On 9 April 2026, Hindustani classical musician and scholar presented his research on the melodicities of the Kal膩m-i Mawl膩 (a poetic manual of ethics) at the . By integrating live musical demonstrations on voice and the (a traditional Indian plucked box zither), the research had a wider resonance for ethnomusicologists working in a range of sacred and devotional traditions, especially Islamic soundworlds. Dr Bhattacharyya has been associated with the South Asian Studies Unit at IIS as a research consultant since 2022.
Featured in a session on Sufism and recitation, Dr Bhattacharyya described how IsmailisAdherents of a branch of Shi’i Islam that considers Ismail, the eldest son of the Shi’i Imam Ja士far al-峁⒛乨iq (d. 765), as his successor. transmit their vocalisations of the Kal膩m-i Mawl膩 , from generation to generation, during prayers and ceremonies. He also noted how each performance of the Kal膩m-i Mawl膩 offers room for improvisation, allowing the text to acquire a sonic 鈥榣iving鈥 quality. Amongst Satpanth Ismailis, the term in common circulation to describe these melismas is 谤腻驳补.
搁别迟丑颈苍办颈苍驳听谤腻驳补听through Ismaili liturgical practice听
Moving away from canonical understandings of 谤腻驳补s as modes with characteristic ascending and descending phrases, scholars have increasingly called for an attunement to regional 谤腻驳补s. Drawing upon interviews, recordings, embodied 谤腻驳补 knowledge and musicological sources, Dr Bhattacharya鈥檚 research attempts to showcase underheard interpretations of 谤腻驳补s and Ismaili liturgical composition. By noting how the performativity of the Kal膩m-i Mawl膩 is imbued with a sense of historical purpose, it also queries how an ethnomusicology of the present might audibilise traces of the past.
