Baba Wali Kandhari was a

Sufi Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...

'' pir'' who was born in 1476 at

Kandahar Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a List of cities in Afghanistan, city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population ...

. In about 1498, he moved to

Hasan Abdal Hasan Abdal ( Punjabi, ur, ), is a city in the Attock District of Punjab Province in Pakistan, located 40 km northwest of the country's capital city, Islamabad. Hassan Abdal is the headquarters of Hasan Abdal Tehsil (sub-district). As home ...

to the western side of mountains. The terrain was hilly and natural fountains used to flow from the ground.

Encounter with Guru Nanak

Guru Nanak stops the boulder from falling with his hand

Guru Nanak Gurū Nānak (15 April 1469 – 22 September 1539; Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰੂ ਨਾਨਕ; pronunciation: , ), also referred to as ('father Nānak'), was the founder of Sikhism and is the first of the ten Sikh Gurus. His birth is celebrated wor ...

with

Bhai Mardana Bhai Mardana ( pa, ਭਾਈ ਮਰਦਾਨਾ; 6 February 1459 — 1534) was one of the first Sikhs and longtime companion of Guru Nanak Dev, first in the line of gurus noted in Sikhism. Bhai Mardana, a Muslim, accompanied Guru Nanak Dev on hi ...

arrived at Hasan Abdal in 1521 during summer season. Upon arrival, Guru Nanak started doing

kirtan Kirtana ( sa, कीर्तन; ), also rendered as Kirtan, is a Sanskrit word that means "narrating, reciting, telling, describing" of an idea or story, specifically in Indian religions. It also refers to a genre of religious performance arts ...

and a large crowd of devotees gathered where the guru was performing kirtan. Each day, Guru would perform kirtan and a large crowd would gather. This upset Baba Wali Kandhari. On the top of a nearby hill, Wali Kandhari had established a

dera Dera, Dero, Daro, Dhoro, Dahar or Dehra is a word in several languages of South Asia, whose meaning is 'camp', 'mound' or 'settlement'. It appears in the names of a number of places. Geography India * Dera, Himachal Pradesh * Dera Bassi, Mohali ...

where he helped the believers and punished those who did not believe in

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

. There was a spring near his house on the hill. It was the only spring in the area and it was commaned by Wali Kandhari. He blocked the water of the spring from going down to the town. The people begged him as there was now a water shortage. Wali Kandhari told them to ask water from their so-called guru. The people told the guru about the whole matter. Guru Nanak, then, sent Bhai Mardana to fetch water from Wali Kandahari but he refused saying 'Why don't you ask water from the guru you serve?' and Bhai Mardana had to return empty handed. After all of this, Guru Nanak picked up a small stone under his feet and a small trickle of clean water began to flow from the place where the guru lifted the stone and the water which came from the spring of Wali Kandhari started to dry up. This angered Wali Kandhari and he picked up a huge rock and threw it upon Guru Nanak. The rock came rolling from the hill. He had thought that the rock will crush Guru Nanak to death but Guru Nanak raised his hand and the rock stopped when it came in contact with his hand. There is a

gurdwara A gurdwara (sometimes written as gurudwara) (Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰਾ ''guradu'ārā'', meaning "Door to the Guru") is a place of assembly and worship for Sikhs. Sikhs also refer to gurdwaras as ''Gurdwara Sahib''. People from all faiths ...

located at the spot where this incident occurred. The gurdwara is known as

Panja Sahib Gurdwara Panja Sahib ( pa, ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰਾ ਪੰਜਾ ਸਾਹਿਬ , ; ur, ) is a famous gurdwara located in Hasan Abdal, Pakistan. The shrine is considered to be particularly important as the handprint of the founder of Sik ...

Shrine

The shrine of Baba Wali Kandhari is located on the banks of Arghandab river. It was constructed by

Gul Agha Sherzai Gul Agha Sherzai (), also known as Mohammad Shafiq, is a politician in Afghanistan. He is the former governor of Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan. He previously served as Governor of Kandahar province, in the early 1990s and from 2001 ...

. He is known as Baba Saheb by locals.

Death

He died in about 1529 in a village called Baba Wali in Kandahar. Devotees climb up his hill and make offerings there.

References

{{Sufi People from Kandahar Sufism in Afghanistan