History · Ch 6 — Bhakti–Sufi Traditions — Changes in Religious Beliefs and Devotional Texts
Life in the Chishti khanqah
Life in the Chishti khanqah
Life in the Chishti khanqah
The khanqah was not just a place of worship — it was the centre of social life. The best-documented example is the hospice of Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya, located in Ghiyaspur on the banks of the river Yamuna, on the outskirts of fourteenth-century Delhi.
The physical layout of the khanqah tells us how life was organised. It had several small rooms and a large hall called the jama'at khana, where inmates and visitors lived and prayed. The inmates included the Shaikh’s own family members, his attendants, and his disciples. The Shaikh himself lived in a small room on the roof of the hall. From there, he would meet visitors twice a day — in the morning and in the evening. A veranda surrounded the central courtyard, and a boundary wall ran around the entire complex. On one occasion, when a Mongol invasion threatened the region, people from neighbouring areas flocked into the khanqah seeking refuge — showing that the hospice also served as a shelter in times of crisis.
The open kitchen called langar was run entirely on futuh — charity that was given without being asked for. From morning till late night, people from all walks of life came to the khanqah. The list of visitors is striking in its diversity: soldiers, slaves, singers, merchants, poets, travellers, the rich and the poor, Hindu jogis (yogis), and qalandars (wandering ascetics). They came for different reasons — seeking discipleship, amulets for healing, or the intercession of the Shaikh in various personal matters. Among the notable visitors were the poets Amir Hasan Sijzi and Amir Khusrau, and the court historian Ziyauddin Barani, all of whom wrote about the Shaikh and his hospice.
Practices and assimilation of local traditions. Several practices adopted in the khanqah show how the Chishtis tried to blend with local customs. These included bowing before the Shaikh, offering water to visitors, shaving the heads of new initiates, and even yogic exercises. Such practices were deliberate attempts to assimilate local traditions into the Sufi way of life. …
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 the Kashf-ul-Mahjub (Unveiling of the Veiled) to explain the meaning of tasawwuf, and those who practised it — that is, the sufi. 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 for his devotees, especially on his death anniversary. Even today Hujwiri is revered as …
Major teachers of the Chishti silsila.
| Sufi teacher | Year of death | Location of dargah |
|---|---|---|
| Shaikh Muinuddin Sijzi | 1235 | Ajmer (Rajasthan) |
| Khwaja Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki | 1235 | Delhi |
| Shaikh Fariduddin Ganj-i Shakar | 1265 | Ajodhan (Pakistan) |
The painting shows Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya seated in a relaxed posture, with his disciple Amir Khusrau positioned slightly lower or to the side — a deliberate compositional choice that visually marks the master’s spiritual authority. The Shaikh is the focal point, calm and centred, while Khusrau, the celebrated poet-musician, is placed as a respectful attendant. This arrangement reflects the hierarchical relationship inside a Chishti khanqah: the shaikh (spiritual guide) is the source of barakat (divine grace), and disciples sit in postures of deference.
The setting is likely the jama’at khana (prayer hall) of Nizamuddin’s hospice in Ghiyaspur, Delhi. The painting does not show the full complex — the small rooms, the veranda, the boundary wall — but it captures the intimate, face-to-face nature of life in the khanqah. The open space around the figures suggests the hall where visitors, disciples, and seekers gathered. No langar (kitchen) or futuh (charity) is depicted, but the presence of Khusrau reminds us that poets, historians, and ordinary people all came to the Shaikh for guidance, healing, or simply to be near him. …