The Qalandariyya (), Qalandaris or Kalandaris are wandering

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

dervish Dervish, Darvesh, or Darwīsh (from ) in Islam can refer broadly to members of a Sufi fraternity (''tariqah''), or more narrowly to a religious mendicant, who chose or accepted material poverty. The latter usage is found particularly in Persi ...

es. The writings of ''Qalandaris'' are not merely celebrations of libertinism, but affirmations of antinomial beliefs. The first references are found in the 11th-century prose text ''Qalandarname'' (The Tale of the Qalandaris) attributed to Ansari Harawi. The term ''Qalandariyya'' appears to be first applied by Sanai Ghaznavi in

seminal Seminal, ultimately from Latin ''semen'', "seed", may refer to: *Relating to seeds *Relating to semen *A work, event or person having much social influence Social influence comprises the ways in which individuals adjust their behavior to meet th ...

poetic works where diverse practices are described. Particular to the Qalandari genre of poetry are items that refer to their practices of gambling, games, consuming

intoxicants A psychoactive drug, psychopharmaceutical, mind-altering drug, consciousness-altering drug, psychoactive substance, or psychotropic substance is a chemical substance that alters psychological functioning by modulating central nervous system acti ...

, syncreticism, libertinism, antinomialism, violating societal norms and Nazar ila'l-murd, things commonly referred to as

Kufr ''Kāfir'' (; , , or ; ; or ) is an Arabic-language term used by Muslims to refer to a non-Muslim, more specifically referring to someone who disbelieves in the Islamic God, denies his authority, and rejects the message of Islam a ...

or Khurafat by orthodox Muslims. The order was often viewed with scrutiny by Islamic authorities.

Origin

The Qalandariyya are an unorthodox

Tariqa A ''tariqa'' () is a religious order of Sufism, or specifically a concept for the mystical teaching and spiritual practices of such an order with the aim of seeking , which translates as "ultimate truth". A tariqa has a (guide) who plays the ...

of Sufi dervishes that originated in medieval

al-Andalus Al-Andalus () was the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula. The name refers to the different Muslim states that controlled these territories at various times between 711 and 1492. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied most o ...

as an answer to the state sponsored Zahirism of the

Almohad Caliphate The Almohad Caliphate (; or or from ) or Almohad Empire was a North African Berbers, Berber Muslim empire founded in the 12th century. At its height, it controlled much of the Iberian Peninsula (Al-Andalus) and North Africa (the Maghreb). Th ...

Spread

From al-Andalus the Qalandariyya quickly spread into

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

, the

Levant The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

, the Iranosphere,

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

.Ivanov, Sergej Arkadevich (2006) ''Holy fools in Byzantium and beyond'' Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK
page 368
de Bruijn, J. T. P. "The Qalandariyya in Persian Mystical Poetry from Sand'i Onwards". In Lewisohn, Leonard (ed.) (1992) ''The Legacy of Mediæval Persian Sufism'' Khaniqahi Nimatullahi, London, pp. 61–75, In the early 12th century the movement gained popularity in

Greater Khorasan KhorasanDabeersiaghi, Commentary on Safarnâma-e Nâsir Khusraw, 6th Ed. Tehran, Zavvâr: 1375 (Solar Hijri Calendar) 235–236 (; , ) is a historical eastern region in the Iranian Plateau in West Asia, West and Central Asia that encompasses wes ...

and neighbouring regions, including

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

. The Qalandariyya may have arisen from the earlier Malamatiyya and exhibited some

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

and

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

influences in

. The Malamatiyya condemned the use of drugs and dressed only in blankets or in hip-length hairshirts. Qalandariyya spread to

Hazrat Pandua Pandua, also historically known as Hazrat Pandua and later Firuzabad, is a ruined city in the Malda district of the Indian state of West Bengal. It served as the capital city of the independent Sultanate of Bengal for nearly a century, until t ...

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

and places in Pakistan through the efforts of multiple Qalandari figures. Qalandari songs in Pakistan typically incorporate

Qawwali Qawwali is a form of Sufi Islamic devotional singing originating in the Indian subcontinent. Originally performed at Sufi shrines throughout the Indian subcontinent, it is famous throughout Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Afghanistan and has ...

styles as well as different local

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

styles, such as Bhangra and intense

Naqareh The ''naqareh'', ''naqqāra'', ''nagara'' or ''nagada'' is a Middle Eastern drum with a rounded back and a hide head, usually played in pairs. It is thus a membranophone of the kettle drum variety. The term ''naqqāra'' (), also ''naqqarat'', ...

Dhol Dhol () can refer to any one of a number of similar types of double-headed drum widely used, with regional variations, throughout the Indian subcontinent. Its range of distribution in Indian subcontinent primarily includes northern areas such ...

drumming.Malik, Iftikhar Haider (2006). ''Culture and customs of Pakistan''. Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut
page 171

Bibliography

* De Bruijn, The Qalandariyya in Persian Mystical Poetry from Sana'i, in ''The Heritage of Sufism'', 2003. * Ashk Dahlén, The Holy Fool in Medieval Islam: The Qalandariyya of Fakhr al-din Araqi, ''Orientalia Suecana'', vol.52, 2004.

References

{{Authority control * Sufi orders

Origin

Spread

See also

Bibliography

References