A History of Sufism in India (Vol.1)

 A History of Sufism in India (Vol.1),
Hardback - 467 pages,
by Sayyad Athar Abbas Rizvi.


Early Sufism and its History in India to 1600 CE.  
(Volume 1). Dedicated to the memories of Sufis and Saints.  


The terms, sufi, Wali-Allah (protege of God), dervish and faqir, are applied to Muslim spiritualists who attempt to achieve a development of their intuitive faculties through ascetic exercises, contemplation, renunciation and self-denial.


This work seeks to study sufism as a psycho-historical phenomenon. The author finds it efficacious to combat social and political upheavals which are brought about by prolonged political revolutions, associated with autocratic oppression and economic deprivation. This volume outlines the history of sufism before it was firmly established in India and then goes on to discuss the principal trends in sufi developments there from the 13th to the beginning of the 16th centuries. Chronologically it is concerned with sufi history from the establishment of the Delhi sultanate to the beginning of the Mughal Empire.


Naturally it lays great emphasis on the Chistiyya, Suhrawardiyya, Firdausiyya and Kubrawiyya orders, but the contributions made by qalandars and legendary and semi legendary saints have also not been neglected.