Witness to Marvels

"The tales that are the subject of Tony K. Stewart's book depict a Bengal that is miraculously hybrid, innocent of the estrangements of the modern era. In these stories beings of all sorts—animal, human, superhuman and divine—are seen to be deeply engaged with each other. This is essential reading for everyone interested in precolonial South Asia."—Amitav Ghosh, author of The Great Derangement

“This is a work of great erudition; the sophisticated analysis is testament to Stewart’s deep engagement with Bengal’s religious, cultural, and literary histories. It is a pathbreaking work in many ways, one whose theoretical, conceptual, and methodological insights will be valuable to scholars of religion, literature, and history—of Bengal, South Asia, and beyond.”—Farina Mir, Department of History, University of Michigan

"While inspiring readers to acquire fresh methodological and analytical tools for studying religion and region, history, and aesthetics, this triumph of a book also causes us to pause and marvel at the art of translation. The translated versions we encounter here are true to the English idiom at its eloquent best while they retain the flavors of South Asian languages. This is nothing less than a standard-setter in the studies of South Asia, Islam, and literature." —Syed Akbar Hyder, Professor of Asian Studies and Islamic Studies, University of Texas at Austin