Utrecht University, 13-14 February 2025

This conference examines how warfare and religious rituals shaped sensory experiences in Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal societies during the 16th-19th centuries. Through presentations spanning military history, art history, literary studies, and religious studies, scholars explore how new military technologies and intensified ideological propaganda transformed collective religious identities and sensory regimes. The conference’s presentations investigate three key themes. First, papers examine how gunpowder weapons and siege warfare created new acoustic, olfactory, and tactile experiences that reshaped both battlefield encounters and urban life. Second, several studies analyze how religious rituals and ceremonies— from Mevlid commemorations to Muharram observances—deployed multisensory elements to forge confessional identities and communal bonds. Third, contributions explore how poets, chroniclers, and artists documented and mediated these sensory experiences through various media. The papers reveal how sensory experiences became instrumental in defining religious and political boundaries during this period of intense confessional competition. Whether through the thunderous sounds of cannon fire, the fragrant smoke of incense in mosques, or the visual splendor of military parades, sensory stimuli served to unite co-religionists while differentiating others. By examining these dynamics across Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal contexts, the conference seeks to demonstrate how attention to sensory history can deepen our understanding of state formation, religious transformation, and cultural exchange in the early modern Islamic world. The presentations collectively argue for incorporating sensory analysis into the study of early modern Islamic societies, suggesting that examining how people experienced and interpreted sensory phenomena is crucial for understanding processes of religious change, imperial expansion, and cross-cultural encounter.

To see the full program of the conference, click here.

Date

Thursday 13 February 2025 – Friday 14 February 2025 
From 9:00 – 17:00

Location

University Museum Utrecht | UMU
Lange Nieuwstraat 106, 3512 PN Utrecht

Registration

Entrance is free, but registration compulsory since seats are limited: sensis@uu.nl

We look forward to seeing you!