Mr Barakatullo Ashurov
BA Indian Studies, Tajik National University, Dushanbe, Tajikistan; MA English (Literary and Cultural Studies) English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad, India.
Overview
- Name:
- Mr Barakatullo Ashurov
- Email address:
- 235548@soas.ac.uk
- Thesis title:
- Tarsākyā: an analysis of Sogdian Christianity based on Archaeological, Numismatic, Epigraphic and Textual Sources.
- Year of Study:
- Second year
Internal Supervisors
PhD Research
The dissertation investigates the history of the evolution and impact of Christianity in Sogdian culture that extended from the central area of Central Asia to the Chinese-Mongolian borderlands in the early medieval period 5-9 CE. My inquiry focuses on the representation of the Christianity in material culture and correlation of the former with the literary sources in order to reconstruct a comprehensive profile of Sogdian Christianity, which though born within the Syriac tradition has eventually developed ‘independently’. I illustrate how the enculturation of Christianity in the diverse cultural milieu of Central Asia that combined Iranian, Turkic and Chinese traditions embodied itself within each ‘micro-cultural frame’, significantly influencing the formation of the religious/spiritual identities and worldviews. Additionally, I look into the continuous interreligious dialogue between major religions present in the region, such as Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam, all of which found projection in the material and spiritual culture of Central Asia.
