Nasiruddin Mahmud Chirag-Dehlavi (

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

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 the

Chishti Order The Chishtī Order ( fa, ''chishtī'') is a tariqa, an order or school within the mystic Sufi tradition of Sunni Islam. The Chishti Order is known for its emphasis on love, tolerance, and openness. It began with Abu Ishaq Shami in Chisht, a ...

. He was a disciple of Sufi saint

Nizamuddin Auliya Muhammad Nizamuddin Auliya (sometimes spelled Awliya; 1238 – 3 April 1325), also known as Hazrat Nizamuddin, and Mahbub-e-Ilahi () was an Sunni Muslim scholar, Sufi saint of the Chishti Order, and is one of the most famous Sufis from the India ...

,Nizamuddin Auliya
''

Ain-i-Akbari The ''Ain-i-Akbari'' ( fa, ) or the "Administration of Akbar", is a 16th-century detailed document recording the administration of the Mughal Empire under Emperor Akbar, written by his court historian, Abu'l Fazl in the Persian language. It for ...

'', by

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 ...

. English tr. by

Heinrich Blochmann Heinrich Blochmann, known as Henry Ferdinand Blochmann (8 January 1838 – 13 July 1878), was a German orientalist and scholar of Persian language and literature who spent most of his career in India, where he worked first as a professor, and event ...

and Colonel Henry Sullivan Jarrett, 1873–1907. The Asiatic Society of Bengal,

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

, Volume III, Saints of India. (Awliyá-i-Hind), page 365. "many under his direction attained to the heights of sanctity, such as Shaykh Naṣíru'ddín Muḥammad Chirágh i Dihlí, Mír Khusrau, Shaykh Aláu'l Ḥaḳḳ, Shaykh Akhí Siráj, 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 ...

, Shaikh Wajíhu'ddín Yúsuf in

Chanderi Chanderi, is a town of historical importance in Ashoknagar District of the state Madhya Pradesh in India. It is situated at a distance of 127 km from Shivpuri, 37 km from Lalitpur, 55 km from Ashok Nagar and about 46 km f ...

, Shaykh Yạḳúb and Shaykh Kamál in

Malwa Malwa is a historical region of west-central India occupying a plateau of volcanic origin. Geologically, the Malwa Plateau generally refers to the volcanic upland north of the Vindhya Range. Politically and administratively, it is also syno ...

h, Mauláná Ghiyáṣ, in Dhár, Mauláná Mughíṣ, in

Ujjain Ujjain (, Hindustani language, Hindustani pronunciation: Help:IPA/Hindi and Urdu, �d͡ːʒɛːn is a city in Ujjain district of the States and territories of India, Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the fifth-largest city in Madhya Prad ...

, Shaykh Ḥusain, in

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

, Shaykh Burhánu'ddín Gharíb, Shaykh Muntakhab, Khwájah Ḥasan, in the Dekhan." and later his successor. He was the last important Sufi of the

from

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 ...

. Dehlavi's followers called him "Roshan Chirag-e-Delhi", which in

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

, means "Illuminated Lamp of

Biography

Nasiruddin Mahmud Chiragh Dehlavi (or Chiragh-e-Delhi) was born as Nasiruddin Mahmud Al HASANI around 1274, at

Ayodhya Ayodhya (; ) is a city situated on the banks of holy river Saryu in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Ayodhya, also known as Sāketa, Saketa, is an ancient city of India, the birthplace of Rama and ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

. Dehlavi's father, Yahya Al HASANI, who traded in

Pashmina Pashmina (, ) refers to, depending on the source, a term for cashmere wool of the Changthangi cashmere goat,Janet Rizvi: ''Pashmina: The Kashmir Shawl and Beyond''. Marg Foundation, 2009. ISBN 978-8185026909. for fine Indian cashmere woolRobert R ...

, and his grandfather, Shaikh Yahya Abdul Latif Al HASANI, first migrated from

Khorasan Khorasan may refer to: * Greater Khorasan, a historical region which lies mostly in modern-day northern/northwestern Afghanistan, northeastern Iran, southern Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan * Khorasan Province, a pre-2004 province of Ira ...

, northeastern

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 ...

, to

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

, and thereafter settled in

, in

Awadh Awadh (), known in British historical texts as Avadh or Oudh, is a region in the modern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, which was before independence known as the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. It is synonymous with the Kośāla region of ...

. His father died when he was nine and he received education from Abdul Karim Sherwani and then from Iftikhar Uddin Gilani.Life History

Moinuddin Chishti Chishtī Muʿīn al-Dīn Ḥasan Sijzī (1143–1236 Common Era, CE), known more commonly as Muʿīn al-Dīn Chishtī or Moinuddin Chishti, or by the epithet Gharib Nawaz (),Blain Auer, "Chishtī Muʿīn al-Dīn Ḥasan", in: ''Encyclopaedia o ...

Official website. At the age forty, he left Ayodhya for Delhi, where he became the disciple of

. Dehlavi stayed there for the rest of his life as his disciple,Ayodhya's Forgotten Muslim Past
"Counter Currents", 23 October 2003. and after his death, became his successor. In time, he also became a known poet in

Persian language Persian (), also known by its endonym Farsi (, ', ), is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken and ...

. He died in 17 Ramzan 757 Hijri or 1357 CE, at the age of 82 or 83, and is buried in a part of

South Delhi South Delhi is an administrative district of the National Capital Territory of Delhi in India with its headquarters in Saket. Administratively, the district is divided into three subdivisions, Saket, Hauz Khas, and Mehrauli. It is bounded by t ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

which is known as "Chirag Delhi" after him.In The Name Of Faith
''

Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, t ...

'', 19 April 2007.

Disciples

One of his disciples was Bande Nawaz Gezu Daraz, who later moved to Daulatabad around 1400, owing to the attack of

Timur Timur ; chg, ''Aqsaq Temür'', 'Timur the Lame') or as ''Sahib-i-Qiran'' ( 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction'), his epithet. ( chg, ''Temür'', 'Iron'; 9 April 133617–19 February 1405), later Timūr Gurkānī ( chg, ''Temür Kür ...

on Delhi. Invited by

Bahamani The Bahmani Sultanate, or Deccan, was a Persianate Sunni Muslim Indian Kingdom located in the Deccan region. It was the first independent Muslim kingdom of the Deccan,

King, Firuz Shah Bahamani, he then moved to

Gulbarga Kalaburagi, formerly known as Gulbarga, is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Kalaburagi district and is the largest city in the region of North Karnataka (Kalyana-Karnataka). Kalaburagi is 6 ...

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

. He stayed there for the following 22 years, spreading the

until his death in November 1422. Bande Nawaz's mausoleum is in Gulbarga, as a symbol of multi-religious unity. another prominent discipline was Makhdoom Jahanan jahangasht of uch Sharif ( grandson of saiyyed Jalaluddin shurkhposh Bukhari ) makhdoom jahanian jahangasht did 36 Haj, he was peer of 80 makhdooms including Ashraf Jahangir simnani of kichaucha shariff and Syed sadruddin Raju Qattal, and was also the peer of king Firoz Shah Tuglaq, sultan of Gujrat Zafar Shah, ruler of Ludhiana Sheikh Chachu. Khwaja Moinuddin Khurd Bin Khwaja Hisamuddin Jigar Sokhta Bin Khwaja Fakhruddin Bin Khwaja Moinuddin Hasan Chishty Rehmatullah Alaih was also disciple and Khalifa During his stay in Delhi, Dehlavi continued to visit Ayodhya often, where he made a number of disciples, notably, Shaikh Zainuddin Ali Awadhi was his nephew, Shaikh Fatehullah Awadhi and Allama Kamaluddin Awadhi. Kamaluddin Allama was his nephew

Dargah

After his death, his tomb was built by

Firuz Shah Tughluq Sultan Firuz Shah Tughlaq (1309 – 20 September 1388) was a Muslim ruler from the Tughlaq dynasty, who reigned over the Sultanate of Delhi from 1351 to 1388.

(r. 1351–1388), the

Sultan of Delhi The following list of Indian monarchs is one of several lists of incumbents. It includes those said to have ruled a portion of the Indian subcontinent, including Sri Lanka. The Mahajanapada, earliest Indian rulers are known from epigraphica ...

in 1358, and later two gateways were added on either side of mausoleum. One of noted addition was a mosque built by a later

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 ...

Farrukhsiyar Farrukhsiyar or Farrukh Siyar () (20 August 16839 April 1719) was the tenth emperor of the Mughal Empire from 1713 to 1719. He rose to the throne after assassinating his uncle, Emperor Jahandar Shah. Reportedly a handsome man who was easily sw ...

, in the early 18th century,Chirag Dilli Tomb
Mosques & Shrines in Delhi. and popular among both Muslims and non-Muslims. A humble tomb, allegedly the

Tomb of Bahlul Lodi Bahlul Lodi's tomb is a building situated in Delhi, India, which is allegedly the tomb of an emperor of Delhi Sultanate and the founder of Lodi Dynasty, Bahlul Lodi (Reign:1451-1489 A.D). The tomb is located in a historic settlement, Chirag Delhi ...

, the grave of the founder of the

Lodhi dynasty The Lodi dynasty ( ps, لودي سلسله; fa, سلسله لودی) was an Afghan dynasty that ruled the Delhi Sultanate from 1451 to 1526. It was the fifth and final dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate, and was founded by Bahlul Khan Lodi when h ...

(r. 1451–1489), lies close to the shrine, in the present day locality of ‘Chirag Delhi’ that grew around the tomb since 1800, and still goes by his name, it is very close to the locality of

Greater Kailash Greater Kailash (often referred to as GK) is a residential area in South Delhi consisting of prime and luxurious real estate in several neighborhoods and multiple markets. It is divided into two zones, namely Parts 1 and 2, located around a se ...

, in

Legacy

Nasiruddin Chiragh Dehalvi, unlike his spiritual master Nizamuddin Auliya, did not listen to ''

sema Sama ( tr, Sema, Persian, Urdu and ar, سَمَاع - ''samā‘un'') is a Sufi ceremony performed as part of the meditation and prayer practice dhikr. Sama means "listening", while dhikr means "remembrance".During, J., and R. Sellheim. "Sama ...

'', which was considered un-Islamic by a section of the Muslim intelligentsia in that period. He did not however pass any specific judgement against it. This is the reason why even today, ''

qawwali Qawwali ( Punjabi: (Shahmukhi), (Gurmukhi); Urdu: (Nasta'liq); Hindi: क़व्वाली (Devanagari); Bengali: কাওয়ালি (Bengali)) is a form of Sufi Islamic devotional singing, originating from the Indian subcontinent ...

'' is not performed near his shrine in Delhi. Nasiruddin's descendants are to be found far and wide as a lot of them moved down South to Hyderabad . The ''dargah'' of Badi Bua or Badi Bibi, who said be the elder sister of Nasiruddin Mahmud Chiragh Dehlavi, still exists in city of Ayodhya.

Khanzada Jadubansi Rajputs, their acceptance of Islam

Khanzadah, the Persian form of the Rajputana word ''Rajput'', is the title of the representatives of the ancient Jadubansi royal Rajput family, descendants of

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...

and therefore of

Lunar Dynasty The Lunar dynasty (IAST: Candravaṃśa) is a legendary principal house of the Kshatriyas varna, or warrior–ruling caste mentioned in the ancient Indian texts. This legendary dynasty was said to be descended from moon-related deities (''Som ...

. Jadon (also spelled Jadaun) Rajput Raja Lakhan Pala, the progenitor of the family of the Khanzadahs, was the grandson of Raja Adhan Pala (who was 4th in descent from Raja Tahan Pala). Tahan Pala, who founded Tahangarh, was the eldest son of Raja Bijai Pala (founder of Bijai Garh), who himself was 88th in descent from Lord

. Hence, Jadon Raja Lakhan Pala, Mewatpatti (title means, Lord of Mewat) was 94th in descent from Lord

Acceptance of Islam

The family records of Khanzadahs states that during one of the hunting expedition Kunwar Samar Pal and Kunwar Sopar Pal, the sons of Jadon Raja Lakhan Pal, met with Sufi saint Nasiruddin Mahmud, Roshan Chiragh-i Dehli. The acceptance of Islam by Khanzadahs have been a 'enlightenment of heart' come about from their association with the Sufi saints."Shaikh Muhammad Makhdum, Arzang-i Tijarah(Urdu)( Agra: Agra Akhbar 1290H)"

References

External links

''Hazrat Nasir Uddin Mahmud Chiragh Dehlavi'' Homepage

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dehlavi, Nasiruddin Chiragh 1274 births 1356 deaths Nasiruddin Chirag-e-Delhi People from Delhi Persian-language poets Nasiruddin Chirag-e-Delhi Indian Sunni Muslims Indian Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam 13th-century Indian Muslims 13th-century Indian poets 14th-century Indian poets Chishtis Sufi shrines in India