Date: May 31st-June 1st, 2025
Venue: ILCAA, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies + Online meeting
Organised by: Victor Baptiste (EPHE-GREI) and Raffaello De Leon-Jones Diani (EHESS-CESAH)
Co-organised by: Prof. Satoshi Ogura (ILCAA, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies)

Presentation

The field of Indo-Persian studies has witnessed a renewal of interest over the last decades, with contributions coming from all over the world, many focusing on aspects of translation and cultural confluences. Given the origins of this term as a linguistic description of the variety of Persian used in South Asia, it is not a surprise that the field should be dominated by textual studies. Yet, since its inception in the nineteenth century, it has also always served to designate something of a shared culture between India and Iran. The concept has proven especially fruitful in historical writing on South Asia, covering that period which has been defined by Richard M. Eaton as “Persianate India” (1000-1765).

However, rather than simply a catchall category invented to facilitate the lumping together of several centuries of South Asian history, “Indo-Persian” is a dynamic category that seeks not to divide the cultural contributions into originally Indic and originally Persianate constituents but rather emphasises the originality and vitality of cultural forms that, though emanating from a different geographical area, took root in South Asia and thrived. It also goes against an old trope: that of a self-sufficient India that existed disconnected from the rest of the world until Europeans came and forced it into their orbit. Beyond nationalisms, religious divides and linguistic fragmentation, Indo-Persian studies seek to shed light on an important period of not only South Asian but also Central Asian and ultimately Global history.

The first edition of this workshop, held at the Vieille Charité Center in Marseille in May 2023, was meant to be a first step taken to gather some of these young scholars who, unfortunately, are still very scattered across the continents and struggle with the classical partition of areal disciplines separating “South Asian studies” and “Iranian studies”. The goal of this first informal edition of the workshop was to assess the situation, allow the students and young scholars gathered to exchange on their subjects, difficulties and future perspectives and set up a program for the coming years.

The second edition became truly international with scholars joining us from different parts of the world. Over two days, different aspects of writing in the Indo-Persian world were examined with a final presentation by a calligrapher of his art. This denser edition prepared us for this year’s maturation into a full-fledged international symposium.

The scope of this third conference is international: it will be held in hybrid format, both on site and online, for as many students and young scholars as possible, whether located in South Asia, Europe or elsewhere, to be able to attend and participate.

Indo-Persian studies are not a field where disciplines can be allowed to limit our research, as it covers a wide range of topics and requires a multiplicity of skills, both linguistic and methodological. As such, contrary to previous editions, we have chosen to welcome contributions covering any topic, as long as it pertains to the Indo-Persian field.

We welcome contributions from master, doctoral and postdoctoral researchers that deal with any topic in the field of Indo-Persian studies from disciplines such as history, philology, religious studies, linguistics, literature and art history.

Paper Submission

Abstracts are to be submitted in English to the following email address: indopersian.workshop[at]gmail.com.
(Please change [at] to @.)
They should not exceed 500 words and are to be submitted by December 31st, 2024 [UTC/GMT+1].