Panj peer

Depiction of Heer and Ranjha sitting before the panj pir, from the title page of Qissa Hir Jog Singh, lithograph, Lahore, 1882

Panj peer (or panj pīr), meaning the five saints in Persian, were Islamic saints who overlapped in late 12th and early 13th centuries in northwestern India. There was also a similar tradition in Rajasthan, known as Panch Pir, whose quintet were subsequently Rajputized.[1]

Sufis

The Islamic panj pirs were:

Sufi panj peers
No. Name Portrait Lifespan Region Reference(s)
1. Mu'in al-Din Chishti 1143 – 1236 Ajmer, Rajasthan [2][3][note 1]
2. Qutb al-Din Bakhtiyar Kaki 1173 – 1235 Mehrauli, Delhi [3]
3. Farid al-Din Ganjshakar 1179 – 1266 Pakpattan, Punjab [3]
4. Baha al-Din Zakariya 1182 – 1268 Multan, Punjab [3]
5. Lal Shahbaz Qalandar 1177 – 1274 Sehwan, Sindh [4]

The above Sufi saints are mentioned (alongside Nizam al-Din Awliya) in the great love-epic of the Sufi poet sayyid Waris Shah, Heer Ranjha, which opens with an invocation to them.

Rajasthan

The concept of panch pir in Rajasthan likely derived from the earlier concept of punch pir in Punjab and other parts of northwestern India.[1] Which figures were included in the panch pir quintet varied by region, however Goga was usually always included amongst the five.[1] In Rajasthan, there panch pir were:[1]

Rajasthani panch pirs[1]
No. Name Portrait
1. Gogaji
2. Pabuji
3. Ramdevji
4. Harabhuji
5. Mallinathji[note 2]
Sometimes included:
Meha Mangali (Mehoji)

These five (or six) figures were folk-deities.[1] Some of these figures were not originally perceived as Rajput heroes and became Rajputized later-on after the 18th century.[1] Originally, figures such as Gogaji, Pabuji, Ramdetji, and Harabhuji were originally associated with the downtrodden sections of society, particularly peasants and pastoralists, but they became appropriated as Rajput figures and their identities were usurped by the ruling-classes.[1]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ He is also known as 'gharīb nawāz'.
  2. ^ He is sometimes substituted with Meha Mangalia, also known as Mehoji.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Shekha, Chander (2022). "A historical and legendary profile of Gogaji, a popular folk deity of medieval Rajasthan" (PDF). International Journal of Applied Research. 8 (12): 141–145.
  2. ^ Sudarshana Srinivasan (22 August 2015). "An afternoon with the saints". The Hindu (newspaper). Retrieved 3 December 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d "Sufis and the Spread of Islam". Story of Pakistan website. 28 April 2012. Archived from the original on 6 August 2014. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
  4. ^ Masood Lohar (5 October 2004). "Saint revered by people of all religions". Dawn (newspaper). Retrieved 4 December 2021.
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