Shāh ʿAlī al-Baghdādī (–1480) was a 15th-century Muslim missionary and Sufi saint based in the Faridpur and

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city i ...

regions of

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 ...

Life

Ali al-Baghdadi was born in to Mufti Fakhruddin in

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...

Abbasid Caliphate The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...

. He was a descendant of Sultan Ali, allegedly a son of

Muhammad al-Jawad Muhammad ibn Ali al-Jawad ( ar, محمد بن علي الجواد, Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī al-Jawād, – 29 November 835) was a descendant of the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad and the ninth of the Twelve Imams, su ...

and younger brother of

Ali al-Hadi ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Hādī ( ar, عَلِيّ ٱبْن مُحَمَّد ٱلْهَادِي; 828 – 868 CE) was a descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the tenth of the Twelve Imams, succeeding his father, Muhammad al-Jawad. He ...

. He was said to have belonged to the

Qadiri Order The Qadiriyya (), also transliterated Qādirīyah, ''Qadri'', ''Qadriya'', ''Kadri'', ''Elkadri'', ''Elkadry'', ''Aladray'', ''Alkadrie'', ''Adray'', ''Kadray'', ''Kadiri'', ''Qadiri'', ''Quadri'' or ''Qadri'' are members of the Sunni Qadiri ta ...

. At the age of twenty, he travelled to the Delhi Sultanate with forty to one hundred companions in 838 AH (1434 CE). He married into the

Sayyid dynasty The Sayyid dynasty was the fourth dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate, with four rulers ruling from 1414 to 1451. Founded by Khizr Khan, a former governor of Multan, they succeeded the Tughlaq dynasty and ruled the sultanate as a vassal of the Ti ...

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 ...

. Eventually, he entered the

Sultanate of Bengal The Sultanate of Bengal ( Middle Bengali: শাহী বাঙ্গালা ''Shahī Baṅgala'', Classical Persian: ''Saltanat-e-Bangālah'') was an empire based in Bengal for much of the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. It was the domina ...

during the reign of Sultan

Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah ( bn, জালালউদ্দীন মুহম্মদ শাহ; born as Yadu or Jadu) was a 15th-century Sultan of Bengal and an important figure in medieval Bengali history. Born a Hindu to his aristocratic fat ...

. The Sultan gifted him with 12,000 bighas of land in Dholsamudra, Faridpur and he settled in the

qasba A kasbah (, also ; ar, قَـصَـبَـة, qaṣaba, lit=fortress, , Maghrebi Arabic: ), also spelled qasba, qasaba, or casbah, is a fortress, most commonly the citadel or fortified quarter of a city. It is also equivalent to the term ''alc ...

of Girdah. The presence of Sufi saints such as Shah Ali Baghdadi, his brother-in-law Shah Husayn Tegh-Burhana and companions Haji Saaduddin and Shah Muhammad Goraz led to the area being named as Miran-i-Girdah in their honour. Many Hindus in Girdah converted to Islam through his efforts. In due course, Ali proceeded to

. This later migration is explained by the engulfment of Girdah as a result of

Padma River The Padma ( bn, পদ্মা ''Pôdma'') is a major river in Bangladesh. It is the main distributary of the Ganges, flowing generally southeast for to its confluence with the Meghna River near the Bay of Bengal. The city of Rajshahi is sit ...

erosion and Ali's desire to become initiated into 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 ...

by Shah Bahar, a Sufi saint based in Dhaka. Nevertheless, Ali also contributed to spreading Islam in Dhaka, where he remained until the rest of his life.

Shrine

After practicing chilla in complete fasting for forty days, Shah Ali Baghdadi died in and was buried in

Mirpur, Dhaka Mirpur ( bn, মীরপুর/মিরপুর) is a ''thana'' of Dhaka city, Bangladesh. It is bounded by Pallabi Thana to the north, Mohammadpur Thana to the south, Kafrul to the east, and Savar Upazila to the west. History Mirpur thana ...

. However, according to a book preserved in his mausoleum, he died in 1577 AD. The Bangladeshi

Islamic scholar 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 ...

Nur Muhammad Azmi identifies Shah Ali's year of death as 913 AH (1507 AD). Many pilgrims visit his shrine at the time of his

urs Urs (from ''‘Urs'') or ''Urus'' (literal meaning wedding), is the death anniversary of a Sufi saint, usually held at the saint's dargah (shrine or tomb). In most Sufi orders such as Naqshbandiyyah, Suhrawardiyya, Chishtiyya, Qadiriyya, etc ...

(death anniversary) from different parts of

and beyond. His mosque was completely renovated in 1806. The second

Nawab of Dhaka The Nawab of Dhaka (Bengali: "ঢাকার নবাব"), originally spelt in English Nawab of Dacca, was the title of the head of largest Muslim zamindar in British Bengal and Assam, based in present-day Dhaka, Bangladesh. The title of ''na ...

Khwaja Abdul Ghani Nawab Bahadur Sir Khwaja Abdul Ghani (30 July 1813 – 24 August 1896) was the second Nawab of Dhaka and the first to assume the title of Nawab as hereditary, recognized by the British Raj. He introduced the panchayat system, gaslights, wat ...

constructed a road leading to the shrine in the 18th century. His son and successor,

Khwaja Ahsanullah Nawab Bahadur Sir Khwaja Ahsanullah KCIE (22 August 1846 – 16 December 1901) was the third Nawab of Dhaka. He also authored books in Persian and Urdu under the pen name of Shaheen. Ahsanullah is recognised for his philanthropic works in Ben ...

, contributed towards the renovation of the shrine and establishment of a ''musafir-khana'' (guest-house).

Legacy

The

Shah Ali Thana Shah Ali Thana is a thana of Dhaka District, Bangladesh. History Shah Ali Thana was formed in 2005 and was named after Shah Ali, a Sufi saint. References Thanas of Dhaka {{dhaka-geo-stub ...

was founded in 2005, and includes the ward of Shah Ali Nagar. A

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

in Girdah contains an ancient relic chamber set up by Shah Ali Baghdadi. These include his wooden plate, turban,

prayer mat A prayer rug or prayer mat is a piece of fabric, sometimes a pile carpet, used by Muslims, some Christians and some Baha'i during prayer. In Islam, a prayer mat is placed between the ground and the worshipper for cleanliness during the various ...

and ''

tasbih ''Tasbih'' ( ar, تَسْبِيح, ) is a form of ''dhikr'' that involves the glorification of Allah in Islam by saying: ''"Subhan Allah"'' (; lit. "Glory be to God"). It is often repeated a certain number of times, using either the phalanges ...

'' (made out of

fish bone Fish bone is any bone of a fish. Fish bone also includes the bony, delicate parts of the skeleton of bony fish, such as ribs and fin rays, but especially the ossification of connective tissue lying transversely inclined backwards to the ribs betwe ...

). The chamber also holds a kurdi coat which was said to have belonged to Shah Madar, as well as

Relics of Muhammad Traditionally, Islam has had a rich history of the veneration of relics, especially of those attributed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad.Goldziher, I. and Boer, Tj. de, “At̲h̲ar”, in: ''Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition'', Edited by: ...

Ali ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam ...

, Hasan,

Husayn Hussein, Hussain, Hossein, Hossain, Huseyn, Husayn, Husein or Husain (; ar, حُسَيْن ), coming from the triconsonantal root Ḥ-S-i-N ( ar, ح س ی ن, link=no), is an Arabic name which is the diminutive of Hassan, meaning "good", " ...

and Abdul Qadir Gilani. His nephew, Shah Habibullah Maddan-e-Khoda (son of Shah Husayn Tegh-Burhana), settled in the village of Banamalidia, Madhukhali (where he is buried) and is the ancestor of former parliamentarian

Syed Qumrul Islam Saleh Uddin Syed Kamrul Islam Mohammad Salehuddin ( bn, সৈয়দ কামরুল ইসলাম মোহাম্মদ সালেহউদ্দিন; 2 July 1937 – 24 May 1983), also known by his daak naam Jangu, was a Bangladeshi politi ...

References

{{coord, 23.7970, 90.3489, region:BD_type:landmark, display=title 1480 deaths History of Dhaka Bengali Sufi saints 15th-century deaths 15th-century Muslims People from Baghdad