Chand begum wife of humayun
Mughal emperors and Sufi saints: patronage and indifference
Timurid-Mughal connections with Sufi masters predate their arrival to North India. From the second half of the fifteenth century many of the princes from the house of Timur became deeply drawn towards the Central Asian Naqshbandi Sufis, particularly their famous master Khwaja Nasir al-Din ‘Abdallah Ahrar (d.
). Babur (—), who later established the Mughal dynasty in North India was initiated under the latter at the time of his birth. Later when Babur took control of Kabul, in , he extended patronage to the descendants of Ahrar, to the extent of giving one of his daughters in marriage to a Naqshbandi shaykh.
A daughter from this marriage was married to Bayram Khan, Akbar’s regent.
Mughal royal ladies like Bakshi Banu Begum, the sister of Akbar (—), was married to one of the grandsons of Khwaja Nura (d. —), himself the grandson of Ahrar. Inclusion of the Naqshbandis into the Mughal imperial household through matrimony, and into the bureaucracy through appointments in religious offices, made it evident that Mughals over the course of time, and migration to North India, ceased to identify members of the Naqshbandi family simply as a reputed Sufi order.
Rather their incorporation into the Mughal establishment gave rise to an “informal aristocratic lobby at the Mughal court.”5
The direct impact of this was the introduction of the Naqshbandiyya order in North India through the efforts of Khwaja Baqi Billah in , and thereafter Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi in , styled by his contemporaries as mujaddid or renewer of the Islamic faith at the turn of the second millennium.
Mughal-Naqshbandiyya relations therefore continued throughout the span of the Empire, primarily in North India but also in the Deccan, except in the period of Akbar when the Emperor publicly displayed his devotion for Chishtiyya masters and their shrines around the imperial capital at Agra. Sirhindi was critical of Akbar’s religious policies, not so much for his attachment with the Chishtiyya, but for the “ascendency of infidelity during the reign of Akbar.”6
When Babur established his political authority in North India he quickly realised that supplanting Mughal-Naqshbandiyya relations in this region was easier said than done.
Irrespective of changes at the political helm, the spiritual tradition of North India was completely dominated by the Chishtiyya order, whose wide networks not only percolated the social structures, reaching to the masses, but extended into the royal courts too. So that after assuming authority, Babur lost little time in expressing his reverence towards erstwhile Chishtiyya masters through the physical act of visitation (ziyarat) to their shrines.7 His first visit after entering Delhi was to the shrine of Nizam al-Din Awliya (d.
), followed by the shrine of Qutb al-Din Bakhtiyar Kaki (d. ).
Mughal attempt at utilising Sufi authority and charisma for political ends is nowhere better reflected than in the career of its most illustrious emperor, Jalal al-Din Muhammad Akbar. In the imperial gazetteer of the Mughals, the Ain-i Akbari (c.
) written by
Abu’l-Fazl, the latter refers to 14 Sufi orders in India. Many of them had negligible influence in South Asia.8
- 1 Habibiyya, founded by Shaykh Habib Ajami
- 2 Tayfuriyya, founded by Shaykh Bayazid Tayfur Bistami
- 3 Karkhiyya, founded by Khwaja Ma'ruf Karkhi
- 4 Saqatiyya, founded by Shaykh Abu’l-Hasan Sari Saqati
- 5 Junaydiyya, founded by Shaykh Junayd Baghdadi
- 6 Kazaruniyya founded by Shaykh Abu’l-Ishaq b.Biography of bakshi banu begum agan song Longing for an heir to the Mughal throne, Akbar visited Salim Chishti d. Salim to — Salim was the 4th and eldest surviving child who was born on the 30th of August Akbar happened to be the supreme governor, and he retained ultimate legislative, judicial, and administrative power. Textbook Solutions.
Shahriyar
- 7 Tusiyya, founded by Shaykh ‘Ala’ al-Din Tusi
- 8 Firdawsiyya, founded by Shaykh Najm al-Din Kubra
- 9 Suhrawardiyya, founded by Shaykh Najib al-Din ‘Abd al-Qahir Suhrawardi
- 10 Zaydiyya, founded by Shaykh ‘Abd al-Wahib b. Zayd
- 11 ‘lyadiyya, founded by Shaykh Fudayl b. ‘Iyad
- 12 Adhamiyya, founded by Shaykh Ibrahim Adham
- 13 Hubayriyya, founded by Khwaja Hubayrat al-Basri
- 14 Chishtiyya, founded by Khwaja Abu Ishaq
In the period of their rise as the most powerful centralised political structure in South Asia, the Mughals had to engage with the Chishtiyya, a Sufi order with Central Asian roots similar to the Naqshbandiyya.
Even after Akbar had consolidated his authority through a spectacular series of military victories, he could not ignore the presence of the influential Chishtiyya Sufis. Akbar too exhibited a strong attachment to Chishtiyya shrines, reflected through the annual visitations to the shrine of Mu‘in al-Din in Ajmer, during the time of ‘urs,'> beginning in After his victory over arch-rival Mewar leading to the capture of Chittor in , Akbar walked from Chittor to Ajmer, showing his respect to Mu‘in al-Din and fulfilling the vow he had taken before the war."’
Akbar’s single most important encounter with Chishtiyya Sufis was responsible for securing his lineage, through the birth of his son.
Longing for an heir to the Mughal throne, Akbar visited Salim Chishti (d. ) in the small village ofSikri, some miles from the imperial capital at Agra. Official accounts record the birth of a son in by the blessings of the Chishtiyya master. The son, who later succeeded Akbar as Jahangir, was named Salim, after the Sufi saint. This event reinforced the belief of the Emperor on Chishtiyya spirituality.
Biography of bakshi banu begum agan Rather he had imperial interests in mind as Ajmer lay in Rajputana, as a corridor for trade and military movement. After gaining success at Golconda, Aurangzeb returned to the Gulbarga shrine in an act of gratitude. Was the man actually educated? Her contribution in terms of shrine architecture was the Begumi Dalan built of white marble over the main entrance to the mausoleum.In his display of gratitude Akbar offered a thanksgiving trip to the shrine ofMu'in al-Din in Ajmer, all the way on foot from Agra, an act repeated later that year on the birth of his second son.
In an act of personal reverence to Salim Chishti, the Emperor built a beautiful marble mausoleum with lattice screens on the tomb of the saint.
It is situated in the central courtyard at Fatehpur Sikri accessed by the Buland Darwaza, built to commemorate the victory of Gujarat in 11 Scholars have argued that by choosing a living Chishtiyya saint, connected to an early Chishtiyya master in Punjab, Akbar not only attached himself to the early generation of Chishtis but also “was able to confirm and continue his affiliation with the tomb of Shaykh Mu‘in al-Din Chishti in Rajasthan.”12
Akbar’s involvement in Ajmer was not exclusively a spiritual affair.
Rather he had imperial interests in mind as Ajmer lay in Rajputana, as a corridor for trade and military movement. In the period after , Akbar stopped his annual pilgrimages to the Ajmer shrine and in fact to any Sufi shrine within the Empire. By Fatehpur Sikri was abandoned as the imperial capital for Lahore, thus severing Akbar’s ties with Salim Chishti, once and for all.
The idea of imperial authority therefore came to rest increasingly in the persona of the Emperor rather than on any external agency, a saint or his shrine complex. While Akbar started to “command allegiance more to his person” reaffirmed by the mahzar decree which “affirmed the spiritual supremacy of the Emperor and his superiority to all religious functionaries,”13 places like Fatehpur Sikri and Ajmer, and individuals like Salim Chishti and Mu‘in al-Din Chishti were redefined, to the extent of being dispensed with.14
Jahangir started visiting Ajmer from , even before he became the emperor.
As Emperor, Jahangir’s first visit was in to offer respect to the shrine. Jahangir’s devotion to the cult of Mu‘in al-Din and his faith in the spiritual authority of the first Chishtiyya master in India led him to commission a miniature by Bichitr portraying Mu‘in al-Din handing over the orb and crown of imperial office to Jahangir.
Biography of bakshi banu begum agan in hindi Akbar abolished pilgrimage and Jizya taxes that the non-Muslims were required to pay, and he was pretty fair towards his people. Jehangir loved her very much. This event reinforced the belief of the Emperor on Chishtiyya spirituality. He propagated the idea of Sulahkul ie, Universal Peace, married Hindu princesses and abolished Jizya tax on non-Muslims.The inscription on the orb read “The key of victory over the two Worlds is entrusted to thy hand.”1’ The Emperor stayed in Ajmer for three years and in that period he visited the shrine nine times, gifted the dargah one of the large cauldrons that can be seen today. At the end of the third year in Jahangir placed a “gold railing with lattice-work at the enlightened tomb of the revered Khwaja.”16
Along with the Chishtis, Mughal ancestral relations with the Naqshbandiyya continued unabated during Jahangir’s reign.
He nurtured this relationship portraying himself as “one of (the) devotees and sincere servant” of the order and its earliest master, Ahrar. Mughal norms of courtly etiquette were ignored when a certain Naqshbandi emissary from Transoxiana, Khwaja ‘Abdul Rahim was exempted from the kurnish and taslim, standard rituals of obeisance before the Emperor.
It is however interesting, at the same time ironical, that few years later an equally reputed Naqshbandiyya master, Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi would be imprisoned for his reluctance to perform the same rituals for the Emperor.1' The other Naqshbandiyya saint who Jahangir held in high regard was Sayyid Abu’l-‘Ala’ Akbarabadi, a descendent of Ahrar.
Towards the end of his life, Jahangir’s relations with Naqshbandiyya Sufis centred around the personality of Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi (d.
), the chief disciple of the Naqshbandiyya saint Baqi Billah (d. ).18 Their initial relations were far from cordial as Jahangir was annoyed by Sirhindi’s condemnation of Akbar’s religious policy. Matters started to worsen from , when Sirhindi in a letter to Mir Muhammad Numan lamented at the disappointment of Jahangir’s reign. Not long after writing this letter Jahangir summoned Sirhindi to the court demanding an explanation.
When Sirhindi satisfied the Emperor with a detailed explanation, charges were levied against him that he did not perform the mandatory prostration before the Emperor at court. To which Sirhindi replied, “I have never bowed my head to any of God’s creatures and 1 never will.” Expectedly, Jahangir ordered the Rajput chief Anirai Singh Dalan to imprison Sirhindi at the Gwalior fort.
A year later in , the Emperor changed his mind, and not only set him free from imprisonment but honoured him with a robe and a sum of two thousand rupees.19 After his release from prison Sirhindi in one of his last letters to Emperor Jahangir stressed upon the importance of the real victory (haqiqat-i fath) which can only be realised by upholding the banner of Islam high in his domain, with the support of the “army of prayer” (lashkar-T du a), which for Sirhindi was way stronger than the “army of war” (lashkar-i ghaza). Travelling from Sirhind to Lahore and Kashmir in January , Jahangir came to know of Miyan Mir, a prominent saint of the Qadiriyya order, whose blessings he sought to gain success against Shah ‘Abbas of Iran.
Emperor Jahangir’s son and successor Shah Jahan’s (—) campaign against Mewar in , and the subsequent victory remains one of the landmark achievements of his reign. The Mughal Emperor attributed this to the grace of the Ajmeri saint Mu’in al-Din, and as a mark of gratitude he built the second monumental gateway outside the Buland Darwaza, which came to be known as the Shah Jahani Darwaza.
Shah
Jahan added a mosque to the shrine complex in Ajmer, which remains to this day the most beautiful exhibition of Mughal architecture attached to the shrine. The mosque enclosure was built of polished marble, bounded by a balustrade.
Shah Jahan’s daughter Jahânârâ was a greater devotee to the shrine of Ajmer than any of the Mughal womenfolk.
Her contribution in terms of shrine architecture was the Begumi Dalan built of white marble over the main entrance to the mausoleum.2" Most importantly she is also the author of two Sufi biographies: one of her Qâdiriyya Sufi teacher Mullâ Shah Badakhshï titled Risâla-i Sahibiyya2' written in , and the other on Mu'ïn al-Dîn Chishtî (d.
) titled Mûnis al-Arwâh22 written in In , the Mughal princess out of a deep sense of devotion towards Mu'ïn al-Dîn, glimpsed from the verse below, made a personal visit to the Ajmer shrine on the occasion of ‘urs, where she performed all the customary rituals of a Sufi shrine along with praying at the mosque recently built by her father.
Our Mu'ïn al-Dîn is annihilated in God,
And after that he subsists in the absolute essence.
Jahânârâ’s attachment to Ajmer overshadows, even if briefly, her Qâdiriyya affiliation through the Kashmiri mystic Mullâ Shâh whose mosque and khânaqâh complex in Srinagar were patronised by the Mughal princess.
Jahânârâ’s Qâdiriyya affiliations, along with that of the Chishtî, impart her character with a degree of dynamicity drawing directly from a sense of spiritual authority almost unprecedented in the Mughal harem. It widened the scope of Mughal—Sufi relations not only with pan-Indian orders like the Chishtiyya but also with orders that commanded a strong trans-regional connection, initially the Naqshbandiyya, followed by the Qâdiriyya.
The Mughal princess was introduced to the Qâdirî order in , specifically to Miyân Mîr, by her younger brother Dârâ Shikuh himself the heir-apparent to the Mughal throne. Within a few years Jahânârâ was fully drawn into the Qâdiriyya spiritual fold, perhaps accelerated by the fact that there hardly remained any Chishtiyya master of great spiritual charisma who could have commanded piety from the Mughal princess.
Whatever the case may be, Jahânârâ was introduced to her pîr Mullâ Shâh, by Miyân Mîr, at whose feet she experienced the sublime feelings of a pïr-muridï relationship, where she preferred to see herself only as afaqîra (the poor one) in the path of God that led her to the path of mystical unveiling of the deep secrets.23
Mughal Prince Dârâ Shikuh (d.
), Jahânârâ’s younger sibling, is more famous among later Mughals for his deep engagement with notions of Unity in the Indian and Islamic traditions, analysed from a Sufi perspective. He was deeply drawn towards the inherent spiritual truth that was practiced by the five leading Sufi orders in South Asia — Chishtiyya, Suhrawardiyya, Qâdiriyya, Naqshbandiyya and Kubrawiyya.24 This conviction led him to complete in his first spiritual treatise, a compendium of Sufi biographical accounts, titled the Safinat al-Awliya (Ship of the Friends of God).
Biography of bakshi banu begum agan full He was given a public execution in on multiple charges most of which remain unclear. Akbar happened to be the supreme governor, and he retained ultimate legislative, judicial, and administrative power. CBSE class 8. Wikiwand for Firefox.His second work, the Sakinat al Aivliya (Peace of the Friends of God), was written in , at a time when Dârâ had progressed on the path of spiritual experiences under the tutelage of Mullâ Shâh. The work contains an account of Miyân Mîr, his sister Bîbî Jamâl Khâtun and Miyân’s disciples. Dârâ’s rigorous practice of Qâdiriyya meditational exercises, particularly the dhikr, led him to experience, in his own words, a divine voice in that resulted in a treatise the following year titled Risâla-i Haqq Numa (Compass of Truth) ().
The work was styled on the daily life and religious activities of Prophet Muhammad. The Hasanât al-'Arifîn (Aphorisms of the Gnostics) completed in gave an elaboration on the ecstatic utterances of mystics, which for Dârâ were normal expressions for Sufis. This work was based on an earlier work on ecstatic mystical sayings by Rûzbihân Baqlî.2’
‘Abd al-Haqq Muhaddis Dihalwi (d.
), the author of an extensive Sufi biographical work Akhbar al-Akhyar, was initiated into the Qadiri order by Shaykh Musa who was a part of Akbar’s royal court at Fatehpur Sikri. Of the successors of‘Abdul Haqq the most spiritually exuberant was Mir Muhammad, better known as Miyan Mir (d. ). Miyan Mir’s most prominent disciple was none other than Mulla Shah (d.
), the murshid of the Mughal Prince Dara Shikuh. Dara came in contact with Mulla Shah when the Sufi was drawn into charges of blasphemy by religious leaders at the Mughal court. When Aurangzeb seized the throne in , killing all close associates of Dara Shikuh, Mulla Shah’s life appeared in danger. He was summoned to the court in Delhi, but repeated appeals from princess Jahanara and other associates of the Emperor saved the day for Mulla Shah.
Though Aurangzeb paid his respects at the meditational cell of Mulla Shah in Srinagar during his visit in , he continued to carry an unpleasant attitude towards the saint till the time of his death.
The other instance where the Emperor took offence at a mystic who in some way was connected to Dara Shikuh was when he punished the ecstatic Sarmad (d. ), the Shahid (martyr). He was given a public execution in on multiple charges most of which remain unclear.26
Shah Jahan’s son and successor Aurangzeb, the last of the great Mughal rulers, being a stickler for shari'a norms, forbade the pilgrimage of women to Sufi shrines, along with structural additions covering tombs, and lime washing of the sepulchre.
However, the Emperor did make a visit to Ajmer in , after his victory over Dara Shikuh, perhaps in an effort to justify his image and affirm his acceptance as the Emperor in the eyes of the masses, after killing all his brothers to the throne. Along with the visit to Ajmer the Emperor also gave a thanksgiving donation of 5, rupees to the attendants of the shrine.
His participation in Sufi activities being minimal, even in Ajmer, one does not find any architectural remains at the shrine of Mu‘in al-Din attributed to the last of the great Mughal emperors. This proved a major break from the tradition of his predecessors all of whom, beginning from Akbar, left their personal imprint on the shrine through monuments constructed out of reverence to the saint.
It is one of the ironies of Aurangzeb s reign that his final resting place in the Deccan is at Khuldabad (renamed after Aurangzeb s epithet khuld-i makan or ‘the one who rests in eternity’) rather than Aurangabad (named after the Emperor himself) at the feet of its famous Chishti master Zayn al-Din Shirazi (d. ), the disciple of Khwaja Burhan al-Din Gharib (d.
).
Aurangzeb’s burial beside the leading Chishtiyya master of the Deccan point towards a trend that would gain currency among his royal descendants — Sufi shrines being chosen as the last resting place for later Mughal monarchs.
Biography of bakshi banu begum agan movie: CBSE Notes. Jahan added a mosque to the shrine complex in Ajmer, which remains to this day the most beautiful exhibition of Mughal architecture attached to the shrine. Free study material. Bakshi Banu Begum was born in September in Delhi.
Aurangzeb and his son Azam Shah in Khuldabad, Muhammad Shah “Rangeela” beside Nizam al-Din Awliya in Delhi, several others beside Qutb al-Din Bakhtiyar Kaki in Mehrauli, Delhi. For the early Mughals, even their worldly resting places were in close proximity to important Sufi shrines. Fatehpur Sikri by Akbar was built around Salim Chishti’s tomb.
Both Jahangir and Shah Jahan built lakeside palaces near the shrine of Mu‘in al-Din in Ajmer. During the reign of Akbar Shah 11 (r. —) the royal residence was shifted to the quarters at the shrine of Qutb al-Din Bakhtiyar Kaki. The last Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar (r. —) built the Zafar Mahal there and kept a regular tab on the shrine festivals.27
An unusual emphasis on Mughal relationship with Sufi saints and shrines in North India must not take the Deccan out of focus.
Important shrines in and around Khuldabad and Aurangabad received regular patronage from Mughal Emperors starting with Akbar till Bahadur Shah. Immediately after conquering Khandesh from the Faruqis in , Akbar continued many of the earlier land grants to the Khuldabad shrines, securing for the Mughals a degree of political legitimacy that supported their Deccani campaigns in the coming days.
Later in
when Aurangzeb marched against Golconda, he stayed for a week at Gulbarga, repeatedly visiting the shrine complex of Gisu Daraz and donating 20, rupees to the sajjadah nishin2* and resident dervishes and beggars. After gaining success at Golconda, Aurangzeb returned to the Gulbarga shrine in an act of gratitude.
In when Sambhaji the son of Maratha leader Shivaji was captured — which was prophesied by Mir Saiyid Muhammad the sajjadah nishin at the shrine of Gisu Daraz — Aurangzeb offered a grant of 10, rupees to the shrine along with a personal reward to the sajjadah nishin. This tradition continued even with Aurangzeb’s son Muhammad Shah, and the future successor of the Mughals in the Deccan, Nizam al-Mulk Asafjah.
Several farmans or imperial orders from Aurangzeb and Shah Alam directed revenues for the performance of shrine rituals in Khuldabad. These grants, supplemented by those from the Nizam Shah, were utilised for extensive architectural alternations to the most sacred Sufi site in the Deccan.29