Conclusion

This chapter reviews key findings of the study, with a particular eye to what may be more generalizable to other texts, figures, and contexts. The chapter additionally reflects upon what these early modern South Asian thinkers – and this historical case study in dialogic translation – might contribute to contemporary academic discussions on interreligious interactions. Finally, the chapter considers a current debate in Religious Studies, namely, whether and how, in light of its Orientalist and imperialist past, the academic study of religion can entertain the prospect of allowing other (“non-Western”) civilizational epistemologies a genuine place at the table. That is to say, can Religious Studies, as a field, allow space for the perspectives and methodologies of “non-Western” thinkers not merely as objects of study, but as voices and perspectives that can be legitimately learned from and dialogued with? If such a “cross-civilizational dialogue” is indeed desirable, then Mughal South Asia, it is suggested, can help model for scholars today what measures might be necessary to facilitate such conversations successfully.