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Maulana Daud and His Candayan

Maulana Daud and His Candayan

MAULANA DAUD AND HIS CANDAYAN

Maulana Daud’s Candayan is the first Sufi text in which was composed in A.H.781 (1379A.D.). Candayan has been referred to by Shaikh Quddus Gangohi (1456-1537 A.D.)1 and the famous historian Al Badauni2 and in the Gazetteers of Awadh3 and Raibareli district of . However real study of Candayan started when Paramesvari Lal

1 Quddus Gangohi: Qutub al-’Alam ‘Abd al Quddus b. Isma’il b.Safi al-Din Gangohi was the disciple, brother- in- Law and Khalifah of Shaikh ‘Arif b. Ahmad Abd al Haqq (Rudaulwi) “but got besides an investiture from almost all the Khanwadas or Sufic branches. He spent thirty years in , migrated thence in A.H. 896-1491, early in the reign of Sikandar Lodi (A.H. 894-923/ A.D. 1489-1517) at the suggestion of his disciple ‘Umar Khan Kasi one of the ‘Amirs, to”Shahabad“ near . where he remained another thirty five years. In 932/1525_26, when defeated and killed Sul- tan Ibrahim b. Sikandar Lodi and sacked Shahabad, ‘Abd al-Quddus moved to . where after fourteen years he died in 944/1537 or 945/ 1537 at the age of eighty four. For details see C.A. Storey, Persian Literature, Luzac and company, LTD. London,1972, vol- ume 1 part 2 pp 967-68. See also Simon Digby, Abd al-Quddus Gangohi (1456- 1537A.D.): The personality and attitudes of a medival Indian Sufi, in Medieval (a miscellany), Department of History, Muslim University, Aligarh, 1975, vol.∞∞3. Shaikh Abd-l Quddus Gangoi used to compose poems in Hindi by the name of Alakhdas. A collection of his poems has been published by Shailesh Zaidi and Athar Abbas Rizvi. Alakhbani, Bharat Prakashan Mandir, Aligarh, 1971. The transliteration system in these above notes is different from the one I have followed in the main article. 2 Mulla Abdul Qadir Badauni was the son of Shaikh Muluk Shah and was born in A.H. 947 1540 A.D. at Toda or Toda Bhim near Jaipur. Soon after his birth, he was taken to Basawar in Bharatpur. At the age of twelve his father took him to for educa- tion. Again he returned to Basawar and went to for studies. In A.H. 969 (1562 A.D.) his father died and then he moved to Badayun. In A.H. 981 (1574 A.D.) he joined the court of , the great Mughal king. In the court he was entrusted with the work of translating some Sanskrit texts which he did not enjoy. He was in opposition with famous scholars of his age Fazl and Faizi who were his class fellows for some time. His orthodox view about Shariat and in general was not consonant with Akbar’s policy. He died in A.H 1024 (1615-16 A.D.) His history, Muntakhabut Tawarikh, also called Tarikh-i- Badauni is a history of Muslim rulers in India. His anti Akbar attitude is very clear in this history. He criticises saints like Shaikh Ghaus Gwaliyari (Shattari) too who was liberal in his approach. 3 The town prospered during the reign of Atamash of Delhi about 600 Hijri. At that time one Makhdum Badruddin, a companion of the king, resided there. Thence- forward the town did well till the time of Firoz Shah Tughluq, who founded a school for the instruction of the people in Moslem lore Its usefulness can be gathered from the perusal of a book “Chandrani” in Bhakha, edited by Mulla Daud of Dalmau in 619 A.H. (1255)* Gazetteer of the Province of Oudh, , 1877, p. 355. (*This date is not correct. Mulla (Maulana) Daud was an original poet who used the oral epic Loriki or Canaini for the composition of Candayan in 1379. Maulana Daud was not the editor. Author) 130 S.M. PANDEY

(P.L.) Gupta published his book Maulana Daud Dalmai k®t Candayan in 19644. Later Mata Prasad (M.P.) Gupta in 1967 published another text, called Candayan, (Daud Viracit Pratham Sufi Premakhyan)5. P.L. Gupta had discovered a new manuscript from the Ryland Museum Manchester, in which three hundred and twenty folios are in tact. The manuscript is illustrated with miniature paintings and three hundred and twenty three verses are preserved. In his edition M. P. Gupta utilised the Bikaner man- uscript, not available to P.L. Gupta, in which ‘four hundred and thirty nine verses are incorporated. M.P. Gupta’s text is more complete than that of P. L. Gupta since the initial parts of the work, in which praise to God, praise to Muhammad and his four friends and the date of composi- tion of the text and the contemporary king and his Vazir,are all men- tioned. These eighteen important verses of the beginning in their com- plete form are found in the Bikaner manuscript which is in the Devanagari script and was written in Vikram Samvat 1673 (1616A.D.). Mata Prasad Gupta’s edition is much better but many textual errors as well as the mistakes of the interpretations in modern Hindi commentary are found in this edition also. Although Candayan needs reediting, M.P. Gupta’s edition is the most useful edition available to us until now. Recently a text in has been published by Muhammad Ansarullah6 but this is not a critical edition at all. Ansarullah has merely produced a text on the basis of P. L Gupta’s and M. P. Gupta’s editions. However, his introduction is useful in that he has given information on the contri- butions of Urdu scholars to the studies of Candayan, whereas Hindi scholars have generally ignored their contributions. Jamil Jalvi has pulished another text in but I have not been able to obtain a copy as yet. In recent years our knowledge of Candayan has much improved but more work about its content and form, such as the Sufi elements in the text and the language, still needs to be done.

1. Candayan in Medieval Period

Candayan has been referred to in the Makhtubat-i-Quddusi by Hazrat Quddus Gangohi (1456-1537 A.D) who was a famous saint of the Sabari

4 Maulana Daud Dalmai krt Candayan, ed. P.L. Gupta, Hindi granth Ratnakar, Bom- bay, 1964. 5 Maulana Daud, Candayan, ed. M.P. Gupta, Pramanik Prakashan, Agra, 1967. 6 Maulana Daud, Candayan, ed. Muhammad Ansarullah, Idarah Tahqiqat, Urdu, Patna, 1996. MAULANA DAUD AND HIS CANDAYAN 131

Chishti sect of Sufis who was born probably in A.H. 860 (1456 A.D.) in Rudauli in the of Uttar Pradesh near Lakhnau( Luc- know)7. He died in A.H. 944 (1537 A.D.) in Gangoh in the disrtrict of U.P. It is mentioned in his letters that Shaikh lectured on Candayan with the same intensity as when he lec- tured on the works of Ibnul Arabi, Fakhruddin Iraqi and Shaikh Sa’di8. Shaikh Quddus, in a letter to Shaikh Jalal Thaneshwari, on the Wahdat ul Wuzud, quoted a doha from the Candayan to prove that although lovers sought to meet their beloved they were always thwarted. The doha is immediately followed from a verse from the Quran in which Moses urged God to reveal Himself but his request was rejected on the grounds that it was impossible for Moses to see his creator9. In another letter to Shaikhh Muhammad about the spiritual ambitions of holy men, Abdul Quddus argued using a doha from Candayan for emphasis that only the spiritually adventurous were the really men10. In his youth Abdul Quddus embarked upon a Persian translation of the Candayan of Maulana Daud. A considerable portion of the transla- tion had already been made but the manuscript was destroyed in the bat- tle between Bahlul Lod i (1450-1488A.D.) and Husain Shah Sharqi (1458-1505 A.D.)11. However, a few lines of Candayan are preserved in Quddus Gangohi’s Lataif: birikh ãca pharu laga akasa hath ca®hai kai nahâasa kahu jogit ko báh pasarai rati divasa rakhahi rakhavara nainahu dekhai jai so mara These lines appear as 2,3,4, in the verse fifty seven in Mata Prasad Gupta edition. The Persian translation of the text that Quddus includes in Lataif is:

7 For details see footnote 1. 8 ATHAR ABBAS RIZVI, A history of in India, Munshi Ram and Manohar Lal, New Delhi, 1978, p. 365. 9 Ibid 365. 10 binu kariya mori ∂olai nava ∞∞nigun kariya, gara kant naava Candayan M.P. Gupta op. cit. verse 53/3 The meaning of the verse is different from the meaning quoted by Atahar Abbas Rizvi. The actual meaning of the text is “Without. the boatman my body (heart) is shaking. The boatman is without the rope (nigun) . The cruel lover can not come.” 11 Simon DIGBY, op. cit. p. 55 (footnote 1). 132 S.M. PANDEY

shajar-i buland ast thamar dar suma qatt’-i ummid ast bar an dast-i- ma zahra ki ra dast- farazi kunad shakh-i falak dast-i ki bazi kunad roz u shab gashta nigahban -i base kushta shavad chun ki ba binad kase12 “A lofty tree whose fruit is up in the sky there is no hope of reaching it with the hand. O Yogi, tell me who has the power to stretch up his arm to pass on to touch the branches of the tree? Day and night there are many guards and he who with his eyes looks up will be killed.” In these verses Canda’s body has been compared to a tree; her breasts are fruit, her arms are branches of that tree; her long hair is the serpents who can kill any non- lovers. The Persian translation is rather explana- tory in which Canda’s body was described as a heavenly tree. Shaikh Muhaddis Dehlvi, who compiled a biography of the saints, Akhbarul Akhyar during the reign of Akbar (1556-1605 A.D.) mentions Candayan in the following words: “Shaikh Zainuddin was a nephew, a successor and the main attendant of Nasiruddin Dehlvi (d. 1356 A. D.); he was the teacher of of Maulana Daud, the author of Candayan. In the beginning of the Candayan he has composed verses in his praise. His tomb is situated in the compound at the feet of his master Shaikh Nasiruddin.”13 The author of the book Shaikh Muhaddis Dehlavi completed his Akhbarul Akhyar in A.H. 993 (A.D. 1585) but revised it until A.H. 999 (1590 A.D.)14. Abdur Qadir Badauni (1540-1616), a celebrated and orthodox hiso- rian who lived during Akbar’s reign also mentions Candayan and its author in some detail: “In the year 772 H. (1370 A.D.) Khan -i- Jahan Vazir died, and his son, Jauna Shah, obtained that title and the book Candayan which is a in the Hindi language relating to the loves of Lurak and Canda, a lover and his mistress, a very graphic work put into verse in his hon- our by Maulana Daud. There is no need for me to praise it because of its

12 Ibid., p. 55. 13 S.M. PANDEY, “Maulana Daud’s Teacher Shaikh Zainuddin,” in Studies in South Asian Devotional Literature, ed. Alan W. Entwisle and Françoise Mallison, Manohar, New Delhi, Ecole Française d’Exreme-Orient, Paris, 1994, pp. 285-297. 14 K. A. NIZAMI, Shaikh Abdul Haq Muhaddis Dehlvi, (Urdu) Nadvatul Musannifin, Dehli, 1964. MAULANA DAUD AND HIS CANDAYAN 133 great fame in that country and Makhdum Shaikh Taqiuddin Waiz Rab- bani used to read some occasional poems of his from the pulpit and the people used to be strangely influenced on hearing them and when certain learned men of that time asked the Shaikh saying,” What is the reason for this Hindi Masnavi selecting? He answered, the whole of it is divine truth and pleasing in subject, worthy of the ecstatic contemplation of the devout lovers and conformable to the interpretation of the Ayats of the Quran and the sweet singers of Hindustan. Moreover, human hearts are taken captive by its public recitation.”15 Badauni’s statement that Candayan contains divine truth and this work is worthy of ecstatic contemplation is noteworthy. Candayan was popular during Akbar’s time when Bada’uni lived. Maulana Taqiuddin used Candayan for his discourses and stated that the Candayan was in conformity with the divine truth. In some verses there were the interpre- tations of the Ayats of the Quran. This Maulana Taqiuddin, a traditional scholar of Dehli in the 15th century was an elder brother of Shaikh Abdul Haq Rudaulvi (d.1434 A.D.). From the Anwarul Ayun of Hazrat Quddus Gangohi it appears that Maulana Taqiuddin was from Rudauli16 in Barabanki district in U.P. Situated on the latitude 26°- 45’ N, longitude 81°- 46’ E. Rudauli can be reached by bus or train from Lucknow. The town was a great centre of Sabiri Chishtiya Sufis. Shaikh Ahmad Abdul Haq Rudaulvi, the younger brother of Taqiuddin became a great Sabiri Sufi mystic who died during the period of Ibrahim Shah Sharqi in A.H. 837 (1434A.D.) in Rudauli. He is still a great attraction for devotees who come to visit his tomb from distant places. Maulana Taqiuddin, referred to by Badauni, was the elder brother of the mystic Shaikh Ahmad Abdul Haq Rudaulvi who is explicitly mentioned in the Anwarul Ayun and Shaikh Muhaddis Dehlvi’s Akhbarul Akhyar. It appears that Shaikh Ahmad was very deeply interested in prayers and divine pursuits at the age of seven years. His mother became very worried at this and sent him to Dehli to obtain traditional Islamic learning under the guidance of his elder brother

15 Abdul Qadir Bada’uni, Muntakhabut Tawarikh, translated into English by George S.A. Ranking, revised by B.P. Ambistya, Academica Asiatica, Patna, 1973, p. 333 (first original edition, Calcutta, 1890). 16 Hazrat Quddus Gangohi, Anwarul Ayun (Asrarul maknun), trans Urdu, Muhammad Abdul Sadiqi, Matbua Mujtba, Lucknow N.D., p. 14-15. Recently an Urdu translatiion has been pulished from Rudauli by Abdul Mustafa Sidiqi, Malfuzat-i-Haq, 1997. Details on Taqiuddin and his younger brother Shaikh Ahmad’s short stay in Dehli with him for traditional Islamic studies has been described on p. 25-27. 134 S.M. PANDEY

Shaikh Taqiuddin. According to Akhbarul Akhyar, Shaikh Ahmad was 12 years17 old that time but he was not interested in traditional Islamic studies. Taqiuddin and his other friends, who were expert scholars in Quran and traditions, failed to teach him external Islamic sciences. He remained occupied in the search for God. What is important to us here is that Shaikh Taqiuddin, who is referred to as reciting Candayan (1379) in a of Dehli, seems to have been a scholar of some eminenence and he had a large following here who understood the language of Can- dayan. They heard the verses of Candayan and used to enter into a state of ecstasy. During the period of Khwaja (d. 1325 A.D.) a host of scholars from Awadh had reached Dehli. One of his principal disciples Shaikh Nasiruddin Awadhi (d. 1356 A.D.) who was later called Chiragh-i-Dehli (lamp of Dehli), was himself from Awadh. When he left Awadh and finally settled in Dehli his two nephews Shaikh Zainuddin and Kamaluddin also went from Awadh to live there. They became important disciples of Chiragh-i-Dehli. Maulana Daud, the author of Candayan was a disciple of Shaikh Zainuddin. Many other Sufis from Awadh, such as Shamsuddin Yahya, Maulana Alauddin Nili, Maulana Jalaluddin Shiraji, Khwaja Latifuddin Khandasa, Maulana Qiwamuddin Yakdana, Maulana Mubarak Gopamai, and Maulana Jalaluddin, were all from Awadh18. These Sufis from Awadh must have formed an important group in Dehli. About fifty years later, their influence may not have declined. Taqiuddin Rabbani might have recited Candayan among those Awadhi-speaking public who understood its language and mystical con- tent well. Naturally their response to the text was tremendous. About a century later, an orthodox historian like Badauni could not ignore its importance; this can also be taken as an indication that the Candayan must have been popular during Akbar’s time in the same manner. I have elsewhere examined in detail as to why and how Shaikh Nasiruddin Awadhi Chiragh-i-Dehli (d. 1356 A.D.) and his nephew Shaikh Zainuddin might have supported Awadhi language for the propagation of their master’s message among the masses (S. M. Pandey

17 Shaikh Abdul Haq Dehlvi, Akhbaul Akhyar, Urdu translation Muslim Ahmad Nizami, Kutubkhana Naziria, Dehli, N.D., p. 327. 18 Hamid Qalandar, Khairul Majalis, ed. K.A. Nizami, Aligarh, 1959, introduction, p. 41. See also S.M. PANDEY, “Some problems in Studying Candayan”, in Early Hindi Devotional Literature in Current Research, ed. W.M. Callewaert, Leuven,1980 p. 127- 140. MAULANA DAUD AND HIS CANDAYAN 135 note,18). Perhaps this institutional support was responsible for the emer- gence of the first Sufi text in Awadhi19 which is called Hindui by Abdur Qadir Badauni. Maulana Shaikh Taqiuddin (d.1431?), the elder brother of Shaikh Ahmad Rudaulvi (d. 1434) and Hazrat Quddus Gangohi (d.1537), were all from Rudauli which was in the Awadhi area. Through Taqiuddin and Quddus, Candayan gained its maximum popularity. Ghulam Sarwar in his Persian text Khazintul Asafia (1863-64) men- tions that Maulana Daud came from Balkh and settled in Rudauli in Awadh, during the period of Alauddin Khilji (d.1316)20 who had given him a land grant in Awadh. Some Urdu scholars21 are of the opinion that Taqiuddin and Shaikh Ahmad were Daud’s grandsons. But they do not indicate their source of information. Ansarullah gives a family tree of Maulana Daud on the basis of the information, collected from a lawyer from Rudauli22: Shaikh Sultan Ahmad; Shaikh Saib; Shaikh Daud; Shaikh Umar; Shaikh Taqiuddin-Shaikh Ahmad Abdul Haq. It seems one Shaikh Daud, who was a great Shaikh and a scholar, came to Awadh in Rudauli from Balkh and was granted lands by Alaud- din Khilji but Alauddin died in 1316 A.D. Our poet Maulana Daud com- posed his Candayan in A. H. 781 (1379 A.D.) during the period of Firoz Shah Tughluq (d. 1388 A.D.), thus the difference of time between Alauddin and firoz Shah is more than 63 years which is rather signifi- cant. Coming from Balkh and settling down in Awadh in Rudauli is pos- sible. However, that one who is not a native speaker of Awadhi could produce a text of such a magnitude as Candayan seems to be improba- ble. Unless it can be proved that Daud’s forefathers migrated from Awadh to Balkh and maintained their Awadhi language there, and later when Daud returned to Awadh he was already well versed in Awadhi, this seems unlikely. However, Shaikh Taqiuddin’s recital of Candayan in Dehli in a mosque is very significant. We kwow for sure that the great mystic of Rudauli, Shaikh Muhammad Abdul Haq (d. 1434 A.D.) was his younger brother. Shaikh Quddus (1456-1537 A.D.) Gangohi translated Candayan into Persian which was lost; this has already been

19 S.M. PANDEY, ibid, p. 134. 20 Muhammad Ansarullah, op. cit., p. 12. 21 Ibid., Candayan, p. 13. I. QUDDUSI, Shaikh Quddus aur unki Talimat, Academy of Educational Research, Karachi, 1961, p. 126 and Shahabuddin Abdul RAHMAN, “Hazrat Shaikh Ahmad Abdul Haq Shabib-I- Naushah Rudaulvi”, Bazm-i-Sufiya, Darrul Musan- nifin, , 1989, p. 599-630. 22 Ansarulla, op. cit., p 11. 136 S.M. PANDEY mentioned. Gangohi lectured on Candayan with the same respect as Ibnul Arabi’s works. He was born in Rudauli pobably in A.H.860 (1456 A.D.) and moved to Gangoh in the in western U.P. before the invasion of Baber and died there in (1537 A.D.), is a well known fact. It is clear all these saints and mystics attatched great importance to Candayan. Obviously we should not be surprised if Shaikh Taqiuddin and Shaikh Ahmad were Maulana Daud’s descendants. Local traditions in Rudauli and some Urdu scholars such as I. Quddusi and Ansarullah mention in their works that Maulana Taqiuddin and his youger brother Abdul Haq were grandsons of Daud and the sons of Umar but the evi- dence is not very strong for this.

2. Maulana Daud and his times

Maulana Daud lived in the period of Firoz Shah Tughluq (1351-88 A.D). It will be fruitful to reconstruct the whole political, cultural, lier- ary and religious millieu in which Candayan was produced. In this conext it will be useful to see who are the historical figures referred to by Maulana Daud in his Candayan. Soon after the praise of God, the creator, prophet Muhammad, his four friends, the poet describes Firoz Shah Tughluq (1351-88), who was fond of history, hunting, irrigation and architecture. He founded many new towns, and constructed several and canals for irrigation23. Maulana Daud emphasises his valour, justice and generosity. He describes him like this: “Firoz Shah is a great king of ∆hili24. The royal umbrella and the throne is suitable for him. He is a great scholar and a great fighter in the battle field who defeats his enemies. He is very gen- erous in giving gifts and donations. Words fail to praise him. He loves

23 For a detailed study on Firoz Shah Tughluq see Mahdi HUSAIN, Tughluq Dynasty, S. Chand and Company, New Delhi, N.D., p. 385-587. The first edition was published under the title Rise and fall of , from Luzac and Company, Lon- don, 1938. 24 Dhili or ∆hilli is found for modern Dilli in many inscriptions. Dehli in Persian sources is very common. However, in the inscription of iron pillar, of Anangpal II, the word Dihali is attested. In Candbaradai’s Prithviraj Raso, the word is mentioned as Dilli in the larger recension MohanLal VisnuLal Pan∂ya, Shyam Sundardas, P®thviraj Raso, Nagari Pracarini Sabha, , 1994, p.∞∞1285. In the Shorter recension, ∆hilli and Dhi¬¬iy, both are found. B.P. SHARMA, Prithvi raj Raso, Visvabharati Prakashan, Chandi- garh, 1963, p. 193. See also Mata Prasad Gupta’s critical edition, P®thviraj Rasau, Sahitya Sadan, Cirgáv , V.S 2020, p. 211-13. MAULANA DAUD AND HIS CANDAYAN 137 justice and treats every one small or great, equally. He is prosperous and rich. The whole world gives him blessing, “O great valiant king, glory be on you! You should rule from the fort of ∆hili for ages, giving us protection.”25 After a short description of the contemporary king the poet praises Firozshah Tughluq’s minister Khan- i- Jahan26 in five verses. He praises his wisdom, intellect, knowledge and his other qualities. He is like Var- ruci27, well versed in scriptures and like Kar∞a28 in generosity. He dis- pels the poverty of the poor. His prestige has reached far and wide. In verse twelve of the Candayan, Maulana Daud describes Khan-i- Jahan’s superb physical beauty, and alludes to his qualities as a warrior. When he rides his horse, then the serpent god Vasuki trembles in the nether- land (patalaloka), and so does Indra in heaven. With his swords he cuts the heads of his enemies. His sword is unparalleled which kills his oppo- nents. Maulana Daud further says,“Khan-i Jahan is like a pillar for this earth. Had this pillar not been here, the earth would have shaken. For him Turks and are equal. He speaks the truth. He is just to all. God has given him greatness29.

25 M. P. GUPTA, Candayan, op. cit, p. 7; also S. M. PANDEY, The king and the Guru in Early Hindi Sufi poetry, in Orienalia Loviensia Periodica 24, 1993. 26 Candayan, M.P. GUPTA, op. cit., verses 10-14. Khan-i Jahan. According to Afif, Khan-i-Jahan Maqbul had embraced Islam during the period of Muhammad Shah Tugh- luq. He worked as Wazir for eihteen years and died in A.H. 770 (1368-69 A.D.) after he had reached the age of eighty. He was succeeded as Wazir by his son, who had been named Jauna Shah, by Muhammad Tughluq and was also given the title of Khan-i-Jahan by Firoz Shah Tughluq after the death of his father. His father Khan-i-Jahan was a con- verted Hindu from Telangana. Father and son both were able administrators. Khan-i- Jahan, the son who is referred to by Maulana Daud in Candayan enjoyed complete power during the reign of Firoz Shah Tughluq. Later, when started the power-smuggle to suc- ceed Fioz Shah he was killed by his opponents. He built many monuments including the Kali or Kalan mosque. It is one of the seven mosques built by him. 27 The name of a Sanskrit grammarian and poet. In the Medieval period Varruci had become the symbol of knowledge and intelligence.See Also Padmavat, 91/8, 446/8. 28 Kar∞a appears in Mahabharata. He was born to an unmarried mother Kunti and was famous for his great generosity. 29 Candayan, M. P. GUPTA, verse∞∞14. The Hindi story book on which Benett bases his inquiry says that it was Jauna Shah, lieutenant of the emperor who had stopped at Dalmau and had beautified that city. Agha Mahdi HUSAIN, op. cit., p. 237. Five verses in Can- dayan about Khan-i-Jahan have a particular importance specially as Maulana Daud dedi- cates only one verse to Firoz Shah Tughluq. Benett’s asumption that Jauna Shah might be Muhammad Tughluq himself who was called Jauna does not seem to be well founded. It is to be remembered here that Khan-i-Jahan was called Jauna Shah as well. This name was given to him by Muhammad Tughluq himself. 138 S.M. PANDEY

In the same poetic manner Maulana Daud recalls Malik Mubarak30, the Mir or Governor of ∆almau where the poet lived most probably. Mubarak, or Mamarakh as the poet calls him in Avadhi, is an unequal- leled warrior, expert in using the sword and extremely generous. He is a yuddha vira (battle hero) and a dan vira (liberality hero). In fact, Maulana Daud’s descriptions are traditional but these descrip- tions indicate that kings, ministers and the Governors of a particular ter- ritory should have three qualities. They should be expert in battle, gen- erous and just. Here the poet seems to be following the Sanskrit poetic tradition where Vira has been classified into four categories. Sahitya Darpa∞a, a text on Sanskrit poetics which was composed during the period of Alauddin Khilji (1296-1316) by Visvanatha, about 63 years before the composition of Candayan (1379A.D.) mentions the four types of Vira (hero)31. These are: Yuddha Vira (battle hero), Dana Vira (liber- ality hero), Dharma Vira (religious hero), Daya Vira (a hero of compas- sion). A Yuddha Vira is a battle hero or warrior and a Dana Vira is a liber- ality hero or munificent man. But it has to be remembered that these two qualities of a king have been emphasised in Islamic tradition itself. A king should be generous, truthful and just. Sharif Muhammad bin Mansur Fakhr-i-Mudabbir, a contemporary of Qutubuddin Aibak (d.1210) and (1210-1236) composed a book ‘Adabul Harb Wash Shujaah (rules of war and bravery) and dedicated it to Iltutmish. In the book he mentions that a king should be generous, just and should be a military commander. It is interesting to see that a Muslim poet follows Indian liberality conventions and combines it with the Muslim qualities of a king who should be generous, just and a commander in the battlefield. Maulana Daud describes the king and his two important courtiers,Vazir Khan-i- Jahan and the Governor of ∆almau, Shaikh Mubarak’s qualities in some

30 Malik Mubarak. Malik Mubarak should not be confounded with prince Mubarak Khan, mentioned by Barani under Firoz Shah. There was a brother of Muhammad bin Tughluq called Mubarak Khan mentioned by Barani as well as by Ibn Battuta. It is he who is mentioned in Candayan as Malik Mubarak in the Hindi story book quoted by Benett. (Agha Mahdi HUSAIN, op. cit., p. 237, also A Report on the Family History of the Chief Clans of Roybarelly, Lucknow 1870, pp. 2,3. In my opinion this Mubarak needs more research. See S. M. PANDEY, “Maulana Daud racit Candayan ke Malik Mubarak Kaun?” Visva bharati patrika, vol 31-1-4 April 1990 to March 1991. 31 Visvanatha Kaviraja PARAıITA, Sahitya Darpanp∞a, Sanskrit text and Hindi trans- lation, Nirupama Vidyalankara, Sahitya Bhadara, Mera†ha, () 1974, p. 266-267. MAULANA DAUD AND HIS CANDAYAN 139 detail even though his main aim is to describe the love between Lorik and Canda. The philosophy of prem (ishq) and virah (firaq or judayi) plays an important role in the text which we will discuss later. In fact Lorik is a lover who seeks the divine beauty in Candayan.

3. Date of Composition

According to the Bikaner manuscript the date of the composition of Candayan is A.H.781 (1379). M. P. Gupta has utilised this manuscript to construct the date of Candayan which is missing in other manuscripts. The text reads like this: barasa sata sai hoye ikyasi tihi yaha kavi sarasa ubhasi sahi peroja ∂hili sultanu jaunasahi ijuru (ujir)bakhanu ∂almau nayara basai nava ranga upari ko†a talai bahai ganga dharmi logu basahiµ bhagavanta gunagahaka nagara jasavanta malik bayaµ putu yudha randhiruIt malika mamarakhu tahá ka miru daud yeh kavi jai gai mana mahi lehu vicari jurata bolu cita rakhahu †u†ati lehu sãvari32 “It was the year seven hundred and eighty one when this poet com- posed this sweet poem. Then Shah Peroja (Firoz) was the king of Dilli and his Vazir was called Jauna Shah. His city ∆almau is beautifully sit- uated and a fort stands above the city, and the river Ganga flows below it. Religous people and God’s devotees live there. They appreciate good qualities and are intelligent and glorious. They command respect. Malik Mamarakh (Mubarak), the son of Malik Bayá, the valiant one, rules there.” The poet further says: “Da’ud is singing this poem. Think deeply on this and keep in mind whatever is added on to it and improve it if you find any fault in it.” This date A.H. 781 (1379A.H.) which is found in Bikaner manuscript is not attested by Bada’uni who says, “In the year 772H. (1370 A.D.)

32 Candayan, M.P. GUPTA, op. cit., 17. Seven hundred and eighty one is the Muslim calendar year, A.H. which is equivalent to 1379 A.D. 140 S.M. PANDEY

Khan-Jahan the Vazir died, and his son Juna Shah obtained that title, and the book Candaban which is a Masnavi in the Hindi language relating the loves of Lurak and Chanda, a lover and his mistress, a very graphic work, was put into verse in his honour by Maulana Daud.”33 This reference suggests that Candayan was put into verse around 1370 A.D. The whole passage from the Muntakhabut Tawarikh has already been quoted in full previously in this article. Here it is sufficient to indicate that the date given by Bada’uni is different from the Bikaner manuscript which was writen in V.S. 1673 (1616A.D.). Bada’uni’s his- tory was most probably completed in 1596 A.D. In 1870 W. C. Benett used a manuscript of Candayan, written in A.H. 1043 (1633A.D) in which the date of Candayan had been given as A.H. 779 (1377 A.D.). Benett says: “From an old Hindi story book which professes to have been copied in 1043 H. from an original composed in 779 H (1587A.D.?) (obviously this is a misprint for 1377 A.D.), we learn that Jauna Shah, the Lieu- tenant of the emperor Firoz, had stopped at Dalmau on his way to what was to become Jaunpur and had beautified the city. It is further stated that Malik Mubarak was the Governor, and that there was a considerable colony of Musalmans, besides a settlement of Chauhans and Sunars.”34 The French scholar Garcin de Tassy and many Hindi scholars knew about Candayan but their information were not adequate. They did not have sufficient information on the date of Candayan, Firoz Shah, Khan -i-Jahan or Malik Mubarak. The oldest Bikaner manuscript of the 1616 A.D. gives the date A. H. 781 (1379A.D). Bada’uni’s date is A.H. 772 (1370 A.D.) Benett had seen a manuscript which mentions the date of Candayan A.H. 779 (1377 A.D.). All these dates are in conformity with the dates of Firoz Shah Tughluq (1351-1388A.D.) and his Vazir Khan-i- Jahan. We have accepted the date of the composition of Candayan A.H.781(1379 A.D.) simply because the Bikaner manuscript which is the oldest one, mentions this date.

33 The complete paragraph from Badauni has already been quoted and discussed in detail. 34 W.C. BENETT, A Report on the Family History of the Chief Clans of the Roybarelly District, The Oudh Government Press, Lucknow, 1870, p. 2. The title of the book Can- dayan has not been given here but it is apparent that the old story book refers to Can- dayan. MAULANA DAUD AND HIS CANDAYAN 141

4. Maulana Daud and ∆almau

From the Bikaner manuscript it appears that Maulana Daud was from ∆almau. A detailed eulogy to the Governor Malik Mubarak, the son of Malik Bayá, seems to be a bit out of proportion. He uses the same kind of adjectives and hyperboles for Mubarak as he does for Firoz Shah or his Vazir Khan-i- Jahan. The text published by M. P. Gupta includes one stanza for the king Firoz Shah, five for Khan-i- Jahan and two for Mubarak of ∆almau. For his direct Pir Shaikh Zainuddin, the poet dedi- cates only one verse. Perhaps that Daud was specially favoured by Khan-i-Jahan, the Vazir and Mubarak, the Governor of ∆almau. It seems Mubarak patronised Daud and was very generous to him. Daud prays for his well-being and long life. Firoz Shah founded a school in Dalmau for Muslim learning and perhaps Maulana Daud was connected with that school. The Gazetteer of the Raibareli district includes the following information: “This town prospered during the reign of Alamash35 (Iltutmish) of Dehli in whose time Makhdum Badruddin resided here. Thence forward the town did well till the time of Firoz Shah Tughuq, who founded a school for the instruction of the people in Muslim lore. Its usefulness can be gathered from the perusal of a book called Candani in the vernacular edited by Mulla Daud of ∆almau.”36 This information has been borrowed from the Gazetteer of the Province of Oudh with certain modifications. W. C. Benett37 seems to have been the first scholar who obtained Candayan manuscript. We do not have any clue about that manuscript now. Later Gazetteer compilers owe much to Benett.

5. The Teacher of Maulana Daud

In verse nine Maulana Daud mentions his teacher Shaikh Zainuddin a successor of Shaikh Nasiruddin Awadhi (d.1356A.) Chiragh-i- Dehli. The poet praises him in the following words:

35 The reference in the U.P. Gazetter of Raibareli regarding the prosperity of ∆almau during the reign of Iltutmish is misleading. Far from its prosperity even the conquest of ∆almau is not mentioned- neither under Iltutmish, nor under Balban, nor even under ‘Alauddin Khalji- in the chronicles. The reference to the residence of Badruddin either is not confirmed. Agha Mahdi Husain, Tughluq Dynasty, op. cit., p. 238. 36 H. R. HEVILL, Raibareli District Gazetteer, , 1905. See also the note 3 for a comparison with the Gazetteer of the Province of Oudh, op. cit., p.∞∞1. 37 W.C. BENETT, A Report on the Family History of the Chief Clans of the Roy - liy District, Lucknow 1870, p. 2. 142 S.M. PANDEY

sekha jainadi hauµ pathi lava dharama panthu jihi papu gavava papa dinha maiµ ganga bahai parama nava hauµ linha ca∂ai ughare naina hiye ujiyare payo likhi nau akkhara kare puni maiµ akkhara ki sudhi pai turki likhi likhi hinduki gai ye (je) paiye ja sekha pasara papa gaye tasikara mara tyahu ka gharu nirmara jihu cita raha lubhai sekha janaidi sevata papa nirantara jai∞38 “Shaikh Jainadi (Zainuddin) put me on the right path. My sins (pap) were destroyed on this virtuous path. They were washed away in the Ganga river. He made me ride on the boat of righteousness, then my eyes and my heart became pure. Afterwards I was able to write new syl- lables. I learnt the alphabet and composed in Turki the Hinduki tale. My master extended his mercy and then my sins were destroyed in the same way as thieves and bandits are killed. He who has affection for Zainud- din, his house and family will become pure. By serving him continually sins will go away.” It appears from the Malfuzat39 of Khwaja Banda Newaz Gesudaraz that in spite of the wish of Shaikh Nasiruddin Chirag-i-Dehli, Shaikh Zanuddin did not let him become his succesessor. In Dehli. he lived many years, isolated and ignored. In 1413 A.D. he moved to Gulbarga in South, not very far from Hyderabad. He attracted many disciples there including kings and nobles. He died in 1422 A.D. Shaikh Zainuddin was popular among the Sufis of Dehli. Maulana Daud alludes to him with

38 Candayan, M. P. GUPTA, op. cit., verse 9. 39 Saiyyid Husaini AKBAR, Jawami ul Kalim, Banda Newaz Research Institute, Urdu translation from Persian by Rahimuddin Husain, Gulbarga, 1972-74, vol. 1, p. 103. “Shaikh Nasiruddin sent Zainuddin away to obtain halva, (pudding) and then he gave khi- lafatnama to Bandanewaz.” The author of this book was Banda Newaz’s eldest son who compiled the events and discourses from A.H. 802 (1399 A.D) to 803 A.H. (1400 A.D.) mentions this. See also, Muhammad SAMANI, Siyar-i-Muhammadi, Persian text and Urdu translation by Shah Nazir Qadri, Aijaz Printing Press, Hyderabad, 1969, p.∞∞6. The book mentions “Before his death Shaikh Nasirudd in (Chirag-i-Dehli) had given khilafatnama to Banda Newaz and had kept it secret from Shaikh Zainuddin..” Muham- mad Ali Samani was a disciple of Khwaja Banda Newaz who wrote his book six years after his master’s death. Samani was in Dehli with his master and then moved to Gulbarga via Gvaliyar with him. See my paper in Hindi on Zainuddin. (Note 41, p. 19-20). MAULANA DAUD AND HIS CANDAYAN 143 utmost respect in Candayan, composed in 1379 A.D. In a different con- text in this paper it has already been stated that Shaikh Zainuddin was buried in Dehli in ‘the compound of his master’s tomb at his feet40. His cousin brother Shaikh Kamaluddin who worked mostly in Gujarat and had a large following there is burried next to him. Even today many fol- lowers of Maulana Kamaluddin come to visit his tomb. I have already written in length on Shaikh Zainuddin41. Nevertheless, it is true that after Chiragh Dehli, the centre of Chishti Sufis declined. Taimur’s attack on Dehli in 1398 A.D. thrust another blow to the Sufi organisation in Dehli.

6. Candayan and Hindui language

The Hindui compositions of the Sufi masters are scattered in the Per- sian Malfuzat literature of the Sufis. Baba Farid, Shaikh Niuamuddin Auliya, Shaikh Nasiruddin, Khwaja Banda Newaz, were all born in India and they spoke their local languages at home. For religious manifesta- tions they used and Persian. In Jawamiul kalim, a conversation by Banda Newaz has been included in which he emphasises the importance of Sufis musical assem- blies, sama‘ in which he indicates that Hindi songs were used in the musical assemblies It is said that Khwaja Nizamuddin Auliya was lis- tening to Sama‘ music at the centre of Khwaja Bakhtiyar Kaki before his death, and he fell in ecstasy when the musician sang “suhela mai suhela”42 my beautiful mother. After having listened to this Hindi phrase in a beautiful voice he was transported into the world of divine. Elsewhere Jawamiul kalim refers to another episode in which a cowherd was drawing water from the well and his animals were going astray. He sang in Hindi “bahure ho bahure”,43 (come back, come back) Niza- muddin Auliya who was passing by, heard the melody and reached the

40 See note, 13. 41 S.M. PANDEY, “Maulana Daud’s Teacher Shaikh Zainuddin,” in Studies in South Asian Devotional literature, edited by Alan W. Entwistle and Francoise Mallison, Ecole Française d’ Exteme Orient, Paris, and Manohar, Delhi 1974, p. 285-297. See also a detailed study on Shaikh Zainuddin in Hindi by S. M. PANDEY, “Candayan ke Racayita Maulana Daud ke Guru Shaikh Zainuddin,” Sammelan Patrika, Saka Samvat, 1909 (1987 A.D.), p.∞∞10-29. A revised version of this paper has also been published in my book, Hindi aur Farasi Sufi Kavya, Sahitya Bhavan Private Limited, 1989, p. 9-30. 42 Cf Saiyyid Muhammad Akbar HUSAINI, Jaw’ami ul Kalim, Op. cit., p. 270. See also Saiyyid Muhammad Akbar HUSAINI, Jaw’amiul Kalim, translation in Urdu by Muiniddin Dardai, Adabi Duniya, Dehli 1994, p. 270-273. 43 Jawami ul Kalim Urdu translation by Rahimuddin Husaini, op. cit., p. 271. 144 S.M. PANDEY ecstatic state. His main Khadim Ikbal and Khwaja Basir both were accompanying the the master. The master then uttered that if one cannot enjoy the sama‘, he should follow the (Sufi) path in loneliness. Sama‘ is not for him. In Siyar-i-Muhammadi, composed by Shah Muhammad Ali Samani, a disciple of Bandanewaz, in 1428 A.D, it has been said that Khwaja Banda Newaz (d.1422 A D.) gave importance to the Hindi songs in Sama‘ because they were soft sweet, and melodious. They captivated the hearts of the people and attracted them towards the divine union. But the art of singing with the musical instrument, sarod and expressions of the deeper feelings was possible only in Persian.44 Hamid Qalandar’s Khairul Majalis which was composed in 1354-55, includes a passage in which Maulana Alauddin Usuli, the famous Shaikh of Badayun had blessed the child Nizamuddin, (who later became the great Shaikh Nizamuddyn Auliya of Dehli) in the Hindui language in the following words: “are maulana yah ba®a hosi” (O Maulana he will be a great man.) He repeated again “jo mun∂a sa bandhe so páy na pare” He who ties the turban does not touch other people’s feet.45 In Siyarul Auliya, Baba Farid’s Hindui sayings are found in which his blessings to Khwaja Burhanuddin is included. Madar-i- mominan46 (Mother of the religious people) said in the Hindi lanuage “Burhanuddin abhi bala hai” Burahanuddin is a young child and he cannot lift this heavy burden. Then Shaikh Farid replied “Madar-i-Mominan, Punno ka cand bhi bala hota hai”47, the moon of the punam (full-moon) is also small in the beginning. About 112 Hindui or Hindi dohas of Baba Farid are included in the Guru granth Sahib or Adi granth but some scholars such as K. A. Nizami (see note 48) have expressed doubts about their being the original works of Baba Farid. He thinks these couplets are by some Ibahim Farid. In my opinion a serious linguistic analysis is

44 Shah Muhammad Ali SAMANI, Siyar-i-Muhammadi, Urdu translation Maulana Saiyyid Shah Nazir Ahmad Qadri, Aijaz Printing Press, Hyderabad 1970, p.92. For Per- sian text see p. 90. 45 Hamid QALANDAR, Khairul Majalis, Persian text edited by Khaliq Ahmad Nizami, Muslim University, Aligarh 1959, p.191. An Urdu translation is also available by Maulana Ahmad ALI, Nasim Bok ∂ipo, Lucknow 1968, p 222. This Urdu translation seems to be very old. The present Urdu edition seems to be a reprint and the translator has used a different text than that of Khaliq Ahmad Nizami. 46 A servant of Shaikh Jamal of Hansi was called madar-i-Mominan a mother of reli- gious and devout . 47 Amir KHURD, Siyarul Auliyå, (Urdu translation), Aijåzul Haq, Marqazi Urdü Board, Lahore 1980 p. 317. MAULANA DAUD AND HIS CANDAYAN 145 required to come to a definite conclusion. The compiler of the Adi- granth, Guru Arjundev, never included poems of the inferior poets. All the poets selected by him were well known in his period. Ibrahim Farid was hardly known in that period. Baba Farid’s following lines most probably belong to the 12th century: kava∞a su akhara kav∞a gu∞a gu∞a su ma∞iyá mantu kava∞u so vaisu hau kari jisi basi avai kantu niva∞u su akhar srava∞lu gu∞u jibha ma∞a mantu ai tre bhai∞e bes kari ta basi avai kantu48 “What is that word? What are those attributes which are the mantras (formulaic words) for the hearts? What special act should I perform which brings my beloved to my heart? That akkhar (word) is without colour. Listen to His attributes (qualities); make them mantra on your tongue. You wear three garments, then your kanta (beloved one) will find a pretext to come to you.” In my opinion these above lines are linguistically of much earlier date and they are very rich in content. These couplets seem to be the compo- sitions of Baba Farid. Many Hindi poems attributed to the renowned Persian poet Amir Khusrau seem to be very modern. For example, Amir Khusrau is supposed to be the composer of the following doha: gori sove seja para mukha para dale kesa cala khusro ghara apane raina bhai saba desa49 “The maiden is sleeping on her bed putting her hair on the face. O Khusrau, go back home. The whole world is filled with darkness for you now.” This couplet is supposed to have been written by Khusrau when his teacher Khwaja Nizamuddin Auliya had died in 1325 A.D. The poem is very powerful in spirit but the language has been modernised. However, there is no doubt that some poems might have been composed by him. A great grandson of Hamiduddin Nagauri Sawali Chishti, called Fatahulla, composed poems in Hindi and one example is as follows:

48 Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, Bhai Jawahar Siµh and company, Am®tsar, N.D (Devanagari), p.∞∞1384, 127-128. For Baba Farid’s complete dohas in Engish translation see, Max Arthur Macauliffe,, The Sikh Religion, S. Chand and Company, 1978, Vol. 5, p. 391- 414.( First Indian edition was pulished by Oxford University Press Delhi in 1963. For discussion of Farid’s poems see K.A. NIZAMI, The Life and Times of Shaikh Faridud- din Ganj-i-Shakar, Aligarh Muslim, University, Aligarh 1955, p. 121. 49 BRAJRATNA DAS, Khusrau ki Hindi Kavita, Nagari Pracarini Sabha, V.S.2030 (third edition), p.∞∞4. 146 S.M. PANDEY

mana cahai maiµ khalik jaã sagara fãka karaila khaã∞50 “I wish I could go to Khaliq (God) and could burn the sea. I wish I could eat the bitter karaila i.e bitterness of the world”. This Hindi text is found in an unpublished manuscript Sudrussudur a text attributed to Fatahulla’s father Fariduddin who lived in Deh near Nagaur in Rajasthan but later left for Dehli to serve Muhammad Tughluq. Muhammad Tugh- luq married his daughter to his son Fatahullah some time after 1327- 1328 A.D, but he did not like Dehli and later returned to his native place in Deh in Nagaur not very far from Ajmer. Muhammad Tughluq gave him permission to return. Fatahullah’s family tree is like this: Shaikh Hamiduddin Nagauri Sawali (d.∞∞1274) (disciple of Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti); Azihuddin; Shaikh Fariduddin Mahmud; Shaikh Fatahullah. The Hindui language which is also called Hindi in Malfujat literature, had probably two styles Western and Eastern. Baba Farid and others were much nearer to the western old Khari Boli. Maulana Da’ud devel- oped a new style of poetry in the Eastern style of Hindui that is Awadhi. He became a model for a dozen other poets such as Kutuban, Malik Muhamad Jayasi, Manjhan, Shaikh Nabi, Usman, Kasim Shah and many others who wrote Sufi romances in Awadhi. Maulana Daud’s Candayan is the first romance (premakhyan or mas- navi) in Awadhi and this is not certain how a work of this magnitude could be produced all of a sudden in the fourteenth century. There is another text, Raulvel by the poet Ro∂a, in which atleast one verse seems to be in Awadhi whereas the other verses are in different languages. The date of Raulvel51 is not very certain but it appears that it was composed before Candayan. In Raulvel the beauty of the six heroines was described. Another work, Ukti Vyakti Prakara∞a of Damodara52 is a

50 Shaikh Abdul Quddus Gangohi K®t Alakhbani, edited by AtharAbbas Rizvi and Shailesh Zaidi, Bharat Prakashan Mandir, Aligarh, 1970; see the introduction by Rizvi, p. 36. 51 Ro∂a, Raul Vel, ed. M.P. Gupta, Mitra Prakashan Pvt limited, 1962, p. 87-88. aisi bi†iya ja ghara avai, tahi ki tulimb kou pavai hása gai ja calati aisi, sa bakhara ∞ahu raula kaisi jihiµ ghare aisi olanga paisai; taµ gharu raul jaisau disai. 52 Pan∂ita DAMODAR, Uktivyakti Prakarakara∞a, ed. Muni Jin Vijaya, Bombay 1953. See S. K. Chatterji’s introduction, p. 70. Chatterji calls the language of the Uktivyakti Prakara∞a Kosali or Eastern Hindi. MAULANA DAUD AND HIS CANDAYAN 147 lexicon of old Awadhi or Kosali compiled in the twelth century for San- skrit scholars. It includes proverbs and phrases in old Kosali with San- skrit parallels but this does not indicate that there was any written text of Awadhi before Damodara. It is more probable that this lexicon was based on the oral literature of that period. Why Awadhi was selected by the poet is also a problem. A partial answer could be given if one had a clearer picture of the Khanqah of Khwaja Nizamuddin Auliya and the disciples who migrated from Awadh to Dehli. A detailed list of those Sufis has already been given. Maulana Daud belongs to the tradition of the Chishti saints and was connected with the famous school of Dalmau in Raibareli district, estab- lished by Firoz Shah Tughluq in the fourteenth century for the study of Islamic theology and Muslim lore. ∆almau is, of course, in the Awadhi speaking area. A shift from Persian, the language of Muslim elite to Awadhi could have taken place for other reasons too, and one of them perhaps was that Indian poets writing in Persian were never fully recog- nized as first class poets by the native speakers of Persian connected with Indian courts during this period. Persian was the court language at that time, and for that reason many Indian poets also wrote in Persian. Amir Khusrau and Amir Hasan were the most famous of these. Amir Khusrau’s spiritual teacher was Khwaja Nizamuddin Auliya, although he was a court poet and deeply interested in court affairs. Following the example of Nizami, he wrote five romances in Persian namely Shirin o Khsrau, Majnun o Leila, Ain-i-Sikandari, Hast- Bahisht, Malta’ul Anwar, but he was criticised by many of his conemporaries. Obaid (Ubayd), a close friend of Sultan Muhammad Tughluq, is credited with having remarked that it was irreverent presumption on Khusrau’s part to boil his meat and rice in Nizami’s cauldron. Others also called him a mere imitator, so much so that Amir Khusrau had to defend himself, and once he was compelled to say: kaukabah khusravem shud baland zalzalah dar gore nizami fagand∞53 “The star of my poetry has risen high and has made Nizami tremble in his grave.” Amir Khusau goes out of his way to defend his position and the Persian poetry written in India. In his book, Gurrat ul Kamal, which was completed in A.H. 693 (1294 A.D.), he says: “The Persian language, although of course its original home was Persia, has lost its

53 Wahid MIRRZA, Life and works of Amir Khusrau, Lahore, 1962 p.191. 148 S.M. PANDEY purity of idiom everywhere except in Mawaraun-nahr, the language of that country being like that of India. But the Persian tongue in India from River Sind to the seashore is one and invariable. When we possess such uniformity of idiom, it is but natural that our poetry is great. This Persian of course is, moreover, the original and pure Persian. The Hin- dui tongue, no doubt,varies greatly in idiom in the different parts of the country, but the Persian is the same throughout its length and breadth, and it is pronounced as it is written.”54 If a poet of Amir Khusrau’s eminence had to defend his position and had to struggle in order to win acceptance, it was only natural that some other talented poets cultivated a local language in which they were more conversant. Maulana Daud’s new experiment of writing in an Indian lan- uage could be explained in this light. He composed Candayan about fifty five years after the death of Amir Khusrau (1253-1325 A.D.). In the first five verses of Candayan he praises God and then the prophet Muhammad in the sixth verse and later describes the qualities of his four friends ‘Abu bakr, Umar,’Usman, and Ali in verse seven. In verse eight, Maulana Da’ud describes the greatness of his contemporary king Firoz Shah. In verse nine he describes his teacher Shaikh Zainuddin and pays homage to him. Here Maulana Daud follows his predecessor Amir Khusrau, who, in his romances Majnun-o-Leyla and Shirin-o- Khusrau, includes a hamd (praise to God), na’t (praise to Muhammad) and praise to his teacher Khwaja Nizamuddin Auliya (d.1325 A.D.) and a description of the contemporary king Alauddin Khilji. This was an accepted tradition for beginning a Masnavi in Persian literature. It is also worth while noting that Chishti saints wanted to reach the common people and a famous disciple of Shaikh Nasiruddin Chiragh-i- Dehli, Saiyyid Muhammad Husaini Banda Newaz Gesudaraz, who went to the South of India and settled down in Gulbarga, used the Dakhini language to reach the common people. Mirajul Ashiqin and Shikarnama is attributed to him. The possibility cannot be ruled out that Maulana Daud was interested in the common people and in order to spread the Sufi message of love to the masses he chose the popular language of the Awadhi speaking area for which he had also the support of the great Chishti saints of Dehli

54 Ibid., p.∞∞159-161. See for details my paper “Some Problems in Studying Candayan” in Early Hindi Devotional Literature in Current Research, ed. Winand Callewaert, Leuven 1980, p. 127-140. MAULANA DAUD AND HIS CANDAYAN 149 whose main centre in Northern India was the Khanqah of Khwaja Niza- muddin Auliya and other saints of this tradition. Maulana Daud adopted not only a new language but also a new Indian tale, Loriki or Canaini, borrowed from the Indian folk tradition. In this respect he was unlike many of his predecessors or contemporaries who were mostly borrowing tales from the Persian and Arabic repertoire and writing in Persian. There would have been a move away from Persian into Awadhi in search of freshness, novelty and originality. This originality was demon- strated not only in the use of the language but also in the selection of the new kind of Indian oral epic from the Awadhi speaking area. The critics of the great Persian poet Khusrau, who criticised him bitterly, might have helped in this new experiment indirectly. Amir Khsrau was con- nected with seven kings such as Jalaluddin Khilji (d.1296), and Alaud- din Khilji (d.1316 A.D.), Muhammad Tughluq(d.1351 A.D.) etc. but he was also an important disciple of Khwaja Nizamuddin Auliya. Khusrau died the same year as his master in 1325 A.D. after a few months.

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