Muslim Saints of South Asia: The eleventh to ... - blog blog blog

THE WARRIOR SAINTS
untouched; they introduced elements of popular Indian rituals into
Ghazi Miyan’s veneration. Thus, for example, on being cured of
disease they used to offer to the saint figurines of horses made of dough
which were distributed amongst pilgrims during the ‘urs.
If the Muslims venerated Ghazi Miyan in the first place as a warrior
for faith and a martyr, the Hindus called him by affectionate
nicknames, emphasizing the saint’s young age: Bāle Miyāñ (Revered
Boy), Bāle Pīr (Boy Saint), 4 Hat’hīle Pīr (Obstinate Saint) (Rizvi
1986: 314). The last nickname is especially interesting: one often
comes across the word hat’hīlā (obstinate, teasing) in Krishna-bhakti
songs (bhajans) as an epithet for young Krishna, a naughty, obstinate
and mischievous child. This nickname, as with the other affectionate
names, by laying emphasis on the saint’s young age, automatically
suggests the idea that in the consciousness of the Hindus Salar
Mas‘ud’s historical personality became identified with child Krishna,
the most acclaimed hero of popular Hinduism.
There is probably even an erotic aspect that is also connected with
the Indian substratum, which was imparted to Ghazi Miyan’s cult
and which was at variance with the historical prototype of the saint
– a stern warrior and ruthless propagator of the faith. According
to popular legend, not confirmed by Mir’āt-i Mas‘ūdī, shortly before
his death Ghazi Miyan married Zuhra Bibi, a girl of noble birth
from Rudawli, having cured her of blindness beforehand. The latter
‘fact’ is highly typical for the Indian hagiographic literature in general:
numerous Sufis and saints married girls miraculously cured by
them. Mas‘ud and his bride managed only to conclude the marriagecontract,
but actually the marriage was not consummated: the
bridegroom was killed before the nuptial night, and Zuhra Bibi
remained a virgin. After her death she was also buried in Bahraich,
but a stone from her burial-vault was taken to Rudawli, where
another cenotaph was built (Gazetteer of Oudh 1985: 236).
Here on the first Sunday of Jet’h a fair called Zŏhra-melā was
celebrated annually, attracting rural Muslims and Hindus of lower
castes. On the festival day pilgrims used to bring offerings, called
‘Zuhra’s dowry’, to the saint’s wife (Gazetteer of Oudh 1985: 132),
the main offering being the nuptial bed. Some rites of Ghazi Miyan’s
‘urs in Bahraich also reproduced the wedding ceremony. Two boys
in the regalia of bridegroom and bride, depicting Ghazi Miyan and
Zuhra, were seated on an eminence, and this tradition cannot but
remind one of a similar representation of a young couple – Rama
and Sita – during Rāmlīla, when the Northern Indian folk dance
drama recounting the stories from the epic Ramayana is performed.
159