Conference presentations and public lectures on Sikh textual traditions
American Academy of Religion Annual Conference, Boston, MA (2025)
This paper offers a new reading of Guru Gobind Singh’s Persian epistle, the Ẓafarnāma (Epistle of Victory), challenging interpretations that frame the text as a mere letter of grievance or a petition for imperial redress. Instead, this talk analyzes the Zafarnāma as a sophisticated and confrontational work of political theology. It argues that the Guru’s epistle is not a petition to imperial authority, but a profound critique of it, designed to put the emperor himself on trial. By masterfully deploying the literary and philosophical traditions of the Mughal court, the Guru’s work challenges the very basis of imperial legitimacy, contrasting the emperor’s “mere force” with a higher, divinely-sanctioned model of sovereignty rooted in justice and ethical commitment.
Conference on Guru Teg Bahadur's 350th Anniversary, NaadPargas (2025)
Keynote presentation using Persian sources to reconstruct the historical context of Guru Tegh Bahadur’s martyrdom and its significance in early modern South Asian political thought.
Bhai Vir Singh Sahitya Sadan, New Delhi (2025)
Public lecture on the critical edition and historical significance of the Ẓafarnāma, discussing manuscript traditions and textual reconstruction.
Institute of Sikh Studies, Chandigarh (2025)
(Delivered in Punjabi)
Lecture examining how the Ẓafarnāma challenges Mughal sovereignty through strategic deployment of Persian literary traditions.
Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar (2025)
Keynote address at Punjab’s premier university on manuscript studies, critical philology, and the political thought embedded in the Ẓafarnāma.
104th National Council for the Social Studies Annual Conference (2024)
Presentation exploring how Sikh communities articulated visions of sovereignty and resistance through cultural production in early modern South Asia.
Panel moderator and speaker, Parliament of the World's Religions (2023)
Panel on Challenges of Diversity and Inclusion, Pluralism Project 25th Anniversary Conference, Harvard Divinity School (2016)
Addressed Harvard College Class of 2016
South Asia Institute Annual Symposium, Harvard University (2014)
(Re-)Building Punjab Conference, University of California, Santa Cruz (2013)
Hindu Studies Colloquium, Harvard University (2013)
Harvard South Asia Initiative (2012)
From Courses and Public Events
Course: Sikhism Through Its Scriptures
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