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

THE WARRIOR SAINTS
Yasavi (died 1169), the eponym of Yasaviyya ţarīqa, who had died
long before Shah Jalal was born. Shah Jalal was given an assignment
in Bengal, which was called dār al-h˝arb (‘territory of war’). This was
the term used by Muslim faqīhs to denote non-Muslim countries,
which were at war with the faithful, whereas the absence of military
operations was considered to be an armistice. The purpose of Shah
Jalal was to transform Bengal into dār al-șulh˝(‘the territory of a peace
treaty’), i.e. into a region which has, on being conquered, concluded
a treaty (șulh˝) determining the extent of tribute and the legal status
of non-Muslim inhabitants.
Shah Jalal was not a peaceful Sufi missionary of the type wandering
about in great numbers in towns and villages of the Delhi Sultanate.
His pīr had blessed him for jihād (holy war) against infidels and had
sent to Bengal seven hundred armed ghāzī, almost a military detachment,
to accompany him. On the way to Bengal, the saint stopped
off in Delhi, where he was received with due respect by Sultan
Jalaluddin Khalji (ruled 1290–6), who reinforced the detachment
of missionaries with military units of his army. In Bengal the saint’s
army indulged in pillage to such an extent that the riches looted in
the course of this expedition were enough to sustain Shah Jalal’s
comfortable life for many years. The principles of the Naqshbandiyya
(an order-descendant of silsila-i Khwājagān), in contrast to the
Chishtiyya doctrine, were not against forced conversion to Islam
and the annihilation of inveterate pagans. That is why the path of
Shah Jalal along the towns and villages of Bengal was strewn with
the dead bodies of those who offered resistance to his mission.
The apotheosis of Shah Jalal’s military activity became the battle
of Sylhet, where the saint had arrived with a depleted detachment
consisting of not more than three hundred men. The uninvited guests
were confronted by the Raja of Bengal Gaur Govind, who had put
together an army of hundred thousand infantrymen and several
hundred mounted soldiers (it should not be forgotten that these
figures are given not by a historian but by the author of a hagiographic
work). In spite of such a numerical advantage, the Raja’s
army was routed, which was, of course, indicative of the power of
the baraka of the saint.
After the battle of Sylhet a part of the territory of East Bengal
submitted to Shah Jalal. He granted large landed estates to his
associates, who took up residence there and settled down to life as
married men. Shah Jalal himself remained celibate and earned the
nickname Shah Mujarrad (Shah Bachelor). The threat of the Mongol
conquests forced him to leave the place which they had occupied for
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