The Chishtis: khanqah, ziyarat, qawwali

The Chishti silsila was the most influential in India. Its khanqahs were centres of social life. The khanqah of Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya, on the banks of the Yamuna in Delhi, had a large hall (jama'at khana) and small rooms. An open kitchen (langar) ran on futuh (unasked-for charity), feeding visitors of every kind: soldiers, slaves, singers, merchants, poets, travellers, rich and poor, Hindu jogis and qalandars.

The Chishtis adopted local practices: bowing before the shaikh, offering water to visitors, shaving the heads of initiates, and yogic exercises. This made them accepted by local people.

Ziyarat (pilgrimage) to the tombs of sufi saints is common all over the Muslim world. The most revered shrine in India is the dargah of Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti at Ajmer. Emperor Akbar visited it fourteen times; and Jahanara, Shah Jahan's daughter, wrote about her own pilgrimage there.

Music and dance, including mystical chants (sama'), are part of ziyarat, to evoke divine ecstasy. Qawwali is sung at many shrines; Amir Khusrau, the great poet and disciple of Nizamuddin, gave a unique form to Chishti sama' by introducing the qaul, a hymn sung at the opening or close of qawwali.

The Chishtis also used local languages. In Delhi, they conversed in Hindavi. Baba Farid composed verses in the local language, later included in the Guru Granth Sahib. Malik Muhammad Jayasi's Padmavat was sung in khanqahs. In the Deccan, sufis composed short poems in Dakhani, sung by women while doing household chores, like grinding grain. Song, pilgrimage and local speech.