Islam in Asia: Diversity in Past and Present Exhibition: Islam in South Asia

Books have been treasured for centuries in the Islamic world, as precious objects worthy of royal admiration. This was especially true in Muslim India, where generations of Mughal emperors commissioned and collected volumes of richly illuminated manuscripts and lavishly illustrated folios. They assembled workshops of the leading artists and calligraphers to produce the books that filled their extensive libraries. Today, those works remain a vibrant part of India's cultural and artistic history in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
(the book itself is not in the exhibit but on the dictionary stand near the exhibit, and can be checked out)

Sufi shrines are found in many Muslim communities throughout the world, and are called by many names. The term dargah is common in the Persian-influenced Islamic world, notably in Turkey and South Asia.
In South Asia, dargahs are often the site of festivals (Milad) held in honor of the deceased saint at the date of his Urs, the day dedicated to the saint which usually falls on the saint's death anniversary. The shrine is illuminated with candles or strings of electric lights at this time.
This volume focuses on eleven historically significant ones in India.

The crowning jewel of Indo-Islamic architecture is the Taj Mahal. Ornamental details include inlaid Quranic inscriptions. Geometric, floral and calligraphic details were carefully planned and executed. The use of precious stones in the inlay work add to the richness of the structure.
(The book itself is not in the exhibit but on the dictionary stand near the exhibit, and can be checked out.)

The webs, nodes and networks created by Britain's Indian Ocean Empire during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries are here explored in the context of their personal and social impact. Using the British Settlement of Aden as its focus, the book examines the development of a local communitywithin the spaces created by imperial rule. It explores how individuals from widely disparate backgrounds brought together by the networks of empire created a cohesive community utilizing the one commonality at their disposal: their faith. Specifically, it examines how religious institutions andspiritual ideas served as parameters for the creation of community and the kinds of symbolic and cultural capital an individual needed to attain communal membership and influence within the confines of imperial rule.