Evidence-Based Account of Hazrat Shah Jalal

Aujubillahi Minash-shaitanir Rajim, Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
Evidence-based Account of Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) of Sylhet, Bangladesh1

.2018 Draft
Abu Raihan Muhammed Khalid2
Abstract
The th Century Arab traveller Ibn Battuta took a very long detour from his journey to China, to
meet a Sufi Dervish in Kamrup, Bengal, the present day Sylhet in Bangladesh, named “Shaikh Jalal-
ud-din of Tabriz”. But the Dervish at the dargah in Sylhet today is locally known simply as Hazrat
Shah Jalal (RA), while a Dervish named Shah Jalal Tabrizi (RA), the location of whose tomb remain
uncertain to this date, has his Khanaka in Pandua, West Bengal. The only two inscriptions from the
th
century that mentions the Dervish refer the dervish at Sylhet as ‘Kanyee’ or ‘Kunyayi’ and
‘Mujarrad’; not Tabriji. In addition to the above there were three Sufis in Bengal with the name ‘Jalal’
loosely in that period of the history of Bengal. Could it be that the dargah at Sylhet is indeed of Shah
Jalal Tabrizi (RA) as Ibn Battuta reported, could it also be that he is a second Dervish Shah Jalal (RA)
in Bengal originating in Tabriz, or could it be that there is only one Shah Jalal Tabrizi (RA), the one of
Pandua, and he is the one who is buried at the dargah at Sylhet as many scholars hypothesised,
compelled only by Ibn Battuta’s irrefutable remark, or could he be a different dervish Shah Jalal (RA)
who is not Tabriji, and rather either from Konya, Turkestan or Yemen as some suggest? In this work,
if Allah Subhanahu Tayala wishes, we wish to examine the evidence available and discover the true
account of the Dervish at Sylhet Dargah. We want to know who this Dervish really is.
Introduction
In the summer of 46 C.E.3 the traveller Ibn Battuta4 took a … miles sea and land journey from the
Maldives, a very long detour from his journey to China, to meet a Sufi Darvish named “Shaikh JIalal-
ud-din of Tabriz“5 in the Kamrup region of Bengal, i.e. the present day Sylhet in the North-eastern
1
Project name: Ascertaining Evidence-based Account of Hazrat Shah Jalal ad-Din al-Mujarrad al-Naqshbandi
(Hazrat Shah Jalal) (R) of Sylhet, Bangladesh. Project home:
https://www.researchgate.net/project/Ascertaining-an-evidence-based-account-of-Shah-Jalal-ad-Din-al-
Mujarrad-al-Naqshbandi-Hazrat-Shah-Jalal-R-of-Sylhet-Bangladesh. Project Start Date: 28.09.2017. I started to
th
write this document on Friday the 26 October, 2017.
2
LL.M. (London); LL.M. (Chittagong); Barrister-at-Law of Lincoln’s Inn, England and Advocate of the Supreme
Court of Bangladesh. Worked for several NGOs, Government of Bangladesh and Asian Development Bank
(ADB), International Labour Organization (ILO) along with many individual clients in environment, climate
change, and general legal matters; www.raihankhalid.com. Researchgate Profile:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Abu_Raihan_Khalid, Email: raihan.khalid@yahoo.com.
3
Yule thought that it was ‘the cold weather of 5- A. D’, Yule, Cathay and the Way Thither, P. 514, as
quoted in Bose, S. N., 1922, page 144.
4 th
For a detailed account of the traveller Ibn Battuta and his 14 century C.E. travel account The Rihla, see
Chapter… of this monograph.
5
Husain, M., (Trans.), The Rehla of Ibn Battuta, 1976, page 238.
Khalid, A.R.M., (2018) Evidence-based Account of Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) of Sylhet, Bangladesh, DRAFT
Bangladesh. Ibn Battuta arrived at Chittagong6 on Sunday 18 Rabi' I, 747 A.H., 9 July, 1346 C.E7. On
Sunday 9 Rabi’ II 7 7 A.H., i.e. 30 July, 1346 C.E. he arrived at kamaru8. In his travel account, the
Rihla, Ibn Battuta states:
“(T)he day I visited the shaikh I saw on his body a mantle of goat's hair which I liked and I said to
myself, 'Would that the shaikh had given it to me!' When I saw him with a view to taking leave of
him he rose to the corner of the cave; and removing his mantle he put it on me together with a cap
of his own. As for himself he wore a garment with patches all over. The fakirs told me that the shaikh
did not ordinarily wear the said mantle, that he had put it on at the time of my arrival and that he
had said to them, 'The Moroccan will desire this mantle, which a pagan sultan will snatch from him
and give it to our brother Burhan-ud-din of Sagharj (as-Saghraji)9 to whom it belongs and for whom it
has been made.' When the fakirs told me this, I said, 'I have obtained the saint's benediction
inasmuch as he has clothed me with his own garment and wearing this mantle I shall not go to see
any sultan, be he an infidel or a Muslim.' Then I withdrew from the Shaikh.”10
It is interesting to note that Ibn Battuta stated that his object of vising the mountains of Kamaru was
to meet a saint living there named “Shaikh Jalal-ud-din of Tabriz“11. Tabriz is the traditional capital of
the Persian province of Adharbaydjan,12 and the nisba Tabrizi normally to be expected from the
name of the Tabriz city in Adharbaydjan13. If we take Kamaru to be Kamrup of Assam as it was
suggested by many14 and the region he visited to be in present day Sylhet15, then we encounter a big
problem, we do not know of any saint ever living in the Sylhet region named Shaikh Jalal-ud-din of
6
A port city in Bangladesh. There is much debate regarding the city Ibn Battuta actually arrived at for his visit
to the Bengal. The original text states that the city in ‘Sadkawan’. Some have decided that it is Satgaon, a port
city now falls in West Bengal and some decided that it is Chittagong, then known as ‘Chatgaon’ another port
city now in Bangladesh. We shall discuss this mater in more details later on. Mahdi Husain (1976) decided that
it is Chittagong.
7
Husain, M., (Trans.), The Rehla of Ibn Battuta, (India, Maldive and Ceylon), Translation and Commentary,
Oriental Institute, Baroda, 97 , publishes as publication No. 22 of the ‘Gackwad's Oriental Series’. Published
under the Authority of the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Baroda, General Editor: A. N. Jani, M.A..
Ph.D. D.Litt., KavyaTirtha. Director, Oriental Institute. First Edition: 1953, Second Edition (Reprint): 1976,
accessed a scanned copy of the book online at:
https://ia802501.us.archive.org/8/items/TheRehlaOfIbnBattuta/231448482-The-Rehla-of-Ibn-
Battuta_text.pdf, accessed last on 05. .2 7. The Foreword of the book states that “The Rehla of Ibn Battuta
was first published in the Gaekwad's Oriental Series as No. CXXII in 1953 by the then Director, the Late
Professor G. H. Bhatt”, A. N. Jani, Director, Oriental Institute, Baroda, March. 11, 1976; hereinafter referred to
as Husain, M., (Trans.), The Rehla of Ibn Battuta, 1976. Introduction, page lxix.
8
Husain, M., (Trans.), The Rehla of Ibn Battuta, 1976, ibid, page lxix.
9
Reference needed.
10
Husain, M., (Trans.), The Rehla of Ibn Battuta, 97 , Introduction, page 241.
11
12
Minorsky, V., Tabriz, Encyclopaedic Entry in Bearman, P.J. et. al. (Eds.), The Encyclopaedia of Islam, New
Edition, Volume X, T-U, Leiden: Brill, 2000. ISBN 90 04 11211 1, article revised by C.E. Bosworth, hereinafter
referred to as ‘Minorsky, V., 2 ’ page 9.
13
Bearman, P.J. et. al. (Eds.), The Encyclopaedia of Islam, New Edition, Volume X, T-U, Leiden: Brill, 2000. ISBN
9 2 , hereinafter referred to as Bearman, P.J. et. al. 2000, page 50.
14
See, interalia, Husain, M., (Trans.), The Rehla of Ibn Battuta, 1976, page 237, footnote No. 5. There is no
debate regarding the fact that Ibn Battuta visited the location which is Sylhet in present day Bangladesh.
15
H. A. R. Gibb notes that “(I)t has been fully established by Yule (Cathay, IV, 5 -5) that the district visited by
Ibn Battuta was Sylhet where the tomb of Shah Jelal (=Shaikh Jalal ad-Din) is still venerated”, Gibb, H.A.R.
(Trans.), Ibn Battuta-Travels in Asia and Africa 1325- 5 , London: George Routledge and Sons Limited, 9 9
(reprint) ( 929), (hereinafter referred to as ‘Gibb, H.A.R., 9 9’) footnote No. 9 to Chapter IX at page 366.
Page of
Tabriz. Sylhet is the site of the Dargah of the famous saint Hazrat Shaikh Jalal, who does not have
any place name attached to his popular name. Neither the local population nor the scholars ever
suggested that he was from Tabriz16. He is however referred to as al-Mujarrad or the bachelor17 in
some texts, meaning that he never married. As to his place of origin, some sources mentioned him
as ‘Kuniya’18, indicating that he originated from the city in Turkey of that name. While some other
sources mentioned him as ‘Yemeni’19, indicating that he originated from Yemen of the Arabian
Peninsula.
Why, then, Ibn Battuta mentioned the Dervish he met at Kamaru as Shaikh Jalal-ud-din Tabrizi, - is
not clear and has baffled generations of scholars20. The confusion is of such extent that even the
best of the historians are unable to shake it off and take a decisive stand on the identity of the saint
at Sylhet21. There are valid reasons for such confusion, however. Early Muhammadan period of
Bengal is not well recorded in history, to say the least. Historians lamented that only secondary
sources and incidental remarks for that period, i. e., from A. D., 1203 to 1538 are available22. A
proper history of Bengal region did not appear until the 18th Century C.E.- the Tabakat I Nasiri, the
The Riazu-s-Salatin, the Seir el Mutakkherin are all from this or later periods, with only the
Baharistan-I-Ghaybi of Mirza Nathan as an exception which was however an extensive journal of a
Mughal Officer written in…. Numatic and inscription sources from this period are also rare. Ibn
Battuta remains the only first-hand source of history of this period. As a historical record the
importance of the Rihla of Ibn Battuta is immense and difficult to disagree with. Moreever, there
was a very famous sufi saint by the name Shaikh JIalal-ud-din Tabrizi in Bengal around more or less
the same time, the first great sufi saint to arrive in Bengal. Although it is generally believed that his
place of work was the present day West Bengal, there is indication that he may have travelled to
Kamrup at some point, and the lack of clear historical proofs on both Shaik’s case make it difficult to
be certain. This is why it is not easy to disregard Ibn Battuta’s suggestion for the historians.
However, we must not forget that no other sources, except Ibn Battuta, stated that the Shaikh Jalal-
ud-din of Sylhet is from Tabriz23. All these confusions arise from this single source, the Rihla of Ibn
Battuta, despite the fact that Ibn Battuta lost his original manuscript of his travel on his way back to
his homeland24. The Rihla that we have today was written entirely from memory by an assistant
from the dictations of Ibn Battuta when Ibn Battuta was asked by the Sultan of Moroco to write his
travel account. Many historians doubted Rihla’s authenticity because it gave rise to historical
16
It is however because of the statement of Ibn Battuta that there is a dispute at all regarding the origin of the
saint at Sylhet.
17
Reference needed.
18
Reference needed.
19
Reference needed.
20
Describe the confusion, list the major scholars stand point.
21
Reference needed.
22
Blochmann, H., Contributions to the Geography and History of Bengal (Muhammadan Period).—PART I.,
Geographical.—PART II., Historical, based on Inscriptions received from General A. Cunningham, C. S. I., DR. J.
Wise, E. V. Westsmacott, ESQ., W. L. Heeley, ESQ., Walter M. Bourke, ESQ., &C., and on unpublished coins,
with notes by E. V. Westmacott, ESQ., and DR. J. Wise.—By H. Blochmann, M. A., Calcutta Madrasah, JASB,
1873, Vol. 42, Part 1 (History, Literature, &C.), edited by the Honorary Secretaries, Calcutta: Journal of the
Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1873, introductory remarks, page 209.
23
Abdul Karim.
24
Citation needed.
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impossibilities, and last but not the least, Ibn Battuta actually used two different place names for the
name of the Saint he met at Kamaru, Bengal, one of which is ‘Tabreji’, and the other is ‘ …
In this work, if Allah Subhanahu Tayala wishes, we wish to examine the evidence available and
discover the true account of the Saint at Syhet Dargah. We want to know whether he is Shaikh Jalal-
ud-din Tabrizi or Shaikh Jalal-ud-din Mujarrad, a different person.
Limitations of this study
It is necessary to state here that we do not currently have access to a library equipped with materials
capable of supporting the entire study. Our personal collection of materials is only capable of
providing materials for a part of it. We are relying mostly on materials downloaded from the
internet. Thanks to Allah Subhanahu Tayala a large body of related literature is available on the
internet in various archives and online libraries. These books, which are in most cases scanned digital
copy of the original printed work, sometimes do not contain the entire publication information in
them.
We do not read or write Urdu or Persian, we can read some Arabic but cannot use it for academic
purposes. For this reason we are unable to use at least three of the primary texts that are available
but are either in Arabic, or in Urdu or Persian. Instead we have used translation, which are often of
only the relevant part of the concern text, created by other scholars. This has limited our scope of
analysing the original text ourselves.
The special transliteration symbols used by the various translators to give effect to the original
pronunciations of words of Arabic, Persian and Urdu origin are not used here. For one the author is
not fully familiar with them at the time of writing this and secondly, because the software used in
writing this account, the Microsoft Office Word 2010 does not provide a ready tool for using such
symbols.
Methodology
This study concerns events that took place from late th to early th century C.E. Therefore this
study relies on evidences of those events recorded in texts, inscriptions, numatics, and living
memories of the relevant population. Therefore, this study shall be conducted by review of the
texts, inscription and numetics. At a later stage of the study investigations of the Dargah at Sylhet
including examination of the manuscripts written by the disciples of the Saint that are reportedly
preserved there, and interviews of the representative section of the relevant population shall be
conducted. Interviews and collaborations with other scholars in the field by way of internet
communications shall be utilized.
Sources
As we have stated above the events relevant to this study took place in late 13th and early 14th
century C.E. While many biographies of Hazrat Shah Jalal Mujarrad (R) in Bangla and encyclopaedic
entries in English have been written in recent times, only a few accounts of his life written by writers
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contemporary to him are known. These are Amir Khusrau’s ‘Afzal al-fawaʾed’ (7 9 A.H./ 9 C.E.),
Ibn Battuta’s ‘Rihla’ (c. 77 CE), Shaikh Ali Sher’s ‘Sharh-i-Nuzhat-ul-Arwah’ (Year), Holayudh Misra’s
‘Sekh Shuvodoya’ (year), an inscription in Persian issued in of 918 AH/1512 AD during the reign of
Sultan Alauddin Husain Shah (1494-1519 AD) of Bengal, Ghausi’s ‘Gulzar-i-Abrar’ ( CE),
Muhiuddim Khadim’s ‘Risalat’ ( 7 AD), an unknown author’s ‘Rauzat-us-Salatin’ ( 72 AD), and
Nasir al-Din Haidar’s ‘Suhail-i Yaman’ (A.H. 277/ CE 8 – ).
Not all the mentioned texts are available today; some remained as manuscripts and were never
published. Among the ones available a full biography of the Darvish is rare as some accounts contain
only fragments of his life. So far we are unable to find an English translation of the Amir Khusrau’s
work, and the works of Shaikh Ali Sher, Muhiuddim Khadim, Rauzat-us-Salatin. Selected small parts
of the works of Ghausi and Nasir al-Din Haidar have been translated to English and are available. The
Persian inscription of 1512 C.E. is preserved in the Dhaka museum and translation of its text is
available in secondary literatures.
Plan of the Study
The Study shall consist of the following parts:

1. Introduction
2. Limitations of this study
3. Methodology
4. Sources
5. Plan of the Study
. The Study: Evidence based Account of Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) of Sylhet
. Identity of the Saint at Sylhet- Tabreji or Mujarrad?
.2 Birth and Early Life;
. initiation and training in Spiritual Path;
. Arrival in India;
.5 The War against Gor Gobinda at Sylhet;
7. Glossary of Terms
8. Bibliography
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The Study: Evidence based Account of Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) of Sylhet
6.1 Identity of the Saint at Sylhet- Tabreji or Mujarrad?
i) The Confusion
The confusion on the identity of the Saint Shah Jalal (RA) at Sylhet has its roots in the statement
made by Ibn Battuta in his Rihla which is starkly different from every other source and was later
carried forward by fact that there were three Sufis in Bengal with the name of Jalal25. They are
Makhdum Shaykh Jalal al-Din Tabrizi26- who established himself in Pandwah and Deotala27, Shaykh
(Shah) Jalal of Sylhet28- whose dargah is in Sylhet29, and Shah Jalal Dakini whose is in Dhaka30. We
shall briefly present the conflicting statements made by various original sources and later scholars
regarding the identity of the Saint at Sylhet.
The Primary Sources
Rihla of Ibn Battuta (c. C. E.)
Ibn Battuta in his travel account Rihla states his object of going to the mountains of Kamaru was to
meet a saint living there namely “Shaikh Jalal-ud-din of Tabriz“31 or in another translation ‘Shaikh
Jalaluddin Al-Tabrizi’32. However, on a later part of the book when he was describing his meeting
with Saint Shaikh Burhanuddin Shagharji in China he recalled the saint he met at Sylhet as ‘the
Friend of God, Jalal-uddin of Shiraz’.33.
Traditionally, the confusion centred on the question whether the Saint Ibn Battuta met at Sylhet is
the Saint Jalal Uddin who is traditionally called Tabrizi or is a different Saint Jalal Uddin. Some
commentators favoured the proposition that it was the Saint Jalal Uddin from Tabriz34. Others
favoured the proposition that there were two different ‘Saint Jalal Uddin’ and the one Ibn Battuta
met at Sylhet was not the Tabrizi. It was a different Shah Jalal who was called ‘Mujarrad’ and he was
either from Konya, Turkestan or Yemen. Ibn Battuta, when memorizing him for the writing, confused
his original country with that of the other Jalal Uddin at Pandwah.
25
Karim, A., Social History of the Muslims in Bengal (Down to A. D. 1538), East Pakistan: The Asiatic Society of
Pakistan, Dacca, 959, (hereinafter ‘Karim, A., 959’), footnote No. to Section C, Chapter III, at page 9 .
26
Karim, A., 959, page 9 . He is alternatively called ‘Abu’l Qasim Makhdum Shaykh Jalal Tabrizi’, ibid, page 9 .
His tomb is pointed out at more than one place, namely at Sylhet (Assam District Gazetteer, II, pp. 81-82) and
at Pandwah ((i) A.A K.—Memoirs of Gaur and Pandwah, p 99; (n) A A , pp 377-378), footnote No. 3, Husain, M.,
(Trans.), The Rehla of Ibn Battuta, 1976, page 238.
27
Karim, A., 1959, page 95.
28
29
Karim, A., 1959, page 101.
30
Karim, A., 1959, page 120.
31
32
Bose, S. N. (Trans.), Ibn Batuta's Travels in Bengal, Translated from the French of Messrs. Defremery and
Sanguinetti, in Bhattasali, N. K., Coins and Chronology of the Early Independent Sultans of Bengal, Cambridge:
W. Heffer & Sons, 922, Appendix , (hereinafter referred to as ‘Bose, S. N., 922’) page 138.
33
Yule, H., 1916, page 131; Gibb, H.A.R., 1939, page 294; Lee, S., 829, Page 218. It is necessary to mention
here that Yule did not translate Ibn Battuta’s Rihla himself. He borrowed from ‘the unabridged travels as
rendered into French by MM. Defremery and Sanguinetti’; however, the commentary is his own, see Yule, H.
(Trans. & Ed.) Cathay and the Way Thither, Being a Collection of Medieval Notices of China, Vol. 1, London:
Hakluyt Society, 1915 /MDCCCCXV, ( 9 ), Dedication and Preface, page ix.
34
See below for the different opinions of the historians with regard to this confusion.
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However, in the light of the new insights derived during the investigations conducted for the present
study, it appears that an altogether different explanation is possible for Ibn Battuta’s use of Tabriz as
the country of origin of the Saint at Sylhet. We propose that the Saint Jalal Uddin Ibn Battuta met at
Sylhet was not the Saint traditionally called Tabrizi, but he was also a Jalal Uddin from the Tabriz
region and Ibn Battuta may rightly have called him a Tabrizi or a Shirazi. This is a new proposition
and to our knowledge no scholar so far has proposed it. We shall explain our proposition after we
present the confusion.
Among the translators and commentators of Ibn Battuta’s Rihla, Mahdi Hussain, whose work is used
by most observers of the Bengal episode of Battuta’s travel, believes that the saint Tabrizi Battuta
met ‘should not be confounded with Shaikh Jalal Mujarrad Turkistani mentioned in the Gulzar-i-
Abrar’, indicating clearly that there were two saint with the name Shah Jalal at Sylhet and the Shah
Jalal met by Ibn Battuta was the one who brought about the muslim conquest of Sylhet35. Ross E.
Dunn believed that it was the saint who ‘participated in the Muslim takeover of Sylhet36’ and that
Ibn Battuta ‘appears to have confused the saint of this name, a divine of the Suhrawardi order who
died about 225, with Shah Jalal, the Muslim conqueror of Sylhet’37. Mr. Dunn concluded that this
would have raised questions about the authenticity of Ibn Battuta’s account, but ‘Bengalis
themselves commonly confuse these two holy men’, which seems to indicate that saint at Sylhet
could as well be Shah Jalal Tabrizi38. S. N. Bose was of the opinion that ‘no serious doubt is now
entertained’ that Shah Jalal Tabrizi and Shah Jalal of Sylhet were two distinct persons and Ibn
Battuta met the later in his travels39.
Later Historians
Dr. Abdul Karim wanted to believe the distinct identity of the saint at Sylhet but the weight of
evidence against this idea prevented him from making an unequivocal decision. He regretted that no
proper distinction has been made between the two saints, i.e. Shaykh Jalal al-Din Tabrizi and Shaykh
(Shah) Jalal of Sylhet, in the local traditions, even in the account of Ibn Battutah and in his biography,
Suhayl-i-Yaman, written in the last century, while insisting that they must be distinguished
principally on the basis of the inscription40. However, in the end Dr. Karim concluded that while Ibn
Battuta’s account seems to contain some confusion, he found it ‘difficult to decide which of the
Shaykhs Ibn Battutah met’.41 Dr. Karim unfortunately fails to give reasons behind the proposition
that Ibn Battuta’s account contains some confusion. It must be added here that Dr. Karim’s
hesitation is somewhat uncalled for as elsewhere in the book he ‘concludes’ that saint Tabrizi “lived
35
Husain, M., (Trans.), The Rehla of Ibn Battuta, 1976, footnote No. 3, page 238.
36
Dunn, R. E., The Adventures of Ibn Battuta, A Muslim Traveler of the 14th Century, Updated With A 2012
Preface, University of California Press, 2012, [1989] ISBN 978-0-520-27292-7, (hereinafter referred to Dunn, R.
E., 2012), Chapter 11, China.
37
Dunn, R. E., 2012), Chapter 11, China.
38
Dunn, R. E., 2012), Chapter 11, China, footnote No. 26.
39
Bose, S. N., 1922, page 149.
40
41
Karim, A., 1959, page 101.
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towards the later part of the 12th and the earlier part of the 13th centuries A.D”42, completely ruling
out any chance of meeting him by Ibn Battuta as Battuta came to Bengal in early 14th Century A.D43.
Muhammad Abdur Rahim, like Abdul Karim, placed his account of Shah Jalal (RA) of Sylhet in two
different sections, one part in the section on ‘Shaikh Jalal al-Din Tabrizi’44 and the other part in the
following section on ‘Shah Jalal of Sylhet’45. He started his account of ‘Shah Jalal of Sylhet’ proper on
the premise that there is no authentic account of the life and career of Shah Jalal (RA) 46- relegating
the Dervish’s biography Suhail-i-Yaman to ‘some details of his life’47, except for the incidental
reference to him in Ibn Battuta’s work and two inscriptions of the time of Husain Shah ( 9 - 5 7)48
and some account left by Gulzar-i-Abrar49.
However, he undertakes the lengthiest, but perhaps not most organised, examination of the
evidence on the confusion regarding the identity of the dervishes- Shah Jalal Tabrizi (RA) and Shah
Jalal (RA) of Sylhet in the section on ‘Shaikh Jalal al-Din Tabrizi’ under the heading ‘Tabrizi and Shah
Jalal’50. Assuming, perhaps, that readers are aware of the controversy and would certainly consult
section on Tabrizi, he makes no mention of this detailed examination in the section on ‘Shah Jalal of
Sylhet’, which may unfortunately mislead the unsuspecting reader who may remain happily ignorant
of this detailed analysis51. Here he begins with the acknowledgement of the confusion and states on
the one hand that some historians confused Shah Jalal (RA) of Sylhet with Shah Jalal Tabriji (RA),52
which he thought a view ‘not unwarranted’53, and on the other hand that “there is also a vague
notion in certain quarters that Shaikh Jalal al-Din Tabrizi and Shah Jalal are two different saints”, but
dismisses the second notion by stating that “nothing substantial and documentary has yet been
produced in support of this contention”54, thereby evidently placing his weight in favour of the first
contention. He reinforces his verdict stated above by stating later that “the direct evidence of Ibn
Battuta”55 “that the Shaikh of Sylhet was Shaikh Jalal al-Din Tabrizi cannot be discredited by a vague
general notion and superficial statements. One direct evidence is worth a hundred indirect ones”56.
Although in the following paragraph he contradicts himself and calls the evidence of Ibn Battuta
“confusing and contradictory” and thus “cannot be relied unreservedly”57. He notes that the
confusion is evident in author of Shek Subhodaya’s referring to Shaikh Jalal al-Din Tabrizi as
42
43
See our account of Ibn Battuta, supra. Dr. Karim himself raises this point in the same breath with his
somewhat self-contradictory conclusion, see page 101.
44
Rahim, M. A. (1959), page 85.
45
Rahim, M. A. (1959), page 100.
46
Rahim, M. A. (1959), page 100.
47
Rahim, M. A. (1959), page 100.
48
Rahim, M. A. (1959), page 100. Of the two inscriptions, the 1505 C.E. inscription is, contrary to Rahim’s view,
directly related to the Dervish. Please see above the section on ‘The Husain Shah Inscription of Sylhet, A. H.
911/1505 C.E’.
49
Rahim, M. A. (1959), page 100.
50
Rahim, M. A. (1959), page 85.
51
Rahim, M. A., Social and Cultural History of Bengal, Volume 1 (1201-1576), [place of publication]: [publisher],
1959, pages 100 to 103.
52
Rahim, M. A. (1959), page 85.
53
Rahim, M. A. (1959), page 86.
54
Rahim, M. A. (1959), page 86.
55
Rahim, M. A. (1959), page 86.
56
Rahim, M. A. (1959), page 86.
57
Rahim, M. A. (1959), page 87.
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Makhdum Shaikh Shah Jalal Tabrizi, and has thus combined the names of two saints into one58.
Further, he notes that there is no contemporary and reliable evidence about the date and place of
the death of Shaikh Jalal al-Din Tabrizi59.
but in the end decides that there can be no confusion that Shah Jalal Tabriji (RA) and Shah Jalal
Mujarrad (RA) are two distinct persons.
Dr. K. R. Qanungo in his work edited by Sir Jadunath Sarkar, which is considered a seminal work on
the history of Bengal, avoided the controversy entirely and does not ever state the name of the saint
when he describes the muslim conquest of Sylhet60 or Ibn Battuta’s account of Bengal61.
In a more recent work Richard M. Eaton also found it convenient not to import the controversy in his
account of the saint at Sylhet. He gives precise distinct dates for the death of the two saints, 1244-45
C.E. for Tabrizi and 1346 C.E. for Mujarrad62, while noting the similarities in their ‘hagiographical
reconstruction’, both ‘having brought about a break between Bengal’s Hindu past’63.
In her account ‘Ibn Battuta Meets Shah Jalal al-Din Tabrizi in Bengal’64, Barbara D. Metcalf briefly
notes the controversy regarding the identity of the saint at Sylhet, i.e. whether he was born in Konya
or Yemen or Tabriz. But she falls short in deciding Ibn Battuta’s calling the saint a Tabrizi an error of
memory. Although she thought he perhaps conflated ‘him (as many do) with another celebrated
saint who came to Bengal, Shaykh Jalal Tabrizi, who had died in 2 ’65. Metcalf does not, however,
state which other primary sources that she referred to conflate the saint at Sylhet with saint
Tabrizi66. It is necessary to mention that Tabrizi is the only nisab or ‘place of origin indicator’ Barbara
D. Metcalf ever used with the name of the saint in the Chapter and that was in the tile of the
Chapter. In all other places in the narrative she simply uses ‘Shah Jalal’. This perhaps illustrates her
self-contradiction regarding her position in the controversy67.
The Husain Shah Inscription of Sylhet, A. H. 911/ C.E.
Of the two historical inscriptions that mention Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) of Sylhet, i.e. the A. H. 911 and
the A.H. 918, the A.H. 911 inscription provide more information about him. The Husain Shah
Inscription of Sylhet, A. H. 911/ 5 5 C.E. which was discovered in … C.E. at *location+ is a stone tablet
58
Rahim, M. A. (1959), page 86.
59
Rahim, M. A. (1959), page 86.
60
Sarkar, J. (ed.), The History of Bengal, Volume II, Muslim Period 1200-1757, Dacca: The University of Dacca,
Fourth Impression 2006, (1948). ISBN – 984-510-233-0, (hereinafter Sarkar, J. (ed.), 1948), page 79-8 .
61
Sarkar, J. (ed.), 1948, pages 100- .
62
Eaton, R. M., The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204–1760, Comparative Studies on Muslim
Societies, 17, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1993, (hereinafter referred to as Eaton,
R. M. 1993), Chapter 3, Early Sufis of the Delta, The Question of Sufis and Frontier Warfare.
63
Eaton, R. M. 1993, ibid.
64
Metcalf, B. D. (Ed), Islam in South Asia in Practice, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2009. ISBN
8 85, 978 8 88, hereinafter referred to as ‘Metcalf, B. D. (Ed) 2 9’, page 28 .
65
Metcalf, B. D. (Ed) 2009, page 283.
66
This is particularly troubling as we find no other primary source stating the saint at Sylhet a ‘Tabrizi’.
67
Elsewhere in the book in another part titled ‘Belonging’ she used ‘Shah Jalal Mujarrad’ for the name of the
saint Ibn Battuta met in the introduction to that Part. However no reference to that is made in the Chapter in
question which is dedicated to the saint at Sylhet.
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affixed to a building, now located on the enclosure wall of Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA)’s shrine at Sylhet68,
was deciphered by James Wise in 1873 in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. It contains
Arabic inscription which states the name and details of ‘the great Khan’, the keeper of the wardrobe
outside the palace of Sultan Alauddin Hussain Shah [reign], commander and wazir of the District
Mu’azzamabad, who, according to the Tablet, was ordered by Dervish ‘Shaikh Jalal Mujarrad
Kanyee’, ‘Shaikh Jalal, the hermit, of Kanya’ by James Wise’s reading69, to erect the building. Shaikh
Jalal or Shah Jalal is called a Mujarrad, meaning a bachelor as he never took a wife70, and a ‘Kanyee’.
‘Kanyee’ is interpreted by James Wise as a nisba or place of origin indicator, meaning ‘of Kanya’. He
suggests that Kanya appears to be a place in Arabia71, and more specifically Yaman72. Dr. Wise does
not explain how he arrived at that conclusion.
H. E. Stapleton, in his 1913 piece on the first Muhammadan Invader of Sylhet, took Wise’s reading of
the nisba including the suggestion that it is a place apparently in Arabia73, without, however, stating
specifically that it is Yaman. Like Wise, Stapleton does not give reason either for his suggestion that
Kanya is a place in the Arabia.
Among the later historians who wrote most on the topic, Abdul Karim does not produce a reading of
the text of the inscription, although he mentions it74. He thought the nisba ‘Kunyayi’ as he read it, of
the name of Hazrat Shah Jalal used in the inscription means that the Dervish hails ‘from Kunya in
modern Turkey’75. We understand that the place Kunya stated by A. Karim is Konya of modern day
Turky, the city which is famous for sufi Dervish Mavlala Jalaluddin Rumi. It is mentionable here that
Karim used the James Wise rendering of the inscription as well that we have referred to above but
have reached a different conclusion regarding the location of the place ‘Kanya’ in the Dervish’s nisba
without denying or ever mentioning Wise and Stapleton’s reading that it is a place in Arabia or more
specifically in Yaman76.
68
Stapleton, H.E. (Ed.) Eastern Bengal, Notes and Queries, VI, Ghazi Saheb, The Patron Saint of Boatman: and
First Musalman Invader of Sylhet, Dacca: The Dacca Review, Volume 3, No. 5, August 1913, hereinafter
referred to as ‘Stapleton, H.E., 9 ’, Page 153. Dacca is the old spelling of the name of the present day capital
of Bangladesh ‘Dhaka’. The new spelling was adopted in the 98 s. This was reported in 9 , and we shall
confirm whether the inscription is still in its reported loication.
69
Wise, J., (1873) Note on Shah Jalal, the patron saint of Silhat, in Blochmann, H., Contributions to the
Geography and History of Bengal (Muhammadan Period), PART I., Geographical, PART II., Historical, based on
Inscriptions received from General A. Cunningham, C. S. I., DR. J. Wise, E. V. Westsmacott, ESQ., W. L. Heeley,
ESQ., Walter M. Bourke, ESQ., &C., and on unpublished coins, with notes by E. V. Westmacott, ESQ., and DR. J.
Wise, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1873, Vol. 42, Part I, (History, Literature, &C.), edited by the
Honorary Secretaries, Calcutta: Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1873, hereinafter referred to as Wise,
J. (1873), Page 293-29 .
70
Reference.
71
Wise, J. (1873), page 294.
72
Wise, J., 1873, page 281 and the second footnote at that page.
73
Stapleton, H.E., 1913, page 154.
74
75
76
Karim, A., 1959, page 99, see footnote No. 6. James Wise rendering is one of the two sources Karim cited as
his source. It is not clear why Abdul Karim suppressed James Wise ( 87 ) and H. E. Stapleton’s ( 9 )
suggestions.
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Abdur Rahim does not provide a rendering of the text of the inscription but referring Dani’s work
suggests that the Dervish Shah Jalal originally belonged to Konya (iconium) of Turkey77.
Eaton does not use or mention the A. H. 91 (1505 C.E.) Husain Shah Inscription of Sylhet in his
prominent 99 work ‘(T)he Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204– 7 ’78, or in his more
recent 2009 work ‘Forest Clearing and the Growth of Islam in Bengal’79 where he further examines
the hagiographical narratives of Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA).
It is interesting to note that the nisba used with the name of the Dervish produced a few different
readings and identification of the place. We have seen James Wise read it as Kanya, Abdul karim
read it as ‘Kunyayi’, and Abdur Rahim corroborating that, F. A. Qadri read it ‘Kinyae’80. Some
suggested that this place is in Arabia, and some in Turkestan.
The A. H. 918 (1512 C.E.) inscription of Sylhet
Shamsul Ulema Abu Nasr Wahid, Superintendent of the Dacca Madrasa, a native of Sylhet, with help
from his nephew discovered the second historical inscription, the A. H. 918 one that mentions Hazrat
Shah Jalal (RA), sometime immediately previous to 1913 C.E. when he was working on the A. H. 911
inscription of Sylhet at the request of H. E. Stapleton81. Stapleton provides the Arabic text of the
inscription in his article and in it the Dervish is mentions as ‘Shaikhul Mashaikh Makhdum Shaikh
Jalal Mujarrad bin Muhammad’82, or “Shaikhu-l-Mushaikh Shaikh Jalal, the hermit, son of
Muhammad” as read by Stapleton 83.
It is interesting to note that there is no nisab attached to the name of the Dervish in this inscription
although several other qualifications were used to glorify and identify him.
Gulzar –i-Abrar of Ghausi (between 1611 and 1613 C.E.)
Muhammad Ghausi ibn Hasan ibn Musa Shattari, i.e. Ghausi's Gulzar-i-Abrar, or ‘Gulzar-i-Abrar fi Sair
al-Akhyar’84 is a rare hagiological compilation written in Persian dealing with lives of the Sufi
Shaykhs of India and especially of Gujrat, who flourished in the seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth
77
Rahim, M. A., 959, Page 101.
78
Eaton, R. M. 1993, ibid.
79
Eaton, R. M., Forest Clearing and the Growth of Islam in Bengal, Chapter 28 in Metcalf, B. D. (Ed), Islam in
South Asia in Practice, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2009. ISBN 1400831385, 9781400831388,
hereinafter referred to as Eaton, R. M., 2 9.
80
Qadri, F. A., Shaykh Jalal-al-din Mujarrad (d. 1340 A. D.) and the Annexation of Sylhet to the Muslim Kingdom
of Bengal, in…, footnote No. to page 5. F. A. Qadri did not use or mention the A. H. 911 inscription of
Sylhet in his work, only mentions the nisab in connection with the quotation of Ghausi’s Gulzar-i-Abrar.
81
Stapleton, H.E., 1913, page 154.
82
Reading from the original Arabic inscription provided by Stapleton by this author. For Arabic text of the
inscription see Stapleton, H.E., 1913, page 154.
83
The reading provided by H. E. Stapleton, see Stapleton, H.E., 1913, page 154.
84
R. M. Eaton, gives the complete title of the work in his ‘The Sufis of Bijapur, -1700: Social Roles of Sufis
in Medieval India, Princeton University Press, 2015, ISBN 1400868157, 9781400868155, see footnote
reference No. 86 at page 75, accessed through Google Books - books.google.com.bd, at
https://goo.gl/sDoQUZ, on 24.10.2017.
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centuries A. H. (13th - th Century C. E.)85. Although a hagiography, it is valuable because of its

exactitude in dates and abundant information about a great many persons otherwise unknown86.
The book was written between 1611 and 1613 C.E.87 The book gives an account of Hazrat Shah Jalal
(RA) of Sylhet, which is based on an earlier account of Shaykh Ali Sher (d. ca. 1562), a descendant of
Shaikh Nurul Huda Abul Karamat, a companion of Shah Jalal (RA): Sharh-i-Nuzhat al-Arwah8889. The
original work is in Persian language which we cannot read. An English translation of the work came
out only in 2017 but unfortunately we have not been able to procure a copy of that yet. The Asiatic
Society of Bengal catalogue of Persian inscription that we have referred to above contains a cursory
summery of the work. The summery records a complete list of the persons whose biographies are
dealt with in the book, i.e. Gulzar-i-Abrar90, and in that list the name of Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) of
Sylhet appears as “Jalalu’d-Din Mujarrad Turkistani”91.
Abdul Karim reports that the account in Gulzar-i-Abrar states that the Dervish was a ‘was a Turkistan
born Bengali’92. Eaton used a different spelling and said it is Turkestan but does not mention
anything about the Dervish being a Bengali93. He placed the credit of Ghausi’s account entirely on
Shaikh Ali Sher’s mid fifteenth century work on which Ghausi is said to relied, and identified the
Dervish as a Turk94, and in another work a Central Asian Sufi95. S. M. Ikram, Abdul Karim
notes, pointed out that Shaikh Jalal (RA) was not a native of Yemen apparently ruling out any
confusion that may exist with regards to that fact96. If Karim’s quotation of Ikram’s translation of
Ghausi’s account of Shah Jalal (RA) is accurate as he suggested by placing it within double quotation
mark, and which is also corroborated by A. Rahim97, it contradicts with the suggestion made by
Eaton in that in place of suggestion made by Karim that the Dervish was a ‘Turkistan born Bengali’,
Eaton states clearly that he was a ‘Turk’98. Eaton however does not provide a quotation from
Ghausi’s work and if Karim’s quotation is correct, does not provide any reason for his departure from
85
Ivanow, W., Concise Descriptive Catalogue of the Persian Manuscripts in the Collection of the Asiatic Society
of Bengal, Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1924, hereinafter referred to as ‘Ivanow, W., 92 ’, Manuscript
No. 259, D 262, page 96, https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.62108, accessed on 23.10.2017.
86
Ivanow, W., 1924, Ibid. Please note that the editor of the Catalogue’s comment at the end of the entry: “Its
orthography often shows that the scribe did not always properly understand what he wrote”, page 8, ibid.
87
Ivanow, W., 1924, ibid.
88
Karim, A., 1959, quoting Ivanow: Descriptive Catalogue of the Persian Manuscripts in the Asiatic Society of
Bengal, Calcutta. Asiatic Society work No. 240, pp. 96-108; footnote No. 7 to page 99.
89
The approximate date of death of Shaikh Ali Sher is supplied by R. M. Eaton, see Eaton, R. M., 99 , ibid,
Chapter 3. His connection to Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) is provided by A. Rahim by referring to Ivanow, ibid; see
Rahim, A., 1959, page 100.
90
Ivanow, W., 1924, Page 97.
91
Biographical entry No. 143, the second Chaman of Gulzar-i-Abrar, see Ivanow, W., 1924, Page 100.
92
Ghausi’s Gulzar-i-Abrar, quoted and translated by S. M. Ikram, in his 957 article ‘An unnoticed account of
Shaikh Jalal of Sylhet’, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Pakistan, Vol. II, 1957, p. 63-68; reproduced in Karim, A.,
1959, page 99- , see footnote Nos. and 2 at page . Karim does not provide the title of S.M. Ikram’s
original work from which quoted. We have supplemented Karim’s details with that of R.M. Eaton, see his
footnote No. 8 to Chapter 3: Early Sufis of the Delta’, Eaton, R. M., 99 , ibid. See also Rahim, A., 1959, page
.
93
Eaton, R. M., 99 , ibid, Chapter 3.
94
Eaton, R. M., 99 , ibid, Chapter 8: Islam and the Agrarian Order in the East.
95
Eaton, R. M., 2 9, ibid.
96
S. M. Ikram’s above mentioned 1957 article is referred to, Karim, A., 1959, page 100 and footnote No. 2 at
the same page.
97
See abobe.
98
See the references we have provided above.
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Ikram’s translation. Unfortunately, we were unable to acquire a copy of S. M. Ikram’s work until now
and cannot compare these contradictory suggestions with the original translation.
Suhail-i-Yaman by Nasir al-Din Haydar ( C. E.)
Suhayl-i-Yaman is the earliest dedicated biography of Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) in existence today. The
other old biographies, such as the accounts written by the Dervish’s disciples on which the Gulzar-i-
Abrar or Suhail-i-Yaman are based upon, are presumed lost, while the accounts in Gulzar-i-Abar,
Fawaed-i-Fawad are of encyclopaedic nature and the account in Ibn Battuta only covers certain
aspects of the Dervish’s life. Although it was written in 1859, long after the days of the Dervish, it is
an abstract of two earlier histories - the Risalah of Muhi-uddin Khadim and Rauzatus-Salatin by an
unknown author99, which are now presumed lost100. It was written by Nasir al-Din Haydar, a Munsif
of the colonial British Government in Sylhet101. ‘Dr. Wise of Dhaka’ published an abridgement of this
book in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal in 1873.
We do not have an English translation of this work in hand, it is not available. While we have the
access to the online Persian version102, we cannot read that language. However, excerpts of the
account from the book have been translated by various researchers. We shall be using these
translations for our study.
Dr. Wise reports that Nasir al-Din Haydar in Suhail-i-Yaman calls the Dervish ‘Shah Jalal Mujarrid
Yamani’103. Mujarrid or, as we have seen in other sources, Mujarrad means a bachelor and Yamani is
the nisab or place of origin indicator meaning that the named person is from Yemen. Dr. Wise
presents the controversy regarding the identity of the Dervish Jalal at Sylhet by recalling Ibn
Battuta’s account which call the Dervish of ‘Tabriz’ on the one hand and the Suhail-i-Yaman and the
1505 C. E. inscription which, according to him, calling the Dervish a Yamani104.
Abdul Karim mentions the work in two places105 but does not give details or use it in his analysis.
Further controversy
The difference between the oral tradition and the account of the Suhail-i Yaman is that the villagers
of Pabna identified Shah Jalal's teacher as the Prophet Muhammad, and not as a Sufi master. The
villagers also omitted any reference to Shah Jalal having defeated a Hindu raja in combat106.
ii) Ibn Battuta only Source
iii) Why Ibn Battuta’s account is not entirely reliable
99
Wise, J., 1873, page 278.
100
101
Wise, J., 1873, page 278.
102
At Rekhta website.
103
Wise, J., 1873, page 278.
104
Wise, J., 1873, page 281 and the second footnote at that page.
105
Karim, A., 1959, page 12 and 99.
106
John P. Thorp, "Masters of Earth: Conceptions of 'Power' among Muslims of Rural Bangaldesh" (Ph.D.
Theiss., University of Chicago, 1978), 63- .
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“There had been no significant geographic writing about South Asia since al-Biruni's study written in
the course of Ghaznavid conquests some 300 years earlier (see the Introduction to this volume). The
Rihla provides detailed reminiscences not only of personal experiences but of the social, economic,
cultural, political, and everyday life of the populations as well”107.
Ibn Battuta’s Manuscript was robbed
Rihla was written from memory
Ibn Battuta gave two place names for Hazrat Shah Jalal
In Arabic nomenclature in nomenclature, the nisba or "noun of relation" is one of the components of
the mediaeval Arabic proper name. Its function is to express the relation of the individual to a group,
a person, a place, a concept or a thing108.
The account of the goat hair mantle that saint Shah Jalal (RA) gave to Ibn Battuta during his visit to
the saint’s cave at Sylhet returns briefly at a later stage of the book when Ibn Battuta reaches China.
We remember that Ibn Battuta describes it in full for the reader at the section ‘(A) Striking story
containing an account of his miracles’,109 in the Chapter on Malabar and Bengal from the saint giving
him the mantle to its seizure by the Sultan of Khans and his later discovery of the mantle on saint
Burhan-ud-din of Sagharj (as-Sagharji)110, or Burhanuddin Assagharji111 in China. In the China part of
his travel in a later Chapter of the book Ibn Battuta retells the story in full detail. He tells us that the
day he entered the fourth city of the greater city Khansa, Hang-Chow112, where the Chief Governor
Qurtey resides113, his companions were separated from him, and he was found by the Wazir, who
conducted him to the palace Chief Governor. “It was on this occasion that he took from me the
mantle which the saint Jalal ad-Din of Shiraz had given me, as I have already related”114. Ibn Battuta
here uses ‘Shiraz’ as the ‘nisba’ or the place name indicator for the name of the saint at Sylhet who
gave him the goat hair mantle. Therefore Ibn Battuta used two different nisba or place of origin
indicator for the name of the saint he met at Sylhet, the first nisba is ‘Tabriji’115 and the second nisba
is “Shiraz’116. Among the early translators to English, Yule takes notice of this discrepancy117. S. N.
Bose was of the opinion that doing so shows that Ibn Battuta “was not sure if he was either”118.
107
Metcalf, B. D. (Ed), Islam in South Asia in Practice, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2009. ISBN
8 85, 978 8 88, hereinafter referred to as ‘Metcalf, B. D. (Ed) 2 9’, page 28 .
108
C.E. Bosworth et. al. (Eds.) Encyclopaedia of Islam Vol 8 Ned-Sam, LEIDEN: E. J. BRILL, 1995, Page 54.
109
Husain, M., (Trans.), 1976, page 240.
110
Husain, M., (Trans.), 1976, page 240.
111
Bose, S. N., 922, ibid, page 142.
112
Gibb, H.A.R., 9 9, page 29 . “Khansa consists of six cities, each with its own wall, and an outer wall
surrounding the whole”, ibid. ‘Hang-chow-fu’ in Mahdi Hussain translation, Husain, M., (Trans.), page 240. Yule
provided two variations of the pronunciation of the name: Quinsai, Cansay, Yule, H., 1916, footnote No. 1,
Page 89.
113
“The Emir Kurty” in Samuel Lee translation, see Lee, S., 829, Page 2 8. ‘Sultan of Hang-chow-fu’ in Mahdi
Hussain translation, Husain, M., (Trans.), 1976, page 240.
114
Gibb, H.A.R., 1939, page 294; Lee, S., 829, Page 218; Yule, H., 1916, page 131. Hussain Mahdi translation
does not contain this second description of the event as he only translates the part related to ‘India, Maldives
and Cylon”. At the end of the sentence H. A. R. Gibb referred to page 269 where Ibn Battuta describes the
event when the saint Shah Jalal at Sylhet gives him the Goat Hair Mantle.
115
Husain, M., (Trans.), 1976, page 238; Lee, S., 829, Page 195; Gibb, H.A.R., 1939, page 268.
116
Yule, H., 1916, page 131; Gibb, H.A.R., 1939, page 294; Lee, S., 829, Page 218.
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New insights
It needs to be remembered that Ibn Battuta took a very long detour from his route to China where
he was travelling as an emissary of the Sultan to meet the Saint at Sylhet. It took him forty days of
sea and another month inland journey to reach the place of that Saint. The return from the Saint to
his original route must have taken thirty or forty more days. During these hundred or so days the
name of the Saint he so enthusiastically went to visit would be on the top of his mind. Despite all
that we have said about Ibn Battuta’s losing his manuscript and writing the memoir from memory
we may remember that Ibn Battuta recorded the prices of many every day goods in Bengal, from
chicken to rice etc. If he could remember all these small details about Bengal, he should also be able
to recall the name of the Saint that he thought of for at least a hundred days.
Secondly, Ibn Battuta visited Tabriz after his meeting with the Saint. This visit would give him an
opportunity to refresh his memories about that city and its famous people and whether the Saint he
met at Sylhet was or was not from Tabriz should not confuse him anymore.
Thirdly, a historical fact that we did not consider before in addressing this confusion is that Tabriz
although a Persian city in situated at the north of the country in a region which was historically
known as the Turkestan. Tabriz today has Azarbizan on its North-east, Armenia to its North and
Turkey on its immediate west.
117
Yule, H. (Trans. & Ed.) Cathay and the Way Thither- Being a Collection of Medieval Notices of China, Vol. 4-
Ibn Battuta- Benedict Goes-Index, New Delhi: Munshiram Manohrlal Publishers Private Limited, 1916. ISBN:
81-215-0838-X (for the Set); 81-215-0842-8 (Vol. IV), hereinafter referred to as Yule, H., 1916, foot note No. 1,
page 87.
118
Bose, S. N., 1922, page 149.
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Image No. 1: Selection taken from the Map of the Islamic Republic of Iran dated January 2004
showing modern day Tabriz region with the surrounding countries119. We have highlighted Tabriz
with a red arrow for convenience.
iv) The 1512 C.E. inscription
v) the collective memory of the local population
What is collective memory?
Importance of collective memory for history
collective memory of the Saint at Sylhet among the people of surrounding area
vi) Conclusion
“It was by his labours that the people of these mountains became converted to Islam”120. It becomes
apparent the saint had to live among the locals of Sylhet for a long period of time extending several
years in order to be able to convert the local population to Islam as opposed to a brief visit. H. A. R.
Gibb is of the opinion that the saint that Ibn Battuta met at Sylhet is the same Shah Jala whose tomb
at Sylhet is ‘still venerated’121.
6.2 Birth and Early Life
It appears that it is easier to ascertain the date of death of Hazrat Shah Jalal (R) than to ascertain the
date of his birth. Traveller Ibn Battuta stated that the news of the Darvish’s death reached him while
he was in China, about two years after he visited the Darvish122. Since Ibn Battuta’s meeting with the
Darvish is at a certain date the date of his death is certain123. Richard Eaton stated the Darvish died
on 1346 CE124. However, the Darvish’s birth is mired in controversy. Not only that a certain date is
available, it also remains controversial among the scholars to date where the Darvish was actually
born. Two birth places are designated to Hazrat Shaikh Jalal al-Din Mujarrad, one is Hydramat in
Yemen and the other is Kunya in Turkistan or present day Turkey.
119
Map of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Department of Peacekeeping Operations, Cartographic Section, United
Nation, Map No. 3891 Rev. 1, January 2004, downloaded from: , on 28.08.2018.
120
Gibb, H.A.R. (Trans.), Ibn Battuta-Travels in Asia and Africa 1325- 5 , 9 9 ( 929), Pages 268-2 9.
121
Gibb, H.A.R., 9 9, footnote No. 9 to Chapter IX at page 366.
122
Citation needed.
123
Ibn Battuta ‘arrived at kamru’ ‘on Sunday 9 Rabi’ II 7 7 A.H., i.e. July, C.E.’, Husain, Mahdi, (Trans.),
The Rehla of Ibn Battuta (1976), ibid, page lxix.
124
Eaton, R. M. The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204- 7 , UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS,
Berkeley · Los Angeles · London, © 1993, The Regents of the University of California, accessed an online
version at http://hudsoncress.net/html/library/history-travel/Eaton,%20Richard%20-
%20The%20Rise%20of%20Islam%20and%20the%20Bengal%20Frontier.pdf, on 20.11.2017. Page number not
available in the online version.
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Investigate:
1. “One of his companions told me, that on the day before his death he invited them all to come to
him; he then said to them: To-morrow I depart from you, Deo volente, and my vicegerent with
you is'God besides whom there is no other God”125. --- Where and when Ibn Battuta met Shah
Jalal (RA)'s companion after the saint's death?
2. ‘Borhin Oddin of Sagirj/Sagharj’ of Khan Balik, China126. What is the time of this saint? His time
corresponds to the time of Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) of Sylhet, would be an evidence.
3. A critical examination of Baihaqi's narration of the Indian expedition during the reign of masud
of Ghazna, afghanistan. indo-lranica, Calcutta 1972.
4. A review of the Tarikh-e-Baihaqi by Adal Husan Ali vol-44 Jan. 1970
5. Burhanuddin Sagharji, the spiritual guide of Syed Ali Hamadani. 40.Classical Persian Poets in
Amir Khusrau's E'ijaz-e- Khusarvi
125
Lee, S., The Travels Of Ibn Battuta; Translated from the Abridged Arabic Manuscripts preserved in The
Public Library of Cambridge with Notes, illustrations of the History, Geography, Botany, Antiquities &c.
occurring throughout the work. London: Printed For the Oriental Translation Committee, and sold by J.
Murray, Albemarle Street; Purbury, Allen, & Co. Leadenhall Street, and Howel & Stewart, Holborn, 1829,
(hereinafter Lee, S., 829) Page 195.
126
Lee, S., 829, Page 196.
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Evidence-Based Account of Hazrat Shah Jalal

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Evidence-Based Account of Hazrat Shah Jalal

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Aujubillahi Minash-shaitanir Rajim, Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem

Evidence-based Account of Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) of Sylhet, Bangladesh1

Limitations of this study

Plan of the Study

The Study shall consist of the following parts:

The Primary Sources

Rihla of Ibn Battuta (c. C. E.)

The Husain Shah Inscription of Sylhet, A. H. 911/ C.E.

The A. H. 918 (1512 C.E.) inscription of Sylhet

Gulzar –i-Abrar of Ghausi (between 1611 and 1613 C.E.)

centuries A. H. (13th - th Century C. E.)85. Although a hagiography, it is valuable because of its

Suhail-i-Yaman by Nasir al-Din Haydar ( C. E.)

ii) Ibn Battuta only Source

iii) Why Ibn Battuta’s account is not entirely reliable

Ibn Battuta’s Manuscript was robbed

Rihla was written from memory

iv) The 1512 C.E. inscription

v) the collective memory of the local population

What is collective memory?

Importance of collective memory for history

6.2 Birth and Early Life

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