Chishti devotionalism: ziyarat and qawwali

The Practice of Ziyarat

Pilgrimage to the tombs of Sufi saints is known as ziyarat. This is not merely a visit — it is a religious act through which devotees seek the saint’s spiritual grace, called barakat. For over seven centuries, people of all creeds, classes, and social backgrounds have performed ziyarat at the dargahs (tombs) of the five great Chishti saints.

The most revered of these shrines is that of Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti, popularly called Gharib Nawaz (comforter of the poor). The earliest textual references to his dargah in Ajmer date to the fourteenth century. Its popularity grew because of the austerity and piety of its Shaikh, the greatness of his spiritual successors, and the patronage of royal visitors.

Royal Patronage and the Ajmer Shrine

Muhammad bin Tughlaq (ruled 1324–1351) was the first Sultan to visit the shrine. However, the earliest construction to house the tomb was funded in the late fifteenth century by Sultan Ghiyasuddin Khalji of Malwa. Because the shrine lay on the trade route linking Delhi and Gujarat, it attracted many travellers.

By the sixteenth century, the shrine had become extremely popular. It was the spirited singing of pilgrims bound for Ajmer that inspired Akbar to visit the tomb. He went there fourteen times, sometimes two or three times a year, to seek blessings for new conquests, fulfilment of vows, and the birth of sons. He maintained this tradition until 1580. Each visit was celebrated with generous gifts, recorded in imperial documents. For example, in 1568 he offered a huge cauldron (degh) to facilitate cooking for pilgrims, and he had a mosque constructed within the dargah compound.

The Pilgrimage of Jahanara (1643)

Jahanara, the Mughal princess, wrote a biography of Shaikh Muinuddin Chishti titled Munis al Arwah (The Confidant of Spirits). Her account reveals the intense devotion of a pilgrim:

• She travelled from Agra to Ajmer in the company of her father, Emperor Shah Jahan.
• Every day, at every station, she performed two cycles of optional prayer.
• She did not sleep on a leopard skin at night, did not extend her feet towards the blessed sanctuary, and did not turn her back towards it. She passed the days beneath the trees.
• On Thursday, the fourth of the blessed month of Ramzan, she attained the happiness of pilgrimage to the tomb.
• With an hour of daylight remaining, she went to the holy sanctuary and rubbed her pale face with the dust of that threshold.
• From the doorway to the blessed tomb she went barefoot, kissing the ground.
• Having entered the dome, she went around the light-filled tomb seven times.
• Finally, with her own hand she put the finest quality of itar (perfume) on the tomb, and placed her rose scarf on top of it.

These gestures — going barefoot, kissing the ground, circumambulation, offering perfume and a scarf — show how the dargah was treated as a special, sacred space.

The Story of Data Ganj Bakhsh

In 1039, Abu’l Hasan al-Hujwiri, a native of Hujwir near Ghazni in Afghanistan, was forced to cross the Indus as a captive of the invading Turkish army. He settled in Lahore and wrote a book in Persian called Kashf-ul-Mahjub (Unveiling of the Veiled) to explain the meaning of tasawwuf (Sufism) and those who practised it — the Sufis. Hujwiri died in 1073 and was buried in Lahore. The grandson of Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni constructed a tomb over his grave, and this tomb-shrine became a site of pilgrimage, especially on his death anniversary. Today, Hujwiri is revered as Data Ganj Bakhsh (Giver who bestows treasures), and his mausoleum is called Data Darbar (Court of the Giver).

Qawwali and Sama‘ …