowledge that made them essential consultants in a range of socioeconomic activities.' Barbara Watson Andaya, University of Hawai'i 'Based on fine-grained analyses of a rich set of unexplored Malay sources, this book illuminates religion's constitutive role in economic and political relations. Informative and absorbing, it is an outstanding addition to the study of Islam, Sufism, and modern Asian history.' Shahzad Bashir, Aga Khan Professor of Islamic Humanities, Brown University, Rhode Island 'In this subtle and evocative work, Terenjit Sevea links the world of religiosity and wonders in colonial and Islamic Southeast Asia with the material world of agriculture, mining and hunting. Drawing on a wide variety of sources, some very unusual, he brings together material and cultural histories in ways that will be profitable for scholars of many other world regions. His analysis takes us far beyond the 'disenchantment' paradigm that long dominated colonial histories.' Sanjay Subrahmanyam, University of California, Los Angeles

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Teren Sevea is a historian of religion in South and Southeast Asia at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of publications on Islamic connections of the Indian Ocean world, Sufism and Sufis of the Malay world, Islamic reform movements and Islamic erotology.

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