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

THE OLD MAN OF AJMER
this hall of pillars, placed one over the other in twos and, in the arch
of the portal, even in threes, and using elements of the original temple
décor, the first Indian Jami‘ Masjid (congregational mosque) was
built. It was completed in such a record period of time that this
was reflected not only in its name, Arhai din ka jhonpra (‘The twoand-a-half
day hut’), but also in the legends about the involvement
of supernatural powers in its construction. Actually the work at the
mosque lasted considerably longer: its erection began during
the lifetime of Mu‘izzuddin Ghori and was completed during the
reign of his successor. However, as this one was assembled out of
ready-made blocks and parts, like its contemporary Quwwat al-Islam
mosque in Delhi, the time taken for its construction was much less
than usual.
Since at the beginning the Khwaja had taken up residence in
Taragarh fort he could probably watch daily how the mosque below
the hill was growing. It symbolized the expanding presence of Islam
in the land of recalcitrant and insurgent Rajputs. The Khwaja’s
subsequent life in Ajmer can be looked at as if in two planes: in a
quasi-historical plane, reflected in the ‘Siyar al-awliyā’ of Amir
Khurd, in the ‘The Virtues of the Gnostics’ (Siyar al-‘ārifīn) of Jamali
Kanboh and ‘The Flowerbed of the Pious’ (Gulzār-i abrār) of
Muhammad Ghauthi Shattari and in a fantastic-legendary plane
which has been recorded in the hagiographic collection of ‘Ali Asghar
Chishti ‘The Matchless Jewels’ (Jawāhir-i farīdī, 1623).
If we adhere to those versions which are, even if only outwardly,
close to historical facts, then the Khwaja was respectfully met in
Ajmer, which had become a part of Qutbuddin Aibek’s empire, by
Sayyid Husain Mashhadi, the military vicegerent (dārogha) there.
(As a matter of fact that is exactly why the Khwaja took up quarters
in the fort: it was also the vicegerent’s residence.) Indeed, it was with
the help of this vicegerent, who had become his staunch devotee, that
he built the khānqāh, where together with his disciple Hamiduddin
Suwali Nagori (who died in 1276), he used to convert Hindus to
Islam and train murīds. In the year 1209 the Khwaja, till then strictly
observing celibacy, took two wives, one of whom was the dārogha’s
niece and the other the daughter of a Rajput chieftain, who had been
taken prisoner during military operations and had fallen to the saint’s
lot as a war trophy. From these marriages three sons were born, and
also a daughter, Hafiza (also called Bibi Hafiz Jamal 7 ), with a marked
inclination for mysticism. The years spent in wanderings were left
behind and now the Khwaja lived in Ajmer almost without a break,
even as it befits the muqīmān Sufis.
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