The Art of Picking the Best Seat: From Seating Positions at a Muslim Majlis to Hindu vāstu śāstra
This article deals with a set of instructions for hosts and guests on how to pick the best spot at meetings in function of their objectives and the latter’s correlation with the wind directions and, indirectly, with the planets associated with these. It identifies seven related versions, in Arabic a...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2025
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| In: |
International journal of divination and prognostication
Year: 2025, Volume: 6, Issue: 2, Pages: 191-245 |
| Further subjects: | B
al-Bīrūnī
B Planets B Indic astrology B cardinal directions B majlis B seating arrangement B Islamic astrology B vāstu śāstra |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This article deals with a set of instructions for hosts and guests on how to pick the best spot at meetings in function of their objectives and the latter’s correlation with the wind directions and, indirectly, with the planets associated with these. It identifies seven related versions, in Arabic and Persian, including one from Rasulid Yemen, one from the Karamanid beylicate, one from Mamluk Egypt, one from Ottoman Egypt, and one from Ottoman Istanbul. Following their edition, translation, and commentary, it argues that the underlying direction-planet correlation is ultimately informed by Hindu astrology and, more to the point, by the Hindu science of architecture, vāstu śāstra. Furthermore, it explores the potential role in this knowledge transfer of al-Bīrūnī as translator of Varāhamihira’s Laghujātaka. |
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| ISSN: | 2589-9201 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: International journal of divination and prognostication
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/25899201-bja10029 |
