Annemarie Schimmel Scholarship Awarded to Professor Rahile Dawut
February 2008

The Institute of Ismaili Studies (IIS) has awarded its second Annemarie Schimmel Scholarship, which is given every three years, to Professor Rahile Dawut, Director of the Center for Anthropology and Folklore and Professor at the School of Humanities at Xinjiang University. One aim of Professor Dawut’s research is to further the understanding of Islam in China.



Professor Dawut, whose research focuses on the folklore and local Muslim rituals of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, received her Ph.D. from Beijing Normal University in 1998. Her publications include Mazar Worship Among the Uyghur (Xinjiang University Press, 2001) and Introduction to Uyghur Mazar (Xinjiang People’s Press, 2001). She has been a Visiting Scholar at Pennsylvania University’s Center for Folklore and Ethnography as well as at the University of California Berkeley’s Department of Anthropology.

IIS’ Annemarie Schimmel Fellowship, inaugurated in 2004, is given to a scholar working in the fields of interest to the late Professor Schimmel. The previous fellowship recipient was Dr Ahmet Karamustafa. The £10,000 award is intended to assist the recipient to complete research leading to publication of a book. Professor Dawut will use her award to explore shrine pilgrimage among the Uyghurs in China and its relationship to Sufism and Shi‘ism