Note 82 — C

Chishti; Chishtiya.—The best available account of this class of Muhammadan faqîrs is that of Mr. Maclagan82:—“The Chishtis trace their origin to one Abu Ishâq, ninth in succession from Ali, the son-in-law of Muhammad, who migrating from Asia Minor, settled down at a village called Chisht in Khurasân and became thus the religious preceptor of a large body of Musalmâns. One of his successors, Khwâja Muîn-ud-dîn Chishti, a native of Sanjar, in Persia, having migrated to India in the time of Ghiâs-ud-dîn Balban, settled in Ajmer, and was the means of establishing the order in India. His Khalîfa or immediate successor was Khwâja Qutb-ud-dîn Bakhtiâr Kâki, who is buried near the Qutb Minâr at Delhi, and Qutb-ud-dîn’s successor was the celebrated Bâba Farîd Shakkarganj, whose shrine is at Pâkpatan in the Montgomery District. The surname of this saint is said to be derived from the fact that owing to the purity of his body all he ate became sugar; if we may trust another story, he nourished himself by holding to his stomach wooden cakes and fruits when he felt hungry. This miraculous but inexpensive provender is still preserved. An immense fair is held at this shrine every year, and the object of every pilgrim who attends is to get through the narrow gate of the shrine on the afternoon or night of the fifth Muharram. The saint is adored by Hindus as well as Musalmâns, and to be a disciple of Bâba Farîd does not necessarily imply being a Chishti, and, again, the descendants of the saint and his relations, carnal and spiritual, have formed themselves into a separate caste of men who are found on the Satlaj in the Montgomery District, and who, though bearing the name of Chishti, are now in all respects an ordinary lay caste, quite apart from the religious order of the same name.