Early yearsHistorians and devotees agree that there is no reliable evidence for a particular birthplace or date of birth.

Various communities have claimed that he belongs to them, but nothing has been substantiated. It is known that he spen t considerable periods with fakirs, and his attire resembled that of a Muslim fa kir. Little has been officially documented on the early life of Shirdi Sai Baba. An a ccount of Shirdi Sai's missing childhood years has been reconstructed by his dis ciple Das Ganu, after researching in the area around the village of Pathri. He c ollected this story in four chapters on Sai Baba, later also called the Sri Sai Gurucharitra.[9][10] Das Ganu states that Sai Baba grew up in Pathri, with a fak ir and his wife. At the age of five, says Das Ganu, the fakir's wife put him in the care of the saintly desmukh Venkusha, where the boy stayed several years. Da sganu calls the young Sai Baba the reincarnation of Kabir. Because Das Ganu was known to take poetic liberties when telling stories about Sai Baba, and as there are no other sources to corroborate this story, it usually is left out of biogr aphies of Sai Baba of Shirdi. Sai Baba's biographer Narasimha Swamiji states tha t Sai Baba was born as the child of Brahmin parents: "On one momentous occasion, very late in his life, he (e.g. Sai Baba) revealed to Mahlsapathy the interesti ng fact that his parents were Brahmins of Patri in the Nizam's State. Patri is p art of Parvani taluk, near Manwath. Sai Baba added, in explanation of the fact t hat he was living in a Mosque, that while still a tender child his Brahmin paren ts handed him over to the care of a fakir who brought him up. This is fairly ind isputable testimony, as Mahlsapathy was a person of sterling character noted for his integrity, truthfulness and vairagya." [11] The above mentioned account is largely overlapped by the narration by Sathya Sai Baba, Sathya Sai Baba states as well that the fakir and his wife adopted the ba by that was to become Sai Baba shortly after his birth.[12] However, Sathya Sai Baba's stories are not considered credible by most of Shirdi Sai Baba's biograph ers. According to the book Sai Satcharita, Sai Baba arrived at the village of Shirdi in the Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra, British India, when he was about 16 y ears old. He led an ascetic life, sitting motionless under a neem tree and medit ating while sitting in an asana. The Shri Sai Satcharita recounts the reaction o f the villagers: The people of the village were wonder-struck to see such a young lad practicing hard penance, not minding heat or cold. By day he associated with no one, by nig ht he was afraid of nobody.[13] His presence attracted the curiosity of the villagers, and he was regularly visi ted by the religiously inclined, including Mhalsapati, Appa Jogle and Kashinatha . Some considered him mad and threw stones at him.[14] Sai Baba left the village , and little is known about him after that. However, there are some indications that he met with many saints and fakirs, and worked as a weaver. He claimed to h ave fought with the army of Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi during the Indian Rebellio n of 1857.[15] It is generally accepted that Sai Baba stayed in Shirdi for three years, disappeared for a year, and returned permanently around 1858, which sugg ests a birth year of 1838.[16] [edit] Return to ShirdiIn 1858 Sai Baba returned to Shirdi. Around this time he adopted his famous style of dress consisting of a knee-length one-piece robe (ka fni) and a cloth cap. Ramgir Bua, a devotee, testified that Sai Baba was dressed like an athlete and sported 'long hair flowing down to the end of his spine' wh en he arrived in Shirdi, and that he never had his head shaved. It was only afte r Baba forfeited a wrestling match with one Mohdin Tamboli that he took up the k afni and cloth cap, articles of typical Sufi clothing.[17] This attire contribut ed to Baba's identification as a Muslim fakir, and was a reason for initial indi

fference and hostility against him in a predominantly Hindu village.[18] Accordi ng to B.V. Narasimhaswami, a posthumous follower who was widely praised as Sai B aba's "apostle", this attitude was prevalent up to 1854 even among some of his d evotees in Shirdi.[19] For four to five years Baba lived under a neem tree, and often wandered for long periods in the jungle around Shirdi. His manner was said to be withdrawn and un communicative as he undertook long periods of meditation.[20] He was eventually persuaded to take up residence in an old and dilapidated mosque and lived a soli tary life there, surviving by begging for alms, and receiving itinerant Hindu or Muslim visitors. In the mosque he maintained a sacred fire which is referred to as a dhuni, from which he gave sacred ashes ('Udhi') to his guests before they left. The ash was believed to have healing and apotropaic powers. He performed t he function of a local hakim, and treated the sick by application of ashes. Sai Baba also delivered spiritual teachings to his visitors, recommending the readin g of sacred Hindu texts along with the Qur'an. He insisted on the indispensabili ty of the unbroken remembrance of God's name (dhikr, japa), and often expressed himself in a cryptic manner with the use of parables, symbols and allegories.[21 ] Sai Baba participated in religious festivals and was also in the habit of prepar ing food for his visitors, which he distributed to them as prasad. Sai Baba's en tertainment was dancing and singing religious songs. After 1910 Sai Baba's fame began to spread in Mumbai. Numerous people started vi siting him, because they regarded him as a saint with the power of performing mi racles, or even as an Avatar.[22] They built his first temple at Bhivpuri, Karja t.[23]