The Qalandariyya (Arabic: قلندرية), Qalandaris or Kalandaris are wandering Sufi dervishes. The writings of Qalandaris are not merely celebrations of libertinism, but affirmations of antinomial beliefs.
The first references are found in the 11th-century prose text Qalandarname (The Tale of the Qalandaris) attributed to Ansarī Harawī. The term Qalandariyya appears to be first applied by Sanai Ghaznavi in seminal poetic works where diverse practices are described. Particular to the Qalandari genre of poetry are items that refer to their practices of gambling, games, consuming intoxicants, syncreticism, libertinism, antinomialism, violating societal norms and Nazar ila'l-murd, things commonly referred to as Kufr or Khurafat by orthodox Muslims.
The order was often viewed with scrutiny by Islamic authorities.
Origin
The Qalandariyya are an unorthodox Tariqa of Sufi dervishes that originated in medieval al-Andalus as an answer to the state sponsored Zahirism of the Almohad Caliphate.[1][2]
Spread
From al-Andalus the Qalandariyya quickly spread into North Africa, the Levant, Arabia, the Iranosphere, Central Asia and Pakistan.[1][2]In the early 12th century the movement gained popularity in Greater Khorasan and neighbouring regions, including South Asia.[3]
The Qalandariyya may have arisen from the earlier Malamatiyya and exhibited some Buddhist and Hindu influences in South Asia.[4] The Malamatiyya condemned the use of drugs and dressed only in blankets or in hip-length hairshirts.[4] Qalandariyya spread to Hazrat Pandua in Bengal and places in Pakistan through the efforts of multiple Qalandari figures.[1][5]
Qalandari songs in Pakistan typically incorporate qawwali styles as well as different local folk styles, such as bhangra and intense naqareh or dhol drumming.[6]
See also
Bibliography
- De Bruijn, The Qalandariyya in Persian Mystical Poetry from Sana'i, in The Heritage of Sufism, 2003.
- Ashk Dahlén, The Holy Fool in Medieval Islam: The Qalandariyya of Fakhr al-din Araqi, Orientalia Suecana, vol.52, 2004.