Sehwan (Urdu: سیہون) (aka: Sehwan
Sharif) is located in Sindh
province of
Pakistan
.
Sehwan
town is of unimpeachable antiquity, Sehwan, some eighty miles
north-west of Hyderabad
lay on the opposite bank of the Indus
. It is possible that the name Sehwan
originates from "Siwistan" or "Seevistan", the kingdom of
Raja Dahir which even extended to Punjab under
the name "Shivi". It was significant enough during the 8th century
to be conquered by
Muhammad bin
Qasim in
711 CE, and two centuries later by
Mahmud of Ghazni.
An abortive attempt
was made by the Mughal emperor
Humayun to capture it on his way to Umarkot
but it
finally fell to his son Akbar. Apart
from the remnants of the ruins scattered about its environs, the
most famous monument in Sehwan remains the shrine of
Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar.
The city is known for its
Muslim patron saint
Hazrat
Lal Shahbaz Qalandar who
lived here in 13th century CE. The
mausoleum of Hazrat Shahbaz
Qalandar attracts hundred of thousands of faithful every
year.
Taluka
sehwan is located in Jamshoro
District of Sindh Pakistan at the right
bank of river indus. Sehwan sharif is famous in Pakistan and
world level for sufiism due to the great saint Hazrat (Usman
Marwandi) qalandar lal shahbaz. another famous place is the
inverted city besides the Dargah of Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalander,
may be the Debal Bandar of Raja Dahar. The
Manchhar lake the biggest lake of Asia is in a
little distance from Sehwan Sharif.
Sehwan Sharif is the eternal resting place of Hazrat Syed Usman
Marwandi (Sindhi) also known as Lal Shahbaz Qalandar. He was born
in 538 A.H, (1143 AD) in Marwand Iran.
Reference book, Qalandar Nama Sindhi,
His ancestors migrated from Iraq and settled down in Mashud Iran,
from where they again migrated to Marwand. During the Medieval
period, Mashud and other cities of that region were renowned
centers of learning and civilization. His father, Syed Ibrahim
Kabiruddin was a virtuous and pious dervish, and his mother was a
high-ranking princess.
Syed Ibrahim Kabiruddin never thought of getting married because of
prayers. With reference of book ‘lub tarik sindh’ one night Holy
soul of Lal Qalandar turns up in the dream of his father “Syed
Ibrahim Kabiruddin” asking him to get married saying "Get married
as I have to be born by you".The birth date, age and last days of
your life are mentioned in (Qalandar Nama Sindhi).The Birth name of
this angelic nature baby was Syed Shah Hussain, but according to
Tazkara-e-Shahbaz the name USMAN was given to hsi father and
grandfather as this name was given by Hazrat Imam Hussain to his
father and grandfather in their dream.
In Accordance with Alshahbaz book at the time of birth his
appearance was rosy which is why his father used to call him LAL
red. He liked red color since childhood and always used to wear red
attire, holding a red flag and even he had red eyes. All those
things gave him the title of "Lal" which literally means "red".The
name Shahbaz was given to him by his spiritual master Hazrat Baba
Ibrahim. He was also called saif-ul-lisan because Allah used to
fulfill his every word as a token of extreme devotion to Allah. He
is also known by the names Qutub-Uddin and Shams-Uddin.
Even as a young boy, Usman Marwandi showed strong religious
leanings and had learnt the Holy Quran by heart just at age of
seven, and at twenty embraced the Qalandar order of Sufism. The
Qalandari and Qadri orders are alike spiritually according to ILM
Ali Qalandar. Qalandar is a type of dervish who is generally
dressed in beggars’ clothes, likes poverty and austerity and has no
permanent dwelling.
Lal Shahbaz Qalandar wandered throughout Middle East and came to
Sind from Baghdad via Dasht-i-Makran.Valley of panjghoor
(Baluchistan) near Rakshanh stream where he did his spiritual
exercise, this place is remembered by his name as
DASHT-E-SHAHBAZ.
In 1263, he arrived in Lahore and then visited the shrine of Data
Gunj Baksh and stayed there for forty days, and visited the shrines
of Hazrat sheikh Hussain Zanjani, Hazrat Syed Ishaq Zanjani and
Syed Yaqoob Zanjani. Then he proceededt to Sialkot and visit Hazrat
Imam Ali La Haq. Then hejourneyed to Multan and meet Hazrat Ghous
Bahauddin Zikria, and his great son Sheikh sadr-uddin Arif, which
at that time was at the height of glory and splendor.
According to famous book “Kashf-ul-lugat” Qalandar means "who is
gone astray in the love of GOD".
As Iqbal put it "Thousand of sorrows but heart is the language of
GOD. It has always been the way of Qalandari"
The people of Multan besought him to stay but he continued his
journey southward and eventually settled down in Sehwan, then a
famous center of learning and popular place of worship for Hindus,
in the southern part of Sindh, where he lived in the trunk of a
tree on the outskirts of the town. He stayed at Sehwan for six
years and during this period he disseminated the light of Islam,
providing guidance to thousands of people.
As Qalandar put it "Nameless and tongue less still I am the mystic
of GOD. Nameless and mark less but still I’m the devote of
GOD"
Sehwan is probably the town with the oldest continuous existence in
Sind and in those days was the capital of a Buddhist ruler who was
brother of Chandragupta II, the third of the Guptan dynasty in the
4th century AD. From the time of Arab invasion in 712, Sehwan was
very important in the history of Sind since it commanded the route
from the Upper to the Lower Indus, through which all invaders from
either north or south had to pass. The possession of the fort was
essential to the success of every campaign.
Lal Shahbaz Qalandar is an overwhelmingly popular patron saint who
is cherished and adored alike by Hindus and Muslims of Sind. He was
a great missionary, mystic, scholar, philosopher and poet. Several
books in Persian and Arabic on philosophy and poetry are attributed
to him.
He was ‘Lal’ (red) because of his red attire, ‘Shahbaz’ due to his
noble and divine spirit that soared like a falcon higher and higher
in the boundless heavens and ‘Qalandar’ since he belonged to
Qalandria order of Sufism and was saintly, exalted and intoxicated
with love for eternal being of God.
As Qalandar put it "Entrance of Heaven is towards me but valueless
without you. Houri and nymph are towards me but nothing without
you.I went to the heavens and lay down on the seat of GOD. Swear to
GOD worthless without you"
The legend goes that the incumbent fakirs in Sewhan sent him a bowl
of milk filled to the brim indicating that there was no room for
anything more. But surprisingly, he returned the bowl with a
beautiful flower floating on the top.
As Qalandar put it "I always do the devotional dance on fire in the
love my friend. At times on soil at times on thorns"
The shrine around his tomb, built in 1356, gives a dazzling look
with its Sindhi kashi tiles, mirror work and two gold-plated doors
- one donated by the late Shah of Iran, the other by the late Prime
Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. The inner sanctum is about 100 yards
square with the silver canopied grave in the middle. On one side of
the marble floor is a row of about 12 inch high folding wooden
stands on which are set copies of Quran for devotees to read. On
the other side, beside a bundle of burning agarbattis (joss
sticks), are rows of diyas (small oil lamps) lighted by Hindu
devotees.
As Qalandar put it "My heart is filled with the love of GOD,
neither depressed nor have patience to my whole body"
Thousands of devotees flock to the tomb while every Thursday their
number stands multiplied. Especially at the time of his ‘Urs’
(celebration anniversary) being a carnival as well a religious
festival and celebrated every year on the 18th day of Sha’ban,
Sehwan springs to life and becomes the focal point of more than
half a million pilgrims from all over Pakistan. On each morning of
the three day feast, the narrow lanes of Sewhan are packed to
capacity as thousands and thousands of pilgrims, fakirs and
devotees make their way to the shrine to commune with the saint,
offer their tributes and make a wish. Most of the people present
garlands and a green chadar (a cloth used to cover a tomb) with
Qur’anic inscriptions in silver or gold threads. Humming of verses,
singing and dancing in praise of the saint continues till late at
night.
A devotional dance known as ‘dhamal’, being a frenzied and ecstatic
swirl of the head and body is a special ritual that is performed at
the rhythmic beat of the dhole (a big barrel-shaped drum), some of
them being of giant size and placed in the courtyard of the shrine.
Bells, gongs, cymbals and horns make a thunderous din, and the
dervishes, clad in long robes, beads, bracelets and colored
head-bands whirl faster and faster in a hypnotic trance, until with
a final deafening scream they run wildly through the doors of the
shrine to the courtyard beyond.
See also
References
- P. 150, Introduction To Political Science: Political
Theory By R.C. Aggarwal.
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