Sacralising Soldier: Dynamics of Collective Memory in Syncretic Shrines

The present paper investigates social and religious transitions inherent in the figure of a deceased foreign warrior who is metamorphosed into a syncretic saint in a conquered land through cultural mediations and collective amnesia. This shift from a martyred mercenary soldier to a miracle-working saint is facilitated through his transplantation into a syncretic mix of the invading and the recipient cultures’ religio-cultural space. This process is not automatic but is embedded into the material needs, shared communal space, amnesia inherent in collective memory, and common patterns in the cosmology of both religious communities. Though the signs of a prior conflict are never totally erased, a systematic reorientation in the soldier’s tale takes place in which the conflictual elements are de-emphasised, and his sudden, violent death becomes a vehicle of charisma, thus rechristening the fallen soldier as a saintly figure. The present study discusses the dynamics of this collective amnesia in both invading and recipient religious communities through a case study of some selected North Indian Islamic saints such as Meera Meharban, pirs of Ghadsidha, and Hajib Sakarbar.