Medieval India Project

Sufism at Khuldabad

Sufism
Before beginning to discuss the Sufis of Khuldabad, it is necessary to
explore the historical background of the Sufi tradition of Islamic
mysticism.

Sufism seems to have originated first in Iraq and then became

established in iran, especially Khurasan. By the 10th century Sufism
was a well- established movement with a large literature.

Sufism is a tradition rooted in the Quran and Prophet Muhammad. It

includes the study of religious Islamic learning, which then takes on a
mystical quality from the interpretation of traditional subjects in terms
of internal experiences of the soul.
Every thing has an external (zahir) and an internal (batim) aspect. If
religious Islamic law is the external form, then Sufism is its inner
meaning.

These internal experiences were broadly divided into the 2 categories

of ‘states’ and ‘stations’.
Junayd of Baghdad defines the state as ‘an event that descends upon
the heart but does not last’. The states were described as temporary
conditions of the soul caused by God’s manifestation in one’s
consciousness.

Stations, on the other hand, could be induced by human effort. Sarraj

describes them as ‘the station of the creature before God, in terms of
where one stands from devotions, exertions, meditations and
concentration on God.

The Sufi movement crystallized into a series of ‘orders’ (silsilas) which

were formed around a number of charismatic Sufi leaders in the 12th
and 13th centuries. The concept of the master-disciple relationship was
the basis of the Silsila. Famous orders include the Suhrawardy order,
the Chisti order etc.
 Turkish conquest of the Deccan

Raids and Annexation

Turkish Sultans’ raids into indian territories were not motivated by
religious fanaticism or iconoclasm, but were quests for booty. The
sultans had in mind strategic concerns on the north west frontier
when they planned raids on India. For instance, the Ghurid sultans’
attack on Hindustan in 1205-6 was required to raise funds to reequip
the army for was against Khwarazm Shah.
Subsequently, the Delhi Sultanate had to be constantly on guard
against attack from the North West invasion route, which they had
themselves followed. To this end, the invasion of the Deccan was a
continuation of the Sultans’ policy of using loot form indian cities to
strengthen defenses against central Asian attackers.
Balban in 1247 advocated raids on the indian kingdoms in order to
acquire massive funds needed to strengthen army against the Mongol
attack.
In 1296 Ala al-Din Khalji invaded the Yadava kingdom, after learing
about the vast wealth of Deogir. This successful raid had whetted his
appetite and he led a new expedition in 131, invading the Hoysala
kingdom, whose capital was undefended and thus submitted easily.
There was constant warfare among the monarchs of the south who
never seem to have considered an alliance against the Turks.
Uptil this point, the Delhi Sultans’ policy towards the Deccan was
simply to raid it treasure cities, but in 1313 they were drawn towards
annexing the region. Ala al-Din had coins minted in Deogir signifying
its consolidation into his empire.

Muhammad bin Tuglaq

He was sent by his father Ghiyas al-Din Tuglaq in 1321 to establish his
control over the tributary kingdoms of the South. Some time after he
had ascended the throne, in 1328 he decided to make Deogir (now
Daulatabad) a second administrative capital of his empire, to ease the
task of governance.
Since the move to Daulatabad was the basis for the establishment of
a Sufi centre in Khuldabad, it will be useful to discuss the Sultan’s
intentions.
He then embarked on one of his most ambitious and controversial
projects , to tranfer the entire Muslim elite from Delhi to Daultabad.
Writers from religious classes unanimously condemned the move and
distorted his motives, due to the displeausure of the Sufis and ulama
at being forced to migrate to Daulatabad. Medieval authors like ibn
battuta and barani, stated that the entire city of delhi was
depopulated and destroyed.
They failed to mention that it was only the Muslim elite that was
forced to move, whereas the Hindu population was living and
prospering at the time, as mentioned in Sanskrit sources.

Thus delhi was still the main administrative capital, and coins
continued to be minted there.
Apart from certain ecomonic reasons for the transfer, the sultan
believed that the Sufis could, by persuasion bring many of the
inhaitants of the
deccan to become Muslims, which would advance his own political
authority.
But the Sufis did ont wish to engage in the su;tan’s program of
conversion of Hindus to Islma, since it was basically a program in the
service of the empire. Preaching in support of imperial expansion was
not an activity the Sufi could engage in.

The migration backfired politically, some Sufis and scholars who had
come to Dulatabad remained and went on to other urban centres in
the Deccan helping to consolidate the Islamic intellectual tradition in
the South. Islam and the Sufi tradition had become transplanted to
Khuldabad.

Khuldabad

Burhan al-Din Gharib

The Disciple

Burhan al-Din Gharib was a disciple of Nizam al-Din Auliya, and the
Malfuzat texts suggest a very close spiritual relationship between the
two. Once Burhan al-Din had attained spiritual perfection, Auliya gave
him dominion (vilayat) over the Deccan.

The master
He was impatient with the sterile debates of scholars about the
precise manner of washing hands during ablutions, for him it was
more important to exert oneself for the benefit of the others. He said
the sufi order was known for 2 things- love and compassion.

His style as a teacher was simple and direct, drawing on a wealth of

Sufi narratives and his own vivid metaphors to convey points to
listeners. For Example-
Speaking of renunciation, he first likened the world to a shadow, and
the Sun to God. Since one’s shadow can only be faced by turning
away from the Sun, the world can only be embraced by turning away
from God. Thus in order experience divine unity, one needs to first
renounce the world.

Teachings & Practices

Initiation
Among the Sufi practices that receive attention on the malfuzat of
Burhan al-Din, initiation (bay’at) needs to be singled out. It is
regarded as being the formal acknowledgement of religious authority
as instituted by Prophet Muhammad among his followers.
If someone needs to be honoured with initiation, one should fast that
day, give alms and perform ritual prayer. After that 3 conditions must
be fulfilled- acceptance by the master with a handshake, shaving and
the receiving of a cloak from the master. The disciple also swears an
oath to remain on the path of religious law.
Special procedures govern the initiation of women disciples. Women
could undertake initiation with a Sufi Shaykh just as women had taken
the oath of allegiance to Muhammad. The procedure, derived from a
hadith related by umar, was for the woman to place her hand in a cup
of water after which the shaykh would also put his hand in the water,
and then the oath of initiation would be administered.

Prayer
The five daily ritual prayers required of all muslims were obligatory in
Sufi circles as well. Apart from these, much attention is given to
supererogatory prayers (nawafil) as well as chants (wird). These
prayers, performed at specific times especially during the night, had
been a basic feature of Sufi piety for centuries. They were
recommended to ward off evils or solve problems.
Chants, however, were more specific and spontaneous, and might
consist of special petitions addressed to God.

Interiorization of Ritual
The impulse towards interiorization of ritual was the dominant aspect
of religious practice among Khuldabad Chistis. Burhan al-Din
explained this as a transition from practicing Islmaic law to
undergoing moral transformation, followed by the onset of mystical
experience.
Similarly, the mystical interpretation of the hajj pilgrimage is attaining
closeness to the divine beloved, and the sufi fast is not simply
abstinence during the days of the Ramazan, but a continual
deprivation of the soul in order to reach the vision of God in the heart.

Pilgrimage
The Chistis also followed practices based on the master-disciple
relationship, such as pilgrimage to tombs of saints and the
observation of their death anniversaries.
Pilgrimage to tombs was not worship of the people buried there, but a
worship of God that looked to the saint as a kind of intermediary.
Disciples often found guidance from deceased saints in dreams after
spending time meditating at their tombs.

House of Gathering
The centre of activities among the Chisthis was called the jama’at
khana, literally the ‘house of gathering’. This was not a large
establishment supported by endowments, unlike the khanqahs of Iran
and central asia, but were essentially the residence of the shaykh.
Meals were taken here, people slept here and the basic teaching
activities, interviews and rituals took place in the central room

Sama
One of the most distinctive practices of the Chistis was Sama, or
listening to musical recitation of poetry. Bruce Lawrence describes it
as the ‘hearing of chanted verse in the company of others in order to
participate in the dynamic dialogue between a human lover and the
Divine Beloved’
One of the most intriguing effects of Sama is dancing, spoken of as
the spontaneous expression of ecstasy.
Burhan al-Din was, more than any other disciple of Auliya, dedicated
to the practice of Sama. Mir Khwurd has said that Burhan al-Din had a
distinct style in dancing, so that the companions of the saints were
called ‘Burhanis’ among the lovers.
An older Sufi source states, ‘every limb has a portion in Sama. The
portion of the eye is weeping, the portion of the tongue is crying out,
the portion of the hand is striking the garment, and the portion of the
foot is dancing.’
Strict rules of etiquette as well as demanding intellectual guidelines
gevern the enactment of sama. Every session begins and ends with
the recitation of the Quran and participants perform ablutions. It is
forbidden to criticize a singer. One cannot chew betel or drink
anything during a musical session.
Since music, especially instrumental music has always had an uneasy
status in Islamic law, the practice of Sama has been controversial. It
has been attacked as a suspicious, and immoral innovation. Many Sufi
authorities state that Sama is a stimulant for those whose spiritual
nerves have become deadened. Jurists opposition took the form of
petitions to the Sultans of Delhi, seeking to forbid the practice. Both
iltutmish and Ghiyas al-Din tuglaq refused to outlaw these Chisti
observances.

Sufism and the State

Background
The sufi orders and their establishments were a part of the larger
Islamic society in which they lived, and their fortunes were often tied
to the political arena.
After 945 ad, the caliph was reduced to a figurehead status leading to
the erosion of the caliphate as the centre legitimate Islamic authority.
the sultanate emerged slowly as a distinct political entity, given a
semi legal status due to the victories of the adventurous clans of
Turkish or Iranian origins. They sought to strengthen their tenuous
legitimacy by extensive patronage of Islamic religious institutions.
This formed the background to the relations between the Sufis and
the Sultans in Indian subcontinent.

Accommodation & Resistance

Sufis responded cautiously to the overtures of the Sultans, and their
attitude towards royal sponsorship varied considerably. On the one
hand, certain Sufis sought to influence the Sultanate to make it
genuinely Islamic in character, while others opposed the injustice of
the kings and tried to avoid having any contact with rulers whose
wealth according to them was illegally extorted from the people.

The tension between accommodation and resistance to royal authority

by Sufis will find expression in conflicting historiographies of court
historians.
Certain narratives that depict Sufi saints giving limitless praise of the
virtues and wisdom of rulers are no different from political panegyric,
whether they occur in hagiographies or royal chronicles.
On the other extreme, certain hagiographies show Sufis destroying
evil kings with their miraculous powers, which may be considered
attempts to achieve restitution through the imagination.

The Chisti order is best known for its constant refusal to ask kings for
financial support. the relationship between the Chistis of Khuldabad
and contemporary political figures in the administration of Sultan
Muhammad bin Tuglaq needs to be explored.

Gifts
The teachings of the Khuldabad chistis specifically mention the strict
condition under which certain gifts could be accepted.
Burhan al-Din observes that one should not sit in the mosque
continuously looking at the door to see if anyone was bringing
something, even if gifts were accepted they should not be saved up-
‘Nothing comes to a clenched fist, open up that they may open up,
give that you may find’. Borrowing was also frowned upon. Also
unacceptable was any donation derived from illicit wealth.

Visitors
A number of government administrators appear in the malfuzat texts
in the role of visitors to the Sufi shaykh. Certain incidents indicate that
Burhan al-Din had considerable influence at court, so that people tried
to bribe and influence him to intercede with the authorities on their
behalf. He made it a rule to always listen to these requests, but
refuse the gift for ‘dervishes are not bribe-takers’.

Disciples at court
Chisti masters such as Burhan al-Din tried to stay clear of direct
involvement with the court , but they often encouraged disciples to
retain government posts, even when these disciples showed signs of
wanting to renounce the world. Only certain people were called
towards the life of renunciation, through divine invitation. Even
Burhan al-Din had to wait until the proper time.
Amir Khusraw, the panegyrist to seven sultans of Delhi, must indeed
have ‘sickened over the fantastic hyperbolic poetry he ingenuously
churned out for decades.’ Only in the privacy of his relationship with
Nizam al-Din Auliya did he give expression to the resentment he felt
over the task. The Chisthis evidently felt that society required the
average disciple to fulfill the duties of office, while only the rare
individual would have the ability to give up all worldly connections.

Thus the Khuldabad texts portray the Sufis’ relations with political
power somewhere between independence and interdependence. Sufi
principals prevented the acceptance of gifts of money or land,
nonetheless the sufis occupied a privileged political positions that
drew the nobility to their lodges.