Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti of Ajmer

In Chishti order, Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin of Ajmer is the most popular saint. He was born in Sajistan, and he became a follower of the Chistiya sect.

This article will provide information about Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti of Ajmer in the context of the IAS Exam.

This is useful for the History part (GS I paper) of the UPSC Syllabus.

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About Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti 

• Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti  was born in Sijistan (modern-day Sistan) in Iran in 1141-42 CE.
• Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti went on to Hajj, Mecca, and Medina after receiving Khilafat at the age of 52 from Sheikh Usman Harawani.
• Later, Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti started living and preaching in Ajmer.
• Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti was soon able to draw the local populace, poor people, peasants, and nobles from far and wide. 
• Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti even drew the attention of the Kings.
• The Dargah complex of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti was built in Indo-Islamic style of architecture.
• A golden crown offered by Nawab Haider Ali Khan of Rampur sits on top of it and a lotus adorns the dome.
• Moinuddin Hasan Chishti earned the name Khwaja Garib Nawaz, or cherisher of the poor.

Sufis – A Brief History

• From the 11th century onwards, a large number of Sufis settled in India. They travelled from Central Asia.
• During the reign of the Delhi Sultanate, this process was strengthened. 
• During this period, several major Sufi centres spread all over the subcontinent.
• Among them, the most influential order was Chishti silsila.
• It had many teachers like Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti of Ajmer.
• It had a long line of teachers like Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti of Ajmer, Khwaja Nizamuddin Auliya of Delhi, Bandanawaz Gisudaraz of Gulbarga, and Baba Farid of Punjab.
• All over the Muslim world there is a prevalence of pilgrimage to tombs of Sufi saints. This is called as called Ziyarat.
• This is practiced for seeking the spiritual grace of the Sufi’s. This is known as barakat.
• People of various social backgrounds, classes, and various creeds have been visiting the Dargahs of the five great Chishti saints for more than seven centuries.
• The shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin is the most revered shrine, and it is popularly known as “Gharib Nawaz” meaning comforter of the poor.

Khwaja Moinuddin Dargah

• Khwaja Moinuddin Dargah was popular because of the piety and austerity of its Shaikh, patronage of royal visitors, and the popularity of his spiritual successors.
• It attracted a lot of travellers as the shrine was located on the trade route linking Delhi and Gujarat.
• Sultan Ghiyasuddin Khalji of Malwa funded the earliest construction to house the tomb in the late fifteenth century.
• The earliest textual references to Khwaja Moinuddin’s Dargah date back to the fourteenth century.
• The first Sultan to visit the shrine was Muhammad bin Tughlaq.
• The popularity of the shrine increased in the sixteenth century.
• Akbar visited the Dargah many times, until 1580, for the fulfilment of vows, to seek blessings for new conquests.
• As per imperial documents, each of these visits was celebrated through showering generous gifts.
• To facilitate cooking for pilgrims, he had offered a huge cauldron.

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