Historical and Cultural Aspects of the Islamic Inscriptions of Bengal

Mohammad Yusuf Siddiq is a Visiting Professor at the International Centre for Study of Bengal Art, Dhaka. Previously, he was a H.E.C. Professor of History, Civilization and Culture at University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan and a visiting faculty at LUMS (Lahore University of Management Sciences). During 2001-2007, he taught in the History Department at University of Sharjah in U.A.E. He was also the founder chair of the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies at Zayed University in U.A.E. during 1998-2001 where he played a key role in establishing a vibrant Arabic and Islamic Studies program. Prior to that, he served as an Associate Professor of Islamic Studies at Islamic University in Kushtia, Bangladesh. He held various prestigious academic positions at Harvard University from 1987 to 1998. During 1991-92, he was also a visiting fellow at Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies at Oxford University. Siddiq has written extensively on the history, civilization and culture of Muslim Bengal in Bengali, English, Arabic, Urdu and Persian languages, including a dozen entries in the Encyclopaedia of Islam, and articles in various international journals such as Muqarnas (Harvard University), Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS, London), Journal of Bengal Art (ICSBA, Dhaka) and Oxford Journal of Islamic Studies (Oxford University). His recent books, such as Historical and Cultural Aspects of the Islamic Inscriptions: A Reflective Study of Some New Epigraphic Discoveries (ICSBA, Dhaka: 2009), Rihla Ma'a al-Nuqush al-Kitabiyyah al-Islamiyyah fi Bilad al-Bangal (An Epigraphical Journey through Muslim Bengal, Damascus: Dar al-Fikr, 2004) and Epigraphy and Islamic Culture: Inscriptions of the Early Muslim Rulers of Bengal 1205 - 1494 (Oxon, U.K., Routledge, 2016) analyze the inner dynamics of the social, intellectual and religious transformations of Bengal using the fabulously rich epigraphic heritage of the eastern regions of South Asia.