فصلنامه میقات حج
پیاپی 107 (بهار 1398)

Abstract Iran and India are two big neighbors with a long-standing history and common ethnic and historical origins, whose relations have often been friendly since ancient times. These relations developed significantly in the era of the Safavid reign in Iran, especially during the period of the establishment of the Safavid dynasty as well as the reign of the descendants of Amir Timur Gurkani in India. These two dynasties had friendly and close relations in most of this time. One of the most influential external factors in this regard was the presence of a common enemy called Uzbek in their vicinity, in Samarkand which influenced the political developments of these two states. Taking refuge of Iran by Homayoun Shah and border disputes over the city of Kandahar also played a role in the rise and fall of the Safavids relations with Indian Gurkhanids. But performing the Haij by Iranians through India can be considered as one of the areas of interaction and relations with this country. The purpose of the present paper is to identify and investigate the factors affecting the Safavids relations with the Gurkanids in the political dimensions, and the history of the relations between these two states in the mentioned period. The hypothesis of the present research is that the danger of Uzbeks for both countries as well as the efforts of Iran and India to dominate the strategic city of Kandahar were important factors in the ups and downs of the relations between the Gurkanids and Safavids which also influenced performing the Hajj. The study concluded that, despite the obstacles in developing the relations between Iran and India, Iranian pilgrims had to go Hajj through India due to the presence of many Iranians in India and the hostile relations of the Ottoman government with Iran.

Safi bin Vali Ghazvini was an Iranian writer in the Aurangzeb Gurkani court. Due to the request of Aurangzeb’s daughter, Zieb al-Nesa Baygum, Safi wrote a book in Persian called Anis al-Hajjaj, a commentary on his Hajj journey in 1087 A.H. Anis al-Hajjaj is probably the only text available from the Middle Ages and probably the oldest Persian text in the description of the Hajj journey from India through the sea route; therefore, it has a special historical value in the history of the Indian Muslims’ Hajj journey. More than a travelogue in which the author’s notes and memoirs with regard to his Hajj journey are recorded, this book is a guidebook for Indian pilgrims; a feature that makes it an important work. The function of this work as a guidebook for the pilgrims led some of its manuscripts to include the beautiful artistic illustrated pictures of the maps of the cities located along the route, as well as the rites of pilgrimage and Hajj caravans of Muslim nations. The result of this research is that Anis al-Hajjaj is a work created as a guide to the pilgrimage of Hajj from India, and it was almost certainly written for the court.

In this article, a summary of the book written by Michael Pearson is presented that addresses the social, political, and cultural dimensions of performing the Hajj by Indians during the 10th-13th centuries A.H. Here, the analyses and statistics presented in the book are discussed. Introducing the references and researches related to the topic of the research, as well as the purposes, significance, and limitations of the research based on the order of the chapters, the present article first discusses the date of Hajj at the beginning of a new era, i.e., the period which is under the discussion, then it focuses on the Hajj’s focal position in Muslims’ social and spiritual thoughts; and finally, it analyzes the relationship between the Mughal king of India and the Hajj and Holy Shrines in that period. Explaining the western perspectives on performing the Hajj in general and performing the Hajj by Indians in particular, introducing the influential components in performing the Hajj by Indians in the concerned fiṭrah and analyzing it in a historical way, and presenting new information about performing the Hajj by Indians are the innovations of this research.

Abdul Karim Kashmiri, the son of Aqebat Mahmud, the son of Khajeh Muhammad Bolaqhi, the son of Khajeh Muhammad Ridha (1198 A.H.), was a Persian writer and historian in Indian Subcontinent. Little is known apparently about his life except what one can find out in his book, Bayān-e vāqeʿ. He was from Kashmir and was living in Shahjahanabad in Delhi. During the years he was living in Delhi, Nadir Shah Afshar (1148-1160 A.H.) invaded and occupied the city (1151 A.H.). When he intended to visit the Ka'bah and other holy places of Islam, Abdul Karim met Mirza Ali Akbar Khorasani, the master of the registry office and Mirza Ali Akbar joined him to the service of the sultan as a clerk (motaṣaddī) with the promise of pilgrimage and Hajj journey. Along with Sayyid Alawi khan Hakim Bashi, Abdul Karim accompanied Nader Shah Afshar on his return journey to Iran. When Nader Shah finally arrived in Qazvin in (1154 A.H.), after successive battles in Panjab, Sind, Afghanistan, Khorasan, Transoxania, Kharazm, and elsewhere, Abd-al-Karim eventually was permitted in Qajzān to go the Hajj; on his way to Hejaz, he also visited places such as Karbala and Aleppo. After the Hajj (1155 A.H.), he returned to India through the port of Jeddah by a ship and arrived in Delhi in Jumada al-Thani (1156 A.H.). He is the author of the book Bayān-e vāqeʿ written in Persian and about Nader Shah Afshar’s life and reign, only a part of this work includes Kashmiri’s report of his journey to the land of Hejaz. Here is the analysis of this travelogue.

Khajeh Gholam al-Hassenin Panipati (21st Ramadan 1356 A.H. / 25th November 1937) was born in Panipat, India. Until the tenth grade, he studied in MAO College in Aligar. Later on, he was teaching in public schools and Hali Guidance School in Panipat, as well as at various offices in Bombay. He was also the English, Arabic, and Persian languages teacher in a secondary school in Pantipat and an inspector of all other schools. After being retired, he took over the management of that secondary school. He established several offices. He was a prominent preacher. The autobiography of Gholam al-Hassenin was published in 1936. He traveled to Arab Iraq several times and once carried out the pilgrimage to the Hajj. On 28th January 1935, he arrived in Delhi from his hometown Panipat and traveled through Mumbai to Mecca and returned his homeland on 7th April 1935. During this trip, his brother, Gholam al-Sabettin and other prominent Indian figures accompanied him. His Hajj travelogue written in Urdu was published in 1353 A.H under the title of “Safar-name-ye Hajj” or “Sama’an-e ‘Akherat”. The present article investigates Gholam al-Hassenin Panipati’s Hajj travelogue.

The history of the influence of the Alawites and their migration to the Indian subcontinent is mixed with myths; but what is certain is that at the beginning of the first century of the Islamic era, the people of Sind, Kabul, and India, after the acquaintance with Amir al-Mu'minin Ali (AS), found great affection to him so much that some of them exaggerated about the Imam and this was the beginning of Shi'ism in the Indian subcontinent. During the Umayyad period and especially in the reign of the Abbasid in which the descendants of Ahl al-Bayt were exposed to oppression, a large number of the Alawites migrated to the Indian subcontinent due to the background of Shi'ism that people had in this area. The migrants faced with the welcome of the people in there. In this way, the Alawites were able to expand their spiritual and social influences in this area so that these migrations became more and more, and finally, the Alawites succeeded in forming the Shiite governments of Zaidiyyah and Ismailiyyah. This also led to the strengthening of the Shiite base throughout the Indian subcontinent and caused the extensive migration of the Alawites and their companions to this area, as well as the boom of their culture and customs in there. The cities of Sind, Multan and, more generally, the Indian subcontinent, are the first origins of the Alawites, and their migration from Hejaz to these cities and then to other cities such as Kabul, Balkh, Herat, Marw, Anbar, Makran, Transoxania, Samarkand, and Sistan increased. As a result, influential families in the history of Islam emerged in these areas. Hence, in the present article, only the Alawites living in Hejaz who migrated to the cities of Sind, Multan, and India are discussed.

Mecca and Medina, as the origin of the revelation and the most sacred places of worshipping and pilgrimage, have historically been visited by Muslims of different religions. In the present article, the relationship between the Shi'a and Sunni scholars of India and the Holy Shrines, which was carried out in the form of a journey to perform the Hajj and Umrah, to pilgrim the Prophet (S), and visit the scholars living in those two holy places are investigated and the results of these journeys are also discussed. In addition, in this article, the historical texts and some travelogues, especially the history of the Indian scholars, are discussed. Also, those Indian scholars who traveled to Mecca and Medina are identified and the way of their journey and their accomplishments are analyzed. The present article is a descriptive-analytic one and its data collection was conducted in libraries and by software. The result of the research suggests that most of the influential and prominent scholars of India, in spite of their different beliefs and ideologies, found it necessary to take a trip to Mecca and Medina one or more time during their life to perform the Hajj and pilgrimage, to get spiritual benefits, to collect the hadiths of the Prophet (S) and the authentic documents of the hadiths, to enjoy other scientific interests, and to take advantages of the scholars’ knowledge of the land of revelation. Most of the figures surveyed in this research (from the 7th to the 14th centuries) received permission to quote narratives and got the status of caliphate and guidance of people from the masters and scholars living in the Holy Shrines.

Travelogues contain reports about the cultural, social, political, and economic information of their ages and are therefore attractive to people. From a long time ago, authors have been interested in writing travelogues and the importance of the two cities of Mecca and Medina among Muslims has caused writing travelogues of the Hajj and the Holy Shrine to be one of the most important types of travelogues being written by Muslims. Muslims journeys from all over the world to these two religious cities have led to the popularity of writing this type of travelogue. Muslims of India, regardless of the distance and the necessity of crossing the sea, tried the pilgrimage of Mecca and Medina, and some of them described their journeys. In this article, about two hundred travelogues of Indian Muslims to the Holy Shrines are introduced.