Azan Faqir ( ar, أذان فقير), born Shah Miran, also known as Ajan Pir, Hazrat Shah Miran, and Shah Milan (presumably from ''

Miran Miran may refer to: Places *Miran (Xinjiang), an ancient oasis town in Ruoqiang County, Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, southeastern Xinjiang, western China *Miran fort, a ruined defensive structure built by the Tibetan Empire, located in ...

''), 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, ...

Syed, poet, Muslim preacher and saint from the 17th century who came from Baghdad or as per some family sources, Badaun in western UP to settle in the Sibsagar area of Assam in the north-eastern part of India, where he helped to unify the people of the

Brahmaputra The Brahmaputra is a trans-boundary river which flows through Tibet, northeast India, and Bangladesh. It is also known as the Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibetan, the Siang/Dihang River in Arunachali, Luit in Assamese, and Jamuna River in Bangla. It ...

valley, and to reform, reinforce and stabilise

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 ...

in the region of Assam. The nickname ''Azan'' came from his habit of calling

azan Azan may refer to: People * Ivan Asen I of Bulgaria r. 1189–1196 or his sons * Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria r. 1218–1241 * Azan (''Star Trek''), ''Star Trek'' character * Azan (mythology), character in Greek mythology * Azan, nickname of Americ ...

. He came to Assam in about 1630 from Iraq, that is, approximately 200 years after the birth of Srimanta Sankardev. According to one version his name was "Hazarat Shah Syed Mainuddin". He is particularly known for his '' Zikr and Zari'', two forms of devotional songs, that draw from local musical traditions and have striking similarities with '' borgeets'' of

Srimanta Sankardeva Srimanta Sankardev( শ্ৰীমন্ত শংকৰদেৱ )(; ; 1449–1568) was a 15th–16th century Assamese polymath; a saint-scholar, poet, playwright, dancer, actor, musician, artist social-religious reformer and a figure of im ...

, the 16th-century saint-scholar from Assam. In addition, the late renowned author and Sahitya Akademi award winner Syed Abdul Malik states that Azan Fakir was a preacher with profound mastery over the

Qur’an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sing.: ...

, the Hadith and Islamic philosophy.

Career

Azan Fakir was a disciple of Khwaja Nizamuddin Auliya in Baghdad. He came to Assam accompanied by his brother Shah Navi. He married an

Ahom Ahom may refer to: *Ahom people, an ethnic community in Assam * Ahom language, a language associated with the Ahom people *Ahom religion, an ethnic folk religion of Tai-Ahom people *Ahom alphabet, a script used to write the Ahom language * Ahom kin ...

woman of high social stature and settled at Gorgaon, near modern Sibsagar town. As a

Pir Pir or PIR may refer to: Places * Pir, Kerman, a village in Kerman Province, Iran * Pir, Satu Mare, commune in Satu Mare County, Romania Religion * Pir (Alevism), one of the 12 ranks of Imam in Alevism * Pir (Sufism), a Sufi teacher or spiritu ...

he composed Zikrs (a type of spiritual song). Originally he spoke Arabic, but he completely mastered the language of the land he adopted, permitting comparison of his songs to those of his Vaishnava contemporaries.

The conspiracy

In course of time his influence spread, he acquired a good number of followers and earned the enmity of an Ahom Muslim official, Rupai Dadhora, who by conspiracy convinced the Ahom king that Azan Fakir was a Mughal spy and had orders passed for plucking out the Pir's eyes. The Pir, according to some songs, had two earthen pots brought into which he let his "two eyes drop".He then asked the soldiers to throw the pots into the nearby

Dikhow River The Dikhow River is a left tributary of the Brahmaputra River in the Indian state of Assam. It rises in the Zunheboto district in Nagaland, flows through the Sivasagar district Sivasagar district (Pron: or ), formerly known as ''Sibsagar'', is ...

instead of taking them to the King.

Aftermath

The king was alarmed and for atonement made land grants to Ajan Fakir at Soraguri Chapari, near Sibsagar and had a matha built for him. This place on the bank of

has become a holy place with Ajan Pir's Dargah where an annual urs is held. His '' dargah'' is at Saraguri Chapari near Sibsagar town.

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fakir, Ajan Religion in Assam People from Baghdad 17th-century Indian people 17th century in the Ahom kingdom Indian Sufis Indian people of Iraqi descent People from Assam

Career

The conspiracy

Aftermath

See also

References