Shaman, Saiva and Sufi

R. O. Winstedt compares shamanic, Hindu, and Sufi devotional traditions, exploring possible continuities in ritual, ecstasy, and religious discipline. The book is historically significant for its attempt to place Southeast Asian and broader Asian religious practices within a comparative framework, and it contains learned discussion of myth, ritual, and mystical experience.

Richard Olaf Winstedt (1878–1966) was a British colonial administrator and scholar of Malay language, literature, and culture. His research preserved and analyzed Malay religious and literary traditions, including materials relevant to Islamic, magical, and folkloric contexts in Southeast Asia.