Baba Peer Ratan Nath Ji or Haji Ratan

J Indian Philos (2009) 37:559595
DOI 10.1007/s10781-009-9076-x
H
: ajji Ratan or Baba Ratans Multiple Identities
Veronique Bouillier Dominique-Sila Khan
Published online: 7 November 2009

Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009
Abstract This article deals with the complex personality and legacy of a mysterious
saint known both as a Suf (H
: ajji Ratan) and a Nath Yog (Ratannath) and links his
multiple identity as well as the religious movement originated from him, to the
specific cultural context of the former North-West Indian provinces. The first part is
devoted to Ratan in the Nath Yog tradition, the second to his many facets in the
Muslim tradition, in connection with his dargah in the Panjabi town of Bhatinda. The
third and main part explores a particular movement, the Har Sri Nath tradition.
Presently centered around a dargah mandir in Delhi, this movement, with its two
branches issued from Ratan and from his son Kayanath, was rooted in what is now
Pakistan. The influence of location and history has led to many peculiarities which
lead us to stress the blurred boundaries between Islam and Hinduism and the essential
part played by charismatic figures in the construction of religious identities.
Keywords
Nath yogins Ratan Religious identities
Introduction
The Indian saint Baba Ratan figures both in S.A.A. Rizvis authoritative book on the
History of Sufism in India (1978) and in G.W. Briggss Gorakhnath and the
Kanphata Yogs (first published in 1938), concerning the Nath Yog sect, a Hindu
Saiva ascetic tradition. The same character, Baba Ratan, seems thus to appear under
V. Bouillier (&)
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (Centre dEtudes de lInde et de lAsie du Sud),
Paris, France
e-mail: veronique.bouillier@ehess.fr
D.-S. Khan
Institute of Rajasthan Studies, Jaipur, India
e-mail: dskhan6@gmail.com
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V. Bouillier, D.-S. Khan
two distinct identities, as H

: ajji Ratan or Ratannath, and the many stories told about
him let us wonder about the link between these two aspects.
Having first met Ratan as a Nath Yog, as the illustrious founder of the important
Nath monastery of Caughera in Southern Nepal, we found nevertheless there some
intriguing mentions of his heroic deeds in Muslim countries, where all the
1
Hindu devotees worship him as Ratannath and the Muslims as H
: ajji Ratan. The
complexity of the personage has been wonderfully studied by J. Horovitz, who in a
seminal lecture delivered in October 1911 at the Punjab Historical Society,2 gave
detailed information about the many legends he collected, thus providing a frame
for the fragments we gathered in Nepal. He also emphasized the many occurrences
of H
: ajji Ratan in Muslim religious literature as well as his link with the Panjabi
town of Bhatinda.
Given this complex background and the apparently multiple religious affiliation
of Baba Ratan, the discovery in Delhi of a sacred complex entitled Dargah
Mandir Pr Baba Ratannath, with its juxtaposition of what are generally considered Muslim and Hindu names, seems to summarize in a single appellation the
whole question. This place in Delhi is the main center of an apparently distinct
religious movement, which, for convenience sake, will be here referred to as the
Har Sr Nath tradition, a movement that has, so far, failed to attract the attention
of scholars.3 This particular religious tradition revolves around a gurudisciple
lineage, which claims to have originated with Baba Ratan himself.
Our purpose is then to explore the various aspects of the present Ratans tradition. Enquiring in Bhatinda, then in different locations of the Har Sr Nath movement, we were impressed by the importance of geographical context, by the local
rootedness and the socio-historical background of the cult in north-west India,
which was eventually disrupted by Partition.
Horovitss theory is to see Baba Ratan as a bridge between Islam and Hinduism
or alternatively as an agent of conversion: We see that the saint of Bhatinda has
become in the popular imagination the evangelist of his new creed [Islam] and that
his is the office of initiating the newly converted into its symbols (id.: 102).
However Horovitz remainded quite puzzled by the discrepancies between the two
sets of legends, examining separately the Muslim H
: ajji Ratan of Bhatinda, and Pr
Ratan Nath, the Jog Saint of Peshawar: [they] seem absolutely different [. . .]
yet even here some slight traces are visible that may suggest a once existing connection [. . .] a few elements remain that point to a more original form of these
legends, of which our saint of Bhatinda might have once been the hero (id.: 104).
Horovitzs bewilderment reflects the spirit of his time. During the colonial period
Islam and Hinduism were conceived as homogenized blocs and, at times, the British
census officers found it difficult to record religious statistics. As Ibbetson wrote
in 1881: On the border lands where the great faiths meet [. . .] the various
1
Commentary on a wall painting depicting Ratans deeds in the monastery. On Caughera and the Nath
Yogs, see Bouillier (1997).
Horovitz (1914).
Except Yoginder Sikand whom we thank heartily; he was the first to identify the place and shared
generously with us his information. See also his pages about Bhatinda in Sikand (2003, pp. 196214).
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observances and beliefs which distinguished the followers of the several faiths in
their purity are so strangely blended and intermingled, that it is often impossible to
say that one prevails rather than other, or to decide in what category the people shall
be classed.4
Recent research has not only questioned the monolithic nature of the great faiths
to which Ibbetson was alluding but also taken interest in overlapping or shared
identities.5 Various scholars have shown how our present vision of Hinduism and
Islam is the result of a long and complex historical process. They have also
suggested that, in this process, the part played by charismatic individuals was
essential and that religious affiliation was second to personal allegiance. As Gilmartin
and Lawrence said, Individual religious differences between Muslims and Hindus
(as between other generic religious categories, like Saiva and Vaisnava, Sunni and
Shia) were framed by their operation within a pervasive structure of personalized
religious authority [. . .] This is not to say that marks of generic Hindu or Muslim
identity were insignificant. But since religious virtue and spiritual power were
embodied preeminently in holy individuals, religious identity was defined primarily
in relation to individual teachers, masters, or Sufi exemplars (2000, p. 18).
The exploration of the many sides of the mysterious Baba Ratan finds its
importance in this context. Instead of trying to decide if Baba Ratan was primarily
(or originally) Hindu or Muslim we should try to understand how such a complex
character may have emerged.
Ratan and the Nath Yog Tradition

Known under the name of Ratannath or Ratnanath (the jewel master), Ratan, the
revered founder of the Caughera Nath Yog monastery in Nepal could be viewed as
one of the leaders of the sect. However, the personage revealed in the many legends
related to him and told in Caughera presents some intriguing details and raises many
questions.
The Nath Yog sect, whose origin can be attributed to Gorakhnath and dated from
the XIIXIIIth century, is also known as the sect of the nine Naths and 64 Siddhas.
It includes among these tutelary figures some well-known saints and heroes, whose
deeds are celebrated in many heroic ballads, but, even if the lists vary according to
places or times, they never include Ratan.6 His fame seems thus quite local although
he was supposed to have been chosen by Gorakhnath himself, and to have received
from him a very precious gift, a patradevata or divine-pot.
The legendary life of Ratannath as told in Caughera (cf. Bouillier 2007, pp. 55
88) can be divided in two parts. The first part deals with the conversion of a hunting
prince into a meditating Yog, thanks to Gorakhnaths intervention, and with the
4
Denzil Ibbetson, quoted by Oberoi (1994, p. 9).
See for instance Gilmartin and Lawrence 2000; Gottschalk 2001; Khan 1997, 2004. Many sacred
figures of North India are endowed with a dual or even more complex identity. Among them Satya Pr, the
Bengali saint also worshipped as Satya Narayan: a (see Stewart 2000, pp. 2154).
Crooke ([1896] 1975, vol. III, p. 59) has a Ratan among Gorakhnaths disciples.
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foundation of the Caughera monastery in order to protect and worship the

patradevata. The second part switches abruptly to the many travels Ratannath
undertakes in the northwest Indian provinces, in territories under the authority of a
Muslim emperor (the badsah). The many miracles he performs there attract recognition and devotion from the Muslim local population, including the badsah
himself. Place names are mentioned, Jalalabad, Kabul, Peshawar, and, most surprisingly, the support given by Ratan to Mahmud Ghori. The blessing Ratan gave to
the conqueror permitted him to be victorious over the Rajput king Prithvi Raj
Chauhan in the battle of Tabarhind or Bhatinda, the place where Ratan is also
supposed to be buried.
From the accounts given in the Caughera Nath monastery, we get the strong
impression of a heroic saint whose fame originated in a very different context and
who has been adopted and adapted to the Nepalese Nath background: the result of
the influence of itinerant Yogs as cultural translators?
Ratan is briefly mentioned in the reports written by the English administrators.
This notation from H.A. Rose7 gives a first apercu of the strength of Ratans local
rootedness: The chief saint of the Jogs in the north-west is Pr Ratn Nath of
Peshawar, in which district as well as throughout Kabul and Khorasan, a kabit is
said to be current which describes his power. He adds in a footnote Even the
fanatical Muhammadans of these parts reverence Pr Ratn Nath.
However Ratan appears also in another Nath Yog context, in the set of legends
related to the hero Goga. From Rajasthan to Panjab and Uttar Pradesh, the fame of
this renouncer-king is sung in many ballads. Interestingly the end of his tumultuous
life is related to Ratan, but to a Ratan who is then purely Muslim. Initiated by
Gorakhnath, Goga fights many battles, but, cursed by his mother, asks his guru for
help. He wants to disappear into the Earth. Gorakhnath sends him to Ratan. Or,
according to another version quoted by Richard Temple,8 Goga looks for death, and
begs the Earth to swallow him up. But Mother Earth replies: Ay, my son, I tell thee
how is it that you does not know? Musalmans are buried below; Hindus go to the
pyre [. . .]. Go to Ratan H
: ajji and learn the Musalmans creed. When thou hast done
this, I will take thee to myself.
Rose (1919, vol. I, p. 181) presents, in what he calls The Gurgaon Version, a
synthesis of the two aspects, Nath and Muslim, of Ratan, when he says: Earth bade
him [Goga] learn yog from Ratn Nath, Jog at Bhat:ind: a, or else accept the kalima,
adding in a foot note Baba Ratn Haj Sahib of Bhat:ind: a more correctly called Haj
Abdul Raza Ratn Tabrind or Tabarhind.
Curiously, the Archaelogical Survey of India gives credence to the legendary story
of Goga and its relationship with Bhatinda but without mentioning Ratan. At the
entrance to the huge remains of the Bhatinda fort, a board reads: It was here that
Gogga, the famous Chauhan fell after being driven back from his defences of the Sutlej
against the invading Muslim army. Could this reflect an identification of the two
famous Rajput heroes, of the legendary Goga with the historical Prithvi Raj Chauhan?
Rose et al. (1919, vol. II, p. 407).
Temple (1885, vol. I, p. 208). On Goga see also Bouillier (2004).
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Ratan H
: ajji and Bhatinda: Exploration in the Muslim Tradition
Ratan is Far from Unknown in the Muslim Literary Tradition
J. Horovitz, summarizing first the many legends he had personally collected in
Bhatinda or read in the Census reports of British administrators like Ibbetson (1883)
and Maclagan (1891), wonders at the different identities and periods with which
Ratan is connected. In these narratives, Baba Ratan was supposed to be a companion
of the Prophet Muhammad as well as a Saiva Nath Yog known as Ratannath, a
disciple of Gorakhnath and the guru of the epic hero Goga Chauhan. Connected
with Shihabuddin Ghori as well as Mahmud of Ghazni, he was also believed to have
settled in Mecca, Peshawar, Bhatinda and Nepal, during the seventh, the eleventh or
the thirteenth centuries. According to some legendary accounts he was born during
the Prophet Muhammads time and died at the beginning of the fourteenth century
C.E.
In addition to these legendary accounts, Horovitz summarizes the many
mentions he found in the Muslim records and most specially in the Is: aba, by
Ibn H
: ajar of Askalon, one of the great theological authors of the ninth century
H. In this text Ibn H
: ajar gives biographies and critical judgements on all those
persons who were supposed to give testimonies on the Prophet. Not a small
number of articles is devoted to Companions of the Prophet who claimed to
have outlived him by several centuries, and to this class of Companions Baba
Ratan also belongs (p. 105). In his article on Baba Ratan, Ibn H
: ajar quotes the
accounts of various travellers whom the fame of the saint has induced to
undertake the pilgrimage to Bhatinda (p. 106), and from these testimonies,
Horovitz concludes: We cannot doubt that there lived at Tabarhind, towards the
end of the sixth and the beginning of the seventh century of the Hijrah, a man
called Ratan, who claimed to have intercourse with the Prophet at Medina and to
have been granted through the power of his blessing a lease of life exceeding six
hundred years; further that these claims had attracted a good deal of attention
even outside India (p. 110).
However, following again Ibn H
: ajar, Horovitz mentions the many critical and
polemical discussions related to Ratans wondrous deeds and even to his mere
existence: In the seventh, eighth and ninth Islamic centuries his claims were hotly
discussed, some of the most distinguished authorities on H
: adth dismissing them.
One of them, Dhahab (673748 H.) wrote a monograph, Kasr Wathan Ratan (The
breaking of the Idol Ratan), the title of which is sufficiently suggestive of its aims
(p. 110).
Of the same opinion is Al-Hasan al-Saghan (577650 H.). We have here perhaps
the oldest mention of Ratan Al-Hind, considered as an author of a fake compilation of the Prophets sayings.9 But we can remark that this very critical note
dates from the time of the supposed death of Ratan: he was already well known in
the middle of the thirteenth century C.E.
9
See Ishaq (1955, pp. 224227). See also the note by Shaf (1995, tome VIII, pp. 473474), where the
principal known data regarding Ratan, following mainly Horovitz, are aptly summarized.
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These many discrepancies in the records and opinions concerning Ratan also find
n-i-Akbar , where Abul I-Fazl Allam names him among the
expression in the A
Saints of India: In the time of Ignorance he was born at Tabrindah and went to
Hijaz and saw the Prophet, and after many wanderings returned to India. Many
accepted the accounts he related, while others rejected them as the garrulity of
senile age. He died at Tabarindah, in A.H. 700 (A.D. 1300-1).10
Before trying to find the last signs of Ratans presence in Bhatinda, let us quote
the strange remarks found in the Dabistan11 (84), a strong indication of the blurring
of Ratans religious affiliation and of the Yogss position regarding Islam: The
belief of that class is that Muhammad, on whom be peace, was also a pupil and
disciple of Gorakh Nath. Out of fear of the Musalmans however they dare not
declare it, but say only that Baba Rn [i.e. Ratan] H
: ajji, that is Gorakh Nath, was the
foster father of the Prophet [. . .] and took the mode of Yog from the Prophet.
Ratans Tomb in Bhatinda
As Horovitz already mentioned, one looks in vain in Bhatinda for any original
written document regarding Ratans life, but the place and its caretaker bear testimony to the still living tradition of the saint and tell us some important facts
regarding the religious context of the devotion towards Ratan and its close connection with the local religious landscape.
The Buildings
It is in the southern part of this small Panjabi town that a white washed archway
leads to the Dargah Baba H
: ajj Ratan. Within the compound one can see
different buildings among which the most conspicuous is Baba Ratans tomb. It is a
medium-size square building crowned by a hemispherical dome surrounded with
four green turrets that look like a small replica of the tomb. The eastern wall bears
four Persian inscriptions, now barely decipherable.
Subash Parihar, who made an archeological and historical survey of the dargah,12 has copied and translated these inscriptions. They deal with the various
repairs and white-washing of the building. The earliest is dated 1603 and the latest
1719. They are written in Persian Nastaliq. The second (dated 1023 A.H./1614
A.D.) and the third (dated 1052 A.H./1643) are the most interesting for us, as they
specify that the white-washing and repairs were done under the supervision of Bidey
ppal, in one case, and Jog Das,13 in the other. Jog
Chand, son of Girdhar Lal O
Das was a shiqqdar (revenue collector of a territorial division) during the
10
Jarrett (reprint 1978, p. 401).
11
English edition by Shea and Troyer ([1843] 1993, vol. II, p. 129).
12
Parihar (2001).
We will see that this name associating Jog/Yog with the Das ending evoques the Har Sr Nath
tradition, but the connection cannot be established.
13
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ministership of Rai Todar Mal.14 Even if both acted within the limits of their official
activities, their names indicate that Hindus had some interest in the place.
According to S. Parihar, the western wall of the interior originally had a
mih: rab, the contours of which were bordered with the text from verse 17 of chapter
3 of the Quran. This inscription was further framed with the Throne Verse15
(2001; p. 108). Its calligraphic style fits the date given for the construction of the
tomb, and hence the death of Baba H
: ajj Ratan, that is to say the beginning of the
thirteenth century. If our conclusion is true, adds Parihar, the tomb of H
: aj Ratan
ranks as the earliest surviving Sultanate monument [. . .] It also has the earliest
surviving hemi-spherical dome in the Indian sub-continent (2001; pp. 109110).16
The interior of the building is rather austere. Baba Ratans rectangular tomb is
covered with a green cloth and surrounded by a modern iron railing. Outside the
entrance door is a small niche for oil lamps and for storing packets of salt and
brooms. These are the usual offerings made to H
: ajj Ratan by people who seek his
help, often for the cure of skin deseases.
The dargah enclosure contains a few other tombs. Among them is a very curious
one in which Ratans legend materializes: shaped like a sitting camel, it is supposed
to contain the remains of the camel given to Baba Ratan by the Prophet Mohammed! At the south-west corner of the enclosure a small mosque connects Ratan with
another personage, Sultan Raziyya, the daughter of Sultan Shams al-Din Iltumish
(12101236), who reigned over Delhi from 1236 to 1240.17 The mosque, a small
rectangular structure with the main archway painted in green and a crenellated
dome, in the shape and colour of the dome of Baba Ratans tomb is said to have
been built by her, a fact which, according to Subhash Parihar, is highly
dubious.18 One legend has it that when Raziyya was either imprisoned in Bhatinda
or staying there as the governors wife, she used to leave the fort every day and go
to Baba Ratans grave. This of course would imply that the saint was
already dead at that time. Later on she had a mosque to be built on the spot.
14
Rai Todar Mal of the inscription could have been none other than the renowned mans: abdar (rankholder) of Shah Jahan [. . .] In the year 1052 [. . .] he was working as the dwan, amn and faujdar of
Sirhind, Parihar op. cit. p. 113.
15
Parihar adds: The present author himself saw the inscription in early 1980s (op. cit. p. 108, n.12).
We were thus quite astonished at seeing the walls newly painted and absolutely devoid of any inscription.
16
The earliest date found on a Muslim tomb in South Asia is A.H. 554 (A.D.11591160) but the dome is
pyramidal.
17
According to Kumar (2008), in the history of the Delhi Sultanate, the accession of a woman to the
throne was unprecedented [. . .] Her gender notwithstanding, Sultan Raziyya displayed striking political
initiative. The Bhatinda episode takes place after her deposition in 1240 in favour of her brother. She
was imprisoned in the fort of Bhatinda under the authority of the local governor Ikhtiyaruddin
Mohammad Altuniya. According to some local versions, she escaped by jumping with her horse from a
balcony and mustered an army to fight back her enemies. It seems that she married Altuniya and that both
of them fought together against Raziyyas brother. But they were killed in the battle on the 13th october
1240.
18
The structure does not appeared that old. Such abbreviated forms of mosque, comprising just a nave
and two aisles, came into vogue not before the Lodhi periode (14511526). And if the cusped arch of the
central opening is original, the mosque was not built before the reign of Shah Jahan (16271658) when
this type of arch came into vogue (Parihar op. cit. p. 116).
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The Caretakers
The dargah was said to have been under the custody of Madar faqrs. According to a
local tradition, this practice goes back to the very founding of the dargah, to a certain
Shah Chand who was said to be Baba Ratans nephew19 and a Madar faqr from
Makanpur.20 His tomb can be seen near the dargah entrance: known as Pr Shah
Chands tomb, it is a rectangular structure with a small dome. Other tombs are
engraved with the name of some other Madars. In the small cemetery close to Pr
Chands tomb, an engraved marble slab commemorates the death of Pr Ali
Mohammad Shah Madar in 1373 A.H., who was the last Madar pr. Interestingly,
the Madars, regarded as heterodox by most Sunni theologians, look very much like
Saiva ascetics, and especially the Nath Yogs. The colourful description found in the
Dabistan is still accurate: They carry iron chains on their heads and necks, and
have black flags and black turbans; they know neither prayers nor fasts; they are
always sitting at a fire; they drink a great deal of bhang; and the most perfect among
them go about without any dress, in severe cold in Kabul and Kashmir and such
places.21 We know that Baba Ratans dargah was owned by the Madars till
Partition.
The Partition had a profound impact on the situation of the dargah. Before
Partition, the dargah owned a vast amount of landed property which has been
subsequently taken over and reserved for public buildings or public space such as
the vegetable and grain market. A part was even given to a nearby Sikh gurudwara.
And between 1947 and 1960, it is this gururdwara which has been in charge of the
dargah administration.
According to the present custodian, before Partition the proportions of Hindus,
Muslims and Sikhs were approximately the same (35%), but many Muslims converted apparently to Sikhism although they still continue to visit the dargah. He
estimates that the people who come to the dargah are 25% Sikh. As far as the
Muslims are concerned, half of them, that is to say about 500 families, are from
Bhatinda, while the other half come from outside.
In 1960, the dargah administration was taken back from the Sikhs and returned
to the Muslims and to the Bhatinda department of the Punjab Waqf Board, which
has its headquarters in a small modern building, inside the dargah compound. Its
duty is to appoint the caretaker (mujavar) of the dargah and to verify the accounts.
19
It is also mentioned by Rose (op. cit. vol. 1, p. 551) in his pages about the Madar order: The most
interesting feature is their connection with the shrine of Haji Ratan near Bhatinda which is held by Madari
mujawars descended from a Madari with the Hindu name of Shah Chand who came from Makanpur in
Oudh. According to Horovitz, Shah Chand ascended the gaddi in the fifteenth century (op. cit. p. 81),
but the architectural style of the tomb places its construction in late Mughal periode, i.e. eighteenth
century (Parihar op. cit. p. 118).
20
The famous shrine at Makanpur is the headquarter of the Sufi Madar brotherhood and the place where
its founder Shah Madar is supposed to have been buried.
21
Op. cit. p. 223. For a recent study that reevaluates their position within the Muslim community, see
Falasch (2004, pp. 254272).
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The actual caretaker (who refers, somehow abusively, to himself as gadd nishin) is
Maulvi Sirajal-Din Qureishi.22 His office is in the dargah compound, but he resides
outside with his family. Appointed in 1989, he was formerly an imam. He is not
affiliated to any silsila, although he claims to be Sufi at heart.
The caretakers duty is particularly important during the annual festival, which
attests to the wide popularity of the dargah and its encompassing nature, since
many Sikh and Hindu devotees visit the place and worship the saint, each on his
own way. The urs, the celebration held for the death anniversary of H
: ajj Ratan,
starts on the 7th and finishes on the 10th Dhul-Hijjah. At the dargah the present
gadd nishin distributes holy water and performs the ghusal ceremony (a kind of
ablution during which he anoints the grave with rose-water). Qawwals are invited,
_
mostly from the nearby town of Malerkotla23 and a langar
is organised. The food is
strictly vegetarian, no non-vegetarian food being allowed in the precincts of the
dargah.24 This is more than a simple token of respect for Brahmanical sensibilities.
People remember also that the former gadd nishin used to keep many cows in the
dargah and to give offerings of milk and ghee.
The Hindus also come in large numbers for the Goga festival or Goga navam, on
the ninth day of Bhadra month. They offer sweets and worship the tomb with both
hands folded in the traditional namaste gesture. We mentioned earlier the connection between Ratan and Goga, whose tomb in Rajasthan (at Gogamedhi) is still
attended to by Muslim and Hindu caretakers.
The Sikh Surrounding
Nowadays the relationship between the dargah and the very close gurudwara is
quite interesting and apparently devoid of any tension or bad memories.
Both buildings nearly overlap and the small Sultan Raziyya mosque appears built
against the now huge complex of the gurudwara, which comprises a large tank and
galleries. The construction of the present gurudwara dates back to 1960, when the
Sikhs, after having abandoned the dargah, were allotted 3/4 of its former property.
The present wealth of the institution is conspicuous, judging from the recent construction of a new vast marble hall devoted to kirtan and planned for the commemoration of Guru Nanaks birth 400 years ago.
The gurudwara is also related to Baba Ratan, hence its name Dasme Padshah
Shri Guru Gobind Singh Haji Ratan Gurudwara. At the entrance, a board,
written in Punjabi, narrates the following story:
22
According to the definition that has been given during a recent law suit in Ajmer (judicial document
AIR 1987 Supreme Court 2213. Civil Appeal No. 8794 of 1980 and 292 of 1982) the title of gadd-nishin
or sajjada-nishin is given only to the hereditary head of a Muslim shrine who is supposed to be the
descendant of the saint to whom it is dedicated. The caretaker proper (mujavar) is appointed either by the
gadd-nishin or by the Waqf Board. Qureishis claim to be the descendants of Prophet Muhammads tribe
(Quraish) but nowadays most Qasais (Muslim butchers) use it as a caste and family name in order to
enhance their status.
23
For this small town of Punjab, the only majoritarian Muslim town and the only one devoid of any
communalist tension even during Partition, see Bigelow (2004).
24
As it is also the case in Ajmer.
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Guru Govind Singh came to the village of Bhatinda from Phagu. He called
H
: ajji Ratan, talked to him and released him from the cycle of rebirths. The
gurudwara has been built at the place where Ratan obtained moks: a from
Guru Gobind Singh. When they learned that he had met H
: ajji Ratan, the Sikh
assembly of Bhatinda went to see Gobind Singh. They had his darsan, followed by a kirtan session and Guru Gobind freed the Sants from their troubles. At that time, the place where Guru Gobind was staying was a jungle, and
_
Bhatinda sanghat
: suggested to him that he should shift to the fort. There the
Guru asked them if they had any problem. They answered that they were
indeed suffering a lot. There was a raks: as destroying their houses, devouring
human beings and disturbing them. So they begged to be delivered from this
evil creature. Guru Gobind called the raks: as and asked him why he was
behaving like this. The raks: as answered that he was extremely hungry and
that if his hunger was satisfied, he would leave the place. Thanks to his inner
sight, the Guru saw a huge buffalo in a village called Nathbageru, 10 km from
there. He had this buffalo brought to him and said: in this buffalo, there is life
[that is to say an evil sprit]. The buffalo was killed and fed to the raks: as who,
once satiated, agreed to leave. One of Guru Gobinds main disciples, Bhanda
_
Singh, went with the raks: as and fought with him. Then again the sanghat
: said:
there is a drought, we have nothing left to eat. Please take this drought farther
south. Till today the Sants meet in the qila mubharat.
This astonishing story is of course met with some scepticism by the people of the
dargah. Everybody agrees as to the visit paid by Gobind Singh, the 10th Guru of the
Sikhs, but according to the Maulvi, at that time the dargah was already there.
Gobind Singh was fed and taken care of. Then he declared that a gurudwara should
also be constructed on the spot in order to give shelter to the pilgrims. Pr Chand
Shah, who was at that time the sajjada-nishin, gave him ten bighas of land. Subsequently the name of H
: ajji Ratan was added to that of Gobind Singh on the
gurudwara gate.
Recently a wall has been erected between the dargah and the gurudwara so that
their entrances are now quite distinct. However, this has not affected the relationship
between the neighbouring shrines and many Muslim and Sikh devotees continue to
visit both places. Remarkably, the same type of offering is made in both srhrines. In
the gurudwara devotees leave their packets of salt and brooms on a platform built
around the tree where Guru Gobind is supposed to have tied his horse.
The Nath Village
According to the present dargah caretaker, the Partition induced another change: it
put an end to the dargah relationship with people he called Naths and who used to
come for Baba Ratans urs and to participate in the wrestling tornaments (kust ).
He took us to a nearby village, some 20 km from Bhatinda, which bears the tell-tale
name of Nathana, of the Nath, in Panjabi. In the middle of the village stands the
temple of Kalunath or Kalunath Mandir, which had formerly close relationships
with Ratans dargah.
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At present the sectarian affiliation of the shrine is rather confused and reflects the
chequered religious history of Panjab. The shrine is believed to have been founded
by Kalunath and to belong to the Nath tradition, but it is now called darbar (the
term darbar referring not only to a Muslim shrine but also to a Sikh gurudwara)
and is mainly visited by the Sikhs. Although the shrine is managed by an independant Sikh trust committee comprising 25 members, the caretaker is neither a
Sikh nor a Nath. He claims the title of sevadar or sevak (servant, devotee) and
denies any sectarian affiliation. Bearing a name ending in Das, like his guru,25 he
portrays himself merely as a devotee of Kalunath.
Kalunath, the founder of the shrine, probably lived in the sixteenth century and
was said to have been an intimate friend of Shah Chand of Bhatinda. At the entrance
of the temple a board in Panjabi can be summarized as follows:
He was born in VS 1607 [1550 AD] in a small village of Malwa District. His
father Jaimal and his mother Mohin were Jat: by caste (Dhalival branch).
When he was sixteen Kalunath made a pilgrimage to Haridvar where he was
initiated into the Nath sampraday. Subsequently he settled in a place which
was later to be called Nathana [. . .] In 1640 VS [1583] Akbar went to see him
and granted him some 36 pin: d: a (a measure) of land. Later on in 1688 VS
[1631] Kalunath helped Guru Hargobind to feed his army during the battle of
Gurusar.26 He died in Baravarar where the family of his disciple Raja Ram,
the ancestor of the Jat: clan Romana to which the majority of the present
devotees belong, built a fort. As the event took place on the new moon of cait,
on this day many devotees flock to the temple to worship his memory.
Kalunaths samadhi occupies the center of the sacred complex. His body has
been buried under the cave, where he had spent 12 years in meditation. This
underground chamber is ventilated by two narrow channels and is now converted
into a small chapel enshrining the paduka (wooden sandals), the cimt:a (fire-tongs)
and the meditation staff supposedly owned by Kalunath. On the top of it, at the
ground level is a square chamber, which receives daily offerings. It is enclosed in a
small building the interior of which is decorated with naive paintings and small
statues of Kalunath and his parents.
An interesting painting in the samadhi and a similar one in the sevadars room
represents the five prs or the four prs with Guru Sahib: in front of Guru
_ : (loinHargobind seated under a tree, one can see Kalunath clad in a red lamgot
_ :, and
cloth), H
a
jji
Ratan
with
a
green
dress,
Kalyan
Da
s
wearing
a
brown
la
mgot
:
25
But the name he gives for his guru, Kaurdas, is contested by the Sikh devotees, in favour of a name
with Singh, Sava Sardar Kaur Singh Romana, a truly Sikh name.
26
A victory of Guru Hargovind against the Mughal forces under the command of Qammar Beg and Lalla
Beg. The battle was fought near Bhatinda in the Lakhi Jungle.
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570
Sakhi Sultan27 with a white dress and a black turban. Kalyan Das28 is also called
Kalyan Pr and the group together constitutes one of the many lists of the Panc
Prs. The cult of this group of five deities or five saints is widespread all over North
India. It has probably a Shia Muslim origin if one considers the particular reverence
in which Mohammed, his daughter Fatimah, his cousin and son-in-law Ali and their
sons Hasan and Husain are held. Later on, the expansion of the cult saw the
progressive incorporation of local figures. In the Panjab, where the Indian version of
the cult seems to have originated, the list of the Panchon Pirs consisted of prominent
Sufi (mainly Chisti) saints living in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries; as the
cult spread to the south and east, there was a tendency for some saints to be replaced
with historical or quasi-historical martial heroes [. . .] Further expansion resulted
[. . .] in the inclusion of purely local Hindu or tribal deities and deified dead
(D.M. Coccari29). The shrines of these Panc Prs can be regarded as Hindu or
Muslim places of worship but in all cases, devotees of both communities gather at
the same place without wondering about its religious identity (Khan 1997, p. 90).
The list of Nathana Prs has the interesting peculiarity of including Guru Hargobind
Singh. Encompassing Sikh, Hindu and Muslim saints, it is particularly well suited to
a shrine visited by devotees of the three faiths.
Even exploring the explicitly Muslim site of Ratans tomb, his dargah, one is
struck by the pluralistic identity of his devotees. Ratans story tells us of a time
where strong cleavage between communities did not exist. And even after the
trauma caused in this Panjabi surrounding by Partition, traces of this closeness are
left. They tell us of the importance of location, of the rootedness in place, in this
north-western India where borders were easily crossed.
We shall now pursue our exploration of Ratans identity and the tranmission of
his legends in a complex tradition where signs become blurred, where what matters
is this local belonging.
The Har Sr Nath Tradition
At first one could take for granted the link between the Baba Ratans Har Sr Nath
movement and the Nath sampraday. But even though the Har Sr Nath devotees
claim to belong to this sampraday, the situation appears more complex. Let us first
make a short visit to the Delhi main center and examine the many different references it evokes.
27
According to Crooke (1894, pp. 132133), Sakhi Sarwar or generous leader, the title of a saint
whose real name was Sayyad Ahmad, is held in great reverence in the Panjab. His father is said to have
been a native of Baghdad and he flourished about the middle of the twelfth century [. . .] As a curious
illustration of the catholicity of the worship of these saints, we find a shrine of Baba Nanak [. . .] and a
temple to Vishnu close to the tomb of Sakhi Sarwar.
28
We found no reference to him except eventually in W. Crooke who mentions among the various saints
of Panjab, a Kalyan Bharti, Hindu ascetic buried alive at his own request about four hundred years ago
[. . .] The virtue of his shrine is such that if any one take a false oath within its precincts he will die at
once(op. cit. p. 139).
29
Coccari (1989). See also Crooke, op. cit. pp. 129130).
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An Unusual Shrine
In a quiet Delhi lane, ironically situated in the vicinity of the RSS30 headquarters, the
facade of an ordinary building is adorned with the astonishing signboard we already
mentioned, Dargah Mandir Pr Baba Ratannath, which immediately emphasizes the singularity of the place. At the left side of the entrance is a small room
where the visitor can leave his shoes in exchange for a small token and, on the right
side, a fountain, where he is requested to wash his hands. Crossing the gate, women
cover their head with a scarf or their dupatta and men take a small neckerchief
provided by the caretakers of the shrine. Covering their forehead, they fasten it on the
back of the head, in the Muslim fashion.31 Reading another board fixed at the
entrance, the visitor is warned not to wear any black dress. Taking photos is forbidden.
Duly advised and properly dressed, one enters a big courtyard. The main temple
is at the far end, facing the entrance. It is a small sikhara-roofed structure with a
_
Sivalinga
in its middle, and, behind, the statues of Laks: mnarayan: (Vis: n: u and
Laks: m) with Hanuman on their right and a smaller Mataj on their left.
Next to the temple, a small room contains two small round tumuli, covered with an
ochre cloth or, on festival days, with sumptuous draperies of dark velvet and brocade
embellished with golden necklaces: they are the samadhis, the cenotaphs, of the
previous heads of the places, the mahants or prs. As it happens, this place is a mat:h, a
monastery, placed under the patronage of Ratannath. Its leadership is transmitted from
guru to disciple and its head or mahant bears the title of pr, a Sufi title also given to
the heads of important Hindu Nath monasteries. But the sectarian affiliation of this
mat:h is far from being clear: for instance the samadhis are not real tombs, as is the
case among the ascetics who are usually buried and not cremated. Here, the two prs
have been cremated and what is buried in their samadhis are their phul, their ashes.
Opening on the right side of the courtyard is an imposing throne room where the
pr sits on his gadd to give audience to the numerous devotees who, at regular
intervals, throng towards the large hall. On its walls hang several canvasses
depicting gods or saints, Baba Ratans miracles and holy places related to his
_
tradition. Immediately above, on the first floor, is the langar,
a term borrowed from
the Sufi tradition referring to the place where common meals are taken by the
members of the community. A kitchen nearby provides regular food to the crowd of
devotees: this is a very important part of the daily routine.
Devotees are indeed numerous and on festival days, the crowd of men and
women is impressive. Most females wear Panjabi dress (shalwar-kamiz), with the
exception of some young girls in pants or jeans; saris are very rarely seen.
As soon as they reach the mat:h, people bow in front of the deities and the
deceased prs samadhis. Many of them take brushes, brooms or wet cloths and start
30
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Hindu nationalist movement, founded in 1925 by Hedgewar and main
source of all the different militant nationalist organisations constituting what is called now the Sangh
Parivar.
31
As well as Sikh or Nanakpanth (See Falzon 2004). We have observed a similar custom among the
Bishnois of Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana and among the Pranamis (on these communities and religious
traditions see Khan 1997, 2002).
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cleaning the marble floor. This is the usual way of showing humility while performing a service (seva) to the temple and the guru. Later on, the devotees sit down
and sing together devotional hymns, waiting for the first appearance of the guru.
Remaining most of the time secluded in his private apartments behind the throne
room, the pr makes a daily appearance before midday and accepts the tribute paid by
his disciples. His general demeanour as well as his behaviour towards the devotees
are quite remarkable in so far as they depart from the customary gurudisciple
relationship. Throughout the audience the pr remains seated on his chair, motionless, both legs firmly placed on the ground. While giving his darsan he does not
make a single gesture, although his eyes keep moving. On top of his ochre colored
robe he wears a black cloak with a red border, holding one of its folds to cover his
mouth. Both hands are hidden under the cloak. On his head he wears a yellow round
cap, barely visible under the cloak. As he has hardly any direct relations with the
surrounding people, his assistant, the priest who makes the daily pujas, acts as an
intermediary between him and the devotees. If a single devotee or a couple come
with an offering of fruits or sweets, they usually whisper a request to the priest who
passes it on to the pr. The latter may answer in a few words, directly or through the
priest. A few male devotees sit closer to the pr and seem to form a kind of privileged
group. Nobody is supposed to be standing whenever the pr is present and seated.
Thus a first visit to the dargah-mandir arouses many questions: for instance,
what is the meaning of the dual appellation dargah-mandir? This name evokes
different, apparently contradictory religious affiliations. Its origin is far from clear
and the devotees appear reluctant to give any explanation. Obviously, this is a
tradition which they do not want to share with others, a part of the collective
memory in which their identity is embedded.
The Nath Affiliation
The reference to Ratannath is of course the first element to attract attention. One
may think that any shrine dedicated to Ratannath is simply connected with the Nath
Yog tradition in which Ratan figures. But many details prevent us from coming to
such a simple conclusion.
What is, then, the relationship between the Delhi shrine and the Nath tradition?
At first sight the inscription Har Sr Nath is conspicuous everywhere. Written at
the entrance, on the walls, under the images, it appears to be a specific element of
this tradition. However, although it is an obvious allusion to Nathism and to Siva
(Hara), as The Nath, the Primordial Master, this particular formula or word
combination is never to be seen in any Nath monastery or temple. Among the Naths,
a usual greeting is Jay Sr Nath. Har Sr Nath is therefore something that
singles out Baba Ratans Delhi disciples from other ordinary Nath followers.
No images or allusions to the Naths or to Gorakhnath are in evidence in the
temples or near the samadhis. But in the hall, among the paintings hung on the walls,
a few illustrate Ratans legend as is is known in the Nepalese Nath tradition; it is
nevertheless noteworthy that the three miracles depicted are precisely located and in
relation with Ratans adventures in a Muslim country. The first is about the miracle
of the marriage procession: in one of the panels one can see an old lady standing by
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the riverside, imploring Baba Ratan. Another one shows the saint in front of a boat
full of people. The story is about a wedding procession whose boat capsized.
Everybody was drowned in the shipwreck. For years and years the bridegrooms
mother remained crying on the shore till Baba Ratan arrived and resuscitated all
those who took part in the procession.32 The second story relates Ratans anger when
all the villagers, except one devotee whose name on the caption written on the
painting is Dharm, refused to give him alms. The painting contains a number of small
vignettes: one of them represents Dharm going to his house to fetch his mother,
before Baba Ratan destroys the entire village. Others show how the place has been
ruined. The scene takes place in the vicinity of the Jhelum river and the name of the
village is Sabaj. The destruction of a village or a town is a recurrent motif in Nath
hagiographies. Similar episodes are told about Dharamnath (Briggs op. cit. 1973,
pp. 116117) and Mastnath.33 Dharm, the pious villager, will later become the first
disciple to sit on Baba Ratans gadd as Dharmdas. The third miracle tells us about a
conflict that opposes people broadly described as Hindus and Muslims. The
king Hassan Khatak [?] and his subjects persecute the Hindus, making them work as
slaves. Tied to a series of grinding mills, they are obliged to toil from morning to
evening. The image shows Ratan among his companions, putting his staff in the
middle of his millstone. All the millstones immediately start to turn by themselves.
Impressed by this miracle, the king recognizes him as a pr, a holy man.
Besides these elements that correspond to what we knew already about Ratan in
the Nath context, let us remark on a surprising difference : the das ending of the
names of the prs, whereas in the usual Nath tradition all the ascetics names end in
nath. Some of our informants have explained this as a token of humility: the
disciples of Ratannath have chosen to end their name in das, which means
servant or slave, to express their full devotion to the lord and their desire not to
place themselves on an equal footing with their guru.34 The same explanation is
given in a booklet published in Kanpur by a Har Sr Nath devotee, Trilok Nath
Kapur. Writing about the worship of Ratannath in the Caughera monastery in Nepal,
he may be one of the rare persons to fully acknowledge a connection between the
Har Sr Nath tradition and the cult of Baba Ratan at Caughera: Today the particular
tradition connected with Pr Ratannath continues to be alive. From him originated a
new panth.35 The author goes on with the following verses describing Ratannath
and his successors: A saffron wrap//a golden silk robe of yellow color//on the
shoulders a black cloak, concluding: Instead of the word nath, they prefer
32
The same story was narrated in the Nath Nepalese monastery (see Bouillier 1997, p. 70). The place
was said to be the famous ford on the Indus, Atka (Attock). Curiously the same episode is quoted in an
hymn glorifying Abdull-Qadir Jlan, the founder of the Qadiriyya order in eleventh century (cf. Temple
1885; vol. II, pp.153162).
33
White (2001).
34
Das is a title that is also given to ascetics and householders belonging to different religious
traditions more or less connected with the bhakti movement, for instance the disciples of the low caste
saints Ravidas and Baba Ramdev, the Sadhs of Punjab and Haryana, the Bauls of Bengal etc.
35
The Nath Yogis are organised in 12 panths, or 12 branches and often called the Barah Panths. These
branches are said to find their origine in the first 12 Gorakhnaths disciples. Actually the list contains
many more names and the appellation Barah Panths is more canonic than descriptive (cf. Briggs 1938,
pp. 6276; Dvivedi 1981, pp. 715; Bouillier 2007, pp. 3235).
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das: the word nath suggests vanity whereas das is a symbol of humility. In
das one finds the pure power of the spirit (1993, p. 14).
An alternative explanation is that the Har Sr Nath parampara consists of
members who are not fully initiated: they do not wear the earrings that characterize
the Nath Yogis36 but only the nad sel, the thread with the small whistle given at the
first stage of initiation; at this stage, the Nath tradition refers to them as aughar:
instead of Nath. The reason why they do not receive full initiation is explained
through a particular episode of Baba Ratans legend.
This legend as told in the Delhi dargah as in Haridvar Nath monasteries can be
summarized the following37:
Once a great feast, a bhan: d: ara, was organised for the Nath Yogs. All of them
came and sat in rows. Plates made of leaves (pattal) were distributed and food
served on them. However a problem soon arose since, in front of Baba Ratan,
were not one but two plates. Yogs are not supposed to begin to start eating
before everybody is duly seated and served.
All the Yogs were waiting. Who was missing? Nobody came and everybody
was embarassed. Then Ratan created an effigy with the ashes covering his body
and endowed it with life.38 This figure was the exact replica of himself, hence
the new Yog was called Kayanath (from kaya, body, appearance). However,
in doing so, Baba Ratan had shown off, made a display of his special powers
and was scolded by all the other Yogs. According to one informant, he performed this feat because, being a Nepalese prince, he was looked upto by the
others. Gorakhnath and the other Yogs decided to remove his earrings and his
nad-sel (the thread with the whistle). But Ratan opened his mouth and showed
inside himself the kun: d: al of the four yugas (each earring or kun: d: al being
different in each era). He asked for forgiveness and Gorakhnath gave him back
the nad-sel. At his own request, Gorakhnath sent him to Khorasan where
Hindus were oppressed: he was to help them and spread the message of the
Nath sect. Only the prs of his gadd would not have a name ending in Nath
but in Das. There he developed his tradition and made followers among
Muslims.
Besides its explanatory value for the das ending names of its heads, the legend
insists on Ratans connection with north-west India inhabitants, a connection which
will be the leading feature of the Har Sr Nath movement, in both the Ratans and
Kayanaths branches, as we shall see.
36
These earrings, kun: d: al or darsan or mudra, pierce the ear cartilage. They explain the popular name
given to the Yogis: Kanphat:a or ear-splitted.
37
There is also a detailed version of the legend in the Siva Goraks: a, edited by Premnath (1982, see
farther on), summarized in White (1996, pp. 287288).
38
Rose (op. cit. vol. II, p. 407) gives a slightly different version: Ratan asked for a double share and,
when objection was taken, created a man named Kanian Nath from the sweat and dirt of his own body.
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The Heads of the Tradition or Prs

The Har Sr Nath movement traces its origin to Ratan, and before him to Mats dinath or Siva himself. This genealogy places Ratan
yendranath, Gorakhnath and A
in a direct orthodox Nath filiation. However after him, as we have seen, all the
successive gurus or prs have a name ending in das. The official parampara or
transmission counts 31 prs after Ratan, whose activities appear to be centered in
Khorasan, in a triangle between Kabul, Jalalabad and Peshawar.39
The names of the prs40 are mentioned in a small book published in Delhi which
seems curiously the only book attached to the movement and regularly used by the
followers. Given reluctantly by the pujar for us to photocopy, it includes all the
tenets of the Har Sr Nath tradition. Entitled Guru Mahima, it is a collection of
poems, published by the Dargah Sr Baba Pr Ratan Nath J.41 It does not have
any date but is probably fairly recent, as the name of the actual mahant Gosan
Laks: man: Das appears last in the gurudisciple lineage. By simply looking at the
cover, which has a conventional representation of Siva, an innocent visitor would
never suspect what the contents reveal. Each page is surrounded by a garland of the
Har Sr Nath invocations. To begin with, obeisance is paid to all the Brahmanical gods, then follows a versified genealogy of the tradition starting with
Machindranath (Matsyendranath) after which a few episodes of Baba Ratans life
are told. The names of his successors are then mentioned and a few words added to
describe their main achievements and their travels. For instance the second guru, the
_
first to be seated on Pr Ratans simhasan
(lit. The lions or royal throne) is
presented this way: When Sr Ratannath ascended the Sumeru, the incarnation of
dharma quickly sat on the throne. Dharma Dass evident grandeur had become
visible; in the middle of Khurasan, his deeds were revealed, the incarnation of
_
dharma, Dharma Das in whom Ganga
meets the Ocean. Unfortunately place
names are not precisely mentioned but it was said by the pujar that the first six
gurus stayed in Carbagh, the seventh shifted to Jalalabad where the next nine gurus
remained. The seventeenth guru shifted to Peshawar.
The last guru in Peshawar was Manmohan Das, who is said to have remained
44 years on the throne (gadd ). But at the time of Partition the gaddand thus the
whole Har Sr Nath tradition connected with Baba Ratanhad to be shifted from
Peshawar to Haridvar then Delhi. Manmohan Das was succeeded in 1976 by
Paripuran: Das, then in 2002 by Gosan Laks: man: Das.
The present Delhi shrine was founded in 1964 on a tract of land given by Kabuli
merchants, and later renovated in 1977. Although the Delhi mat:h is the main one,
39
The Khorasan is a former Persian province which covered part of what is now Iran, Central Asia and
Afghanistan. It is always mentioned in the Ratans legends, its core being Afghanistan.
40
The 16 first names coincide with the list given in the book Pothi Ratan Gyan (printed at the
Chashma-e-Nur Press in 1902) quoted by Singh (1937, p. 18 n. 1) who specifies: The house of Baba
Ratan in Peshawar has a genealogical table.
41
It is surprising to remark that dargah figures here alone, mention of mandir has been dropped.
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there are a good number of subsidiary centres: 34 shrines, mainly located in Panjab,
Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Uttar Anchal42 are under the authority of the same pr.
In Delhi itself, there is another shrine at Jhil, across the river Yamuna. Situated in a
Muslim suburb, this place is very similar to the main centre except for the presence
of two other samadhis, covered with scarlet velvet clothes, in which the ashes of
two dissident mahants are kept. All these places, which are under the care of
pujars, are regularly visited by devotees who come to take part in devotional
sessions (satsangs). However, they are of minor importance and remain under the
authority of the main gadd.
The main centres which the pr is supposed to visit are Uttarkashi and Haridvar.
In fact the pr was born in a Brahman family of Haridvar and later on went to Delhi
to study economics and take a BA before being chosen to succeed the mahant. The
Haridvar shrine is quite impressive. It is a huge building located in the Bheemgoda
area. Formerly a simple dharmasala for the Khorasani pilgrims, it was later expanded and renovated by Manmohan Das. The plan is similar to the Delhi Har Sr
_ and
Nath complex: a courtyard with at one end a temple enshrining a Sivalinga
statues of all the main Brahmanical deities. On the right side of the courtyard is the
throne room with the images of Paripuran: Das and Manmohan Das, on both sides of
Ratannath. On the walls one can see paintings representing the life of Baba Ratan
_
and the different places of worship. Other buildings are the kitchen, the langar,
and
the resting places for the devotees. The walls, doors and floors have been freshly
painted and are perfectly clean. In the courtyard one can also see a tree and a well.
The latter, as in Delhi and other Har Sr Nath shrines, is referred to as Zinda pr (the
living pr). According to local informants, this is one of the names of Jhulelal, a
popular Sindhi deity, worshipped as the lord of the Indus river but also revered as a
_
Hindu saint and a Muslim pr. In the langar
hall one can see a painting of this deity
mounted on a fish.43Another interpretation, given in Haridvar, is that it is linked to
the cult of the five elements: water (the well), earth (the tree), fire (the dhun, a holy
fireplace in the private quarters of the pr) and air (the open space).
On the roof of the large entrance gate, stands a big flag, which on every Sivaratr
festival is given by the pr to be hoisted on the top of the building. It is Indias
national flag and the devotees insist on the symbolism of its colours: ochre for
Hinduism, white for peace and green for Islam. They add that they are true
secularists and do not subscribe to hindutva.
42
Among them Hardvar, Uttarkashi, Lucknow, Gwalior, Bareilly, Meerut, Sarhampur, Muzafarnagar,
Chandosi, Hapur (in U.P.), Ludhyana, Amritsar, Chandigarh, Ropar in Panjab, Ambala, Ahmednagar,
Faridabad and Jhil in Haryana.
43
Jhulelal is a complex figure endowed with more than one religious identity. He traditionally appears as
a Hindu deity, an incarnation of the Indusand more recently an avatar of the Vedic god Varun: a;
Jhulelal is also known as Amarlal and Uderolal. As a Nath ascetic he is called Daryanath and as a Muslim
saint he is variously referred to as Khwaja Khizr, Shah Jandho, Darya Shah and Shaikh Tahir (for more
details see Khan 1997, pp. 229230; Khan 2007). Jhulelal is often represented mounted on a fish, but in
the Sindhi iconography he is also portrayed as a horse rider (see also M.-A. Falzon, op. cit. pp. 5863).
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3.4 Devotion to the pr and nirgun: bhakti

The link to the pr, as guru, is undoubtly the main structural element of the Har Sr
Nath tradition. The pr who is regarded as an avatar of Ratan, is supposed to
embody the essence of the primordial disciple of Gorakhnath. In the words of one of
the devotees: We see all the past gurus in the present one. Only the body changes,
not the atman. The Guru of our times is actually Ratan as were all our previous
gurus. They are all avatars of Baba Ratan. Baba Ratan was the disciple of Gorakhnath who was himself an avatar of Siva. Thus Ratan is a saint rather than a god.
However the full dedication to the guru, as the guide who shows the path to God,
may easily be mistaken for worship. Even if the followers bow in front of the statues
of the deities installed in the shrine, the main reason for their visit is obviously to be
in the prs presence and to take part in the satsang (the congregation of the
faithful), which mainly consists in singing devotional compositions together.
Most songs as they are printed in the Guru Mahima and sung every day revolve
around the exaltation of the prs and of the first among them, Pr Ratan Nath. A
striking feature is that they constantly refer to Ratan as wearing a black cloak: kal
kaml vale nath ratan and the gurus are described as follows: gal me sel nad
sove, sir te kaml kal j , On their neck the nad sel (the Nath sacred thread with
the whistle), on the head, the black cloak. We find also the Panjabi word for kaml,
sa:rh and the pr is described as the sa:rh vale. One important sentence, repeated as
a mantra to invoke the guru is: sa:rh vale pra tuha:r sada j jay/Sohn: e
ambuevale nathji tuha:r sada j jay (eternal victory to the pr covered with the
black cloak,/eternal victory to the Nath covered with the beautiful ochre cloth).
According to some devotees, the prs black garment symbolizes sorrow and
suffering, dukh, Baba Ratan and his incarnation the pr taking on himself all the
sufferings of his disciples and devotees. However the pr does not wear it on
auspicious occasions such as Holi or Baisakhi, where he wears a long yellow coat
instead of the black cloak.
The wearing of the cloak reminds us of the Islamic connection of Baba
Ratans tradition.44 The name given to the pr, He of the black cloak (Urdu kal
kamlvala) refers to the Urdu translation of the Arabic al-muzammil.45 In the 73rd
verse of the Koran Muhammad is called the mantled one, Al-muzammil (the title
of the surat). However, the black colour is nowhere mentioned. Instead Kal
kamlvala is an epithet of the Prophet often used in the Urdu poems written in his
praise (nat). A popular qawwali starts as follows: Vo dekho a raha hai
Muhammad, jinke kandhe pe kaml hai kal! (Look, Muhammad is coming, on
his shoulders is a black mantle).
44
Let us remark that in another tradition related to the same region, the legend of Sakhi Sarwar Sultan,
the pilgrims who went in procession to the tomb of the Sufi Saint (at Nigaha in Dera Ghazi Khan district)
are known by the special name of Kalikamli, because so many of [them] have black blankets to protect
them from cold, and H.A Rose, who quotes here an account of Mr Purser from Jullunder District, adds:
Black is the colour of Shiv (1919, vol. 1, p. 569)! Here also appear the complexities and intricacies of
the religious references!
45
Kamlvala is the Urdu translation of the Arabic al-muzammil.
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578
The Guru Mahima songs reflect the multiple references to a complex religious
landscape including allusion to Ratans specific legendary life and characteristics
(shawl-clad), to the precise geography of north-west provinces and to Hindu deities.
However the general atmosphere of the songs is suffused with what appears to be
nirgurn: i bhakti; they repeatedly mention the supreme guru (referred to as Satguru
in the nirgurn: i bhakti tradition).
We give here the translation of one of these songs, called Pr ratan nath calsa
(the forty [verses] in honor of Pr Ratannath) which presents itself as a beautiful
compendium of the main components of this tradition.
Let the enthusiastic devotees come, your red flag is swinging/
O Pr, build a boat for us and fill it,
O the one in whom we have placed all our hopes/
The Pr fulfills the expectations of one and all/
He grants the fruit of everybodys desires, O shawl-clad Pr (1)
Whoever medidates on you, Nathj, receives the desired fruit/
Fulfill the expectations of your congregation of devotees (jumla/)/
O Pir, build a boat and fill it entirely (2)
Your holy dome (gummat: dhan) remains for ever/
At the four corners of the world, a fanfare is playing/
The flag of dharma has swung, o shawl-clad Pr (3)
The cauldrons for the offerings (deg) have been prepared, they have been
filled/
The ladle filled with the sacred food is never depleting, o shawl-clad Pr (4)
Whoever worships in the Gummat:/
Receives from the Satguru diamonds and pearls/
With joy I am ready to sacrifice myself, o shawl-clad Pr (5)
The mothers who come to obtain sons/
The Saint who sits on the gadd give them boons/
Whatever you give, our bags are always full/
You fill the lap (of barren women), o shawl-clad Pr (6)
The old mothers, o Pr, bless you/
May our Baba live one lakh of years/
May you remain on the gadd from age to age, o shawl-clad Pr (7)
At your door a peepal tree is swinging/
And at the back one banyan tree, o shawl-clad Pr (8)
At your door a fanfare is playing/
The sound of conchs is resounding, o shawl-clad Pr (9)
You are the siddha among siddhas, Babaj Ratan/
Your word is true like gold/
I am ready to sacrifice myself on your words, o shawl-clad Pr(10)
O siddhas, lets go to Carbagh46/
46
Carbagh is the place near Kabul where Ratan is supposed, in this tradition, to have his samadhi (see
infra).
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Lets worship the Jam Sahab47 of Baba Ratan Nath/

We receive all that we desire, o shawl-clad Pr (11)
Your quiver48 is inlaid with pearls/
And your bow with diamonds, o shawl-clad Pr (12)
Sivaratr has come and the mela is taking place/
Nathji is your guru and his disciple Bhartrihar/
I am ready to sacrifice myself for both of them, o shawl-clad Pr (13)
A black shawl is twisted on your neck/
On your forehead a red dot, o shawl-clad Pr (14)
I have searched in the jungle, I have searched for a whole length of time/
I have searched for the one who rides the black mare, o shawl-clad Pr (15)
In this world who can say he has got anybody/
For me you are the only one, o shawl-clad Pr (16)
O Pir, you have brought your circle of devotees (mandli) to Peshawar/
You have solved so many of our difficulties/
You have fulfilled everybodys desires, o shawl-clad Pr (17)
From far away the community (san_ gat: ) has come/
From Kabul and from Kandahar, o shawl-clad Pr (18)
Nathji, I am not at all virtuous/
Have pity on me, o shawl-clad Pr (19)
You have given children to mothers/
And you have reunited brothers with sisters, o shawl-clad Pr (20)
Let us rise early the morning and sing the Prs praise/
Your radiance blinds us, o shawl-clad Pr (lit. you heat is unbearable) (21)
Oh Pr you made a boat with you shawl49/
You crossed the At:ak, o shawl-clad Pr (22)
Our pure Pr has caused the rain to fall at his will/
In the Khyber pass, o shawl-clad Pr (23)
He has given also milk and sons/
He has granted us bliss and taken away all our sorrows, o shawl-clad Pr (24)
Whoever worships Jam Sahib/
Will cross the ocean of rebirths/
He has helped all of us to cross over, the shawl-clad Pr (25)
He who rides the black mare/
47
Jam Sahib or Sahab, the holy cup, is given here as an equivalent of the amrit patra, the vessel full of
the liquor of immortality worshipped by the Nath Yogs and given to Ratannath by Gorakhnath in the
Nepalese version of his story (cf. Bouillier 1997, p. 62). In the classical Persian literary tradition, this cup,
jam, is owned by Jamshid, the fourth of the five mythical kings (according to the Ferdowsis Shaname)
and this cup, called Jam-e Jam Jam(shid)s cup allowed him to see reflected the entirety of the world,
past, present and future. The cup was also considered in the mystical tradition as a metaphor of the heart
with the idea that the man in order to understand the world has to look inside his own heart (we thank
Denis Matringe for his explanations that we can here only briefly summarize).
48
Probably an allusion to the representation of Ratan as a hunter with a bow and a quiver, horse riding in
the Nepalese jungle and chasing a deer which appeared later on as the figure of Gorakhnath (Bouillier
op. cit. pp. 6163).
49
An allusion to Ratan crossing the Indus at Attock ford seated on his chawl when the boatmen refused
to ferry him across, as he was pennyless.
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580
Whoever meditates on Siva-Sambhu/

Who keeps repeating the name of Har Sr Nath, o shawl-clad Pr (26)
Will be in body and soul united with Har Sr Nath/
Kris: n: a Kanhaiya is your guardian/
From age to age you are sitting on the gadd, o shawl-clad Pr (27)
Bhairon is all the time with you/
The sacred light (jyoti) is all the time with you/
Who is the strongest of the strong, o shawl-clad Pr (28)
_
O Pr, your langar
goes on uninterrupted,
The store remains open all the time, o shawl-clad Pr (29)
Whoever with hope comes to your door/
Obtains whatever he wishes/
O Pir, fulfill our desires, o shawl-clad Pr (30)
At your door if you take from the holy community (san_ gat: ) the oil-cakes/
As an offering (prasad) and go home/
You will safely and happily reach, o shawl-clad Pr (31)
To cross the ocean of rebirths you are with us/
The magic of your sacred light is great/
The illustrious Laks: man: Das50 with the shawl (32)
Is sitting, the avatar of Brahma/
Whose greatness one cannot describe/
His play51 is infinite, o shawl-clad Pr (33)
The three worlds sing your praise/
We silently repeat the name of Har Sr Nath/
You destroy our sorrows, o shawl-clad Pr (34)
Matharadas has built a beautiful dome in Jalalabad/
There are two beautiful gardens on the left, o shawl-clad Pr (35)
Pr, your temple/palace (mandir) is resplendant/
It shines like diamonds, o shawl-clad Pr (36)
You don the yellow-ochre robe/
Your neck is adorned with the black mantle/
On your head the pointed cap,52 o shawl-clad Pr (37)
In the middle of the sea a Banjara53/
Sits in a boat he has filled with goods/
There sits the Sah and there sits the Banjara/
He has helped the boat to cross over, the shawl-clad Pr (38)
Whoever sings his name with all his heart/
Will get what he desires/
On your neck a flower garland, o shawl-clad Pr (39)
Whoever sings your greatness with all his heart/
50
The present pr.

Allusion to the divine lla (but the term khel is used here).
52
Ratan, as represented in the Nath iconography, wears a red pointed cap, given to him by the badsah
together with the title of pr.
51
53
Member of a nomadic community trading salt and foodgrain.
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581
Will obtain bliss and fortune/

Let us repeat the name of Har Sr Nath, o shawl- clad Pr (40)
These songs are the common inspiration for the satsang which is held every day in
the throne room. People gather here in the late hours of the morning, eagerly waiting
for the prs entrance. They continue to sing in his presence and then proceed to the
_
langar
where food is distributed. The festival days differ only by an increasing
attendance, more singing and the possibility of having a longer darsan of the pr.
On some occasions, like Holi, performances are organised obviously for the pleasure of the lay devotees: in this case a few musicians and dancers are invited to
perform episodes from the raslla (scenes from Kris: n: as childhood and youth).
The Influence of Location: A Geographical and Legendary Landscape
In the present Indian dargah-mandir of the Har Sr Nath tradition, altars and icons
betray the strong influence of the Sanatan Dharma, the allegedly eternal religion,
a recent version of orthodox unified Hinduism created towards the end of the
nineteenth century.54 Baba Ratans devotees insist on the pure Hindu identity of
their shrines. The presence of a Laks: mnarayan: temple inside Baba Ratans shrine,
the popularity of the Ramcaritmanas and of the god Kris: n: a often depicted on the
wall paintings, all point to the strong influence of this movement. Obviously, the
transfer of the centre to India after Partition has furthered the development of a more
Hinduized version of the tradition.55
What do we know about this tradition before its shift to modern India soil?
Family Origin
It appears that, if now the majority of devotees speak Panjabi, celebrate Panjabi
festivals such as Baisakhi and dress (at least women) in the Panjabi style, their roots
are located further west. Most of them originate from Kabul and Peshawar. We have
already mentioned that the Delhi dargah-mandir has been built on a land owned by
Kabuli merchants and thanks to their financial support. But many devotees told us
that their families subsequently settled in Peshawar, which they were forced to
abandon after Partition.
54
The first Sanatan Dharma societies were founded in Calcutta (1873) and Haridvar and Delhi (1895),
for quite some time their headquarters were in Haridvar. For the role of the Ramcaritmanas and the Gita
Press in the Sanatan movements see Lutgendorf (1991, pp. 365368; Horstmann 1995, pp. 294305).
According to these authors and to Catherine Clementin-Ojha (personal communication) it seems that
most Sanatan reformers were Vaishnavas, hence their preference for the construction of temples dedicated to Laks: mnarayan: . Apart from the famous Birla temples of Delhi and Jaipur, we should also
mention the numerous Laks: mnarayan: mandir built in Gujarat and Kutch in order to combat heterodox
religious movements.
55
Here again a parallel with the Sindhis: as Falzon says: Having looked at the rich kaleidoscope of
Sindhi religious beliefs and practices, one must note that there is some evidence that Sindhis are
becoming more Hindus and less Sufi and Nanakpanthas one of my informants put it, they are making
an attempt to become more Hindu (2004, p. 56).
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The presence of many Indian Hindu56 merchants in the regions that are now
parts of present Afghanistan and Pakistan was well attested during the nineteenth
century. In a report dated 18481849 Major Edwards quotes: Elphinstone says the
Hindoo are to be found over the whole kingdom of Cabul; in towns they are in
considerable numbers as brokers, merchants, bankers, goldsmiths, sellers of grain.57
And mentioning districts south of Peshawar and Lahore, he writes: Local chiefs kept
Hindoos about their persons as general agents and secretaries (id. p. 71). The author
specifies that, in Bunnoo for instance, all trading was done by some one hundred
Hindoo houses and the town counted four temples and two dharamsalas.58
Our informants from the Delhi Har Sr Nath shrine confirmed that their forefathers main activities was trade, although they do not classify themselves among the
baniyas. When asked to which caste they belonged, many of them simply answered:
Peshawari, adding that they were like the Sindhis, who stick to a regional
rather than to a caste identity.59 Eventually some of them admitted that the majority
were Khatris by caste, belonging, more precisely, to the Arora or Kanhar Kapur
subcastes.
Interestingly, the Peshawar connection attracts some devotees from other religious backgrounds. The Har Sr Nath shrine in Delhi is occasionally visited by Sikhs
from Peshawar whose ancestors claim some connection with Baba Ratan. And
among the divine and saintly figures depicted on the canvasses in the hall, one finds
Guru Nanak and Sr Cand,60 as well as Jhulelal. As mentioned above, the last
figure shares some of the ambiguities of Baba Ratan, which may also justify the
comparison made by some devotees between the Peshawari and the Sindhi
communities.
Although most followers live in Delhi, others come from different parts of north
India (mainly from Panjab, Haryana but also Mumbai) while a few have settled in
the Gulf countries, in London or in USA. The Delhi shrine is obviously a place
where all these exiled communities can share common memories and gather around
common symbols of a past cultural identity.
56
We must specify that, as in most colonial discourse Hindoos (as it was spelled) was a broad and
vague category including most communities that could not be classified as Sunni Muslim or Christian.
57
Edwards (1963, p. 69).
58
See also Gilmartin (1988), who specifies that Muslims were composing over 80 percent of the
population in the far western Punjab districts bordering on the Jhelum and Indus rivers but that Hindus
dominated market towns in the late 19th century (pp. 67).
59
On the question of the Sindhi identity see Markovits (2000), Falzon 2004, chapter 2, Boivin 2007.
The Nath Yogs of Asthal Bohar explained the the relationship that existed between Nanaks son, Sr
Cand and Gorakhnath in the following way: one day Guru Nanak asked the siddha Mastnath the reason
why he was wandering about naked. This infuriated the Nath, who cursed Nanak: Your son will be like
me although you will do everything to stop him. Sri Cand who was Nanaks first son, expressed the wish
to remain naked and be initiated into the Nath sampraday. Nanak could not entirely prevent this. By the
time his father managed to stop him, Cand had already one ear split. . . In this way Nanaks son remained
half way between two traditions. Sr Cand is said to have been a renouncer, he never married and used
to go begging. He was for this reason disowned by his father (See Delahoutre 1989, p. 165). Evidently
there is no question in the Sikh tradition of him becoming a Nath, even though mention is made of an
unique earring given by Siva or alternatively of a kind of natural earring due to a distorsion of the flesh
(we thank Marie Singeot for this information).
60
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583
Depiction of the Har Sr Nath Previous Implantations

The landscapes depicted on the walls of the dargah-mandir represent the sacred
places related to Ratans and his successors life stories. The monuments represented and the texts written on the canvasses tell of the previous history of the Har
Sr Nath tradition in present Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Some paintings concern Ratan. On one he is shown in Katasraj (on the Salt
Range in present Pakistan) preaching to different ascetics.61 However the most
interesting one depicts his samadhi in Carbagh, a surprising feature as we have seen
the Ratans dargah in Bhatinda. That Ratan is buried in Bhatinda is a fact that even
the Yogs of Nepal or Haridvar admit, but definitely not the Har Sr Nath tradition.
For them Carbagh was in Afghanistan near Kabul.62 In one of the paintings, the
samadhi is featured as a small dome of white marble crowning a rectangular tomb
covered with a green cloth in the usual Islamic style. Another picture shows two
small graves, lying parallel to each other under the same roof. Both paintings are
believed to represent Baba Ratans tomb or samadhi. According to the devotees,
when Baba Ratan decided to take his samadhi, he lay down and used his black
cloak as a shroud to cover his body. His disciples immediately started to quarrel: the
Muslims wanted to bury him and the Hindus to burn him. At that time a heavenly
voice was heard: Dont fight but share my remains between you. When they
lifted up the black shroud, the body had disappeared and only flowers were left. The
Muslims buried a handful of flowers and built over them a dargah, whereas the
Hindus took the rest and built a mandir.63
Often alluded to in the songs, one painting shows the Jalalabad gummat:, the
dome, a white-domed palatial structure. The caption written on the painting attributes the construction of the building to Sr Mathurdas, who was the sixth guru after
Ratan, according to the genealogy given in the Guru Mahima and the fist one to
shift the gadd to this presently eastern Afghanistan town.
61
We express our deepest gratitude to Dr. Shabbir Ahmed from International Islamic University of
Islamabad who provided us with much precious data from the inquiries he pursued for us in Peshawar and
Katas Raj. Katas Raj is a group of temples on the Salt Range, presently under renovation thanks to the
Archaeological Survey of Pakistan. Here a holy pond, born from Sivas tears, is supposed to wash away
any sin. According to information given in Peshawar, Ratan visited the place and produced miracles: he
planted a dried branch of some tree and in a few minutes it became a green tree. Katas Raj is also known
as a Yog centre where Paras Nath Yog drew his last breath. Legend says that it has been visited by Guru
Nanak, and Sikh temples are still to be seen.
62
We found no mention of Carbagh in Afghanistan but Charbagh is known in Pakistan as a small town
north of Minjora, the headquarter of Swat district.
63
This episode deserves to be briefly commented on. Firstly, the fact that Baba Ratans Hindu devotees
wanted to burn his remains is rather strange if one bears in mind that Nath Yogs are interred. Secondly
the quarrel reminds us of a similar story connected with the fifteenth century sant Kabir: in his case also,
even if some of his disciples did not regard him as a Muslim, he should have been buried according to the
custom prevalent among low caste Hindus. Finally, we should mention that similar episodes are told
about Nanak, Jhulelal and some other saints endowed with dual or multiple identities (for a general
discussion of these wars of relics and their sources see Khan 2004, p. 51 sq.).
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Concerning Peshawar as the previous seat of the gadd, we have more details:
besides the two canvasses entitled Baba Sri Ratan Nath j k dargah,64 we benefit
from the description given by two visitors, Sir Aurel Stein (at the beginning of the
twentieth century) and Trilok Nath Kapur (in 19421943), and from the special visit
made there for our account by Dr. Shabbir Ahmeds students in 2007.65
Peshawar was a well known and important center for the Nath tradition, the main
shrine being located at Gorkhatri.66
The Ratan dargah is located at a different place,67 in Soneka or Sona Chandi
Bazar. Sir Aurel Stein gives the following description: The shrine in Peshawar is a
purely Hindu temple with images of Bhairo, Ganesh and Hanuman and a constant
light (Jot). It also has a large kettle-drum and a black flag and a ringing bell [. . .] It
contains the samadhi of a Gosain who came from Kabul about 80 years ago [. . .]
Succession to the gaddi depends on the nomination of the Gosain before his death.
It is said that the Mahant cannot enjoy office for more than 12 years even though he
may succeed as a young man.68 Visiting the place in 19421943, Trilok Nath
Kapur writes: In the Peshavar mat:h (dargah) there are statues of Bhairav,
Mahavr, Sankar, and also Jindapr [. . .] I went for darsan in 19421943 and, at this
time, Baba Manmohan Das was on the gadd. I went from Kanpur to have his
darsan and got his blessing.
The dargah, as visited in 2007, was still in use, and adorned with paintings
representing Baba Ratan. Its priest claims to be a Hindu Khatri. He owns a book in
Panjabi entitled Ratan Wali Sahib69 narrating many episodes of Ratans life.
According to the priest, who is familiar with the above mentioned stories, Baba
Ratan was a Nepalese prince converted by Gorakhnath. He remembers his famous
miracles: Baba Ratan visiting the Katas Raj pond, restoring to life the members of
64
_
The first one shows a Siva mandir with statues of Siva, Dev and Gan: es behind a Sivalinga,
and the
second one a place called Moti Mandir (the Pearl Temple) with the images of Gorakhnath and
Ratannath conversing at the foot of a platform. Ratan wears the black cloak.
65
The political situation made impossible for us any travel to Peshawar, therefore we thank heartily the
Peshawari students of Dr Shabbir Ahmed who made very valuable enquiries for our benefit, and Dr.
Shabbir Ahmed who took the trouble of collecting, writing up and sending us these informations.
66
Two miles north of Peshawar, when Sir Aurel Stein visited the town (quoted in Horovitz op. cit.
p. 103). The Gorkhatri cave is already mentioned in the Babur Namah. Babur supposedly visited the
place in 1519 and Abul-Fazl remarks the presence of a temple called Gorekehtery, a place of religious
resort particularly for Jowgies (Ain-i-Akbar, op. cit. vol. II, p. 205). The history of the place seems
particularly complicated: Buddhist center with the tower of Buddhas bowl, then Hindu place of
pilgrimage, transformed in a mosque with a caravanserail by ShahJahans daughter, replaced with a
temple to Gorakhnath built by the Sikhs (?), and now used as government offices and police and fire
stations (according to the guide book Insight Guides. Pakistan, APA, 1990), but recently investigated by the Archaeological Department.
67
However, one account affirms their identity: Mahmud Balkh visited Peshawar in 1625 and gives very
precise and relevant information regarding Kor Kattri: I obtained sight of ascetics living at the
Kattris Seat [. . .] Kor Kattri is a place consisting of grand buildings made of stone and brick. In the
middle of that complex, there is a tall building resembling mosques and khanqahs (hospices). At his
gateway is a deep cell, with a small open dome which has a door in it [. . .] Some exercise-worshippers
sitting in a circle engage themselves in the practices of jog (yoga), which means controlling of breath.
The above place is called the seat of Baba Ratan (Husain 1992, p. 142).
68
Quoted by Horovitz op. cit. p. 104.
69
Many Sufi saints are called Wali (litt. friend of God).
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the marriage procession, destroying the entire town but sparing Dharma, touching
the grindstone with his staff, crossing the Indus seated on his black chawl. The priest
of the dargah has a surprising knowledge of the tradition, although he is apparently
cut off from its present centre in India, and can recall the succession of the 31 prs.
And interestingly he also takes Carbagh as Ratans last earthly place; he asserts that
Carbagh was the place where Hindus and Muslims, having quarelled over the
remains of Ratan, constructed two shrines.70 His conclusion was: Baba Ratan
preached about humanity. Peace, love and brotherhood. His followers were both
Muslims and Hindus.
The geographical background in which Ratan and the Har Sr Nath tradition are
rooted explains many details of the cult. The intimate contact with a Muslim surrounding has influenced the devotees communities. As a complex and ambivalent
sacred figure, Baba Ratan stands undoubtedly at the very centre of the cluster of
symbols and values that build up the identity of these groups. In him are reflected
the communitys own multivocal religious and cultural legacy.
We will find the same complexities and the same influence of local rootedness in
another branch of the Har Sr Nath tradition, a branch which claims to descend from
Ratans miraculous son. We find here an answer to a question ignored in the Nath
tradition: what happened to Kayanath? If the Nath legendary corpus does not
mention him, after his creation by Ratan, the Har Sr Nath movement has developped a whole tradition around him.
Kayanaths Har Sr Nath Tradition and Shrine
The gurudham asram
In the predominantly Panjabi and Sikh environment of Subash Nagar area in Delhi,
there is a modest concrete house adorned with the now familiar inscription Har Sr
Nath. Opening onto the street, the main room enshrines a marble seat, a gadd or
throne surrounded by two statues: one of them represents Kayanath, portrayed as a
young and slim yog, while the other represents the former guru Premnath, the
founder of the place. Here there is no mention of a temple: it is a gurudham
asram, a dwelling place of the guru who bears the title of pr as specified by an
inscription outside the shrine: Sr gurudham asram (pronvala sthan, the prs
abode). On the outside wall one can read: Yah sthan pahale bhera khusab (jila
sargodha pascim pakistan) men tha (this place was formerly in Bhera Khusab,
Sarghoda district, West Pakistan).
Here again, we face a tradition linked to the north-western frontier and obliged to
transfer its seat after Partition. According to their followers, Ratannath, and
70
We thank again Dr. Shabbir Ahmads students for the quotation of the priests words: Both Hindu
and Muslim were Ratans followers. After his death both wanted to get his chawl and they started
brawling, meanwhile they heard that Ratan was advising them not to quarrel and to divide his shawl in
two parts equally. Both sects constructed their temple in front of each other in Charbagh. After the
Taliban government came into existence, these temples were ruined. There were two trees (mulberry) in
Kabul and Jalalabad whose growth Ratannath was credited with. Whenever somebody tried to cut these
trees, they grew again and reached to their previous level within two weeks. However those trees are no
more there as the Taliban burned them.
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Kayanath who is closely connected to him, are rooted in the local culture and thus
related to Islam.
It is believed that one Santos: nath left Bhera Khusab after Partition and went to
stay for a while in Haridvar where he took jalsamadhi (death by immersion). His
disciple Premnath bought some land in Delhi and constructed his ashram registered
under his name (Pr Premnath gurudham asram) in 1953. He took samadhi in
1989 and was succeeded by a young disciple called Pran: nath.
Pran: naths story is interesting. He was born in 1961 in a family of Kayanaths
former devotees who had a shop in Bhera Khusab. They left for Ambala (Panjab)
and went often to see their guru Premnath in Delhi. As Pran: naths two older brothers
and sister died, the parents promised to give their next child to the guru. Pran: nath
went to live with the guru when he was six and studied in a Sanskrit school. He
succeeded his guru in 1989 and stayed 6 years as a pr. But apparently celibacy was
a problem for him. He married, begot a child and was obliged to leave the precincts
of the ashram. He lives now in the vicinity with his family and has built a prosperous temple, with statues of all the main deities and a huge throne. He calls his
temple Sr adisakti siddhidat ma durga mandir (Temple to the venerated
mother Durga the primordial Sakti who grants accomplishment) and the movement
he wants to propagate Visva Parivar Sadbhavana Misan (Goodwill mission
for the universal family), while he refers to himself as Dharmacarya Pr Pran: nath
Yog. He still wears small, discreet golden Nath earrings but claims to be a
follower of the modern sanatan dharma and holds the general and universalistic
religious discourse common to neo-Hinduism.
After Pran: naths withdrawal, his gurubha (guru brother) Sobhanath sat on the
gadd, followed by Yogindranath and, since 2006, Anantnath. Obviously, this tradition differs from Ratans movement in at least one detail: instead of the name in
Das we have the orthodox ending in Nath, even though we still meet the Har
Sr Nath formula and the words pr and dargah. Besides, the prs claim to
belong to one of the twelve recognized panths: the Bhartr: hari Bhairav panth.
The tradition is described in a book written by Pr Premnath, entitled Siva
Goraks: a and dedicated to sat pr Kayanath. According to Pran: nath, the appellation sat was given to Kayanath because he was a true pr, born from the sat,
the power of truth emanating from Ratannath.71
Legends about Kayanath and his Successors
Below we summarize or paraphrase the text of the Siva Goraks: a.
The story of Kayanaths birth (pp. 2934) follows the general framework previously described, but the bhan: d: ara, the feast, is more precisely situated in the kingdom
known as Khokhargarh ou Khukharayan: (ancient name of Bhadravat or Bhera),72 on
71
In Panjabi, the adjectival form sat means also virtuous, constant. In the same text other Naths are also
referred to as sat with this sense.
72
The fort of the Khokhars? The Khokhars as well as the Khokharans are well known in Panjab, the
Kokhkharans being concentrated in the area of the Salt Range and particularly Bhera. They refer now to a
Hindu or Sikh or Muslim origin, according to their present condition, but seem to have shared many
composite features till recent times (See Rose et al. 1919, vol. II, p. 539).
123
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587
the bank of the river Vitasta (or Jhelum). The bhan: d: ara is organised by Vicarnath
(supposed to be another name for the king Bhartrihari). From the outset Kayanaths
legendary life is constructed so as to legitimize the claim of his followers.
Vicarnath, as the chief guest of the bhan: d: ara, organises everything and distributes the pattal (leaf-plates). He discovers two plates in front of Ratan, although
nobody else has come. Vicarnath is angry. Then Ratan makes a ball from the ashes
covering his body and gives it life. The ball expands and splits open. A young boy
emerges. All the Yogs are upset by this miracle. No Yog is supposed to show his
powers in front of his guru. It is a sin for which Ratan must be punished. His
earrings are subsequently removed and he is sent away. The Kayanath caritra
does not dwell on his story and instead reverts to Kayanath. All the main Naths keep
discussing: which name should they give to this replica of Ratan and what is its
status? Eventually, Gorakhnath decides that, as he has been created from Ratans
body and looks like him, he must be called Kayanath. Ratan must be considered as
his father and therefore cannot be his guru. His guru will be Vicarnath, who is, in a
way, responsible for his appearance.
Kayanath remains with Vicarnath on the bank of the river Jhelum and receives
the perfect knowledge from his guru. He is ordered to remain on this pavan bhumi,
this holy land. As the text explains (p. 34): bhera me pro k dargah k stapana
(in Bhera he establishes the dargah of the prs, using once more the Muslim
words). He practises rigorous tapasya and remains for days without eating nor
drinking. The place where he stayed used to be frequently flooded by the Jhelum but
thanks to his tapasya, the monastery he founded existed till 1947 (and was the
original one referred to in the Delhi gurudham).
Kayanath wanted to leave Bhera for the Himalayas but his disciples told him that
his guru had ordered him to stay for ever at the same place. Kayanath agreed, but the
next year during Sivaratr, he passed away. The Yogs who were present, said that
they heared a voice shouting Aum Sivaya Namah. Hajirnath, a disciple, hurried to
the spot and was worried not to see his guru. The others came and knew that
Kayanath, this part of Siva who was not born from a mother, had merged with the
Lord. According to the Nath sampraday customs and the gurus order, they built
him a gaumukh samadhi, a grave in the form of a cows head.73
During his life Kayanath was worshipped both by Hindus and Muslims. Muslims
referred to his place (sthan) as dargah and called him Kayamuddn.74 On the wall
of the dargah, a stone inscription reads (these verses written by one Malangnath75):
Siva Goraks: a p. 43. This may be an allusion to the shape of the heap of earth raised over the grave. In
the Muslim tradition it may be simply rectangular or rounded at one end.
73
74
Briggs (op. cit. p. 66) mentions this episode and the Muslim name given to Kayanath: Ratannath is
famous for having created a boy out of the dirt of his body. This boy was afterwards known as Kayanath
and as Qaim ud Dn. When Kayanath died, both Musalmans and Hindus claimed his body; but it
disappeared. Contrary to Ratan, Kayamuddn (Kayam ud Dn) or Qaim ud Dn did not seem to have
been well known in the Islamic traditions, as far as we know. We did not find any mention of him in the
Encyclopaedia of Islam.
75
This is an interesting name for a Nath Yog, as malang generally refers to a wandering Muslim
ascetic regarded as heterodox by the great Sunni Sufi tradition. There are Malangs among the Madars
and they also besmear their bodies with ashes. For the Madars see footnote 21. Baba Ratan himself is
referred to as Siv ka malang (Sivas malang) by Premnath (Siva Goraks: a, p. 30).
123
588
For the Hindus, a guru, for the Muslims a pr.

Hindus and Muslims who dont respect him are kaphirs76 and are without pr
dam. (Siva Goraks: a p. 46)
We are all the fakirs of Baba A
There is another legend reported by Briggs (1973, p. 66): When Kayanath died,
both Musalmans and Hindus claimed his body; but it disappeared, only the clothes
remaining. Hindus built a samadh for him, and Musulmans a tomb. It is easy to
notice that here no reference is made to cremation, but otherwise the story is similar
to that of the dispute over Baba Ratans body that has been mentioned earlier.
According to Yog Vilasnath, mahant of the Gorakhnath temple of Haridvar, there
is also a famous saying:
Hindu jalaya musulman dabaya bich me shikha nathjne
(As he explained: Hindus wanted to cremate [him] Muslims to bury, in
between the Naths put their seal).
Kayanath had eight disciples, each one endowed with his specific character
which his name was supposed to express.
Kayanaths successor on the gadd was Buddhanath. However, according to the
Siva Goraks: a narrative (pp. 6162), we have no information between this Kayanaths first successor and another Buddhanath who flourished at the beginning of
eighteenth century. The list of successive prs has 23 names from 1700 to 1982,
ending with Pr Premnath. The text does supply information about some of the prs,
mentioning that, thanks to Gorakhnaths protection, the place remained undamaged
despite political troubles, invasions and wars.
The most interesting story involves Ahmadsah Abdal and Buddhanath. Let us
see once more what the Siva Goraks: a has to tell us (pp. 6469):
On his way to Kabul Buddhanath heard that his gadd was threatened.
Ahmadsah Abdal had invaded India and was camping with his army on the
bank of the Vitasta in the Bhadravat kingdom. He was preparing the third
battle of Panipat [which took place in 1760]. A group of Saiads (Sayyids) had
gone along with him. They took over the gurudham and expelled all the
Yogs. The Yogs, who were practitioners of Hat:ha Yoga, made a dhun (holy
fire) outside the samadhi walls and begun to pray to both their param guru
Sat Pr Kayanath and their present guru, the gadd nishin Buddhanath. While
in Kabul Buddhanath, through his yogic power, saw his disciples trouble. The
Sayyids had attacked on a Thursday night (jumerat). On Friday, the guru had
reached the place and was standing at the door. The disciples and the Sayyids
were both deeply moved. Buddhanath kept saying ades and thousands of
76
In orthodox Muslim context, the kaphir is the unbeliever, the non-Muslim but many aphorisms play
upon the words kaphir and fakir in order to denounce what they call the true unbeliever, notwithstanding
his religious affiliation: for instance here are the words of Garibdas, a reformist Jat: religious leader (born
in 1860): Listen to my dissertation on kafir in the name of Ram and Khuda.\\ Kafir is the one who gives
no charity, one who quarrels with the saints.\\ Kafir is one who disobeys his father. Such a person is
consigned to hell.// He is a kafir who kills his daughter; He who sets a forest on fire.// He who sacrifices
animals. A kafir is a worshipper of idols (alluding here to both Islamic and Hindu practices), quoted in
Nonica Datta (1999, p. 43).
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589
Nath Yogs gathered singing Bhairav song and looking like Siva in the
tan: d: av77 dance. As the noise spread through the jungle the Bhadravat king
and Ahmadsah wondered what was the cause of this uproar. Hearing about the
attack of the dargah by the Sayyids, Ahmadsah, decided to go there himself.
He was impressed by Buddhanaths radiance and told him not to worry.
Actually, as Kayanath was called Kayamuddn by the Muslims and his gadd
referred to as a dargah, the Sayyids claimed that the place belonged to them78
while the Nath Siddhas made an identical claim.
Standing in front of the samadhi Ahmadsah Abdal recited the following
verses:
Oh Allah, who are the true devotees
Give me, God, the knowledge
To whom must I give the dargah?
Then an idea occured to him: he took the lock from the dargahs gate and
closed the inner railing around the tomb, saying that the lock would open only
by the hands of the right devotees. Buddhanath went to the side of the gaumukh samadhi where the footprints were engraved and remained seated
there in deep meditation. The Sayyids sat on the opposite side. Buddhanath
stayed without eating nor drinking, saying that he would eat only when the
place had been liberated from the Sayyids occupation. This event took place
on Friday evening, during the spring of 1761. From the entire Jhelum area
people flocked to see what was happening. On Sunday evening, as the sun was
beginning to sink, the situation was tense. Everybody was waiting. Buddhanath looked like Siva himself. Suddenly, in his lap, the lock opened.
Everywhere people started shouting Har Har Mahadev. Acknowledging
Buddhanaths victory, Ahmadsah Abdal went himself to the dargah and
congratulated him. The Sayyids were ordered to leave. Ahmadsah called
Buddhanath a True Pr (Satya Pr). It is believed that since that time the title
of pr has been adopted by the Naths, which was not the case earlier.
Ahmadsah donated 12 acres of land and added 2000 rupees for the maintenance of a constantly burning lamp (jot). The custom prevailed till 1947. At
that time also the Yogs gave Ahmadsah a rot:79prasad.
The story goes that when Ahmadsah received the rot:, he asked Buddhanath for a
boon: he wanted to be victorious in all his Indian battles. Buddhanath remained
silent then said:
Bhairav is a musical mode and tan: d: av the cosmic dance of Siva Nat:araj, bringing destruction and
recreation to the world.
77
78
The part played by the Sayyids can be seen as a clear indication of two contrasting visions of Islam,
the Sayyids being orthodox Sunnis, supposedly descendants of the Prophet, and eager to suppress local
forms of devotion, popular cults of prs having less rigid forms of identity.
79
The rot:, a flattened thick bread, cooked in the ashes of the dhun, is the common offering to Bhairav
among the Yogs. After being offered, it is shared and distributed among Yogs and devotees as prasad,
sanctified food.
123
590
This God who preserved the honour of the dargah

Your honour this God will preserve.
This was understood as a prophecy announcing the victory of Ahmadsah Abdal in
the third battle of Panipat.80
After this dramatic episode, Buddhanaths life followed a more peaceful course.
He received a huge donation of 84 acres from the raja of Bhadravat (Bhera), and
died in 1776. The chronology continues with the name and the deeds of his successors till 1947 and the departure of Pr Santos: nath to Haridvar, with five disciples.
Santos: nath sat there on the gadd till 1953 and on the 13th of April, on baisakhi
day, in the presence of all the disciples and devotees, he transmitted to Premnath the
responsibility to achieve a new gurudham and to maintain the gadd. After which
he immediately took his samadhi. Premnath went to Delhi where he could purchase
some land from the governement to build a Gurudham in Hetu Subhash Nagar. In
_
1954 he was able to organize a funeral ceremony (sankhad
: hal) and feast for his
guru, inviting 9,100 sadhus-sants (summarized from Siva Goraks: a, pp. 69, 75).
After Partition, once the new gadd had been installed in Delhi, the style of the
hagiographical discourse underwent a radical change. The defense of Hindu dharma
became a priority and there was no question of any Muslim devotees coming to the
Delhi Gurudham. Nevertheless it will be interesting to remark that Kayanath and
Buddhanaths hagiography refers with reverence and pride to the religious traditions
of Kabr, Dadu and Nanak and insists that the two gurus, Kayanath and Buddhanath,
are part of it.
Like his father Ratannath, Kayanath is said to have Muslim devotees and a
Muslim name and like him also he is supposed to have blessed a Muslim conqueror
and have been instrumental in his success against Hindu armies.
Even if the present hagiography stresses Kayanaths and his successors Hindu
identity and their affiliation to the Nath Yog tradition, a number of details remain
disturbing. For instance, the recurrent mention of the two opposites sides of the
grave, one for the feet, the other for the head. Actually, as mentioned earlier in
connection with the gaumukh shape of the tomb, Kayanaths samadhi seems to
be built in the Muslim style: the body is recumbent instead of being seated in the
padmasan posture familiar to the Nath Yog tradition.
In the present state of our knowledge, contrary to Ratannath, who is described as
H
: ajji Ratan in official Muslim hagiographies, Kayamuddn (Kayanaths Islamic
form) has left no trace in the Sunni Sufi tradition.81 We have the Hindu version of
80
This episode mirrors the famous story about Ratan and Shihab ud Din Ghori. The conqueror, having
heard about the saints powers, went to ask him his blessing for the conquest of the Bhatinda fort. Ratan
replied that he will be victorious thanks to the help of two Sayyids from his army, who will loose their life
in the battle. Baba was instrumental in bringing about the fall of the fort (Horovitz 1914, pp. 9899,
Bouillier 1997, pp. 7475).
81
The search for a Muslim version of Kayamuddns story may be a difficult one, in so far as he has not
been claimed and appropriated by the Sunni Sufi normative tradition. His memory may have been kept
only in a particular regional and oral tradition dealing with such religious communities as Qalandars,
Malangs, Shia or other groups regarded as heterodox by the dominant Sunnis. If the legend reported by
Briggs is grounded in some local tradition one may have to look for the traces of a Muslim funeral
monument that may have been later destroyed or transformed. But, of course, Kayanaths original
samadhi itself may have been regarded simultaneously as a dargah.
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591
his story, as mentioned in Premnaths book, but this version may simply show the
multiple network of influences which was then prevalent in this part of the Indian
subcontinent.
Be that as it may, it will be interesting to remark here that, even the trauma of
Partition and the shifting of the shrines have not completely erased the traces of a
former composite culture in the Har Sr Nath shrines connected with Kayanath and
Ratannath.
Conclusion
After having explored some of the traditions related to the enigmatic figure of Baba
Ratan, let us summarize our findings.
Previous works have shown the dual identity that characterizes the figure of Baba
Ratan. Horovits has supplied us with a detailed study of the various occurrences of
Baba Ratan in the different Islamic traditions. But the visible discrepancies in the
dating, the localisation or the description of his wondrous deeds do not result in a
coherent image of a charismatic Muslim saint. Besides, in this particular context, the
mention of a possible Hindu background seems to be artificially superimposed on
the predominantly Muslim identity. On the other hand, V. Bouillier has studied the
figure of Ratannath as a saint belonging to the Nath Yog sect, the founder of a
prestigious monastic institution in Nepal, a thaumaturge whose travels and deeds in
North-West India are praised in order to show his supremacy over the local Muslims. We had thus so far two life stories, two parallel traditions with overlapping
episodes about a character we did not know how to situate.
The new facts presented in this article allow us to look at the situation from a
different angle. Here we have a blurring up of religious identities, less defined
borders, and the strong influence of local roots.
The Delhi based Har Sr Nath movement claims to be a purely Hindu tradition.
Nevertheless, in spite of its professed affiliation to the Nath sampraday, it has many
peculiarities which can be attributed to a Muslim influence. It is endowed with a
liminal quality in the sense defined by Shail Mayaram when she describes
groups that draw upon more than one religious culture.82
Reflected in the terminology, the ritualistic details and the narratives, the liminality of Baba Ratans dargah mandir constitutes for the devotees a meaningful
whole which carries the nostalgic culture of a pluralistic past. From Kabul to
Peshawar and to Delhi these devotees have experienced, since Partition, the historical vicissitudes undergone by the people of North-West India. Having lived as a
prosperous commercial minority under a majority Muslim rule, they have adopted
as a religious emblem a patron saint whose ambivalent features could easily serve as
a charter for a harmonious integration into the composite culture of those times.
82
Mayaram specifies in her article (2004, pp. 1839): The following propositions clarify the concept of
liminality for purposes of political sociology: 1. That there exist groups, sections of groups, or paths
charted by individual identities that relate to one or more religious traditions. 2. That these groups or
persons manifest facets of in-betweenness in their belief and practice (including aspects of their
expressive and symbolic culture), pp. 2627.
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592
The other Har Sr Nath tradition built around the figure of Baba Ratans son or
copy, Kayanath, seems to be a local variant grounded in a territorial relationship
with the Jhelum valley and the ancient Bhera kingdom. Its narratives tell of complex
relationships with the ruling Muslim powers, of alternating conflicts and patronage.
Nevertheless this tradition openly acknowledges its affiliation to the Nath sampraday by relating itself to one of the 12 known subbranches of the sect.
The same bond of kinship with the Nath sampraday characterizes the third
phenomenon described in this paper: the Dargah of H
: ajji Ratan at Bhatinda. We find
here the more often attested practice of pluralistic celebration.83 Even if the place
is beyond doubt a full-fledged Muslim shrine, Hindus and Sikhs may join and
celebrate Ratan with their own rituals and religious culture. And here also the
history of the shrine is deeply rooted in a locally shared culture.
The study of these three traditions revolving around the same charismatic figure
is of particular importance within the context of the debate on the construction of
religious identities. Beyond a fixation with bounded categories,84 we may follow
Gilmartin and Lawrence or Gottschalk, among others, and recogniz[e] the intercommunal nature of so much of popular north Indian religiosity (Gottschalk 2001,
p. 136) or the constant interplay and overlap between Islamicate and Indic
worldviews.85 And, as it was the case with the Sikh tradition studied by Harjun
Oberoi (1994, p. 9) or the literary genre called qis: s: a studied by C. Shackle
(in Gilmartin and Lawrence 2000), the geographical location is equally significant:
the topographical features of the Panjab provides a backdrop that fosters a strategic
tension, otherwise seen as fluidity of metaphor, that characterizes the literature of
this region at the same time that it influences Indo-Muslim identity (Shackle,
op. cit. p. 55)
Baba Ratan can be seen, like Satya Pr studied by T. Stewart, as a figure who
blurs the lines between Hindu and Muslim as religious categories (Gilmartin and
Lawrence 2000, p. 22). Like Satya Pr we can say that his historical appeal to both
religious traditions is embodied in his name: here ratan, jewel, and pr designating the Muslim spiritual guide who is renowned for his wisdom and his ability to
translate spiritual achievment into a practical power to aid supplicants (ibid.). We
would add that pr is also a title commonly employed by the Naths to designate the
head of their monasteries. But contrary to Satya Pr whose two sets of narratives,
Vais: n: ava and Sufi, present, according to Stewart, different orientations to power,
the different figures evoked in our data, whether Ratannath or H
: ajji Ratan, Kayanath
and Buddhanath, have a similar link to power, a similar capacity of protecting and
being protected by the local figures of political dominance. Thus Baba Ratans
blessing to Mohammad Ghori and Buddhanaths to Ahmadsah Abdal conform to
the frequent attitude of charismatic and powerful saints towards worldly conquerors
and leaders, irrespective of their creed. In this respect, Sufis and Nath Yogs share
83
See Assayag (1995), as well as Champion (1997), Khan (2004), Bigelow (2004).
84
Gilmartin and Lawrence (2000, p. 4).
85
Gilmartin and Lawrence (op. cit. p. 4) adopting a new vocabulary, both Islamicate and Indic
suggest[ing] a repertoire of language and behavior, knowledge and power, that define broad cosmologies
of human existence. Neither denotes simply bounded groups self-defined as Muslim or Hindu.
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the same world. Despite, or in addition to, the personal rivalries between some Sufis
and Nath Yogs,86 their socio-religious position is similar.87
The fluid religious identity of Baba Ratan is rooted within the Nath Yog tradition. And the inclusive nature of this tradition, its historical developments, and the
fact that it has multiple connections and ramifications should warn us against any
simplistic classification. Some Medieval texts see even the Jogs as belonging to
a religious category distinct from Hindu and Muslim,88 making the Nath Yog
sect a successful medium for expressing the close relationship between Hinduism
and Islam.
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J Indian Philos (2009) 37:559595

Published online: 7 November 2009

Nath yogins Ratan Religious identities

V. Bouillier, D.-S. Khan

two distinct identities, as H

Ratan and the Nath Yog Tradition

Denzil Ibbetson, quoted by Oberoi (1994, p. 9).

V. Bouillier, D.-S. Khan

foundation of the Caughera monastery in order to protect and worship the

Rose et al. (1919, vol. II, p. 407).

Temple (1885, vol. I, p. 208). On Goga see also Bouillier (2004).

V. Bouillier, D.-S. Khan

Jarrett (reprint 1978, p. 401).

V. Bouillier, D.-S. Khan

As it is also the case in Ajmer.

V. Bouillier, D.-S. Khan

V. Bouillier, D.-S. Khan

Coccari (1989). See also Crooke, op. cit. pp. 129130).

V. Bouillier, D.-S. Khan

V. Bouillier, D.-S. Khan

The Heads of the Tradition or Prs

V. Bouillier, D.-S. Khan

3.4 Devotion to the pr and nirgun: bhakti

Kamlvala is the Urdu translation of the Arabic al-muzammil.

V. Bouillier, D.-S. Khan

Lets worship the Jam Sahab47 of Baba Ratan Nath/

V. Bouillier, D.-S. Khan

Whoever meditates on Siva-Sambhu/

The present pr.

Member of a nomadic community trading salt and foodgrain.

Will obtain bliss and fortune/

V. Bouillier, D.-S. Khan

Edwards (1963, p. 69).

Depiction of the Har Sr Nath Previous Implantations

V. Bouillier, D.-S. Khan

Quoted by Horovitz op. cit. p. 104.

Many Sufi saints are called Wali (litt. friend of God).

V. Bouillier, D.-S. Khan

V. Bouillier, D.-S. Khan

For the Hindus, a guru, for the Muslims a pr.

V. Bouillier, D.-S. Khan

This God who preserved the honour of the dargah

V. Bouillier, D.-S. Khan

Gilmartin and Lawrence (2000, p. 4).

Digby (1970, 1999, 2000).

See Gaborieau (2002).

V. Bouillier, D.-S. Khan

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