This article re-examines the notion of “partnership” and its applicability to the relationship between the Japanese government and domestic NGOs in the context of foreign aid. As such, it provides empirical insights on government-non-profit relationship in understudied policy field of foreign aid in East Asian context. Illuminating how governmental financial support for Japanese NGOs has evolved in recent years, the article concludes that whereas “partnership” may be a preferred term of the Japanese government to describe the relationship with Japanese NGOs, the manner in which it is operationalized through selected financial support schemes raises legitimate questions about the validity and applicability of this particular term to the case under investigation. Hence, the chosen financial assistance schemes serve as the lenses through which the article explores and assesses the official “partnership” assertions. In sum, the relationship suffers from shortcomings in terms of mutuality and organizational identity, qualifying both the extent and quality of government-sponsored opportunities for Japanese international cooperation NGOs.
Vusamazulu Credo Mutwa (1921–2020) was one the most famous and controversial sangomas – sages, clairvoyants, healers and diviners – in South Africa. He was also the first sangoma who published books revealing sangomas’ esoteric calling, vocation and cooperation with spirits. He wrote extensively about Zulu mythology. A part of his version of mythology is the ‘history’ of the Bantu languages speaking peoples, their divine origins and the conquest of the lands in the South of Africa. Mutwa also wrote about relationships between Zulus and other ethnic groups, focusing on their mythological beginnings. The aim of this article is to analyse Mutwa’s myths and stories about the history of Bantu languages speaking peoples, relationships between Zulus and other peoples, and place it all within historical facts and religious beliefs known to academics. The article is part of the project ‘Esoteric landscape of Southern Africa’ financed by the Polish National Science Centre (Narodowe Centrum Nauki), Poland, project no. 2017/25/N/HS1/02500.
The article examines the role of ‘Abd Allāh Ibn Muḥammad aṭ-Ṭā’ī in the development of modern literature and culture in Oman and Gulf Countries. His life was devoted to build bridges of understanding between people. He was not only poet and writer but also Author of critical studies on literary life in the Gulf Countries. ‘Abd Allāh aṭ-Ṭā’ī paved the way for the next generation of men of letters and became a symbol of the revival of the Gulf Literature. All works by ‘Abd Allāh aṭ-Ṭā’ī were collected and published in 2016 in Dār Faḍā’āt in Amman.
The article aims to analyse Kāyam Khā̃ Rāso and to contextualize it against the interplay of cultural influences in early modern India. While earlier research showcased that Jān chose to accentuate just the local qualities of their Rajput lineage, this paper argues that Sufism sacred kingship presents an equally important role in its interpretation. ‘The local’ of Kāyam Khā̃ Rāso should be understood as both Islamic and Rajput rather than Rajput at the expense of Islamic features. This article examines different facets of the image of the Kāyam Khānī rulers in the text and showcases how they are presented in Rāso. It then uses the analysed image in to argue that their ‘locality’ belongs simultaneously to both worlds. Their milieu should be regarded as local, Rajput and Islamic, but equally distant from both the so-called Great Tradition of Hinduism, and orthodox Islam. It forms conversation space where contact between traditions can be achieved.
Eugene Schuyler was the first American to travel to Central Asia. Recognized as a scholar diplomat, he had written extensively on Russia and served as the US consul to Reval and the secretary of the American legation in St. Petersburg. During his diplomatic service in Russia, Schuyler was granted absence of leave to visit Central Asia and witnessed the Russian conquest of the region. He was also accompanied by the Russian army to visit the Ili region in Xinjiang amid the Dungan Revolt (1862–1877). Schuyler’s unusual experience was detailed in his travelogue Turkistan, Notes of a Journey in Russian Turkistan, Khokand, Bukhara, and Kuldja. This paper aims to analyze his travelogue to track down the earliest American contact with Central Asia. It argues that the US, even though aware of Russian military activity in the region from Schuyler’s report, tacitly acknowledged Russia’s hegemony in Asia. This could be attributable to Schuyler’s partiality to Russia’s cause, the generally congenial atmosphere in the US-Russia relations in the 1870s, and the absence of perceived US interests in Central Asia. The US foreign policy decision of the 1870s had far-reaching economic consequences and lasting political implications into the 19 th century and beyond.
The student of Ottoman Empire always keeps a watchful eye open for the rare, sometimes unique record which has somehow survived from the heyday of Ottoman historiography or archival treasuries and illuminates an aspect of history otherwise unknown to us. One such records concerns is the Book VI of Hašt Bihišt, written by Idrīs Bidlīsī (1457–1520), who is undoubtedly one of the most original and important intellectual figures in the Ottoman-Iranian borderland in the sixteenth-century. This paper deals with critical edition and translation of an unpublished tahniyat-nāma, given in Hašt Bihišt VI, which Bidlīsī dedicated to the first marriage of Mehmed II.
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