Reassessing the Islamisation of Kashmir in the 14th Century A.D. via Media Theory

Communication

This paper reconceptualises the 14th-century Islamization of Kashmir as a significant communicative shift by including essential notions from media theory. Utilising Everett Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovations, Marshall McLuhan’s concept of “the medium is the message", and James Carey’s ritual model of communication, the study redefines the embedding, transmission, and ritualization of Islamic concepts via symbolic and interpersonal media. The dissemination of Islam in Kashmir is reinterpreted as a multi-faceted media campaign, rather than being coercive or solely political, wherein khanqahs, vernacular poetry, ritual practices, and embodied performances functioned as pre-modern media systems. This study contextualises Kashmir's religious transformation as a media-facilitated dissemination of spiritual innovation through archival research, participant observation at contemporary khanqahs, and interviews with descendants of early Sufi missionaries.

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