Sultan Bahu

Sultan Bahu (ਸੁਲਤਾਨ ਬਾਹੂ ; also spelled Bahoo; 17 January 1630 – 1 March 1691), was a 17th-century Punjabi Sufi mystic, poet, scholar and historian. He was active in the Punjab region (present-day Pakistan) during the reigns of Mughal emperors Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb.
Little is known about Bahu's life, other than what is written in a hagiography called Manaqib-i Sultani, which was written by one of Bahu's descendants seven generations after Bahu's own time.
According to these records, he was born in Shorkot, Jhang, in the current Punjab Province of Pakistan, in the Awan tribe. He was son of Bayazid Muhammad, an officer in the Mughal Army, and Rasti. He belonged to Qadiri Sufi order, and started the mystic tradition known as Sarwari Qadiri.
More than forty books on Sufism are attributed to him (mostly written in Persian), largely dealing with specialised aspects of Islam and Islamic mysticism. However, it was his Punjabi poetry which had popular appeal and earned him lasting fame. His verses are sung in many genres of Sufi music, including qawwali and kafi, and tradition has established a unique style of singing his couplets.
Education
Sultan Bahu's first teacher was his mother, Mai Rasti. She pushed him to seek spiritual guidance from Shah Habib Gilani.
Around 1668, Sultan Bahu moved to Delhi for further training under the guidance of Syed Abdul Rehman Jilani Dehlvi, a notable Sufi saint of the Qadiriyya order, and thereafter returned to Punjab where he spent the rest of his life.
Literary works
The exact number of books written by Sultan Bahu is not known, but it is assumed to be at least one hundred. Forty of them are on Sufism and Islamic mysticism. Most of his writings are in the Persian language except Abyat-e-Bahu which is in Punjabi verse.
Only the following books written by Sultan Bahu can be found today:
Abyat e Bahu
Risala e Ruhi
Sultan ul Waham
Nur ul Huda
Aql e Baidar
Mahq ul Faqr
Aurang e Shahi
Jami ul Israr
Taufiq e Hidiyat
Kalid Tauheed
Ain ul Faqr
Israr e Qadri
Kaleed e Jannat
Muhqam ul Faqr
Majalis un Nabi
Muftah ul Arifeen
Hujjat ul Israr
Kashf ul Israar
Mahabat ul Israr
Ganj ul Israr
Fazl ul Liqa
Dewaan e Bahu
Spiritual lineage
Mian Taj Muhammad was successor of Sultan Bahu as his spiritual master, however Mian Taj Muhammad was born long after the death of Sultan bahu. Bahu was follower of Abdul Qadir Jilani's Qadiriyya tradition, Sultan Bahu initiated an offshoot of his own which he named Sarwari Qadiri.
According to tradition, the lineage reaches Mian Taj Muhammad as follows:
Muhammad
Ali ibn Abi Talib
Hasan al Basri
Habib al Ajami
Dawud Tai
Maruf Karkhi
Sirri Saqti
Junaid Baghdadi
Abu Bakr Shibli
Abdul Aziz bin Hars bin Asad Yemeni Tamimi
Abu Al Fazal Abdul Wahid Yemeni Tamimi
Mohammad Yousaf Abu al-Farah Tartusi
Abu-al-Hassan Ali Bin Mohammad Qureshi Hankari
Abu Saeed Mubarak Makhzoomi
Abdul Qadir Jilani
Abdul Razzaq Jilani
Abdul Jabbar Jilani
Syed Mohammad Sadiq Yahya
Najm-ud-Din Burhan Puri
Abdul Fattah
Abdul Sattar
Abdul Baqqa
Abdul Jaleel
Syed Abdul Rehman Jilani Dehlvi
Sultan Bahu
Mian Taj Muhammad
The Sultan Bahu's tradition is still practised to this day by Mian Taj's successors.
Shrine
The shrine of Sultan Bahu is located in Garh Maharaja, Punjab. It was originally built on Bahu's grave site until the Chenab River changed its course causing the need to relocate twice and as witnessed by those present at the time of relocation, claims that his body was still intact at the time. It is a popular Sufi shrine, and the annual Urs festival commemorating his death is celebrated there with great fervour on the first Thursday of Jumada al-Thani month. People come from far-off places to join the celebrations.
Sultan Bahu also used to hold an annual Urs to commemorate the martyrs of Karbala from the 1st to the 10th day of the month of Muharram. This tradition continues to this day and every year, thousands of pilgrims visit the shrine during the first ten days of Muharram.
See also
List of famous Sufis
Sufism in Pakistan
References
Indian Sufi saints
Sufi poets
1630 births
1691 deaths
Persian-language poets
Punjabi-language poets
Punjabi people
Punjabi Sufi saints
17th-century Indian poets
17th-century Islamic religious leaders
17th-century Muslim scholars of Islam
Sufi shrines in Pakistan
Mystic poets