Sultan Bahu I The Mystic Poet Who Inspired Generations I Story of Kallar Kahar Lake & Aahu Bahu

#sultanbahu #sultanbahoo #sufipoetry
Sultan Bahu I The Mystic Poet Who Inspired Generations I Story of Kallar Kahar Lake & Aahu Bahu

Videography: Mudassar Ahmed/Hafiz Awais Ahmed
Music: Binu Kumar, Kerala, India
@SoundSFX (Under License)

Sultan Bahu also spelled Bahoo; was a 17th-century Punjabi Sufi mystic, poet, scholar and historian. He was active in the Punjab region (present-day Pakistan) during the reigns of Mughal emperors Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb.

Little is known about Bahu's life, other than what is written in a hagiography called Manaqib-i Sultani, which was written by one of Bahu's descendants seven generations after Bahu's own time.

According to these records, he was born in Shorkot, Jhang, in the current Punjab Province of Pakistan, in the Awan tribe. He was son of Bayazid Muhammad, an officer in the Mughal Army, and Rasti. He belonged to Qadiri Sufi order and started the mystic tradition known as Sarwari Qadiri.

More than forty books on Sufism are attributed to him (mostly written in Persian), largely dealing with specialized aspects of Islam and Islamic mysticism. However, it was his Punjabi poetry which had popular appeal and earned him lasting fame.  His verses are sung in many genres of Sufi music, including qawwali and kafi, and tradition has established a unique style of singing his couplets.

Sultan Bahu's first teacher was his mother, Mai Rasti. She pushed him to seek spiritual guidance from Shah Habib Gilani.

Around 1668, Sultan Bahu moved to Delhi for further training under the guidance of Syed Abdul Rehman Jilani Dehlvi, a notable Sufi saint of the Qadiriyya order, and thereafter returned to Punjab where he spent the rest of his life.

The shrine of Sultan Bahu is located in Garh Maharaja, Punjab. It was originally built on Bahu's grave site until the Chenab River changed its course causing the need to relocate twice and as witnessed by those present at the time of relocation, claims that his body was still intact at the time. It is a popular Sufi shrine, and the annual Urs festival commemorating his death is celebrated there with great fervor on the first Thursday of Jumada al-Thani month. People come from far-off places to join the celebrations.

Sultan Bahu also used to hold an annual Urs to commemorate the martyrs of Karbala from the 1st to the 10th day of the month of Muharram. This tradition continues to this day and every year, thousands of pilgrims visit the shrine during the first ten days of Muharram.

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