Write a brief note on Chishti silsilah. What were the causes of Chishti sufis’ popularity in north India?

 The Chishti Silsilah

The growth of the Chishti order in India during the Sultanate period took place in two phases. The first phase ended with the death of Shaikh Nasiruddin (Chiragh[1]i-Delhi) in 1356. The second phase is marked by its initial decline during the later part of the 14th century followed by revival and expansion in various parts of the country during the 15th and 16th centuries.

First Phase

The Chishti order which later became the most influential and popular sufi order in India, originated in Herat and was introduced in India by Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti (d. 1236) who was born in Sijistan in c. 1141. He came to India at the time of the Ghori conquest. He finally settled in Ajmer about 1206 and won the respect of both Muslims and non-Muslims. No authentic record of his activities is available. During the later period, many legends projected him as an ardent evangelist. However, he was not actively involved in conversions and his attitude towards non-Muslims was one of tolerance. His tomb in Ajmer became a famous centre of pilgrimage in later centuries.

Second Phase

 The second phase in the history of the Chishti silsilah during the Sultanate period began with its decline in Delhi following the death of Shaikh Nasiruddin and its subsequent dispersal in various regional kingdoms. Though the sufis had begun to arrive in the Deccan from the late 13th century, it was Shaikh Burhanuddin Gharib who introduced the Chishti order there during the reign of Muhammad Tughlaq. Later, several Chishti sufis migrated to Gulbarga, the capital of the Bahmani kingdom (1347-1538). In Gulbarga, these sufis developed close relations with the court and accepted state patronage, thus causing a change in the attitude of the Chishti order towards the state. The Bahmani kings, on their part, purchased the political loyalty of these sufis and gave land grants to them.

THE CAUSES OF CHISHTI POPULARITY

All the sufi orders of the Sultanate period believed in achieving the basic sufi goal of establishing direct communion with God by traversing the sufi path under the supervision of a spiritual guide. However, different sufi orders observed distinct rituals and customs of their own and differed in their attitudes to state and society. Of all the orders of this period, the Chishti emerged as the most popular, and it was also widespread. The Chishti rituals, attitudes and practices made it an essentially Indian silsilah.

The causes of its popularity are as follows:

i) Many practices of early Chishtis bore close resemblance to the attributes of some of the already existing non-conformist religious orders in India such as asceticism, bowing before the master, shaving the head of a new entrant into the order and organizing spiritual musical recital. In this sense, the Chishtis came to be regarded as part of an established tradition in India.

ii) The Chishtis adopted an attitude of religious tolerance towards the non-Muslim population of India and adjusted themselves to the needs of a predominantly non-Muslim environment. They made use of popular imagery and popular idiom to convey their ideas to their Indian followers and adopted many of their customs and rituals. Many of the Chishti saints made Hindawi the vehicle for spreading their teachings.

iii) The egalitarian atmosphere of the Chishti khanqahs attracted large number of people from lower sections of Indian society. The Chishti attitude towards religion was characterized by sympathy towards the deprived sections of the society. Caste distinctions of the Brahmanical social order were meaningless in the Chishti khanqahs. Merchants, artisans, peasants and even sweepers became the followers of the Chishti order. Nor did they accept the two-fold racial division of the people by the Turkish ruling class into noble-born and low-born.

iv) The inspired leadership of the early Chishti masters, their aloofness from the court and their unwillingness to accept state patronage, their rejection of the orthodoxy and externalist attitudes of the ulama, and, finally, the combining of the simple precepts of Islam with the sufi teachings contributed to the popularity of the Chishti order.

v) The popularity of the early Chishtis rose after their life time as the cult of saints began to develop in the later centuries around their shrines (dargahs). Later, legend-makers and writers of hagiographic literature sometimes attributed the popularity of the early Chishti sufis to their ability to perform miracles. In the subsequent centuries, traditions were invented to represent the early Chishtis as being actively involved in the conversion of the non[1]Muslims who were believed to have been drawn to them due to their alleged miracle-performing powers. However, the early Chishti sufis disapproved of the display of miraculous powers, though they did believe in the possibility of miracles. They did not consider the miracles of primary importance in sufi teaching and practice. Nevertheless, the miracle stories about the early Chishtis played an important role in enhancing the popularity of the Chishti shrines and the posthumous popularity of the sufis themselves.

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