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Districts. |Gole.|Nâmdeobansi.|Reli.|Tânk.|Others.|Muhammadans.|Total.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~+~~~~~+~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~
Dehra Dûn | ... | 49 | ... | ... | 32 | ... | 81
Sahâranpur | ... | ... | 337 |1,643| 1,474 | 8 | 3,462
Muzaffarnagar | ... | ... | 116 |1,366| 204 | 302 | 1,988
Meerut | ... | ... | 698 |1,020| 2,176 | 105 | 3,999
Bulandshahr | ... | 260 | 488 | 49| 558 | ... | 1,355
Aligarh | ... | ... | ... | ... | 1,357 | ... | 1,357
Mathura | 227 | 27 | ... | 124| 914 | ... | 1,342
Agra | ... | 31 | ... | ... | 1,215 | ... | 1,246
Farrukhâbâd | ... | ... | ... | ... | 75 | ... | 75
Mainpuri | ... | ... | ... | ... | 7 | 39 | 46
Etâwah | ... | ... | ... | ... | 54 | 5 | 59
Etah | ... | ... | ... | ... | 70 | 31 | 101
Bareilly | ... | ... | 322 | ... | 419 | ... | 741
Bijnor | ... | ... | 237 | 958| 190 | 5,391 | 6,776
Budâun | ... | 8 | ... | 29| 210 | 1 | 248
Morâdâbâd | ... | 130 |1,219| 123| 674 | 1,444 | 3,590
Shâhjahânpur | ... | ... | ... | ... | 31 | 221 | 225
Pilibhît | ... | 4 | 21| ... | 33 | 23 | 81
Cawnpur | ... | ... | ... | ... | 30 | 131 | 161
Fatehpur | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 508 | 508
Bânda | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 380 | 380
Hamîrpur | ... | 50 | ... | ... | 1,341 | 192 | 1,583
Allahâbâd | ... | ... | ... | ... | 29 | 530 | 559
Jhânsi | ... | 17 | ... | ... | 695 | 30 | 742
Jâlaun | ... | 77 | ... | ... | 409 | ... | 486
Lalitpur | ... | 89 | ... | ... | 209 | ... | 298
Benares | ... | ... | ... | ... | 19 | ... | 19
Jaunpur | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 42 | 42
Basti | ... | ... | ... | ... | 156 | ... | 156
Tarâi | ... | ... | 171| ... | 26 | 2,425 | 2,622
Lucknow | ... | ... | ... | ... | 5 | 6 | 11
Unâo | ... | ... | ... | ... | 17 | ... | 17
Râê Bareli | ... | ... | ... | ... | 137 | ... | 137
Sîtapur | ... | ... | ... | ... | 73 | ... | 73
Kheri | ... | 17 | ... | ... | 294 | 2 | 313
Faizâbâd | ... | ... | ... | ... | 9 | 1 | 10
Gonda | ... | ... | ... | ... | 149 | ... | 149
Bahrâich | ... | ... | ... | ... | 1 | 3 | 4
Partâbgarh | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 51 | 51
+~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~+~~~~~+~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~
Total | 227 | 759 |3,609|5,312|13,292 | 11,871 |35,120
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Chishti; Chishtiya.—The best available account of this class of
Muhammadan faqîrs is that of Mr. Maclagan [263]:—“The Chishtis trace
their origin to one Abu Ishâq, ninth in succession from Ali, the
son-in-law of Muhammad, who migrating from Asia Minor, settled down at
a village called Chisht in Khurasân and became thus the religious
preceptor of a large body of Musalmâns. One of his successors, Khwâja
Muîn-ud-dîn Chishti, a native of Sanjar, in Persia, having migrated to
India in the time of Ghiâs-ud-dîn Balban, settled in Ajmer, and was the
means of establishing the order in India. His Khalîfa or immediate
successor was Khwâja Qutb-ud-dîn Bakhtiâr Kâki, who is buried near the
Qutb Minâr at Delhi, and Qutb-ud-dîn’s successor was the celebrated
Bâba Farîd Shakkarganj, whose shrine is at Pâkpatan in the Montgomery
District. The surname of this saint is said to be derived from the fact
that owing to the purity of his body all he ate became sugar; if we may
trust another story, he nourished himself by holding to his stomach
wooden cakes and fruits when he felt hungry. This miraculous but
inexpensive provender is still preserved. An immense fair is held at
this shrine every year, and the object of every pilgrim who attends is
to get through the narrow gate of the shrine on the afternoon or night
of the fifth Muharram. The saint is adored by Hindus as well as
Musalmâns, and to be a disciple of Bâba Farîd does not necessarily
imply being a Chishti, and, again, the descendants of the saint and his
relations, carnal and spiritual, have formed themselves into a separate
caste of men who are found on the Satlaj in the Montgomery District,
and who, though bearing the name of Chishti, are now in all respects an
ordinary lay caste, quite apart from the religious order of the same
name.
2. “Bâba Farîd had two disciples, one of these was Ali Ahmad, surnamed
Sâbir, whose shrine is at Pîran Kaliyar near Rurki, [264] and whose
followers are known as Sâbir Chishtis, the other was the celebrated and
mysterious Nizâm-ud-dîn Auliya (1232–1324 A.D.), around whose tomb are
collected some of the choicest monuments of ancient Delhi, and whose
disciples are known as Nizâmis.
3. “The Chishtis in repeating the profession of faith lay a particular
stress on the words Illa ‘llâhu, repeating these with great violence,
and shaking, at the same time their heads and the upper parts of their
bodies. The sect is said to be specially affected by Shiahs, and it is
distinguished by its adoption of vocal music in its religious services.
The members of the order are worked up by these religious songs to a
high pitch of excitement, and often sink down exhausted. They
frequently wear coloured clothes, especially clothes dyed with ochre or
with the bark of the acacia tree. Their principal shrines in the Panjâb
are the tomb of Nizâm-ud-dîn Auliya at Delhi, the Khângâh of Mîrân Bhîk
in Ambâla, the shrine of Bâba Farîd at Pâkpatan, and the Khângâh of
Hazrat Sulaimân at Taunsa in the Dera Ghâzi Khân District.”
4. The Dargâh of Khwâja Muîn-ud-dîn Chishti at Ajmer is an object of
veneration and pilgrimage to all religions and sects. The Emperor Akbar
made a pilgrimage on foot to this tomb, and the Banyas of the Dargâh
Bâzâr daily lay their keys on the steps of the shrine before opening
their shops. Khwâja Muîn-ud-dîn Chishti is said to have died in the
year 1235 A.D. at the age of ninety-seven, and to have come to Ajmer at
the age of fifty-two. At Madîna a voice is said to have come to him
from the tomb of the prophet directing him to go to Ajmer and convert
the infidels. “He obeyed the call, and on his arrival at Ajmer rested
on a spot, now known as the Kangara Masjid in the Dargâh, where at the
time the King’s camels were tethered. From this he was ejected and went
and took up his abode on the hill, which overlooks the Anasâgar, the
margin of which lake he found covered with idol temples. The idolators,
enraged at the slaughter of kids by the Musalmâns, conspired to
massacre them; but coming in sight of the Khwâja, they remained rooted
to the spot, and though they tried to ejaculate Râm! Râm! could only
articulate Rahîm! Rahîm! In vain did the idolators, led by the great
sorcerer Ajaypâl, and the Deota Shâdi Deo, renew their attacks. They
were defeated on every occasion, and finally begged forgiveness of the
Khwâja, and invited him to come and take up his abode in the town.
[265]” One peculiar observance at the Dargâh is the looting of boiled
rice from great cauldrons which are filled by pious worshippers.
5. Another famous place of Chishti pilgrimage is the tomb of the saint
Salîm Chishti, by whose intercession a son was born at Fatehpur Sikri
to the Emperor Akbar, and named Salîm after the saint. He was
subsequently Emperor in the name of Jahângîr.