Le maître du jardin: rivalités religieuses au Nangarhār

In the Kabul River Valley, several religious movements arose towards the end of the sixteenth century when commercial exchanges with North India intensified. According to some religious texts, historical chronicles as well as temple or books pictorial representations, communities of Hindus and Sikhs in Afghanistan started their expansion between Peshawar and Kabul, at an unspecified date. In the vicinity of large fruit gardens, built by the Mughal conqueror Bābur in these regions, some inhabitants could find employment when, at the same time, production was exported towards distant markets. By exploring field data and various religious or historical written sources, we discover that a locality of this Valley, its garden and water source, as well as its principal place of worship, were at the origin of disputes between Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs. While the religious specialists were trying to expand the number of their devotees in the area, the farmers and the merchants attached to their movements were competing to earn income from agricultural activities, transportation and land ownership. However, the contribution of artisans and workers was decisive in the dissemination of religious practices along the Kabul River Valley and the development of the different religious communities. The production of the trades' people and the services they gave were more often necessary for daily rituals or occasional celebrations could take place. Dans la vallée de la rivière Kaboul, plusieurs mouvements religieux voient le jour vers la fin du xviᵉ siècle au moment où les échanges commerciaux s'intensifient avec l'Inde du Nord. D'après certains textes religieux, chroniques historiques ou représentations picturales de temples ou de livres, les communautés hindoue et sikhe de l'Afghanistan se seraient d'abord constituées entre Peshawar et Kaboul, mais sans que la date de leur implantation ne soit précisée. Autour de grands jardins fruitiers, construits par le conquérant moghol Bābur dans ces régions, les habitants ont pu trouver de l'emploi, alors que la production était bientôt exportée vers des marchés lointains. En explorant les données de terrain et diverses sources écrites, nous découvrons qu'une localité de cette vallée, son jardin et sa source, ainsi que son principal lieu de culte, ont été au coeur de rivalités entre musulmans, hindous et sikhs. Tandis que les spécialistes des cultes cherchaient à élargir le nombre de leurs fidèles, les fermiers et les marchands ratt