SOCIO-CULTURAL LIFE OF THE SULTANATE PERIOD WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO DIFFERENT RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS: A STUDY BASED ON PERSIAN MALFUZAAT

 

SOCIO-CULTURAL LIFE OF THE SULTANATE PERIOD WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO DIFFERENT RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS:

 A STUDY BASED ON PERSIAN MALFUZAAT

 

The history of Sufism in India can be traced back to the 12^th century when Sufi saint Muinuddin Chishti came to India. He settled in Ajmer where he built his khanqah and gave his life to the service of humanity. He was the founder of the Chishti silsila. This silsila was home to other important saints like Khwaja Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki, Baba Farid Ganj i- Shekhar, Nizamuddin Auliya, and Nasiruddin Chiragh-i-Delhi. These saints spread the Sufi thought about union with God and suggested the path of service to humanity in order to attain the love of God. The teachings or the discourses of the Sufi saints, from Nizamuddin Auliya onwards have been recorded in literature known as malfuzaat. Malfuzaat, literally means “word spoken”, and is a form of Persian literature. This literature is based on recorded conversations of Sufi saints, and contain parables, stories, biographies of Sufi saints and religious discourses, and most importantly, information about the society.

 

The author has used this malfuz literature as the primary source to develop this thesis. Apart from this, he has used secondary sources which are outlined in the Bibliography.  The author also made a personal visit to several dargahs including those of Muinuddin Chishti in Ajmer Sharif, Alauddin Sabir in Kalyar Sharif, Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki, Nizamuddin Auliya, and Nasiruddin Chiragh-i-Delhi in Delhi. He spoke with the spiritual leaders of these dargahs. Most helpful was Khwaja Hasan Nizami Sani of Nizamuddin’s dargah, who provided books and other information about materials related to this subject.

 

Before reviewing the malfuz literature, the author extensively read the history of Sufism, in particular the life and times of the Sufi saints of the Chishti silsila of the sultanate period. While studying the topic, the author came to realise the importance of malfuz literature as other historical sources of the period were biased.

 

The first three masters of the Chishti silsila, Muinuddin Chishti, Bakhtiyar Kaki and Baba Farid, did not leave any written records. Teachings of Sufis were intended to be transferred from heart to heart and this was the reason why Chishti leaders up until Nizamuddin Auliya did not write. With the advent of the fourteenth century, malfuz literature took birth in the khanqah of Nizamuddin Auliya, who saw the importance of spreading the teachings of Sufism to solve the problems of common people. This he realized at the time of interaction with people from all walks of life. He saw people come to his khanqah with grievances and leave with happiness. This simple tool to bring happiness to the hearts of the common man was to be applied nationwide, and cogniscent that he could not travel all over the country himself, the question was how to touch the lives of as many as possible.

 

Amir Hasan Sijzi, his disciple, was also facing the same problem. He started writing the words of Nizamuddin Auliya, in order to find solace, and provide a reference for the future. After secretly compiling the discourses for one year, Sijzi broke the news to Nizamuddin on 30 March 1309 that he had been collecting and writing his discourses. He said to Nizamuddin, “I wanted to make that foundation for my own life, indeed to use it as a guide and a path for this broken person”. He also said “A novice must consult a book on the Sufi master and their guidelines for their spiritual progress”. Sijzi also said that “For the last one year, I have been collecting all those words which you uttered in the khanqah”, and he showed them to Nizamuddin. Here Nizamuddin Auliya decided on the solution to his problem of spreading his message to those people who he could not reach through the khanqahs. Being a visionary, he saw spreading the message of Sufism through institutionalization, and the inception of his discourses recorded by Sijzi, known as the Fawaid-ul-Fuad, was the first step. This was a revolutionary step whereby the message could be conferred on an individual level. As the means of communication were limited in those days, the written word was the most effective way of mass communication. This subject has been dealt with in detail in Chapter Two.

 

Nizamuddin Auliya sent 700 deputies to different corners of the country as a part of institutionalizing his organisation. His malfuz was a natural tool in the hands of those deputies, who were unable to remember all the messages of their master. That is why the Fawaid-ul-Fuad has been used as a guidebook by later Sufi saints, of the Chishti silsila in particular, and others in general.

 

The other reason for the birth of malfuz literature was as a reaction to the fake malfuzaat, which had begun being produced, and threatened to destroy the integrity of the Sufis and spreading false messages. This topic has been covered in Chapter Two.

 

The sultanate period is deprived of literary sources, which throws light on the socio-cultural aspect of the era. For such literary sources, malfuzaat must be consulted as a supplementary source to other historical texts, for example Tarikh-i-Firoz Shahi by Zaiuddin Barani, and Tarikh-i-Firoz Shahi by Shams Afifi. Barani and Afifi were employed by the court, and were essentially orthodox historians. Barani went as far as advising the sultan to put a stop to education of the children of common people, which would qualify them for Government jobs. This attitude of Barani’s was typical of ulema at that time, and clearly shows the need for consulting malfuzaat to ensure a fair understanding of the period under study.

 

Malfuzaat literature was very different from other historical sources of the period, as these were written either by an ulema or a noble. Such a writer was interesting only in writing the politico-economic history of the period, in addition to penning down information that would please his employer. Being a man from the court he would write in praise of sultans, not daring to write against his master, and risk compromising the inevitable perks and favours. So it can be seen that these sources were basically biased history, which did not have much reference to the majority population. They were also critical of religions which appealed to these masses, as we can see in the case of Zaiuddin Barani, who openly criticised the idol worshippers and their other rites and rituals. This subject is covered in Chapter Four. Nizamuddin Auliya on the other hand displayed exemplary acceptance when he saw Hindus worshipping idols on the doorstep of his khanqah (this is covered in detail in Chapter Three).

 

Thus we find that in order to gain a realistic portrayal of the socio-cultural history of the period, these historical sources are insufficient on their own. But if they are supported by malfuz literature, they would help in writing a complete historical account of the sultanate period, based on written information of the time.

 

As the Sufi saints welcomed people of all walks of life to their khanqahs, these khanqah became the meeting place for all, and pure egalitarianism could be experienced in these hospices. As the ulema, nobles, soldiers and fruit sellers were all treated the same by the Sufi saint, all ate in the community hall, side by side.

 

The teachings of the Sufi saints, based on the theory of wahdid ul-wujud (unity of Being) of Ibn al-Arabi, has many similarities with the teachings of the Bhakti saints, and a comparative study has been undertaken in Chapter Five. Both the Bhakti and Sufi movements during the sultanate period laid emphasis on the service to humanity as one of the means to attain God’s love, which in turn would help them in Union with God. Both believed the importance of jnana (True Knowledge). The four pillars (Guru, Seva, Satsang and Bhajan) were the key to attain salvation. In Sufism we can see the similar kind of set up and pillars - Pir-o-Murshid, Service, gathering and sama. Importance of sama and kirtan, a similar concept in both movements, has a deep impact on society even today. Both these saints condemned the orthodox teachings of both religions and emphasized one God, the Creator, who resides within each individual.

The concluding chapter summarises the key results of the research, and provides suggestions for further scope in adopting other malfuz texts as a source of authentic historical information about the medieval period.