Titles and Islamic Culture as Reflected in the Islamic Architectural Inscriptions of Bengal (1205–1707)
Abstract
Titles are an interesting aspect of human social, political and religious vocabularies expressing various individual, societal and cultural trend, state policy, religious mood, prevailing sectarian thoughts, political trends, traditions and norms. While they have great historical significance linked with specific offices and administrative institutions, they also reflect religious and cultural ethos of the period. The nature, substance, and idiomatic expression in titles vary according to person, time and space.
Islamic titles in general are largely shaped by the space, time and status of the title bearer. They are historically over-toned in religious fervour. Consequently, they help us understand religious under-current prevailing in the region during that period. Islamic epigraphic texts of Bengal are astonishingly rich with diverse titles that appear with various names offering many clues of the past. Islamic inscriptions of Bengal are indeed a fascinating source for Islamic titles. These surprisingly rich and plentiful titles (whose number exceeds one hundred), are still an untapped rich source that offer many fascinating aspects of the history of the region.
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