The Mughals and the Sufis: Islam and the Political Imagination in India, 1500–1750

Examines the relationship between Mughal political culture and the two dominant strains of Islam’s Sufi traditions in South Asia: one centred around orthodoxy, the other focusing on a more accommodating and mystical spirituality. Based on a critical study of a large number of contemporary Persian texts, court chronicles, epistolary collections, and biographies of sufi mystics, The Mughals and the Sufis examines the complexities in the relationship between Mughal political culture and the two dominant strains of Islam's Sufi traditions in South Asia: one centered around orthodoxy, the other focusing on a more accommodating and mystical spirituality. Muzaffar Alam analyses the interplay of these elements, their negotiation and struggle for resolution via conflict and coordination, and their longer-term outcomes as the empire followed its own political and cultural trajectory as it shifted from the more liberal outlook of Emperor Akbar "The Great" (r. 1556–1605) to the more rigid attitudes of his great-grandson, Aurangzeb 'Alamgir (r. 1658–1701). Alam brings to light many new and underutilized sources relevant to the religious and cultural history of the Mughals and reinterprets well-known sources from a new perspective to provide one of the most detailed and nuanced portraits of Indian Islam under the Mughal Empire available today. Muzaffar Alam is George V. Bobrinskoy Professor in South Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago. He is the author of several books, including, The Languages of Political Islam: India 1200–1800 and The Crisis of Empire in Mughal North India: Awadh and the Punjab, 1707–1748. Contents 8 Preface and Acknowledgements 10 1 Introduction: A Long View of Sufism and Political Culture in India 16 Tasawwuf in Mughal Society 19 Eighteenth-Century Delhi 24 Sufis in Nineteenth-Century North India 31 Deoband Shaikhs and the Chishti–Sabiri Tradition 37 The ‘Other’ in Indian Tasawwuf 41 Modern Muslim Intellectuals and Tasawwuf 43 Shibli Nu‘mani (d. 1914) 48 Muhammad Iqbal (d. 1938) 52 Conclusion 55 2 The Mughals, the Sufi Shaikhs, and the Formation of the Akbari Dispensation 63 Introduction 63 The Chishti Shaikhs, the Afghans, and the Mughals 65 Naqshbandi Shaikhs and Timurids in Mawarannahr 71 The Mawarannahri Shaikhs and the Early Mughals 76 Akbar Encounters the Naqshbandis 85 The Sufi Shaikhs and the Formation of the Akbari Dispensation 89 The Return of the Naqshbandi Shaikhs 99 Conclusion 107 3 A Sufi Critique of Religious Law, Tasawwuf, and Politics in Mughal India 109 Shaikh ‘Abd al-Rahman Chishti’s Mir’at al-Asrar 111 The “Religion” (Mazhab) of the Sufi 114 The Debate on Religious Law and Tasawwuf 121 The Naqshbandi View of Tasawwuf 126 Chishti and the Mughal Rulers 131 Towards a Redefinition of Tradition 138 Conclusion 140 4 Shah Madar, Sufi Religion, and a View of “True Islam” in a Mughal Chishti Tazkira 143 Shah Madar in Mughal Indian Tazkiras 143 Bada’uni 144 Shaikh ‘Abd al-Haqq Muhaddis Dehlavi, Akhbar al-Akhyar 145 Muhammad Ghausi Shattari’s Gulzar-i Abrar 146 Muhammad Sadiq, Tabaqat-i Shahjahani 147 Shah Madar, the Saint of the Commoners: Dara Shukoh’s Safinat al-Auliya’ 148 The Dabistan-i Mazahib (compiled around 1650) 149 Conclusion of the Preliminary Survey of Sources 151 ‘Abd al-Rahman Chishti’s Account of Shah Madar 152 Shah Madar’s Early Years and First Exposure to Islam 153 Two Tangential Discussions: Religious Differences and Sectarianism 156 Shah Madar is Sent to Hindustan 160 Shah Madar in Hindustan: Discourse on Samadiyat, Religious Knowledge, and Sufism 163 Shah Madar, Sufism, and the Bani Isra’il in Awadh 167 The Sufi’s Religion and the Question of “True Islam” 170 Shah Madar’s Unique Death 173 Concluding Remarks 174 5 Strategy and Imagination in a Mughal Sufi Story of Creation 179 Introduction 179 The Story 182 The Story Retold in the Mir’at al-Asrar 205 The Reception of the Story 208 The Sufi Vision of Time: A Hundred Thousand Adams 217 Polemics and Politics 223 Conclusion 228 6 In Search of a Sacred King: Dara Shukoh and the Yogavasisthas of Mughal India 232 The Yogavasistha 234 The Persian Yogavasisthas 238 The Yogavasistha of Nizam Panipati 240 The Yogavasistha of Shaikh Qutb-i Jahani 243 Abu al-Qasim Findiriski (d. 1640–1) 245 The Yogavasistha in Persian as a Sufi Text 250 Dara Shukoh’s Translation 254 The Political Orientation of Dara Shukoh’s Text 260 Dara’s Dream Reconsidered 269 Conclusion 271 7 Piety, Poetry, and the Contested Loyalties of Mughal Princesses, c. 1635–1700 274 Introduction 274 Jahanara Begum: An Introduction 277 Jahanara’s Writings 279 Jahanara: The Perfect Woman (insan-i kamil) 284 Continuing as a Chishti 293 Roshanara Begum: An Introduction 299 Letters from Shaikh Saif al-Din to Roshanara Begum 301 Zeb-un-nisa’ (1639–1701): An Introduction 316 Conclusion 330 Appendix: The Mujaddidi–Naqshbandi Shaikhs’ Letters to Zeb-un-nisa’ 335 8 The Naqshbandi Shaikhs of Sirhind in Aurangzeb’s Empire and Its Aftermath 346 Introduction 346 The Sirhindi Shaikhs and the Mughals 349 Sufism and Shari‘a in the Sirhindi Shaikhs’ Tradition 353 The Sirhindi Shaikhs’ Self-Image 360 The Sirhindi Shaikhs and the Court 366 Shaikh Saif al-Din (d. 1685) and Aurangzeb 372 Shaikh Muhammad Naqshband (d. 1703), the Third Qaiyum, and Aurangzeb 379 The Shaikh in the Waqa’i‘ of Ni‘mat Khan ‘Ali 382 The Mujaddidis in Mughal Society 386 The Controversy Around Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi’s Doctrine and Its Defence 391 The Sirhindi Shaikhs and Their Followers in Early-Eighteenth-Century Delhi 395 Summing up 400 Conclusion 404 Bibliography 412 Index 446 __Examines the relationship between Mughal political culture and the two dominant strains of Islam’s Sufi traditions in South Asia: one centred around orthodoxy, the other focusing on a more accommodating and mystical spirituality.__**Muzaffar Alam**