In attempting to write a religious and political history of Ḥaḍramawt in the Middle Ages one inevitably encounters a number of methodological and historiographical problems some of which will be addressed in the present article. The first arises from the overall scarcity of historical documentation on the period in question. More importantly, the sources that are available are riddled with underlying agendas and biases, which often hinge on considerations of genealogy and clannish honour. These genealogical or clannish agendas and biases are evident in the sources dealing with practically every aspect of Ḥaḍrami history. However, they are especially conspicuous in the historical texts which describe the spread of the Shāfi'ī school of law in Ḥaḍramawt, the cult of local saints and the origins of local religious and educational institutions. In my recent study of Ḥaḍramī shrines and seasonal pilgrimages, I have brought out the genealogical underpinnings of the theological polemic around the cult of local holy men and women - a polemic that grew especially intense in the first decades of our century and flared up with a vengeance during the recent civil war between the Northern and Southern parts of unified Yemen. In this paper I will demonstrate how these hidden agendas have manifested themselves in the historical accounts of Ḥaḍramī Islam with special reference to the rise of the Shāfi'ī madhhab and the dissemination of Ṣūfism.

Is Viṣṇu Naṭarāja? yes, according to the (Vaiṣṇava saints of the Tamil country) Viṣṇu is Naṭaraja. The pan-Indian tradition associates two important forms of Viṣṇu with dance. They are Kāliyamardana and rāśaknḍa, merry making sports of Kṣīs. According to the Cilappatikāram (Kaṭalāṭukātai 11. 37–63) Viṣṇu presents mal while fighting with a demon, alliyam (a group dance) at the time rendition of KaṆsa, kuṭam as Trivikrama, pēṆi as the eunuch Kāmadeva, an aspect of Viṣṇu, and pāvai is performed by Tiru, Śrīdevī, consort of Viṣṇu. This seems to be an ancient tradition (c. 5th century A. D.), reiterated by the . The are Vaiṣṇava mystics of the Tamil bhakti age, in total twelve in number. They have contributed enormously to literature, grouped under the heading, Nālāyiratiwiyapirapantam “4000 Melodious Hymns” (cf. Hardy 1983: 247–50; Settar 1993: 223–40; Kalidos 1993: 181–88). The twelve are authors of 24 literary pieces, dated during the 5th–9th centuries A.D. The are grouped under three chronological heads as follows:

Sri Lanka Portuguese Creole is considered to fall within the group of Indo-Portuguese Creoles, which were Portuguese-based Creoles that once flourished around coastal India and Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka Portuguese Creole arose when the Portuguese established trading posts and fortresses in Sri Lanka from 1517 onwards. The purpose of this paper is to examine critically the influence of substratum (indigenous) languages on Sri Lanka Portuguese Creole.

“Influence-research” is not a field to itself. It boasts no experts. Where cultures are sources of national or professional prestige the Einflussforsche's task can be thankless. Cultures are admired as self-consistent, and if possible original. Where indebtedness is notorious – e.g. East Asian artefacts’ effects on European taste – research into it may be conducted without grief. But since unacknowledged indebtedness affronts the increasing specialization of our times tentative disclosures may be accused of implausibility. One is asked “How could such a thing happen?rdquo;, and “What does it add up to?” Learned journals have published many strange “parallels”. Effects are cumulative: quum singula non prosunt multa iuvant. News, for example, that famous stories have migrated over great distances causes no apprehension. But where anomalies bring distant, even antagonistic cultures into confrontation, without a proved contact, one may become impatient. “Influence-research” remains the Cinderella of the sciences, and she has plenty of Ugly Sisters. One may take a trivial example. Judaism has for centuries presented rabbinism as its normative model; and then news accumulated that Yahweh was once seen as a manifestation of Apollo, with an accompanying osmosis from pagan towards Jewish symbols and fashions. This flouting of the standard set by the sensational Maccabees books put the results, such as they were, under a cloud.