On April 27-28, 2011, the Russian State University for the Humanities (RSUH) hosted an international seminar "Open Pages in South Asian Stadiums", organized by the International Training and Research Center for South Asian Studies. The Center was established at RSUH in October 2010.

The relevance of creating a Center for the Study of South Asia is primarily due to the fact that it is one of the most important and dynamically developing regions (areas) of the modern world. The six major countries of South Asia (the Republic of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan) are only slightly smaller in area than Western Europe, and the population exceeds 1.5 billion. more than a billion people live in the Republic of India. Three South Asian countries (the Republic of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh) are among the top ten most populous countries in the world. India and Pakistan are both nuclear powers. India, Pakistan and Bangladesh are also among the largest countries with Muslim populations.

South Asia is also of equal interest from the point of view of the humanities and social sciences. South Asia is extremely diverse. Almost all existing human races are represented here, and a huge number of languages, religions, and types of human communities are spread (from "primitive" tribes to modern megacities). For cultural anthropologists, linguists, sociologists, religious scholars, economists, political scientists, as well as representatives of other social and humanitarian disciplines, South Asia can provide a wide scope for research activities.

Among the main tasks assigned to the Center by the RSUH leadership are: coordination of scientific research in the field of South Asian studies; training of qualified domestic specialists in the field of South Asian studies and improving the level of knowledge in this field among students of related specialties; development of relations with leading educational and scientific centers for South Asian studies both in our country and abroad (exchange of students, postgraduates and specialists); invitation of foreign specialists to give lectures and conduct seminars; conducting specialized and interdisciplinary research in South Asia; organization of scientific seminars and symposiums with the involvement of leading domestic and foreign scientists; preparation of scientific publications. The Center participates in the development of curricula in accordance with the state educational standard; creates educational and methodological complexes in the disciplines taught by the Center's staff; prepares and publishes scientific and reference literature; develops scientific projects and programs that combine research work with the educational process; creates information databases in the process of research work (printed materials, audio and video materials, computer databases); organizes and conducts conferences, symposia, round tables and master classes on the topics and results of the Center's research work, permanent scientific seminars.

The first scientific event organized and conducted by the Center was "White Spots in the study of South Asia".

The international organizing committee of the seminar included D. Vujastik (University of Vienna), O. I. Limonova (Secretary, RSUH), A. G. Matveeva (RSUH), S. D. Serebryany (RSUH), A. A. Stolyarov (Chairman, RSUH), M. Chiotti (Humboldt University of Berlin). The seminar brought together scientists representing research centers in seven countries: Russia, India, Austria, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, and the United States.

An informational letter sent by the organizers of the workshop to potential participants outlined the main questions that were proposed for discussion: What are the most significant gaps in our understanding of South Asia? What new issues have emerged recently and may arise in the future? What do we need to fill in these gaps and solve these problems?

Obviously, these questions relate to both classical Indology and modern South Asian studies. By raising them, the organizers of the seminar wanted to start a broad interdisciplinary discussion of the problems raised at it.

At the opening of the seminar, Mayank Singh, the Second Secretary of the im. Jawaharlal Nehru of the Embassy of India in Moscow, and member of the organizing committee of the seminar A. G. Matveeva, Assistant Rector of RSUH for International Centers.

The seminar sessions were led by the Chairman of the organizing committee, Director of the International Center for South Asian Studies A. A. Stolyarov. During the seminar, 13 reports were heard and discussed.

On the first day, seven reports of the so-called traditional cycle were presented. The main report was delivered by D. Vujastik, an employee of the Institute for the Study of South Asia, Tibet and Buddhism at the University of Vienna, creator and moderator of the website and discussion sheet "Indology", a specialist in the study of the history of Indian science and medicine. His report was titled "How to identify a problem worthy of research by an indologist". D. Vuyastik encouraged colleagues to constantly look for non-trivial approaches to the subject of research, not be afraid to constantly surprise themselves and others, keep up to date with the latest research in India, Europe and America, encourage students to use new methods, give them freedom of action and provide all possible support support. In conclusion, the speaker focused on the problem of finding funds for research, which, in his opinion, takes at least 5% of all the efforts of a scientist. The language of writing applications has a special specificity; to achieve a successful result, it is necessary to master this language.

A. M. Dubyansky (ISAA MSU), a recognized specialist in the field of Tamil philology, spoke about the problems of studying Tamil literature. Speaking about the general problems of studying Oriental literature, he noted that, despite the indisputable seniority, diversity and richness, Persian, Indian, Chinese and other Oriental literatures were not taught at the philological faculties of our universities within the framework of the world literature course until recently. Turning to the consideration of Tamil, specifically - Old Tamil, literature, A. M. Dubyansky pointed out that it, being an integral part of Indian literature, should be studied in close cooperation with such parts of it as Prakrit, Sanskrit, etc. The speaker went on to describe the problems associated with the study and interpretation of one of the main monuments of ancient Tamil literature, Tolkapiyam, a major grammatical work. Problems of its chronology, place in the ancient Tamil literary tradition, mutual influences, borrowings, etc. were discussed.

S. V. Kullanda (Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences), a specialist in the field of source studies of South and Southeast Asia, as well as comparative linguistics, presented the report "Prehistory of the Aryans and the culture of Hindustan". Based on the analysis of a large linguistic material, he considered the problems of the history and culture of India, which cannot be solved on a purely Indian material and require the use of data from comparative historical linguistics, social anthropology and related traditions, primarily Iranian. These are the questions of the ancestral homeland of the Aryans, the origin of Varna, etc. The speaker argued that the Indo-Iranian system of three-term social division grew out of gender and age stratification.

E. Freschi, an associate of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the La Sapienza University of Rome, a specialist in the study of Sanskrit texts of the Nyaya tradition, and A. Keidan, a linguist from the same institute, prepared a report "The study of Indian linguistics: normative language in and modern theories of speech act". The authors turned to the consideration of some poorly studied aspects of Indian grammar, in particular, the theory of the sentence set forth in the Mimans philosophical school, finding in it much in common with the modern theory of the speech act. The most interesting ideas in this regard were those presented in the work of Jayanta Bhatta, a Kashmiri philosopher of the IX-X centuries. The authors of the report conclude that a number of postulates of Indian grammarians can be explained from the point of view of the modern theory of speech act, and vice versa.

Another joint report was prepared by V. G. Lysenko (Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Russian Anthropological School of RSUH), a specialist in the study of Buddhist Sanskrit texts, and A. I. Kobzev (Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences), a specialist in the study of ancient Chinese philosophical texts. In the report "Did Chinese atomism exist: the fate of the Vaisheshika atomistic text in the Chinese philosophical tradition", they investigated the question: why were the ideas of atomism that arose and developed in the ancient Greek and ancient Indian philosophical traditions not accepted by ancient Chinese philosophers? The reason, in their opinion, was the difference

between the alphabetic and hieroglyphic systems of writing text. While a letter in an alphabetic script could be perceived as a minimal lexical unit, a hieroglyph, even the simplest, could not be such.

J. Malik, head of the seminar on Religious and Islamic Studies at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Erfurt, author of a solid study "Islam in South Asia: a brief history" ¹, presented the report "Pre-Colonial modernity: the case of Indian Muslim pietists", in which he created a detailed reconstruction of the spiritual life of Indian society and social processes that took place in Northern India during the XIII-XVII centuries. In his opinion, during this period there was an activation of social life: literature, especially spiritual literature, and music developed; the Urdu language began to noticeably displace Persian and Arabic. A movement of "active pietism" developed in the society. There were politically conscious individuals who wanted to take their fate into their own hands. The value of the individual began to be contrasted with the values of the state. All this, as shown by J. Malik, led to a rethinking of many social values and, as a result, to the emergence of new institutions and phenomena that were further developed in the colonial era.

The first day of the workshop ended with a presentation by Duraiswamy Dayalan, an experienced archaeologist and head of the Chennai Branch of the Archaeological Survey of India. In his report "White Spots in the archaeology of South Asia", he described the extensive work done by Hindustan archaeologists in recent years, which resulted in the discovery of a large number of megalithic sites, new monuments of the Harappan civilization, including many seals, as well as a huge number of objects of material culture that indicate the existence of close trade links between the Indian and Mesopotamian cultures. D. Dayalan devoted the second part of the report to the description of a major project on the study of Buddhist monuments in Southern India, telling, in particular, about the excavations and reconstruction of an early stupa of the II century BC, located in the southern regions of Karnataka.

On the second day of the seminar, six reports of the "modern" and "South Asian" cycles were presented. The main speaker, V. Vanderbock, President of the Association of South Asian Studies of the USA, in his report "Publish or die: what South Asian researchers choose", spoke about the activities of the association, analyzing in detail the topics of monographs, articles and reports of its members over the past few years.

In her report "The Past and Present of Theravada Buddhism in Sri Lanka: Traditional Heritage against the challenges of Modernity", A. L. Safronova (ISAA MSU) focused on the phenomenon of continuity of the Buddhist tradition that has existed in Sri Lanka for almost two and a half millennia. She was interested in those aspects of monastic life and the organization of the sangha that persisted throughout this period, despite the processes of structural segmentation and differentiation observed within the Sangha itself. In particular, A. L. Safronova tried to answer the questions: what was the difference between the Indian and Sri Lankan scenarios in the fate and historical development of Buddhism? Against what background did the Theravada tradition flourish in Sri Lanka, while in India it was replaced by Mahayana, which, in turn, was replaced by Hinduism? Should a split in the sangha be considered a sign of decline and unification a sign of rebirth? Can the history of the sangha be considered at all as a period of rebirth and decline? What is the relationship between tradition and reform that has created a favorable climate for Buddhist institutions to flourish in Sri Lanka?

V. Ya. Belokrenitsky (IB RAS) prepared an interesting report "Western regions of South Asia: problems of studying tribal habitats". He noted with regret that for more than 30 years, no serious research has been conducted in the habitats of the Pashtun and Baloch tribes belonging to the Iranian peoples, as well as the Dravidian-speaking Bragui people. These are vast mountainous areas where the borders of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran converge. The most numerous of these peoples is the Pashtuns, whose number is estimated at approximately 42 million people, of which only about 30% live in Afghanistan, where the Pashtuns are the country's leading and dominant ethnic group. The total number of Baloch people is approaching 9 million. More than two-thirds of them live in the Pakistani province of Balochistan. The number of Braguis does not exceed 3 million people; the vast majority of them also live in rural areas.

¹ Malik J. Islam in South Asia: A Short History. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2008. XIV, 522 p. (http://ebooks.brillonline.nl/book?id=nij9789004168596_nij9789004168596_i-520)

Pakistan's Balochistan province. The exact number of all these peoples cannot be determined due to the absence of censuses in Afghanistan after 1979. The unwritten laws of tribes that protect their centuries-old way of life prevent the functioning of modern state institutions and norms of interstate interaction in these areas. They are complicated because visiting the remote mountain areas where they live is dangerous for researchers. Nevertheless, we should look for ways to study the life, laws and traditions of these tribes.

M. Chiotti (Intern. research. center of International Relations. She presented the results of her research on "A new understanding of the untouchable: an ethnographic approach to the study of the political factor, gender and class issues in a North Indian city". M. Chiotti drew the audience's attention to the gender issues of India's lower castes by attempting to examine the institutions of historically marginalized groups, often described as"unconstitutional". The report identified the problem of violence and attitudes towards the victim of violence as the main topic identified by the study of such communities, and emphasized the need to study their political culture and practices in direct connection with clear trends towards increasing social status.

T. L. Shaumyan (Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences) in her report "White Spots in the modern history of Hindustan: new interpretations" addressed one of the most mysterious pages in the history of modern India: the circumstances of the death or "disappearance" of Subhas Chandra Bose (1897-1945 (7)), also known as Netaji, a major figure in the Indian national liberation movement, who left a bright and ambiguous mark in the history of the struggle for the liberation of the country. Recently, there has been a significant increase in interest in the personality of S. C. Bose within India, and especially in Bengal. This is also due to the appearance of monuments to S. C. Bosh in various cities of West Bengal, and the name of the international airport in Kolkata after him. Together with Indian scientists, Russian indologists continue to search for materials, including about his possible stay in the USSR, as well as about where and how he died. T. L. Shaumyan presented the participants with four versions of S. C. Bose's biography after 1945 - one official and three alternative. Studying all the known variants will help to determine more precisely the role of Netaji in the development of the national liberation movement of Hindustan, which is especially important in the wake of growing Bengali nationalism.

The seminar ended with a bright report by T. N. Zagorodnikova (Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences), who spoke about the Suhrawardi brothers-Hassan (1890-1965) and Hussein (1892-1963) and their relations with Russia in the early-mid XX century. Born into the family of a Calcutta High Court judge, both brothers, like other scions of the elite strata of British India, graduated from the University of Calcutta and continued their education at Oxford University. After graduating from Oxford, Hussein returned to Bengal in 1921, and Hassan, interested in the Russian language and literature, came to Russia in 1916. He visited St. Petersburg, Kiev, and the Crimea, and by the end of 1917 was in Moscow. He worked at the Moscow Art Theater, where he was a member of the Board of directors. He taught English at Moscow State University and at higher women's courses. He was known in literary and theatrical circles in Moscow. He left Russia in 1920 via Georgia. But his ties with Russia did not end there. He lived in Prague, where he collaborated with the so-called Prague group of the Moscow Art Theater. In 1924, he settled in Paris and lived for several years in the apartment of Professor-archaeologist A. I. Kalitinsky and his wife, the Moscow Art Theater actress M. N. Germanova.

At the final session of the seminar, the participants expressed their gratitude to the organizers and wished to hold the seminar "White Spots in the study of South Asia" regularly every two years.

The reports presented at the seminar were distinguished by a high scientific level. The overwhelming majority of speakers accompanied their presentations with a demonstration of illustrations in the form of photographs, drawings, maps, diagrams, and texts. Computer audio recording of speeches and their discussions was also carried out. Based on the results of the seminar, it is planned to prepare and publish a collection of articles.

The success of the seminar was facilitated by the assistance provided by the RSUH management and the Cultural Center named after him. Jawaharlal Nehru of the Indian Embassy in Moscow.

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