Dargah: Miracles, Mystics, Singers and Djinns

DOI: 10.33876/2311-0546/2025-1/271-281

Authors

Keywords:

dargah, India, Sufism, qawwali, folk religion, spiritual healing, jinns

Abstract

In the article, the author examines the phenomenon of dargahs (tombs of Muslim saints) in India from the point of view of folk ideas about the miraculous, mystical and magical. The article is based on the materials collected during the field study that took place in July and August 2023 in the cities of Delhi, Lucknow and Badayun, the expedition in November 2024, which included work in Delhi, Agra, Sikri, Aligarh, Fatehpur-Sikri, and on information from the press and open Internet sources. In this work, the author refers to the narratives of pilgrims and examines the main types and sources of miracles mentioned in connection with dargahs. The article is divided into chapters devoted to miracles related to saints and their followers, to the miraculous influence of qawwali performed in dargahs and to the possession and the exorcism of jinns. Examining the experiences of the pilgrims, the author concludes that by considering the phenomenon of dargahs through the prism of the miraculous, the researcher opens up the possibility of a comprehensive study of seemingly disparate cultural and religious practices that go beyond a specific religion or a community.

Author Biography

  • Anastasia Kinyaeva, the Russian Academy of Sciences N. N. Miklouho-Maklay Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology

    Kinyaeva, Anastasia V. —  Intern Researcher and Ph.D. student, the Russian Academy of  Sciences  N.  N.  Miklouho-Maklay Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology (Moscow, Russian Federation). E-mail: avkinyaeva@gmail.com ORCID ID:  https://orcid.org/0009-0005-9862-988X  

    For citation:  Kinyaeva, A. B.  2025.  Dargah: Miracles, Mystics, Singers and Djinns. Herald of Anthropology (Vestnik Antropologii) 1: 271–281.

    Funding: The study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation, grant №. 24-28-00439.

     

    References
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Published

15.03.2025

Issue

No. 1 (2025): Вестник антропологии

Section

Anthropology of the Demonic: Magic and the Supernatural in Asia