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SUFI SILSILAS IN INDIA-I

Rupa Abdi
THE CHISHTIIYYAS AND THE SUHRAWARDIYYAS
In India the four major silsilas to take root were Suhrawardiyya, Chishtiyya,
Qadiriyya and Naqshabandiyya. From these major orders many suborders such as
Shattariyya branched out.

Founders of the four great Sufi orders

THE CHISHTIYYAS: Founders of Indian Sufism

This was the silsila which with its spirit of equality and brotherhood won the hearts
of the people of the subcontinent. The doors of the Chishtiyya khanqahs were open to
all at all times. This silsila was instrumental in spreading Islam in central and
southern Indian with its ocean like generosity, mildness of the evening sun and
earth-like modesty. Sufism became a mass movement under the influence of Chishti
saints who settled in the Indus region: Sind, Punjab and Multan. The contempt of the
Chishti saints for the rulers was obvious from their refusal to accept any land or
money from them. The early Chishti saints considered anything accepted from the
rulers as unlawful. From the low caste Hindus to the mighty Mogul kings, all bowed
in reverence at the feet of the great Chishti saints.
The birth place of the Chishti order is believed to be in Chisht, a village, sixty miles
east of Herat in present day Afghanistan. However in the Indian
subcontinent Hazrat Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti (d.1236) was instrumental in
laying the foundations of Sufism especially the Chishtiyya silsila. He was born in
Sistan (a province bordering Iran and Afghanistan) and in his early years was

inspired by Abu Najib Surhawardi. Muinuddin who was also known as Khwaja Garib
Nawaaz (benefactor of the poor), reached Delhi in 1193 but later shifted to Ajmer
when it was conquered by the Delhi Sultanate.

Dargah of Khwaja Garib Nawaaz at Ajmer


Among the most important disciples of Muinuddin was Khwaja Qutbuddin
Bakhtiyar Kaki (d.1235) who carried out the Chishtiyya work in Delhi. His
successor was Shaykh Fariduddin or Baba Farid (d.1265), the legendary sufi poet
of Punjab, whose disciple was another great saint Nizamuddin Auliya (d.1325),
whose disciple was the popular poet and muscian Amir Khosrau (d.1325). Other
prominent Chishti saints and poets were Shaykh Hamiduddin Nagori (d.1274)
who was based in Nagaur (Rajasthan) and was known for his vegetarianism and
frugal life style; Hasan Sijzi Dihlawi (d.1328); Bu Ali Qalandar Panipati (d.
1323); Hazrat Nasiruddin Roshan Chiragh-i Dehli (d.1356); Muhammad
Bandanawaz Gisudara (d.1422) who spread the Chishtiyya silsila in southern
India with the patronage of Bahmani Sultans of Deccan. He was the first Indian Sufi
to write in Dakhani (the southern branch of Urdu); Shaykh Salim Chishti (d.
1572) and Warith Shah (d.1798) .

Dargah of Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki at Mehrauli, Delhi

THE SUHRAWARDIYYAS: Political Diplomats


The sufis of this order were known for their close ties with the rulers and played a key
role in making war and peace. They acted as political emissaries and ambassadors
and held important posts as advisers in the royal court and excepted jagirs and gifts
as royal patronage. The early Suhrawardiyya saints believed that it was their duty to
guide the rulers. It was from this silsila that Muinuddin Chishti drew his first
inspiration. However the Chishtiyya silsila stood in stark contrast to the
Surhawaddiyyas in their contempt for rulers and governments.
This silsila was founded in North West Iran by Abdul Qahir Abu Najib asSuhrawardi (d. 1168). He was a disciple of the well-known Imam Ghazzalis youngr
brother Ahmad Ghazzali. However, more influential than Abdul Qahir Abu Najib
as-Suhrawardi was his nephew Shihabuddin Abu Hafs Umar asSuhrawardi (d.1234), whose treatise Awarif al-Maarif became an essential part
of the courses on Sufism taught in Indian madarsas. In the Indian subcontinent,
this silsila was introduced by Bahauddin Zakariya Multani (d. 1262) who was a
contemporary of Baba Farid.The two Sufis not only lived miles apart from each other
but were also miles apart in their attitude towards material wealth and rulers.
Bhahauddin was a prosperous landlord whereas Baba Farid was a fakir in the true
sense of the word.
Some of the eminent Suhraawardi saints were Sayyid Jalaluddin Surkhpush (the
red dressed one, d.1292) who was a disciple of Zakariya. He came from Bukhara and
settled in Ucch (north east of Multan in present day Punjab-Pakistan). Fakhruddin
Iraqi (d. 1289), a was a well known Persian poet and a disciple of Bahauddin
Zakariya whose tender and intoxicatiing love songs continue to be sung at his
masters tomb in Multan. Ucch became a centre of Suhrawarddiyya silsila under the
tireless efforts of Jalaluddin Makhdum-i Jahaniyan, (the one whom all the
people of the world serve), (d.1383). Jalaluddin Tabrizi (d.1244) who was a
disciple of Abu Hafs Umar Suhrawardi, played a key role in spreading the
Suhraawardi message in Bengal.

Dargah of Gisudaraz at Gulbarga, Karnataka. (All photographs are courtesy Wikipedia)

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