Sufism in Bangladesh

Migrant Sufis introduced Islam to Bengal in the 12th century, during the Buddhist Pala Empire. Hinduism was also widespread in Bengal at the time, with some local rulers being explicitly Brahmanic despite being ruled by Buddhists.[3] Bengal was also likely home to indigenous folk religions not bound by Buddhist, Brahmanic or Islamic orthodoxy; the 14th century account of Ibn Battuta describes the subjects of Fakhruddin Mubarak Shah in Sylhet as "[n]oted for their devotion to and practice of magic and witchcraft".[12]

The 12th century Turkish-speaking migrants from Central Asia were often either led by an alp (also written alp-eren; a heroic warrior) or a Sufi teacher. Historian Richard Eaton describes these Sufi teachers as combining qualities of the alp and the pre-Islamic shaman, with the traditional Sufi hierarchy of master and disciple proving "remarkably well suited for binding retainers to charismatic leaders".[3]

The earliest known Muslim inscription in Bengal records the construction of a khanqah by a fakir whose father was born in Maragheh, Iran. It is dated to 29 July 1221 and was found in Birbhum district (in what is now West Bengal), carved from the ruin of a Hindu temple.[3]

Persian Sufi histories depict early Sufi as ghazis, or wagers of war against non-Muslims. Hagiographies of 14th century Sufi sheikh Jalaluddin Tabrizi, one of the earliest attested Sufis in Bengal, describe him as destroying temples and replacing them with Sufi resting houses, and converting "infidels" to Islam. Similarly, the 15th century Shah Jalal is described as fighting and defeating "infidels".[3] In the 1930s, orientalist Paul Wittek adopted this theme in his Gaza thesis explaining the spread of Islam and the Ottoman Empire.[3]

More recent historians, including Richard Eaton, have argued that these hagiographies are "obviously ideological", and that original Sufis were not primarily motivated by conversion or holy war, with no Bengal Sufi or sultan calling himself "ghazi".[3]

Similarities between Sufi thought and practice and Hinduism encouraged an inter-mingling of ideas. The ancient text Amṛtakuṇḍa ("The Pool of Nectar") was translated into Arabic and Persian in the 13th century and widely circulated among Sufis in Bengal and India more widely, including with preambles that situated the work in an Islamic context.[3] The 16th century Sufi Abdul Quddus Gangohi made use of the Amṛtakuṇḍa in his teaching.[3]

Sufis took up residence in the successive capitals of Bengal, Lakhnauti, Pandua and Gaur. Typically adherents of the Suhrawardi, Firdausi or Chishti orders, these "urban Sufis" often formed a mutual patronage with temporal leaders. Drawing on an existing concept in the Persian-speaking world, urban Sufis would "predict" which prince would govern, and for how long. Richard Eaton describes this as "the implicit act of appointment" behind the "explicit act of 'prediction'".[3] In legend, the first three rulers of the Tughlaq dynasty received turbans from the grandson of Chisti saint Fariduddin Ganjshakar, with the length of each man's turban "exactly correspond[ing]" to the length of his reign.[3]

In the 14th century, the Chisti order dominated Sufi involvement in South Asian politics because its major shrines were located in the sub-continent, whereas the other orders looked westward. Nizamuddin Auliya's khanqah in Badayun trained sheikhs who spread throughout South Asia, including his Bengal disciple Akhi Siraj Aainae Hind.[3] Akhi Siraj Aainae Hind's successor, Alaul Haq Pandavi, formed an alliance with Ilyas Shah as he founded the Ilyas Shahi dynasty. Chisti influence was strong during the rule of the seven sultans of the first Ilyas Shahi dynasty, although not without clashes. The second sultan, Sikandar Shah, clashed with Alaul Haq Pandavi over the amount of money he was distributing to the poor, and he may have been wary of the Sufi gaining too much power with the public. He would eventually "banish" the Sufi to Sonargaon.[3]

When the Ilyas Shahi dynasty fell for the first time, Sufis saw Bengal as a distinctly Islamic polity defined by three centuries of Muslim rule, and a crucial part of Islam's global presence, with sheikh Nur Qutb Alam (son of Alaul Haq Pandavi) writing:

The lamp of the Islamic religion and of true guidance

Which had [formerly] brightened every corner with its light,

Has been extinguished by the wind of unbelief blown by Raja Ganesh.

...

When the abode of faith and Islam has fallen into such a fate,

Why are you sitting happily on your throne?[3]

The Jaunpur sultan Ibrahim Shah was the intended target of the sheikh's letter, but it was internal dynamics that would restore Muslim rule to Bengal. The Hindu conqueror Raja Ganesha's son and successor Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah converted to Islam under Sufi influence. Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah and his son and successor Shamsuddin Ahmad Shah were disciples of Nur Qutb Alam, and the 12 sultans after them were disciples of other descendants of Alaul Haq Pandavi.[3] Ironically given Nur Qutb Alam's letter asking him to restore Muslim rule to Bengal, Ibrahim Shah attempted to invade Bengal during the Muslim rule of Shamsuddin Ahmad Shah.

Reverence for the Bangla folk hero Satya Pir was identified over a hundred years ago in what is now Bangladesh. Ritual practices surrounding the figure represent a syncretic combination of Hindu and Sufi Muslim practices.

In the 19th century, the Sufi teacher Gausul Azam Maizbhandari introduced the Qadiriyya order to Bangladesh, with his particular teachings coalescing into Tarika-e-Maizbhandari.[13]

In the 20th century, one of the most influential Sufi in Bangladesh was the Sufi saint Khwaja Yunus Ali, who developed a tripartite teaching method, "by writing", "by lecture" and "by khanqah". His followers numbered in the hundreds of thousands.[14] A number of khanqahs are operated by his successors, including Bangladesh's largest Khankas.[14]

Khwaja's student Maulana Hashmatullah Faridpuri, the pir of Atroshi (in Faridpur), was a Sufi teacher until his death in 2001.[15] Disciples advance in the Atroshi tariqa by bringing in more recruits.[16] The focus of the pir of Atroshi in developing buildings and institutions, especially a 600-bed hospital and a mosque larger than the Taj Mahal, has influenced the behaviour of other Sufi pir in Bangladesh.[16]