Abū al-Qāsim Jalāl ad-Dīn Tabrīzī ( fa, ) was a celebrated
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, ...
saint of
South Asia
South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...
. He arrived in
Bengal
Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
shortly after the start of its
Muslim rule, where he propagated
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 ...
to the local populace and spent the rest of his life. The Jaliliyyah Order, a small
tariqah
A tariqa (or ''tariqah''; ar, طريقة ') is a school or order of Sufism, or specifically a concept for the mystical teaching and spiritual practices of such an order with the aim of seeking ''haqiqa'', which translates as "ultimate truth".
...
, is named after him,
and he is considered to be the
protagonist
A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...
of the
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
fiction ''
Sekhaśubhodayā'' (Advent of the
Shaykh
Sheikh (pronounced or ; ar, شيخ ' , mostly pronounced , plural ' )—also transliteration of Arabic, transliterated sheekh, sheyikh, shaykh, shayk, shekh, shaik and Shaikh, shak—is an honorific title in the Arabic language. It commonl ...
).
Early life and education
Abul Qasim Jalaluddin was born in
Tabriz
Tabriz ( fa, تبریز ; ) is a city in northwestern Iran, serving as the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. It is the List of largest cities of Iran, sixth-most-populous city in Iran. In the Quri Chay, Quru River valley in Iran's historic Aze ...
, in northwestern
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
. He studied under Abu Sayyid Tabrizi, a local
Sunni
Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...
scholar. After the death of this teacher, Jalaluddin Tabrizi became a disciple of
Shahab al-Din Suhrawardi
"Shihāb ad-Dīn" Yahya ibn Habash Suhrawardī ( fa, شهابالدین سهروردی, also known as Sohrevardi) (1154–1191) was a PersianEdward Craig, Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "al-Suhrawardi, Shihab al-Din Yahya (1154-91)" Rou ...
.
Under Suhrawardi's service, Tabrizi frequently accompanied him during
Hajj
The Hajj (; ar, حَجّ '; sometimes also spelled Hadj, Hadji or Haj in English) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried ...
to
Mecca
Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...
and would carry a
stove
A stove or range is a device that burns fuel or uses electricity to generate heat inside or on top of the apparatus, to be used for general warming or cooking. It has evolved highly over time, with cast-iron and induction versions being develope ...
atop his head to keep food warm.
Later life
![Badi Dargah Malda (3)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/Badi_Dargah_Malda_%283%29.jpg)
Tabrizi migrated to
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
during the reign of Mamluk emperor
Iltutmish
Shams ud-Din Iltutmish ( fa, شمس الدین ایلتتمش; died 30 April 1236, ) was the third of the Mamluk kings who ruled the former Ghurid territories in northern India. He was the first Muslim sovereign to rule from Delhi, and is thus ...
in circa 1210, and was given a place to stay near the palace. His popularity was said to have annoyed Shaykh al-Islam Nizamuddin Sughra,
who allegedly accused him of adultery with an infamous woman. However, other scholars like
Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki
''Quṭb al-Aqṭāb'' Khwājā Sayyid Muḥammad Bakhtiyār al-Ḥusaynī, Quṭb al-Dīn Bakhtiyār Kākī ( ur, ) (born 1173 – died 1235) was a Muslim Sufi mystic, saint and scholar of the Chishti Order from Delhi, India. He was the d ...
and
Bahauddin Zakariya
Baha-ud-din Zakariya (Urdu and fa, بہاءُ الدین زکریا) (c.1170 – 1262), also spelled Bahauddin Zakariya, and also known as Baha-ul-Haq and Bahauddin Zakariya Multani, was a Sunni Muslim scholar saint and poet who establish ...
maintained good relations with Tabrizi. The accusations were later proved to be false.
He then proceeded to
Bengal
Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
, which had recently been conquered by
Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khilji
Ikhtiyār al-Dīn Muḥammad Bakhtiyār Khaljī, (Pashto :اختيار الدين محمد بختيار غلزۍ, fa, اختیارالدین محمد بختیار خلجی, bn, ইখতিয়ারউদ্দীন মুহম্মদ ...
. Among his numerous contributions, Tabrizi is credited for inviting many locals to
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 ...
and amass a large following. The nearby town of Deotala was named as Tabrizabad in his honour, which suggests that he lived there for some time too.
Death and legacy
![Badi Dargah Malda (4)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Badi_Dargah_Malda_%284%29.jpg)
The date of death of Jalaluddin Tabrizi is contested. Ghulam Sarwar asserts that he died in 1244,
[ whilst Mirza Muhammad Akhtar Dehlavi records his death to be in 1225. Tabrizi was buried in his khanqah at ]Hazrat Pandua
Pandua ( bn, পাণ্ডুয়া), also historically known as Hazrat Pandua ( bn, হজরত পাণ্ডুয়া) and later Firuzabad ( bn, ফিরোজাবাদ), is a ruined city in the Malda district of the Indian sta ...
. The income of the donated land of the dargah
A dargah ( fa, درگاه ''dargâh'' or ''dargah'', Turkish: ''dergâh'', Hindustani: ''dargah'' दरगाह درگاہ, bn, দরগাহ ''dorgah'') is a shrine or tomb built over the grave of a revered religious figure, often ...
was worth twenty-two thousand taka
The Bangladeshi taka ( bn, টাকা, sign: , code: BDT, short form: Tk) is the currency of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. In Unicode, it is encoded at .
Issuance of bank notes 10 and larger is controlled by Bangladesh Bank, while ...
s, and hence came to be known as the Baish Hazari Dargah.[
However, ]Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak
Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak, also known as Abul sharma, Abu'l Fadl and Abu'l-Fadl 'Allami (14 January 1551 – 22 August 1602), was the grand vizier of the Mughal emperor Akbar, from his appointment in 1579 until his death in 1602. He was the au ...
claims that Tabrizi died in a place called Devmahal. Historians have struggled to locate such as a place as there is no place called Devmahal in Bengal.[ Colonial-era studies identify Devmahal with the ]Maldives
Maldives (, ; dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ, translit=Dhivehi Raajje, ), officially the Republic of Maldives ( dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ, translit=Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa, label=none, ), is an archipelag ...
.
The influence of Tabrizi to Muslim Bengal in the 13th-century can be seen from the succeeding centuries with confusions arising due to other Sufi saints with the common name Jalal. The 14th-century Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta
Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Battutah (, ; 24 February 13041368/1369),; fully: ; Arabic: commonly known as Ibn Battuta, was a Berbers, Berber Maghrebi people, Maghrebi scholar and explorer who travelled extensively in the lands of Afro-Eurasia, ...
mentions his encounter with a ''Jalaluddin Tabrizi'' near Kamarupa
Kamarupa (; also called Pragjyotisha or Pragjyotisha-Kamarupa), an early state during the Classical period on the Indian subcontinent, was (along with Davaka) the first historical kingdom of Assam.
Though Kamarupa prevailed from 350 to 11 ...
although modern historians consider Ibn Battuta to have confused the former with Shah Jalal
Jalāl Mujarrad Kunyāʾī (), popularly known as Shah Jalal, was a celebrated Sufi figure of Bengal. His name is often associated with the Conquest of Sylhet and the spread of Islam into the region, part of a long history of interactions bet ...
of Sylhet
Sylhet ( bn, সিলেট) is a metropolitan city in northeastern Bangladesh. It is the administrative seat of the Sylhet Division. Located on the north bank of the Surma River at the eastern tip of Bengal, Sylhet has a subtropical climate an ...
, due to an abundance of supporting inscriptions and evidences suggesting otherwise. Ibn Battuta wrote his book when he returned to Morocco, many years after travelling to these places.
During the reign of Mughal emperor
The Mughal emperors ( fa, , Pādishāhān) were the supreme heads of state of the Mughal Empire on the Indian subcontinent, mainly corresponding to the modern countries of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The Mughal rulers styled t ...
Shah Alam II
Shah Alam II (; 25 June 1728 – 19 November 1806), also known by his birth name Ali Gohar (or Ali Gauhar), was the seventeenth Mughal Emperor and the son of Alamgir II. Shah Alam II became the emperor of a crumbling Mughal empire. His powe ...
, Munshi Syed Sadruddin (d. 1796) was appointed as the ''mutawalli'' (guardian) of the Baish Hazari pargana
Pargana ( bn, পরগনা, , hi, परगना, ur, پرگنہ) or parganah, also spelt pergunnah during the time of the Sultanate period, Mughal times and British Raj, is a former administrative unit of the Indian subcontinent and each ...
. Sadruddin also built a library near his madrasa in Bohar which he gave the name Madrasa-i-Jalalia, in honour of the saint. The madrasa successively produced hundreds of ulama
In Islam, the ''ulama'' (; ar, علماء ', singular ', "scholar", literally "the learned ones", also spelled ''ulema''; feminine: ''alimah'' ingularand ''aalimath'' lural are the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious ...
including Ghulam Mustafa Burdwani
Ghulām Muṣṭafā al-Burdwānī ( ar, غلام مصطفى البردواني), or alternatively Golam Mostafa Bardhamani ( bn, গোলাম মোস্তফা বর্ধমানী), was an 18th-century Islamic scholar and poet from Bu ...
, Izharul Haque, Abdur Rab Lucknowi, Abdur Rahman Lucknowi and Nurul Haque Ansari.
See also
* Shah Sultan Rumi
Shāh Sulṭān Qamar ad-Dīn Rumī ( bn, শাহ সুলতান কমর উদ্দিন রুমী, ar, ), was an 11th-century Sufi Muslim figure who in scholarly tradition, is believed to have been the first Sufi who visited and ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tabrizi, Jalaluddin
Muslim missionaries
Bengali Sufi saints
People from Malda district
1228 deaths
Sufi mystics
Sufi teachers
13th-century Muslim scholars of Islam
Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam
People from Tabriz