Khwaja Fazal Mohammed (1805 1868) ufi name : Gawahi Shahwas a Sufi Pīr and philosopher of the

Ni'matullāhī The Ni'matullāhī or Ne'matollāhī () (also spelled as "Nimatollahi", "Nematollahi" or "Ni'matallahi) is a Sufi order (or ''tariqa'') originating in Iran. The order is named after its 14th century CE Sunni founder and qotb, Shah Nimatullah (N ...

order. He served as the Samanta of Madhi (presently known as Kamkhyangar) from 1834 to 1868. Khwaja Fazal Mohammed played an instrumental role in bringing the teachings of

order to Odisha. His tomb at Solada, Dhenkanal (present day :

Angul Angul (also known as Anugul) is a city, municipality and the headquarters of Angul district in the state of Odisha, India. Angul has an average elevation of above sea level and total area of 6232 km2. Geography Angul is located at . I ...

) is the only tomb of a Ni'mātullāhī wali in

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

and is revered by both

Hindus 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 ...

and

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

Ancestry

Khwaja Fazal Mohammed was one of the direct descendants of Shah Khalilullah, the qutub of

order. Fazal's ancestry can be traced back to

Shah Nimatullah Wali Shāh Nimatullāh or Shāh Ni'matullāh Wali ( ''Shāh Ne'matullāh-i Valī''), also spelled as ''Ne'matollah'' and ''Ni'matallah'' was the spiritual leader or Qutb of the Ni'matullah Order in Iran from the 14th and 15th centuries. He is rever ...

, the 14th century

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

Sufi master of

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

and

Musa al Kadhim Musa al-Kazim (; 745–799) was a descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the seventh imam in Twelver Shia Islam. Musa is often known by the title al-Kazim (), apparently a reference to his patience and gentle disposition. He was born ...

, the 7th Imam and a renowned scholar who was a contemporary of the Abbasid Caliph

Al-Mansur Abū Jaʿfar ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Manṣūr (; ‎; 714 – 6 October 775) usually known simply as by his laqab al-Manṣūr () was the second Abbasid caliph, reigning from 754 to 775 succeeding his brother al-Saffah (). He is known ...

Life

In the initial years, Fazal Mohammed popularized the teachings of the ''qutub'' of the Ni'matullāhī order in Odisha. He later left spiritualism and joined the service of the Raja of

Dhenkanal State Dhenkanal State was one of the princely states of India during the period of the British Raj. The area of the former state is now referred to as Dhenkanal district, Odisha, with Dhenkanal, India, Dhenkanal town as its district headquarters.Dh ...

. Fazal was appointed as the Samanta of Madhi gada by Raja Bhagiratha Mahendra. He assisted the Raja in his tiger hunting campaigns, the Raja in his life had killed not fewer than 352 tigers. Fazal Mohammed married Dilshaad ara Begum, the daughter of Sheikh Nasrullah Mohammed who was from the same spiritual order as Fazal, they had a son named

Atharuddin Mohammed Atharuddin Mohammed also known as Athar Mohammed was an Odia military officer, feudatory chief ''(Samanta)'' of Madhi (present day : Kamakhyanagar) and the ''Dewan'' of the princely state of Dhenkanal during ''Raja Dinabandhu Mahendra Bahadur'' ...

who grew up to be the Diwan of Dhenkanal.

Tomb

In 1868, Fazal Mohammed while on his way back from the Durbar, suffered from a heart attack and fell from his horse, he died there. As per the Sunni

traditions, he was buried in the same spot and a tomb was built upon his grave which was commissioned by the Raja himself. Today, his tomb at Solada, Angul is revered by both the

and the

and is taken care by the local tribals and hindu villagers. The Choti Masjid built by his son,

Cuttack Cuttack (, or officially Kataka in Odia language, Odia ), is the former capital, deputy capital and the 2nd largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. It is also the headquarters of the Cuttack district. The name of the city is an anglicised f ...

near Qadam e Rasool is dedicated to Fazal Mohammed and is named after him.

References

{{Authority control 1805 births 1868 deaths Amin family Sufi saints