124 A DEMON WITH RUBY EYES
I argue that read carefully, the encounter details a process of trans-
lation between two sacral regimes. The encounter explains the power
of the shaykh and of the yogi, as well as the social function of ascetics
in medieval Sind. The language of the encounter is instructive: the yogi
compares his magic to that of the Sufi "as a stone is in front of the
mountains" or a "droplet in front of a river"-that is, the difference is
a matter of scale and not of kind. This equivalence is a technical one:
the same word (sahr) is used to refer to the supernatural powers of both
the Sufi and the yogi. Similarly, when Baba Farid occupies the house
of the yogi, he calls attention to the fact that he can do so because they
are both ascetics (fakir). What separates them is that the yogi was un-
just to the people of the village-he was extracting a tax from them,
and his presence was a burden to them. The encounter thus showcases a
political transition from one sacral power to another. Lastly, and perhaps
most suggestively, this encounter between the yogi and Baba Farid
is framed through descriptions of nature and the built environment-
the tree under which Farid sits; the imagery of the mountain and
stone, the river and droplet; and the built house (makan) of the yogi.
This language situates the encounter in the material world rather than
a supernatural one. The dual habitation of the well (belonging to both
Qasim and to Farid) and of the house (belonging to both the yogi and
the Sufi) reflects a politics of cohabitation in Sind's medieval land-
scape. At the very least, it suggests a framework within which one can
recognize different sacral traditions.
Discipli_ning SubjectsThus we can see'that Chachnamb. is a political theory concerned with
alliances, rule of law, justice, and good governance. Further we see that
Chachnama uses Hindu-Buddhist encounters as social and political
precedents for Muslim-Hindu encounters. While Chachnama presents
a politics of accommodation, it is not an exclusively egalitarian po-
litical vision. Indeed, the text presents social difference in the thirteen
century and may reflect the biases of its time. This is most apparent
in the treatment of nomadic Jat people, who in Chachnama are seen
as a threat to all political regimes. Institutionalized through legal