The Qalandariyyah ( ar, قلندرية), Qalandaris, Qalandars or Kalandars are wandering ascetic Sufi

dervish Dervish, Darvesh, or Darwīsh (from fa, درویش, ''Darvīsh'') in Islam can refer broadly to members of a Sufi fraternity (''tariqah''), or more narrowly to a religious mendicant, who chose or accepted material poverty. The latter usage ...

es. The term covers a variety of sects, not centrally organized and may not be connected to a specific

tariqa 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". ...

t. One was founded by Qalandar Yusuf al-Andalusi of

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

. They were mostly in Iran, Central Asia, India and Pakistan. Starting in the early 12th century, the movement gained popularity in

Greater Khorasan Greater Khorāsān,Dabeersiaghi, Commentary on Safarnâma-e Nâsir Khusraw, 6th Ed. Tehran, Zavvâr: 1375 (Solar Hijri Calendar) 235–236 or Khorāsān ( pal, Xwarāsān; fa, خراسان ), is a historical eastern region in the Iranian Plat ...

and neighbouring regions, including

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.;;;;; ...

. The first references are found in the 11th-century prose text ''Qalandarname'' (The Tale of the Kalandar) attributed to Ansarī Harawī. The term ''Qalandariyyat'' (the Qalandar condition) appears to be first applied by

Sanai Hakim Abul-Majd Majdūd ibn Ādam Sanā'ī Ghaznavi ( fa, ), more commonly known as Sanai, was a Persian poet from Ghazni who lived his life in the Ghaznavid Empire which is now located in Afghanistan. He was born in 1080 and died between 1 ...

Ghaznavi (died 1131) in seminal poetic works where diverse practices are described. Particular to the qalandar genre of poetry are terms that refer to gambling, games, intoxicants and

Nazar ila'l-murd The meditation known in Arabic as naẓar ila'l-murd ( ar, النظر إلى المرد), "contemplation of the beardless" is a Sufi practice of spiritual realization. Peter Lamborn Wilson claims this as the use of "imaginal yoga" to transmute ...

, themes commonly referred to as ''kufriyyat'' or ''kharabat''. The genre was further developed by poets such as

Fakhr-al-Din Iraqi Fakhr al-Din Iraqi (also spelled Araqi; fa, فخرالدین عراقی; 1213/14 – 1289) was a Persian Sufi poet of the 13th-century. He is principally known for his mixed prose and poetry work, the ''Lama'at'' ("Divine flashes"), as well a ...

and Farid al-Din Attar.

Origin

The Qalandariyya are an unorthodox tariqa of Sufi dervishes that originated in medieval

al-Andalus Al-Andalus translit. ; an, al-Andalus; ast, al-Ándalus; eu, al-Andalus; ber, ⴰⵏⴷⴰⵍⵓⵙ, label= Berber, translit=Andalus; ca, al-Àndalus; gl, al-Andalus; oc, Al Andalús; pt, al-Ândalus; es, al-Ándalus () was the Mus ...

as an answer to the state sponsored Zahirism of the

Almohad Caliphate The Almohad Caliphate (; ar, خِلَافَةُ ٱلْمُوَحِّدِينَ or or from ar, ٱلْمُوَحِّدُونَ, translit=al-Muwaḥḥidūn, lit=those who profess the unity of God) was a North African Berber Muslim empire fo ...

. From there they quickly spread into

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in t ...

, the

Mashriq The Mashriq ( ar, ٱلْمَشْرِق), sometimes spelled Mashreq or Mashrek, is a term used by Arabs to refer to the eastern part of the Arab world, located in Western Asia and eastern North Africa. Poetically the "Place of Sunrise", the n ...

Greater Iran Greater Iran ( fa, ایران بزرگ, translit=Irān-e Bozorg) refers to a region covering parts of Western Asia, Central Asia, South Asia, Xinjiang, and the Caucasus, where both Iranian culture and Iranian languages have had ...

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes the former ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

Qalandariyya in South Asia

The Qalandariya may have arisen from the earlier Malamatiyya and exhibited some

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

and Hindu influences in

. The Malamatiya condemned the use of drugs and dressed only in blankets or in hip-length hairshirts. Bu Ali Shah Qalandar was an important Indian qalandar. It spread to Hazrat Pandua 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 ...

through the efforts of Shah Shafi ad-Din. The writings of ''qalandars'' were not a mere celebration of

libertinism A libertine is a person devoid of most moral principles, a sense of responsibility, or sexual restraints, which they see as unnecessary or undesirable, and is especially someone who ignores or even spurns accepted morals and forms of behaviour o ...

, but antinomial practices of affirmation from negative action. The order was often viewed suspiciously by authorities. The term remains in popular culture. Sufi

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 subcontine ...

singers the Sabri brothers and international Qawwali star

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan ( pa, ; born Pervez Fateh Ali Khan; 13 October 1948 – 16 August 1997) was a Pakistani singer, songwriter, and music director. He was primarily a singer of qawwali — a form of Sufi devotional music. Sometimes c ...

favoured the chant ''dam a dam masta qalandar'' (with every breath ecstatic Qalandar!), and a similar refrain appeared in a hit song from Runa Laila from movie Ek Se Badhkar Ek that became a dancefloor crossover hit in the 1970s. In

and

North India North India is a loosely defined region consisting of the northern part of India. The dominant geographical features of North India are the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, which demarcate the region from the Tibetan Plateau and Centr ...

, descendants of Qalandariyah faqirs now form a distinct community, known as the Qalandar biradari.

Dhamaal

Songs honoring famous qalandars are called ''qalandri dhamaal'' in Pakistan. Dhamaal are a popular

n musical subgenre about Sufi saints such as Lal Shahbaz Qalandar. These songs typically incorporate

styles as well as different local folk styles, such as bhangra and intense

naqareh The ''naqareh'', ''naqqāra'', ''nagara'' or ''nagada'' is a Middle Eastern drum with a rounded back and a hide head, usually played in pairs. It is thus a membranophone of the kettle drum variety. The term ''naqqāra'' (), also ''naqqarat'', ...

dhol Dhol (IPA: ) can refer to any one of a number of similar types of double-headed drum widely used, with regional variations, throughout the Indian subcontinent. Its range of distribution in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan primarily includes nor ...

drumming.Malik, Iftikhar Haider (2006). ''Culture and customs of Pakistan''. Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut
page 171

Bibliography

* De Bruijn, The Qalandariyyat in Persian Mystical Poetry from Sana'i, in ''The Heritage of Sufism'', 2003. * Ashk Dahlén, The Holy Fool in Medieval Islam: The Qalandariyat of Fakhr al-din Araqi, ''Orientalia Suecana'', vol.52, 2004.

References

{{Authority control * Shia Sufi orders

Origin

Qalandariyya in South Asia

Dhamaal

See also

Bibliography

References