RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS

          Three important religious movements developed in India during the 15th and 16th centuries – The Shattari Silsilah’, The Mahdawi Movement and The Rasshniyah Sect. They reflected the spirit of the Bhakti movement, which had gained great strength among the Hindus.

THE SHATTARI ORDER

It was introduced in India by Shah “Abdullah Shattari (A.D. 1485), who lies buried at Mandu. He advocated a life of Spiritual Intoxication (sukr) and with a band of devoted disciples, clad in military dress,

 propagated his ideas in Malwa, Jaunpur and Bengal. His two eminent disciples – Shaikh Muhammad ‘Ala Qadin of Bengal and Shaikh Hafiz of Jaunpur – applied their energies to the expansion of the Silsilah.

          SHAIKH MUHAMMAED GHAUTH OF GWALIOR (A.D. 1563)

 He developed the Shattari order to its full stature. Among his disciples were the famous musician Tansen and the distinguished scholar of Ahmadabad Syed, Wajidu’d-din ‘Alawi, whose seminary was one of the most renowned centers of learning in India.

        The Shattari Saints sought to synthesize Hindu and Muslim mystical thoughts and practices. Some of them learnt Sanskrit and became familiar with the Hindu religious thought. Shaikh Muhammad “Ala spent some time with the yogis at Vaishali.

Syed Muhammad Ghaus of Gwalior lived for a number of years with the Hindu mystics in the lonely recesses of Vindhyachal and learnt many Tantric practices.

Through his Jawahir-i-Khamsa and Aurad-i-Ghauthiyah he introduced many Hindus mystic practices and litanies into the Muslim mystic discipline, and his translation of Amrtakunda into Persian created a parallel Hindu and Muslim mystic terminology.

He considered Om to be identical with Rabb of the Muslims. His Bahr-ul-Hayat was in a way a precursor of Data Shikoh’s Majma-ul-Bahrain.

THE MAHDAWI MOVEMENT

  It was initiated by Syed Muhammad Mahdi of Jaunpur (A.D. 1505), who claimed to be the promised Mahdi, the deliverer to set all things right. Moved by the moral decay and spiritual degeneration of the people. He kindled genuine religious spirit and setup dair’ahs (centres for spiritual practice.)

Though started with a view to softening controversies between the different sects, the movement became exclusive in its outlook so much so that its followers recommended the imposition of jizya even on those Muslims who did not agree with them. The Mahdavis had to face opposition from the ‘ulama’ as well as from the rulers.