Qalandar

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Qalandar , also Kalandar or Ghalandar , was a member of a Sufi sect of dervishes , which existed mainly in the 13th century in the Islamic world from Central Asia to Morocco . The Qalandar were not committed to any social norms. They shaved their head and beard hair. They separated themselves from other Muslims through the malāmatiyya teachings as well as through clothing, behavior and way of life. The word Qalandar can also be found as a title attached to the name .

The origin of the term has not yet been explained: It appeared for the first time in a rubāʿī by Bābā Ṭāhir-i ʿUryān and in a short treatise with the title Ḳalandar-nāma ("Book of Qalandar") by the well-known Ṣūfī ʿAbdallāh al-Ansārī († 1088 / 89). In Arabic literature one finds the forms karandal and qalandar . The assumptions made so far lead the word back, for example, to the Persian kalandar "ugly, clumsy man", kalāntar from kalān "enormous, large" or to the Greek kaletor from the root kaleo . In Turkish qalandar got the meanings:

  1. "A dervish who has withdrawn from the world and wanders about like a vagabond";
  2. "A man who has renounced all worldly things and seen the truth";
  3. "A philosopher".

In Turkish works one can find vivid and detailed descriptions of the external appearance of the Qalandar. In Ḫwāǧa-i Ǧihān wa natīǧa-i ǧān by the Turkish scribe Wāḥidī from the 16th century, she is described as clean-shaven, with shaved eyebrows and a bald head, a conical hat made of woven animal hair and a yellow or black cloth, a drum and carrying a banner before him.

Uthman Marwandi (1177–1274), known as Lal Schahbaz Qalandar, is venerated as the leading Qalandar in Pakistan . His shrine in Sehwan Sharif city in Sindh province is a popular pilgrimage destination.

There are great similarities between the Qalandar and the Ḥaidarī, Ǧāmī and Bektāšī groups, who differed in their outward appearance, but followed a similar way of life. In Ottoman texts, the word qalandar is used synonymously with other terms (ışık, torlak) . In Punjab , calendar means "a man who trains a monkey to look at".

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Hakim of Nischapur Omar Chajjám and his Rubaijat , based on old and recent Persian manuscript finds by Manuel Sommer, Pressler, Wiesbaden 1974, p. 120