The Mughals, the Sufi Shaikhs and the Formation of the Akbari ...

FORMATION OF THE AKBARI DISPENSATION 143
Naqshbandi Shaikhs and Timurids in Mawarannahr
In the late-fourteenth century, the Mughals’ great ancestor Amir
Timur himself is reported to have maintained close relations with
Amir Kulal, the pir and preceptor of Shaikh Baha al-Din Naqshband,
after whom the Sufi silsila came to be known subsequently. 16 This was
principally a routine spiritual relationship of a murid (seeker, disciple)
with a murshid (guide, preceptor). In the fifteenth century, however,
things changed with the emergence of Khwaja Ubaid-Allah Ahrar
(d. 1490), the second great figure in the silsila after Baha al-Din,
with whom the Naqshbandis expanded the frontiers of their influence
far beyond Mawarannahr into Iran and Ottoman territory. Now,
the relationship between a Naqshbandi master and his disciples, in
particular the ones associated with power, also acquired a special social
and political significance. Khwaja Ahrar was not only the spiritual
preceptor (pir), but also a kind of paramount political patron of his
disciples, amongst whom were a large number of the Timurid rulers
and their nobles in Central Asia. He and several of his descendants
and disciples claimed that they were not simply their spiritual masters,
but also a source of strength and help in politics and power struggles.
Mulla Fakhr al-Din ibn Husain Wa’iz al-Kashifi, the author of
Rashhat ‘Ain al-Hayat, the renowned tazkira of the Khwaja and
his associates, devotes a full chapter to describe the Khwaja’s
interventions in politics with an objective of setting the record straight,
as he thought it ought to be. The chapter entitled ‘an account of the
miracles of Hazrat-i Ishan that pertain to his bestowal of conquering
power to the kings, rulers and the others of his time’ (zikr-i tasarrufat-i ki
hazrat-i Ishan betaslit-i quwwat-i qahira nisbat besalatin wa hukkam waghairi
ishan az ahl-i zaman pish burda and) contains numerous anecdotes of
his support or opposition to one or the other ruler of his time. 17 It is
useful to quote here one anecdote that also shows in some detail the
Khwaja’s avowed mission and method.
16 Hamid Algar, ‘A brief history of the Naqshbandi order’ and ‘Political aspects
of Naqshbandi history’, in Marc Gaborieau, Alexandre Popovic and Thierry Zarcone
(eds.), Naqshbandis: Historical Developments and Present Situation of a Muslim Mystical Order
(Istanbul-Paris: Institut Français d’Etudes Anatoliennes d’Istanbul, 1990), pp. 3–44
and 123–52.
17 Fakhr al-Din ‘Ali ibn Husain Wa’iz al-Kashifi, Rashhat ‘Ain al-Hayat, ed.‘Ali
Asghar Mu’iniyan (Tehran: Bunyad-i Nikukari-i Nuriyani, 1977), pp. 516–69 for
stories about Ahrar’s relations with Sultans ‘Abd-Allah, Abu Sa’id, Mahmud and
Babur, for instance.
http://journals.cambridge.org Downloaded: 15 Feb 2011 IP address: 129.174.97.34