Manipur, the erstwhile monarchy of the Meiteis (the predominant ethnic group) in present-day Northeast India, witnessed a notable influx of diverse groups of settlers during the pre-colonial period. Among these, this paper explores how a body of Muslims, known locally as Pangals, from pre-colonial Bengal and mainland India, employed myriad conduits to forge a unique identity in Manipur between1597 and 1798. Central to this research is a critical analysis of the professions and roles assigned to the Pangal settlers by the Meitei monarch, revealing how this newly-formed group was entrusted with more prominent imperial posts than the older hill people (hao-macha) or marginalised Lois. A key question here is whether the Meitei crown sought to cultivate a cadre of battle-seasoned Pangal loyalists to the throne within the predominantly Meitei military. This process could only have unfolded within a spatiotemporal matrix shaped by the Meitei state’s accommodating policies, underscoring the importance of investigating episodes of accommodation and tolerance extended to Pangals in varying degrees. This research also employs methods of anthropological linguistics to further explore the Meitei monarch’s politics of naming, aimed at locating Pangal settlers within the local socio-political fabric. Lastly, this paper is not restricted to “historical” methods; rather, it represents a transdisciplinary study that aims to contribute to a comparative analytical paradigm by drawing parallels with well-studied regions outside Manipur, such as Central Thailand and Upper Burma, thereby mapping the region in a global historical context.

I will document the transformation in the contemporary character of the historical relationships that existed between the epistemic communities in the Indian Ocean basins of East Africa (Kenya and Tanzania), Southeast Asia (Indonesia), and the Middle East (Arabian Gulf and Yemen) by examining how this process of dissemination of Islamic knowledge has changed in modern times. An epistemic community is a grouping that is based on possessing a shared tradition of knowledge and its transmission across space and time. This paper will examine the dynamics of epistemic communities across the Western Indian Ocean whose raison d’etre is the cultivation and transmission of Islamic scholarship. This body of Islamic knowledge, which is the formal basis for this epistemic community, is embodied in a set of discourses that are the communicative medium that is transacted among its members creating the shared discursive space that situates the relationships between them over the vast disjointed physical space of the Indian Ocean. This study will be based on ethnographic research carried out in East Africa and Southeast Asia where students/scholars from this region were interviewed regarding their experiences of pursuing Islamic knowledge in the Middle East. What the research will show is that there is a shift in the structural relations of these epistemic communities where the basis of interactions in colonial and pre-colonial times revolved around individual relationships and distinctive knowledge networks, while in the postcolonial period, the interactions centered more around knowledge institutions and amorphous relationships. Despite this structural shift, these communities still share the same discursive space that is the cultural basis for maintaining their ties across the Indian Ocean despite the existence of nation-state borders.

The religious studies of ancient Cambodia has traditionally been articulated around the concept of « Indianisation », and ancient Cambodia is considered to be an « Indianised » kingdom. Indeed, in the first centuries A.D. Indian culture, religions (Brahmanism, Buddhism) and langage (Sanskrit) travelled through trade networks, were implanted, adopted and acculturated by the Khmer people. Religions in ancient Cambodia have long been considered only from the point of view of whether or not they conform to Indian orthodoxy. While it is not our intention to contest the fact that Indian religions settled in Cambodia, we do wish to discuss the traditional standpoint of academic research on the religions of ancient Cambodia, which sees India as the sole source of transmission of doctrines. Thus, recent studies on maritime networks in Asia, and others on the transmission of Buddhism and Tantric doctrines highlight the role played by other regions of Asia in the spread of Indian and indigenous religions in South-East Asia. Moreover, the role of China is constantly ignored, despite the fact that ancient Cambodia Maintained important diplomatic relations with China. These leads to cultural and religious changes, particularly when it comes to Buddhism. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to highlight the value of a global approach of the history of religious transmissions in Southeast Asia. This would provide a better understanding of the relations, transfers and influences of religions between China and India in ancient Cambodia.

Situated on the southwestern coast of India, Malabar has a vast coastline that facilitated multiple exchanges and transactions well before the advent of ‘colonial discoveries.’ Its extensive coastline furthered both material and mental relations with distant lands, including those in the Persian Gulf, Europe, China, and the Far East. These exchanges brought various religions, including Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, to Malabar’s shores. Christianity is believed to have arrived here early, with a prevalent legend attributing its spread to the apostle St. Thomas in the early centuries of the Christian era. This tradition has led Kerala's Christians to identify as St. Thomas Christians, also known by other names such as Nazaranis, Mappillas, or Syrian Christians. References to this community appear in historical documents and inscriptions from the early centuries onwards. Their deep connection with water is evident from the very beginning, as the religion itself arrived through water and later thrived through the region's inland waterways. For them, water is both a life-giving and fatal source as during the baptism ceremony, the priest breathes on the water before immersing the candidate, symbolizing the Holy Spirit's presence over the water. Employing a ‘water turn’ methodology, this paper positions water as an active agent of historical change by constructing the histories of Syrian Christians in Malabar. Through this lens, the study engages with the apprehensions and aspirations, interests and imperatives, contests and hostilities, hopes and beliefs connections and disconnections, exchanges and negotiations, dependencies and dialogues, and ambiguities and vulnerabilities of Syrian Christians in Malabar. It aims to produce an alternative archive, encompassing prayers, proverbs, Pattu (traditional songs) rains, rivers, waterways, monsoons, emotions, customs, rites, rituals, routines, imaginations etc. along with colonial documents and indigenous olas (palm leaves). Drawing on sources in multiple languages, including Malayalam, Syriac, Dutch, and English, this study foregrounds elders, clergy, women, laypersons, intermediaries, missionaries, colonial officers, and farmers, among others, as key narrators of these fluid and multifaceted histories.

Probing the Number 9 Belief through the material and visual expressions in the Chinese, Mongolian, and Mayan civilizations contributes to the comparative history with a fresh case to explore world cultures. Late imperial China’s splendid palace –the Forbidden City –was constructed with the number 9 in the room, gate, and wall designs. Mongolian Nine White Banners worked as a powerful symbol of peace and eternity since the time of Chinggis Khan. The famous Mayan nine-layer-stepped pyramids functioned as ritual sites for worshiping gods and indigenous rulers. Today, these grand projects stand as tourist attractions, symbolically illustrating the characteristics and identities of each of the three civilizations. The historians have not but should explore the three peoples’ common entrustment to the number 9 as representing their highest political authority and spiritual reverence but invented different architectural and material projects to display it. To interpret the materialized, visualized, and artistically demonstrated expressions of this human belief, historians need to quest for number 9 in people’s cultural and political understanding, go inside the various site-ritual performances in the historical past, elaborate on the different acts and interactions of the ceremonial participants at these sites, and narrate the social and political outcome from the site performances and acts. This study introduces the methodology of treating the material and visual projects as primary sources to decode the civilizational essences embodied in these projects and understand the commonality in the Number 9 Belief alongside the diverse material and artistical creations to express this belief.