ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>SAKH&#298 SARWAR</TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background-color: #EAF1F7; background-image: url('images/gtbh.jpg'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; background-position: center; color: #0066CC;} .C1{text-align: justify;color: #0066CC;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .BIB{text-align: center;color: #000099;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .CONT{text-align: right;color: #FF0000;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} </style><META http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></HEAD> <BODY class="BODY" oncontextmenu="return false" ondragstart="return false" onselectstart="return false"> <FONT ALIGN="JUSTIFY" FACE="Tahoma"> <p class="C1">&#65279SA<u>KH</u>&#298 SARWAR, lit. the Bountiful Master, also known by various other appellations such as Sult&#257n (king), Lakh-d&#257t&#257 (bestower of millions), L&#257l&#257&#7749v&#257l&#257 (master of rubies), Nig&#257h&#299&#257 P&#299r (the saint of Nig&#257h&#257) and Roh&#299&#257&#7749v&#257l&#257 (lord of the forests), was the founder of an obscurantist cult whose followers are known as Sult&#257n&#299&#257s or Sarwar&#299&#257s. His real name was Sayyid Ahmad. He was the son of Sayyid Zain ul-&#256bid&#299n, an immigrant from Ba<u>gh</u>d&#257d who had settled at Sh&#257hko&#7789, in present-day Jha&#7749g district of Pakistan, Punjab, and &#256yesh&#257, daughter of the village headman married to the Sayyid. Accounts of Ahmad's life are based on legend and not many factual details are known about him. It is said that the maltreatment he received from his own relations after the death of his father took him to Ba<u>gh</u>d&#257d where he was blessed with the gift of prophecy by three illustrious saints ---<u>Gh</u>aus ul-&#256zam, Shai<u>kh</u> Shih&#257b ud-D&#299n Suhr&#257ward&#299 and <u>Kh</u>w&#257j&#257. Maud&#363d Chishti. On his return to India, he first settled at Dhau&#7749kal, in Gujr&#257&#7749w&#257l&#257 district, and then at Sh&#257hko&#7789. At Mult&#257n he had married the daughter of a noble. In due course he became famous for his miraculous powers and soon had a considerable following. This aroused the jealousy of his family who planned to kill him. Sa<u>kh</u>&#299 Sarwar got to know of their plans and escaped to Nig&#257h&#257 at the foot of the Sulaim&#257n mountain, in &#7692er&#257 <u>Gh</u>&#257z&#299 <u>Kh</u>&#257n district, but his relatives pursued him there and ultimately murdered him in 1174. He was buried there and his followers built a shrine on the spot which subsequently became a place of pilgrimage for the devotees. Within the enclosures of the shrine are the tombs of Sa<u>kh</u>&#299 Sarwar, his wife, known as B&#299b&#299 B&#257&#299, and of the <i>jinn</i> (demon) whom he had held in his power and who brought many miracles for him. Near the shrine at Nig&#257h&#257 there are two other holy spots called Chom and Moz&#257, both associated with 'Al&#299 Murtaz&#257, the son-in-law of Sa<u>kh</u>&#299 Sarwar. At Chom, an impression of the former's hand was said to have been imprinted when he prevented a mountain from collapsing over the cave in which he had taken shelter.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Nothing is known about the religious belief or teachings of Sult&#257n Sa<u>kh</u>&#299 Sarwar. It was stories of his miracles and, especially, the protection he gave the animals that attracted many people to him. He did not lay down any creed or doctrine for his disciples, nor any code of conduct or ritual. His followers commonly known as Sult&#257n&#299&#257s thus had the freedom to retain their Hindu or Muslim affiliations. Hindus as well as Muslims visited the P&#299r's shrine at Nig&#257h&#257 usually in locality-wise organized groups called <i>sa&#7749g</i> led by <i>bhar&#257&#299s</i>, the drum-beating Muslim bards who acted as professional guides and priests at local shrines called <i>p&#299r<u>kh</u>&#257n&#257s</i>. Members of a <i>sa&#7749g</i> addressed each other as <i>p&#299rbh&#257&#299</i> or <i>p&#299rbahin</i> (brother or sister-in-faith). Their halting points on well-marked routes were known as <i>chauk&#299s</i> (posts) where the pilgrims slept on the ground. Devotees who were unable to undertake the pilgrimage to Nig&#257h&#257 went at least to one of the <i>chauk&#299s</i>. If they could not do even that, they went to any other village on the route for a night. Those who could not go anywhere at all slept on the ground at home for at least one night in a year. This ritual of sleeping on the ground instead of on a cot was called <i>chauk&#299-bharn&#257</i>. The greatest number of visitors from central Punjab visited the shrine during the week-long Bais&#257kh&#299 fair in the month of April. A month-long fair was also held at Dhau&#7749kal in Gujr&#257&#7749w&#257l&#257 district during June-July. Other fairs were Jha&#7751&#7693&#257 Mel&#257 (fair of the flag) at Pesh&#257war in November, and Qadamo&#7749 k&#257 Mel&#257 (fair of the feet) at Lahore in February.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Another common ritual was offering of a <i>ro&#7789</i>, i.e. a huge loaf prepared from 18 kilograms of wheat flour sweetened with <i>gu&#7771</i> or jaggery weighing half that quantity, once a year on a Friday. It was prepared by a Bhar&#257&#299, who took one fourth of the <i>ro&#7789</i> as offering, the remaining being consumed by the donor family and distributed among fellow Sult&#257n&#299&#257s.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;During the time of the Gur&#363s, many Sult&#257n&#299&#257s especially those from Ja&#7789&#7789 castes in southern Punjab embraced Sikhism, though several of them continued to adhere to their former beliefs and practices. The travels of Gur&#363 Har R&#257i, Gur&#363 Te<u>gh</u> Bah&#257dur and Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh through this region brought a large number of Sult&#257n&#299&#257s into the Sikh fold. But as time passed the Sult&#257n&#299&#257 influence asserted itself in certain sections among the Sikhs. The Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257 reform movement gaining strength in the closing decades of the nineteenth century attempted to counter this influence. In 1896, Gi&#257n&#299 D&#299tt Si&#7749gh, the erudite Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257 crusader, published a pamphlet <i>Sult&#257n Pu&#257&#7771&#257</i> attacking the worship by Sikhs of the grave of Sa<u>kh</u>&#299 Sarwar or of any other saint or s&#363fi. This was a common plank of the Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257 and Ak&#257l&#299 reformers. But what ended the sa<u>kh</u>&#299 Sarwar legend among the Sikhs was the forcible exchange of populations between India and Pakistan at the time of the partition of 1947. Most of the Bhar&#257&#299s, who were exclusively Muslim, migrated to Pakistan, Secondly, Nig&#257h&#257 and other places connected with Sa<u>kh</u>&#299 Sarwar being all in Pakistan were suddenly rendered out of reach for his Indian devotees. Even now <i>p&#299r<u>kh</u>&#257n&#257s</i> marked by flags with peacock tail on top may be seen in some villages in the M&#257lv&#257 area, but the number of the followers of Sa<u>kh</u>&#299 Sarwar has dwindled drastically.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Oberoi, Harjot Singh, "The Worship of Pir Sakhi Sarwar : Illness, Healing and Popular Culture in the Punjab," in <i>Studies in History</i>.<BR> <li class="C1"><i>Census Reports</i><BR> </ol><p class="CONT">D. L. Dew&#257n<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>