Ismaili Hymns from South Asia: An Introduction to the Ginans 9781315027746, 0700711465

Table of contents :
Cover
ISMAILI HYMNS FROM SOUTH ASIA: AN INTRODUCTION TO THE GINANS
Copyright
PREFACE
CONTENTS
CONVENTIONS
Map of principal places mentioned
INTRODUCTION
PART 1: ISMAILISM IN SOUTH AISA AND GINANS
01 ISMAILISM IN SOUTH ASIA
01: 1 Ismailism within Islam
01: 2 The Pirs and Sayyids
01: 3 The Aga Khans
01: 4 The Khojas
01: 5 Rituals and institutions
02 THE GINANS
02: 1 Textual transmission
02: 2 The ginanic repertoire
02: 3 The ginanic themes
02: 4 Forms and styles
02: 5 South Asian parallels
Examples of Khojki script
PART II: SCRIPT AND LANGUAGE
03 THE KHOJKI SCRIPT
03: 1 Development of the script
03: 2 The syllabary
03: 3 Vowel-signs and additional symbols
03: 4 Transcription
03: 5 Variant spellings
04 THE LANGUAGE OF THE GINANS
04: 1 General analysis
04: 2 Masculine/neuter nouns
04: 3 Feminine nouns
04: 4 Adjectives
04: 5 Numerals
04: 6 Postpositions
04: 7 Personal pronouns
04: 8 Other pronouns
04: 9 Pronominal sets
04: 10 Other word-classes
04: 11 Substantive verb
04: 12 Verb stems and absolutives
04: 13 Infinitives and gerundives
04: 14 Present participles
04: 15 Past participles
04: 16 Imperatives
04: 17 Present tenses
04: 18 Futures
04: 19 Compound verbs
BIBLIOGRAPHY
TEXTS AND TRANSLATIONS
I HYMNS OF INSTRUCTION
1 So kiriā
1 Pir Sadruddin: The Hundred Good Deeds
2 Pir Indr Imamuddin
3 Pir Sadruddin
4 Pir Nur Satgur
5 Pir Shams
6 Sayyid Muhammad Shah
7 Sayyid Qutbuddin
8 Pir Tajuddin
9 Saloko nāno
9 Pir Sadruddin: The Shorter Couplets
9A Śri sadgor nā ślok
II RITUAL HYMNS
10 Mubāraki dhani salāmat je takhat ji
10 Enthronement Hymn
11 Pir Indr Imamuddin: The Lord's Letter
12 Pir Sadruddin: The Lord is Coming
13 Navaroj nun ginān
14 Coghadiā sānjh nā
13 Sayyid Fateh Ali Shah: New Year Hymn
14 Pir Sadruddin: Evening Hymn
15 Ghat-pāt nun gmān
15 Pir Sadruddin: Hymn of the Holy Water
16 Parabhātio
17 Baraham parakāś
16 Sayyid Imam Shah: Morning Hymn
17 Pir Shams: The Divine Revelation
III DEVOTIONAL HYMNS
18 Pir Mira Sayyid Khan
19 Venati
19 Pir Hasan Kabiruddin: Entreaty
20 Venati
20 Sayyid Abdul Nabi: Entreaty
21 Pir Sadruddin
22 Pir Shams
23 Pir Shams
IV THE COSMIC CYCLE
24 Muman cit-veni
24 Pir Sadruddin: Reminder to Believers
25 Pir Shams
26 Pir Sadruddin
28 Kalām môlā nā: bayān sāc kā
27 Pir Shams
28 The Lord Ali's Teachings: The Description of Truth
29 Sayyid Ghulam Ali Shah
30 Pir Sadruddin
31 Pir Shams
32 Pir Sadruddin
33 Pir Sadruddin
V: TALES OF THE MISSION
34 Putalā
34 Pir Nur Satgur The Idols
35 Sat-gur nur nā vivā
35 Pir Hasan Kabiruddin: The Marriage of Nur Satgur
36 Garabi
36 Pir Shams: The Song of the Dance
37 Pir Shams
38 Sat-varani vadi
38 Sayyid Nar Muhammad Shah: The Greater Account of the Truth
39 Pir Hasan Kabiruddin
40 Janat-puri
40 Sayyid Imam Shah: The City of Paradise
NOTES, GLOSSARY AND INDEXES
NOTES: HYMNS 1-9A
NOTES: HYMNS 10-17
NOTES: HYMNS 18-23
NOTES: HYMNS 24-33
NOTES: HYMNS 34-40
GLOSSARY
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
SUBJECT INDEX
INDEX OF NAMES

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ISMAILI HYM NS FROM SOUTH A SIA AN INTRODUCTION TO THE GINANS

ISMAILI HYMNS FROM SOUTH ASIA AN INTRODUCTION TO THE GINANS

CHRISTOPHER SHACKLE and ZAWAHIR MOIR

Q Routledge Taylor &. Francis Group LONDON AND NEW YORK

First Published in 1992 by SOAS, University of London Revised Edition published in 2000 by Curzon Press This edition published by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxfordshire 0X 14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 1992, 2000 Christopher Shackle and Zawahir Moir All rights reserved. No part o f this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record o f this book is available from the British Library Library o f Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book has been requested ISBN 0-7 0 0 7 -1 1 4 6 -5

4:2 sat sam ajine rahie, avar duja ne nd kahie

PREFACE The A ga Khans have long played a prom inent part on the international stage, but m uch less tends to be understood about the m ost im portant group o f their followers, the K hoja Ism ailis o f South Asia, who are now also settled in many other parts o f the world. Even less is generally known about the hymns, called ginans (ginan), w hich have historically form ed so central an elem ent in the religious life and rituals o f the Islm aili community. The principal aim o f our anthology is to fill this gap by providing as w ide as possible an audience w ith a sym pathetic introduction to this still largely unexplored tradition o f South Asian devotional literature, and to draw attention to the m any features o f rem arkable interest w hich it contains. Conventions em ployed for references and for the rom anization o f South A sian nam es and words are explained in a note follow ing the table o f contents. A m ap then precedes the introduction to the rom anized texts printed w ith facing translations. These are followed by notes to the texts, a full glossary, and two indexes. The first part o f the introduction begins w ith a sketch o f the background, history and evolution o f the Ism aili com m unity in South Asia. The textual transm ission and overall scope o f the ginanic literature are next outlined. R ather m ore substantial treatm ents o f its principal them es and m ain form al characteristics are then follow ed by a b rie f consideration o f the place o f the ginans in the broader context o f other South A sian religious literatures. The second part o f the introduction is m ore technical. The distinctive K hojki script in w hich the ginans were traditionally recorded is illustrated and described in some detail, leading to an explanation o f the rules governing our rom anization o f Khojki orthography. The final section is a gram m atical outline o f the very m ixed language o f the ginans, w hich incorporates elem ents from G ujarati (G), H indi/U rdu (H), Sindhi/K acchi (S) and Siraiki (L), as well as num erous loan-w ords from Sanskrit (Sk), A rabic (A r) and Persian (Pers). The introduction is followed by a three-part bibliography, listing in turn the textual sources we have used, the specific and general studies cited in the introduction and in the notes to the hymns, and relevant linguistic works. The anthology proper consists o f forty representative ginans, including both com plete exam ples o f shorter hym ns and extracts from com positions too lengthy for com plete reproduction here. These are arranged into five sections under the broad them atic headings ‘Hymns o f Instruction’, ‘Ritual H ym ns’, ‘D evotional H ym ns’, ‘The Cosm ic C ycle’, and ‘Tales o f the M ission’. In view o f the now arcane character o f the K hojki script, the texts all appear in rom an transcription. They are faced by English prose translations w hich seek to convey the sense o f the originals as clearly as possible, w ithout striving for any independent elegance. Since neither the ginans them selves nor the tradition to w hich they are affiliated w ill be generally fam iliar to non-Ism aili readers, the texts and translations are follow ed by deliberately full notes. These are designed both to elucidate points o f possible obscurity, and to draw attention to recurring them es and im ages through the extensive use o f crossreferences. The opportunity has also been taken to include in the notes num erous illustrative quotations from a num ber o f other ginans, w hich we had at one stage planned to include in our anthology before practicalities forced us to reduce it to its present size.

Ismaili Hymns from South Asia

A full glossary o f all words occurring in the texts has been provided, including indications o f their likeliest language o f origin, gram m atical definitions, significant occurrences, E nglish glosses and etym ologies. This rather full pattern o f entries has been thought desirable in view o f both the unstandardized character o f K hojki spellings and the very m ixed vocabulary o f the ginans. The glossary is follow ed by two indexes. The first is a subject index, listing both the original forms o f significant terms and the English equivalents we have used for these. Both this and the final index o f nam es are designed to provide ready access to the m aterial set out in the introduction and the notes. It is hoped that the glossary and indexes m ay be used as basic tools for the critical research which is so very much needed for the fuller investigation o f the ginanic literature. We have learnt m uch from the course o f our cooperation, not least how m uch m ore can be achieved by two working together than by one alone, especially w hen they enjoy the support and som etim es astonishingly patient tolerance o f their spouses. This book is accordingly dedicated jointly to Shahrukh and to M artin. W hile responsibility for errors o f presentation and interpretation is solely our own, we w ish to express our particular gratitude for their help to A bdulaziz Sham suddin, to Ian R aeside, and to Rupert Snell. This revised edition has allowed us the opportunity to m ake some m inor corrections and to update the bibliography. London M arch 2000

C hristopher Shackle Zaw ahir M oir

CONTENTS Preface Conventions Map of principal places mentioned

Vll

xii Xlll

INTRODUCTION PART I: SOUTH ASIAN ISMAILISM AND THE GINANS

3

01 ISMAILISM IN SOUTH ASIA 01: 1 Ismai1ism within Islam 01: 2 The Pirs and Sayyids 01: 3 The Aga Khans 01: 4 The Khojas 01: 5 Rituals and institutions

3 3 6 9 10 12

02 THE GINANS 02: 1 Textual transmission 02: 2 The ginanic repertoire 02: 3 The ginanic themes 02: 4 Forms and styles 02: 5 South Asian parallels

14 15 17 19 24 28

Examples of Khojki script

31

PART II: SCRIPT AND LANGUAGE

34

03 THE KHOJKI SCRIPT 03: I Development of the script 03: 2 The syllabary 03: 3 Vowel-signs and additional symbols 03: 4 Transcription 03: 5 Variant spellings

34 34 35 37 39 40

04 THE LANGUAGE OF THE GINANS 04: I General analysis 04: 2 Masculine/neuter nouns 04: 3 Feminine nouns 04: 4 Adjectives 04: 5 Numerals 04: 6 Postpositions 04: 7 Personal pronouns 04: 8 Other pronouns

42 42 44 45 45 46 46 47 47

lX

04: 04: 04: 04: 04: 04: 04: 04: 04: 04: 04:

9 Pronom inal sets 10 O ther word-classes 11Substantive verb 12 Verb stems and absolutives 13 Infinitives and gerundives 14 Present participles 15 Past participles 16 Im peratives 17 Present tenses 18 F utures 19 C om pound verbs

49 49 50 50 50 51 51 52 52 53 54

B IB L IO G R A P H Y

55

TEX TS A N D T R A N S L A T IO N S I: H Y M N S O F IN S T R U C T IO N 1 Pir Sadruddin: paratham radeh dhoine [So kirSS] 2 Pir In d r Im am uddin: apanun ap pichano 3 Pir S adruddin: ava gur-nar sam i ne sirevie 4 Pir Satgur N ur: sat-gur padharea tame jagajo 5 Pir Shams: kesari sihh sarup bhulayo 6 Sayyid M uham m ad Shah: bhamar gupha re upar dekhata 7 Sayyid Q utbuddin: sat tarxe m ukh mar na hove 8 Pir Tajuddin: dehi gur ke vaca heje 9 Pir Sadruddin: piyu piyu to sab ju g kare [Saloko riQno] 9A Pir Sadruddin: piyu piyu sab jug kare [Sri sadgor rid, slok]

62 68 68 70 12 72 72 74 76 80

II: R IT U A L H Y M N S 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

[A Sayyid]: ya ali khub majalas jinat kar-ke Pir In d r Im am uddin: saha na khat aya vira Pir S adruddin: sam kuh avat jo kahe Sayyid Fateh Ali Shah: navaroj na din sohamana Pir Sadruddin: ju g men phire saha j i muneri Pir Sadruddin: pat mahdavine cok puravo Sayyid Im am Shah: uth baeth re kiya suta Pir Shams: sat sabad hae gur hamara [Baraham parakZs]

82 82 84 86 86 88 90 90

III: D E V O T IO N A L H Y M N S 18 19 20 21 22 23

Pir M ira Sayyid K han: huh re piasi pia tere darasan k i Pir H asan K abiruddin: adam ad nirihjan [Venati[ Sayyid A bdul N abi: venati karuh chuh saheb mora [Venati\ Pir Sadruddin: tarn kuh sadhare so din bohotaj hua Pir Shams: parem patan raja man-sudh Pir Shams: ek sabad suno mere bhai

x

94 96 98 100 102 102

IV: T H E C O SM IC C Y C L E 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33

Pir Sadruddin: a paratham sam i j i paeda kia [Muman cit-veni] Pir Shams: suno suno m om ano sun man lavana Pir Sadruddin: avical ala avical khalak Pir Shams: kaem dayam tun sam i [Im am Ali]: suno bhai momino [KalSm molU hS\ Pir G hulam Ali Shah: m al khajina bohotaj bhariya Pir Sadruddin: saheb mera ek jo mralahb Pir Shams: es duniya de vie kiya ghin aeya Pir Sadruddin: seth kahe tame sahbhalo vanotar Pir Sadruddin: bindra re van man sukh care re gavahtri

106 108 110 112 112 114 114 116 118 120

V: TALES O F T H E M ISSIO N 34 35 36 37 38 39 40

Pir Satgur N ur: ad gur birama nur sat-gur nam [PutalB] Pir H asan K abiruddin: ramata ramata parabhu [Sat-gur nur n S vivS] Pir Shams: aj anahd pam ea man [Garabi\ Pir Shams: tian gure ginan karea Sayyid N a r M uham m ad Shah: sat-gur j i tare [Sat-varani v a $ \ Pir H asan K abiruddin: sanvat caud so ne bavan Sayyid Im am Shah: pir em am saha ginanaj bolea [Janat-puri\

124 126 128 132 134 136 138

NOTES, GLOSSARY AND INDEXES N OTES: H Y M N S 1-9A

145

N OTES: H Y M N S 10-17

165

N O TES: H Y M N S 18-23

175

N OTES: H Y M N S 24-33

183

N OTES: H Y M N S 34-40

199

G LOSSARY

210

LIST O F A B B REV IA TIO N S

212

S U B JE C T IN D E X

248

IN D E X O F N A M E S

254

xi

C O N V E N T IO N S A ttention is draw n to the use o f the following conventions throughout this book.

Rcfcrcnccs Cross-references w ithin the book are norm ally printed between square brackets. Those prefaced by a zero are to sections or subsections o f the introduction [02, 04: 2]. All other cross-references are to hym ns and verses [2: 1, 14: 2], those to com plete hym ns being printed in bold [2, 24]. O ther references are to w orks listed in the bibliography which follows the introduction. Textual sources are indicated by the abbreviated sigla explained in the first p a rt o f the bibliography, followed by page num ber [D5: 83, ES: 112]. Secondary sources are referred to by au th o r, year o f publication and page num ber [Ivanow 1948: 31].

Abbreviations A full list o f abbreviations is provided on pp. 212-13, im m ediately preceding the glossary. This includes the gram m atical abbreviations D:\Anandhi\pdf link-1\12_3_13\9781315027746 in section 04 o f the introduc

Names and dates Place names are given in their standard m odern spellings, e.g. ‘K achchh’, not ‘C u tch ’. Personal nam es are similarly written in their m ost fam iliar standard form , e.g. ‘Pir S ad ru d d in ’, with diacritics m arked only in the final index o f names. C om m on Ismaili term s are treated in the same way, e.g. ‘ginan’. All dates are given in accordance with the A D era, unless expressly m arked as A H (Hijri) or SV (Vikram Samvat).

Transcription Italics are used to distinguish w ords transcribed into the rom an script, with the usual use o f m acrons to indicate long vowels and of subscript dots to indicate retroflex consonants in w ords from S an sk rit and o th er South A sian languages. D iacritics used for the transliteration o f additional consonants in A rabic and Persian w ords are explained on p. 211. Rules governing the transcription o f words from the K hojki script are explained in detail in section 03 o f the introduction. Particular attention may be drawn here to the om ission o f m acrons over / and w, with u ndotted / being used to indicate a w ritten short /, and to the use o f dotted h to indicate a m ark o f nasalization. Form s like the fam iliar H indi gal ‘she w ent’, plural gaim, will accordingly app ear as gai, gain.

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INTRODUCTION

PART I: ISMAILISM IN SOUTH ASIA AND THE GINANS 01 ISMAILISM IN SOUTH ASIA

Not all users of this book will be familiar with the history and institutions of Ismailism in South Asia. This preliminary section has accordingly been designed to provide at least some minimum background to an understanding of the hymns. Since this volume is primarily an annotated textual anthology, the introductory account provided here has been kept as brief as possible, and does not seek to extend the boundaries of knowledge in an area where the hard evidence needed to advance statements with confidence is often hard to come by. After a preliminary sketch of the place of Ismail ism within Islam [01: 1), its historical development in South Asia is outlined. The hymns themselves date from the long formative period when local leadership was in the hands of the Pirs and Sayyids [0 1: 2], while their present status is only to be appreciated against the background of the more recent period dating from the arrival of the first Aga Khan in British India [0 1: 3]. A summary profile of the Khoja Ismaili community of South Asia is next offered [01: 4], before a final survey of its principal institutions [01: 5].

01: 1 Ismailism within Islam The generally received view of Islam tends to derive from that held by the Sunnis, both historically and numerically the dominant group of Muslims in South Asia as in most other parts of the Islamic world. As will emerge from the following pages, however, there are very considerable differences between the Ismaili interpretation of Islam current among the Khojas and this Sunni-determined picture. In the shared belief that the Ismaili tradition needs to be approached in its own terms, we have accordingly not sought to minimize the numerous differences from familiar Sunni norms, nowadays proclaimed with increasing stridency by modern neo-orthodoxy. Neither, of course, have we sought to maximize these differences, in full recog:1ition of the sensitivities which would rightly be aroused by their exaggeration. The historical relationship of the Khojas to adherents of the other main branches of Islam represented in South Asia may be schematically represented as: ISLAM [Shia]

~aili]

/

Sunnis

Isna Asharis

/

[M ustalian]

Bohras

~

[Nizari]

~

Khojas

All the lines descend from the same initial point, representing the original revelation to the Prophet Muhammad (d.632). The splits between them initially derive in each case from

3

Ismaili hymns from South Asia

disputes ab o u t the true line o f succession. These disputes involved doctrinal differences which have subsequently been m uch elaborated by each group as it defined itself in relation to the others, with each line naturally being considered by its adherents to be the only truly valid one. The first split betw een Sunni and Shia centred upon the right o f the P rophet’s cousin and son-in-law Ali to succeed to leadership o f the M uslim community, an office for w hich other close followers o f the Prophet were first chosen. Ali was at last chosen to be the fourth Caliph (655-61), and is honoured as such by the Sunnis. To the party o f his devoted supporters, the Shia (A r si*a ‘the party [of A li]’), A li was how ever a figure o f m uch greater im portance. Unlike the Sunnis ( < A r sunna ‘custom, law ’), the Shia believed that the hereditary succession was divinely vested in the Im am s (A r imam ‘lead er’) possessing absolute spiritual and wordly authority, who were drawn from the m ale line o f the Prophet’s family, descending through Ali. The open revolt against the Sunni C aliphate led by Im am Husain, A li’s younger son, was quickly ended by his death at the battle o f Kerbela in Iraq (680). T hereafter the Imams lived in Iran, rem oved from political power, but com m anding the passionate loyalty o f their Shia followers. The prim ary division w ithin the Shias stem m ed from the disputed succession to Im am Jafar al-Sadiq (d. 765). M any accepted his younger son as the next Im am , and continued to recognize his descendants until the line died o u t with the m ysterious disappearance o f the twelfth Im am , believed to be in a state o f occultation (A r ghayba) until his ultim ate return as the M ahdi (A r m ahdi ‘the guided one’) who will return to restore righteousness at the end o f time. H ence know n as Isna A sharis or ‘Twelvers’ ( < A r isna ‘asara ‘twelve’), this group o f Shias subsequently becam e powerful in Iran, where it has long been the do m in an t form o f Islam . In medieval times, this branch o f Shiism spread from Iran to South Asia, where states ruled by Shia dynasties were established. Isna A shari Shias [H ollister 1953] form a num erically significant m inority o f South Asian M uslims. They are distinguished from the m ajority Sunnis particularly by their fervent celebration o f the m artyrdom o f Im am H usain in the annual m ourning ceremonies held during the M uslim m onth o f M u h arram , which have generated a large literature o f elegies (A r marsiya) in U rd u and o th er South A sian languages. The other group o f Shias believed that the true succession had passed to Jafar al-S adiq’s elder son Ism ail, and hence cam e to be called Ism ailis. Since Jafar al-Sadiq is regarded as the sixth Im am (though as the fifth in the K hoja tradition), the Ism ailis are also term ed ‘Seveners’ (Ar sab ‘i < sab ‘a ‘seven’), as opposed to the ‘Twelver’ Isna Asharis [M adelung 1978]. The Ism ailis em erged as a highly organized revolutionary m ovem ent [D aftary 1990: 91-143], w hich achieved political success w ith the foundation o f the Fatim id Caliphate as an Ism aili state in N orth A frica and Egypt under the leadership o f the Ism aili Im am s as its C aliphs (909-1171) [D aftary 1990: 144-255]. In the prolonged struggle o f the Fatim ids against the Sunni Caliphate o f the A bbasids in Baghdad, an im portant role was played by the sophisticated propaganda organization or ‘M ission’ (Ar d a ‘wa) and its m issionary agents (Ar d a ‘i), so suspiciously regarded by their opponents. T heir secretive m ethods successfully spread the Ism aili m essage to m any parts o f the Islam ic world. These included M ultan and U pper Sind, w here an Ism aili state briefly came into existence during the tenth century for the only tim e in South A sian history [M aclean 1989: 125-53]. A lthough the Fatim id period is rightly regarded as the golden age o f Ism ailism , disputes over the succession to the C aliphate created perm anent divisions which have continued to

4

Ismailism in South Asia

this day. The D ruze com m unity o f L ebanon seceded after refusing to believe in the death o f the Im am -C aliph al-H akim (d. 1021). T hen, on the death o f al-M ustansir (1094), his elder son N izar, whom he had nom inated to succeed him, was ousted and then m urdered by a palace conspiracy in favour o f his younger brother al-M ustali. A fter the fall o f the Fatim ids, the last Im am was believed by the M ustalians to have gone into occultation, leaving leadership in the h ands o f his agents (da'i) in the Yemen. By the twelfth century, the M ustalian Ism ailis [D aftary 1990: 256-323] established com m unities aro u n d C am bay in G u jarat, which becam e the hereditary d a T s headquarters. Yet a n o th er split over succession to the leadership in 1591 led to the form ation o f two groups, the D audi predom inating in the Yemen and the Sulaim ani in India, where the M ustalians are know n as B ohras ( < G vohorvuh ‘to trad e’) [Engineer 1980], and survive as a well-established business com m unity und er the leadership o f their d a 'i, called Syedna (A r sayyid-na). They have produced some devotional poetry in G ujarati [M unshi 1935: 411], but m ost B ohra sacred literature is in A rabic. The history o f the N izari Ismailis is m ore dram atic [D aftary 1990: 324-434]. A fter N izar’s m urder in Egypt, his infant son was believed to have been taken secretly to Iran. There he was brought up in the m ountain fortress o f A lam ut which had been established in 1090 as an im pregnable base by the d a ‘i H asan-e Sabbah (d. 1124), know n to the C rusaders as the ‘old m an o f the m o u n tain s’. A lam ut now becam e the m ain centre for the continued spread o f Ism aili teachings, in a bitter struggle which included the targeting o f key Sunni opponents by the Ism aili zealots (A r fid a ’i) know n to E uropean tradition as the Assassins [Lewis 1967]. The confidence o f the Ism aili m ini-state in A lam ut ensured the continuation o f the M ission in Syria, Iran and Central Asia and its significant extension to India. It was supremely expressed when Im am H asan ala zikrihi al-salam (d. 1166) proclaim ed the arrival o f the prom ised Resurrection [Juvayni 1958]. H is successors were, however, forced to retract his proclam ation by increased Sunni m ilitary pressure, which eventually led to the sack o f A lam ut in 1256 by the M ongols and the subsequent execution o f the Im am R ukn al-D in K hurshah. W hereas the o ther branches o f Shiism believe th at their lines o f living Im am s have been term inated by their occultation, the succession o f N izari Im am s has continued down to the present, although their history [D aftary 1990: 435-503] rem ains often obscure. This is especially true o f the first centuries after the fall o f A lam ut, when Sunni persecution drove the Im am s into hiding and forced them to practise the dissim ulation (A r taqiyya) o f their beliefs which is perm itted in such circum stances in Shiism. D uring this period, when the Im am ate was itself split by a succession dispute, the M ission in India developed under the local leadership o f the Im am s’ representatives [01: 2]. A revival o f the Im am ate was initiated by Im am M ustansir billah II (d. 1498) from the village o f A njudan in central Iran. Securing his status in Iran by assum ing the role o f a Sufi shaikh o f the N im atullahi order, he reaffirmed the control o f the Im am ate over his followers in South Asia, and its right to their tithes. U nder the m oderately tolerant Isna A shari regime o f the Safavid Shahs, this policy was continued during the following two centuries by his successors, w ho moved their headquarters from A njudan, first to K ah ak [Ivanow 1938], then south-eastw ards tow ards K irm an, apparently with the m ain motive o f facilitating contact with their Indian followers, w ho had come to outnum ber by far those in Iran itself, and o f ensuring the safe passage o f pilgrims and tithes from South Asia. T he collapse o f central auth o rity in Iran during the eighteenth century allowed the

5

Ismaili hymns from South Asia

Im am s to use their growing wealth to emerge into political prom inence in south-eastern Iran. T heir status as the local chiefs o f K irm an was recognized by the Q ajar Shahs, w ho bestowed upon Im am H asan Ali Shah the hereditary title o f A ga K han. The failure o f A ga K han I to proclaim him self the independent ruler o f K irm an brought to an end this final phase o f the Im am ate in Iran, when it seemed again to have established itself as a local dynasty. His subsequent flight to India in 1843 to seek British su p p o rt initiated the m odern period during which the N izari Ismailis o f South Asia were brought under the direct control o f the A ga K h an Im am s [01: 3].

01: 2 The Pirs and Sayyids The official Muslim historians speak with much approval o f the destruction by Mahmud o f Ghazna (d. 1030) and his successors o f the early political hold on the Multan region established by the Ismailis during the Fatimid period. While it seems probable that the practice o f taqiyya would have allowed an Ismaili tradition to continue locally, this never resulted in any subsequent attempt to regain local political power on the Fatimid pattern [but see Kassam 1995: 104]. The ground was, however, perhaps thus prepared for the M ission which was to lead to the eventual production o f the ginans. Both this and alm ost every other aspect o f the w ork o f the M ission which brought the Ismaili message to India are, however, rendered very obscure by the secrecy with which Ism ailis have characteristically been forced to protect themselves and by the confusions o f the record stem m ing from later disputes over succession to spiritual authority. Firm inform ation is consequently hard to com e by. Posing no political threat and careful to m aintain the secrecy o f their identity from possible persecutors, the Ism ailis largely escaped the notice o f the later M uslim historians o f India. The ginans which contain the com m unity’s own record o f its past are largely hagiographic, and can therefore be used for the reconstruction o f its history only with the usual extreme caution. Even the m ost careful attem pt at such a reconstruction [Nanji 1978: 33-96] is thus inevitably driven to m uch confessed speculation. The traditional account o f the M ission is largely recorded in ginans containing tales o f the leading m issionaries, referred to not by the technical Ismaili term d a ’i, but by the honorific Pir (Pers pir). These Pirs are depicted as personages with spiritual powers o f an exaggerated nature, and overshadow the Im am s living in obscurity in the d istan t land o f Iran. Several different lists o f Pirs exist [M isra 1964: 54-7, D aftary 1990: 712, n.105], with p articu lar im portance attaching to the once canonical list form erly recited in the Dua prayer [01: 5], also attested with m any variations o f detail from the M S tradition [Nanji 1978: 139-41]. As usual in such largely uncorroborated catalogues, some o f the entries are very shadowy, and the dating o f even the m ore solid figures is frequently problem atic. F or even the m ost sum m ary account o f the Pirs o f the M ission [D aftary 1990: 478-86], the narrative ginans themselves provide little real corroboration, since their clearly legendary character may readily be seen from the selection included here [34-40]. The suspicion th at the inclusion o f many o f the earlier names in the lists may have been inspired by the desire to extend the authority o f the present by projecting the past back far beyond any reliable record, is confirm ed by the very nam e o f the Pir (no. 7 in the list) w ho is depicted in the ginans as the archetypal founder o f the M ission. This is Pir N u r Satgur, or T ru e G uide o f L ight’, a com pound o f two core ginanic term s [02: 3] which hardly encourages belief in his historical existence [Ivanow 1948: 10]. N o credence need be given to

6

Ismailism in South Asia

the story o f his conversion o f the fam ous ruler o f G ujarat, Siddharaja Jayasinha (d. 1143), a tale also related in B ohra and Sunni hagiography [M isra 1964:8-13], nor to the ascription o f several ginans to P ir N u r Satgur [34], which are certainly o f later authorship. Sim ilar do u b ts m ust surro u n d (no. 8) Pir In d r Im am uddin, whose nam e again suggests an archetypal status, and the obscure figures who follow him. The beginnings o f an historical record may be uncertainly discerned with (no. 23) Pir Sham s. T his is hardly to be found in the ginans, where he appears as a great w orker o f m iracles on travels taking him as far as B adakhshan and Bengal. H e is, however, reliably associated w ith M ultan [Ivanow 1955], where his tom b is now revered as th at o f a Sufi saint called Sham s-e Tabrez. Less credence is to be given to the association o f P ir Sham s in the ginans w ith the great Sufi shaikh o f the Suhravardi order, B ahauddin Z akariya (d. 1266) [38], whose status as the prem ier saint o f M ultan has led to his inclusion in a sim ilar role in oth er hagiographic traditions. A p o st-1300 date seems m ore likely for Pir Sham s, w ho is credited with a very large num ber o f ginans [37], and is believed to be the founder o f the Sham si com m unity o f the M ultan area [01: 4]. A doubtfully established line o f genealogical descent m akes Pir Sham s the great­ g randfather o f (no. 26) Pir S adruddin (d. 1416?), whose prim e im portance to later South A sian Ism ailis is reflected in the exalted epithets bestowed upon him in the ginans [3]. Said like all the preceding Pirs to have been born an Iranian Sayyid, Pir Sadruddin evidently established his h eadquarters at U ch, a then im portant town which lies to the south o f M ultan, and near where his tom b still exists. From U ch, he extended the w ork o f the M ission perhaps into G ujarat, b u t certainly in Sind, where he succeeded in converting the trading caste o f L ohanas, whose traditional title thakur ‘m aster’ he converted to its Persian equivalent khwaja. hence ‘K h o ja’. As the founder o f the K hojas, Pir Sadruddin is credited w ith m ore ginans than any o ther au th o r, with the foundation o f m any K hoja rituals and institutions [01: 5] and with the invention o f the K hojki script [03: 1]. A fter the death o f Pir Sadruddin the Pirship became for a while hereditary, with the appoin tm en t o f his son (no. 27) Pir H asan K abiruddin (d. 1470). Said to have been the first Pir to have been born locally, Pir H asan K abiruddin extended his father’s M ission from Uch. He appears in Sufi hagiography as a Suhravardi shaikh, and his tom b at U ch is nowadays revered as that o f the Sufi saint ‘H asan D arya’. In keeping with the N im atullahi association noted above for the Im am s o f the period, this may be assum ed to have been the guise u nder which the M ission to local H indu castes was successfully pursued in a society under Sunni control. Pir H asan K abiruddin is the third Pir to be credited with substantial num bers o f ginans [39]. H is im portance in the later tradition also certainly derives from his having fathered no less th an eighteen children, whose descendants founded num erous local spiritual dynasties, some o f which were to secede from the m ain com m unity. All Pir H asan K a b iru d d in ’s sons were, however, passed over by the Im am , now anxious to establish the au th o rity o f A njudan over U ch, in favour o f their uncle (no. 28) Pir Tajuddin, credited with only one ginan [8]. D oubtless because o f family rivalries, Pir Tajuddin is said to have been accused o f having m isappropriated the Im am ’s gifts on return from a visit to Iran, and to have ended his life mysteriously as a result. A claim to the vacant Pirship was launched by Pir H asan K ab iru d d in ’s youngest son Im am Shah (d. 1513), but he failed to win the Im am ’s nom ination or the su p p o rt o f the K hojas in Sind. He then went east to K achchh and G ujarat, where he succeeded in

7

Ismaili hymns from South Asia

converting m any H indus from the K unbi peasant caste [40]. H e eventually established his h ead q u arters at P iran a near A h m adabad, where he was buried. Im am Shah is credited w ith a very large num ber o f ginans, in which he is loosely given the title ‘P ir’. H e is, however, no longer accorded this status am ong the K hojas, w ho nowadays give him the lesser title ‘Sayyid’. T he controversial status o f Im am Shah stems from the secession launched by his son Sayyid N a r M uh am m ad Shah (d. 1533), credited with three long and im p o rtan t ginans [38], w ho proclaim ed th at Im am Shah was not merely Pir or Sayyid, but Im am , and th at the tithes should be rem itted to him self as his father’s successor. F u rther justification was given to this claim by identifying Im am Shah with the obscure early Pir In d r Im am uddin, thus causing furth er confusions o f ascription in the ginans [2]. Sayyid N a r M uham m ad "Shah’s breakaw ay led to the form ation o f the Im am shahis in G u jarat and K handesh as a group separate from the K hojas, and the term Satpanthi or ‘Followers o f the True P ath ’, used in the ginans to describe all Ismailis, came to be particularly reserved for the Im am shahis. D uring the eighteenth century the two groups tried to win followers from each o th e r’s com m unities, b u t there are now no direct contacts between them. D ivided by later splits, the Im am shahi Satpanthis have their centre at Pirana and their own versions o f the ginanic literature [Ivanow 1936]. Pir Tajuddin is the last nam e on the K hoja lists also to appear in the signatures o f the ginans. The next nam e is (no. 29) ‘Pir Pandiyat’. This is not a person but a book, the Pandiyat-e java n m a rd i, a collection o f instructions in Persian prose attributed to Im am M ustansir billah II [Ivanow 1953], which was perhaps despatched around that period to heal the crisis caused by the Im am shahi schism. Later figures nam ed on the list do not seem to have been active in India, though some lists include Pir D adu (d. 1593), who was evidently an im portant historical figure in the reorganization o f the com m unity [Nanjiani 1892: 240-50], including its literature [02: 1]. Said to have been sent to check the conversion o f Khojas to Sunnism, Pir D adu was forced to flee Sind in 1550 for G ujarat, w here he eventually settled at Bhuj in Kachchh. F rom the sixteenth century, closer control thus clearly came to be exercised by the Im am s, with local adm inistrative leadership being placed m ore firmly under their direction [01: 5]. The descendants o f the m any other sons o f Pir H asan K abiruddin continued, however, to com m and considerable reverence as local spiritual dynasties o f Sayyids in Sind, K achchh and G u jarat, w hether or not they were appointed by the Im am to form al adm inistrative office. A m em ber o f one such dynasty provoked a further secession from the m ain com m unity. This was Pir M ashaikh (d. 1697), from the im p o rtan t K adiw ala dynasty o f Sayyids, w ho is revered as their founder by the M om nas o f northern G u jarat [M isra 1964: 62-5], w ho have developed their own religious literature overlapping with the ginanic tradition. T he period 1500-1850 may appropriately be term ed the age of the Sayyids. A num ber o f ginans, som e containing references to their visits to the Im am s o f the time, are attributed to m em bers o f the Sayyid families, sometimes loosely given the title ‘P ir’ [6], and it may confidently be supposed that many, perhaps m ost, o f those ginans which bear the signature o f one o f the early Pirs are similarly the com positions o f such later Sayyids. The last m em ber o f a local Sayyid family recognized as the a u th o r o f ginans is the only nam ed female com poser, Sayyida Im am Begam, who died in K arachi, probably in 1866 [02: 4].

8

Ismailism in South Asia

01: 3 The Aga Khans T he considerable m easure o f local independence perm itted to the Sayyids by the distance o f the Im am s’ residence in Iran was brought to an end soon after the first A ga K h an , Im am H asan Ali Shah (d. 1881), set ab o u t asserting his direct control over his Indian com m unity from his newly established h eadquarters in Bombay. Only a very sum m ary outline o f those m easures taken by A ga K han I and his successors which are directly relevant to an u nderstanding o f the status o f the ginans need be given here, since accounts o f the Aga K h an s are generally available [Frischauer 1970, D aftary 1990: 504-48]. In early nineteenth-century British India, the Ismailis gradually cam e to be removed from their traditional extreme social isolation and to be brought into free contact with Sunni and Isna A shari M uslim s, especially in Bombay. This caused some Ism ailis to question the unchallenged au th o rity o f the Im am , particularly over the contentious issue o f the paym ent o f tithes, and there cam e into being an opposition group, called the B arbhai (G bar bhal ‘twelve b ro th ers’). Inevitably, the British courts were soon called in to adjudicate. The m ost im p o rtan t o f several such cases between the A ga K han and his o pponents was the G reat K h o ja Case o f 1866, also know n as the A ga K han Case, where for the first tim e the entire history o f the K hojas and the N izari Im am ate was brought o u t o f the secrecy which had hitherto surrounded it into the public dom ain o f the Bom bay High C ourt [H ow ard 1866]. The plea advanced by the B arbhai as plaintiffs th at Islam ic law gave the A ga K h an no foundation for his claimed authority over them or local institutions was decisively rejected. A split in the com m unity resulted, with some K hojas proclaim ing themselves Sunnis or Isna A sharis independent o f the A ga K han, but with the great m ajority rem aining loyal to his suprem e authority, which had been m uch enhanced by the judgm ent in the case. A fter his prem ature death in 1885, Im am Ali Shah A ga K h an II was succeeded by his young son Im am Sultan M uham m ad Shah (1877-1957), the only Im am actually to have been b orn in India, m ore precisely in K arachi. C ontinuing the centralizing policies o f his grandfather, he too encountered and overcame resistance to his authority, including th at from his own family in the Haji Bibi Case o f 1908 where the British courts again upheld the A ga K h a n ’s position. D uring his long reign as Aga K han III the foundations o f the m odern com m unity were com prehensively laid, with m any institutions being fundam entally reorganized [01: 5]. In the present context, the m ost notable o f these centralizing reform s was the collection o f K hojki m anuscripts by the A ga K h a n ’s officially appointed publisher, and the issuing o f a single canonical text replacing the num erous local traditions which had previously flourished [02: 1]. A t least before he moved from Bom bay to Europe in the 1920s, A ga K han III him self played a prom inent p a rt in the M uslim politics o f British India, if to less im p o rtan t effect than th at o f the founder o f Pakistan, M uham m ad Ali Jinnah (1875-1948), whose K hoja origins are usually glossed over in m ost Pakistani accounts, inevitably anxious to em phasize the co u n try ’s dom in an t Sunni or Isna A shari norm s. The distance between these norm s, themselves ever m ore rigorously defined with the rise o f neo-orthodoxy from the later nineteenth century onw ards, and the traditional beliefs and practices o f the K hojas enshrined in the ginans had been revealed in the judgm ents o f the great High C ourt cases. Since the Aga K h a n ’s claim to absolute authority over his followers rested upon the very distinctiveness o f the N izari tradition, he was throughout the British period m ore concerned

9

Ismaili hymns from South Asia

with the strengthening o f the com m unity in India and other p arts o f the British em pire by system atization o f the tradition th an with its accom m odation to other Islam ic standards. This situation was altered by the granting o f independence in 1947 by the British, with w hom the A ga K h a n ’s ties had long been so close. The com m unity’s m ain centres were now p artitioned, with Bom bay, G u jarat and K achchh in India now separated from K arachi and Sind in the Islam ic republic o f Pakistan. D eprived like other m inorities o f the protection o f an im perial pow er whose interests had been well served by their separate identity, the Ism ailis’ distance from their fellow M uslim s now appeared m ore o f a liability in countries whose boundaries h ad been determ ined by com m unal allegiance. T he last years o f A ga K h an I l l ’s reign were accordingly m arked by further reform s tending to align Ism ailis m ore closely with their Sunni co-religionists. This trend continues to characterize the m ore recent developm ents which have taken place under his grandson an d successor Prince K arim A ga K han IV (b. 1936), the present Im am , during whose reign n eo-orthodox Sunnism has becom e increasingly dom inant both in South A sia and in other p arts o f Islam ic w orld where his followers are settled [D aftary 1990: 528-32]. In keeping w ith this general move tow ards rapprochem ent, the ginanic canon has again been overhauled, and the collections currently authorized for recitation have been severely pruned o f m any items that have seemed to diverge excessively from w hat are now regarded as Islam ic norm s [02: 1].

01: 4 The Khojas Only w ith the systematic introduction o f official ethnography in British India does a picture o f the K h o ja com m unity begin to emerge in any sort o f detail, and the gazetteers and castedictionaries o f the Bom bay Presidency rem ain prim e sources [Fazalullah 1899: Enthoven 1922]. Only the broadest o f outlines need be given here o f the K hojas, w ho far outnum ber in size and im portance the vestigial groups o f followers o f the Aga K han in Syria, Iran and C entral Asia. Even w ithin South Asia, the K hojas are not coterm inous with the N izari Ismaili followers o f the A ga K h an as a whole, since the activities o f the M ission had also produced oth er groups o f converts. T he m ost rem ote o f these are the Ismailis o f H unza and C hitral, speaking B urushaski and K how ar respectively, in the far n o rth o f Pakistan, w ho stem from the earlier M ission to C entral Asia. A lm ost com pletely isolated until the m odern developm ent o f com m unications, these Ismailis have a small religious literature in Persian b u t have naturally lacked any contact whatsoever with the ginans. In the P anjab, Ism ailism survives am ong the small Shamsi com m unity o f the M ultan region, allegedly converted from the goldsm ith caste by Pir Shams, am ong w hom ginans are current, b u t who have rem ained geographically and socially distinct from the K hojas. T heir relationship and those o f the subsequent splinter groups to the m ain body o f K hojas may be sum m arized in the following simplified diagram , which takes no account o f the num erous fu rther splits and conversions to Sunnism or Isna A sharism which have taken place:

10

Ismailism in South Asia

(7) Pir S atgur N u r (8) Pir In d r Im am uddin (23) P ir Sham s

=*

=> SH A M SIS

(25) Pir Sadruddin (d. 1416?)

(26) Pir H asan K abiruddin (d. 1470)

[Sayyids]

Pir/Sayyid Im am Shah (d. 1513)

I

I

[Sayyids] »

Sayyid N a r M u ham m ad Shah (d. 1533)

i

II Pir M ashaikh (d. 1697) » K H O JA S

(28) Pir T ajuddin

1 MOMNAS

[Im am shahi Pirs/Sayyids]

» IM A M S H A H IS (SA T PA N T H IS)

Long before 1800, the K hojas had been driven by an ap parent m ixture o f persecution in Sind an d the search for fresh com m ercial o p p o rtu n ities to spread into K achchh [R ushbrook W illiams 1958] and to G ujarat, where the tolerance o f local rulers anxious to foster trad e encouraged the settlem ent and developm ent o f num erous business com m unities w ith m ore o r less heterodox sectarian associations, w hether H indu or M uslim [M isra 1964]. A lthough the ginans do not suggest th at they were com m ercially particularly enterprising for m uch o f the eighteenth century, the K hojas did prove capable o f exploiting the new business opportunities opened up by the establishm ent o f the British im perial system. The great m etropolis o f Bom bay became their principal centre under the first three A ga K hans, and it was there th at both the disputes which repeatedly occurred in K h o ja affairs were principally fought, and there th at the wealth o f the com m unity was m ost signally increased [M asselos 1978]. M any K hojas moved from the isolation o f K achchh, though typically retaining K acchi as their hom e language, and from neighbouring K athiaw ar (Saurashtra), b oth to Bom bay and to the developing p o rt o f K arachi, which becam e their second m ajor centre. The historical trading links from western India across the Indian O cean had already led quite early to the settlem ent o f some K hojas in E ast Africa. T heir num ber was greatly increased after the establishm ent o f the British protectorate over Z anzibar and o f the new colonies o f K enya and U ganda. Like m any other E ast A frican A sian com m unities, the K hojas to o k full advantage o f the opportunities provided by the colonial system. The presentation to the A ga K han o f his own weight in precious m etals and jewels on the occasions o f his successive jubilees provided fam ous occasions for the dem onstration o f this wealth.

11

Ismaili hymns from South Asia

The close links w ithin the com m unity in both India and E ast A frica were cem ented by b o th com m ercial cooperation and the norm al practice o f m arriage w ithin its boundaries as well as by religious observances. They were further strengthened by the great pow er vested in the central au th o rity o f the A ga K han, w ho directed bo th the religious organization o f the com m unity an d its econom ic developm ent through the redistribution o f the ever­ growing resources available to him from the tithes o f his followers. These powers have been used by the A ga K h an s to cushion the com m unity through the successive upheavals th at have overtaken it since 1947. T heir form al directives are issued in the binding edicts called farm an (Pers fa rm a n ‘co m m an d ’), com m unicated to local com m unities from the A ga K h a n s’ headq u arters through letters called talika ( < A r ta'liqa). M uch stress has been laid by the A ga K hans on the need for the com m unity to a d a p t to local social norm s, since it lacks a territorial base o f its own, while seeking opportunities wherever they may occur. This has led to the present establishm ent o f Ismaili com m unities, now n o t only o f businessm en b u t containing an increasing num ber o f professional people, far beyond the original K h o ja hom eland, notably in Britain [Clarke 1978] and N o rth A m erica. W hile the ginans retain a place in Ismaili ritual everywhere am ong the K hoja d iaspora, the natural process o f overseas settlem ent has m eant that m any Ism ailis are now m ore at hom e in English than in a South A sian language, such as Kacchi, and the general awareness o f the contents o f the ginans has become increasingly m inim al, except am ong the m ost devout.

01: 5 Rituals and institutions T he w holesale reform s introduced by the A ga K hans [01: 3] in a still continuing process have had the double effect o f obscuring the character o f South A sian Ismaili rituals and institutions during the period when the ginans were being com posed, and o f m aking it difficult to characterize individual features w ithout risking anachronism s. T he following b rief sum m ary is accordingly designed only to indicate some aspects necessary for an u nderstanding o f the contents and context o f the ginans. The public dim ension alone is considered here, w ith the extremely im portant area o f private devotion being reserved for discussion along with the general survey o f the theological themes o f the ginans presented below [02: 3]. T he organization o f Ism aili religious life [Hollister 1953, M ujtaba Ali 1936] differs in m any significant respects from the fam iliar patterns o f Sunni Islam. The place o f w orship is n o t the m osque but the ja m a a tk h a n a (Pers jam a'at-khana), a house o f prayer and assembly for the com m unity (jam a'at). This institution is certainly a very old one, traditionally th o u g h t to have been founded by Pir Sadruddin himself. A ja m a atk h a n a is found wherever sufficient num bers o f com m unity m em bers are established, the m ost im p o rtan t centres containing large m odern m ulti-storeyed buildings with large courtyards, with offices on the ground floor and the upper floors being used for the prescribed prayers and other religious gatherings. T he daily services differ from the well-known five daily prayers (A r salat, Pers namaz) observed in o th er varieties o f Islam. Three prayer services are held, in the m orning, in the evening, and at night [1: 58], com prising prayers and the recitation o f ginans. T heir form w ould ap p ear to have undergone considerable changes since the earliest times, and was

12

Ismailism in South Asia

furth er changed by the A ga K h an in 1952. T he older prayer, now w ithdraw n from circulation, was the Dua (A r du'a) [H ooda 1948a]. A lthough attrib u ted to Pir Sadruddin, this prayer w ould in fact appear to have been form ulated by Pir D ad u [Nanji 1978: 89]. It consisted o f form ulas in Sindhi, supplications to the Im am , and the lists o f Im am s and Pirs referred to above [01: 2]. Since the reform o f 1952, it has been replaced by a new A rabic D ua, com prising various Q uranic verses and the genealogy o f the Im am s, b u t n o t including the form er list o f Pirs. A particularly p o p u lar com ponent o f the service is the unaccom panied singing o f ginans, m any o f which are associated with one or an o th er o f the three daily cerem onies [14, 17], either in chorus o r by recognized singers as solos or in unison [Asani 1991: 9-11]. In keeping w ith the general absence o f the ritual segregation o f the sexes so strictly enforced in other Islam ic orthodoxies in South Asia, women play a full p a rt in the recitation o f the Dua and the chanting o f ginans. The m ost distinctive Ismaili ritual is the ghat-pat ceremony, whose institution is ascribed by the ginans to Pir Shams. This centres upon the cerem onial distribution to the congregation o f H oly W ater (nowadays w ater blessed by the Im am ) from a p o t (ghat) placed on a low w ooden table (pat) in the centre o f the prayer hall [Nanji 1982]. This cerem ony is held daily before the m orning prayers, with the high point o f the week being m arked by its perform ance on Fridays before the evening prayers. Some ginans are naturally reserved for the ghat-pat cerem ony [15, 16]. O ther ginans are popularly recited at ritual assemblies (A r majalis, singular majlis) additional to the prescribed prayers. The preoccupation o f m any ginans with the them e o f the inevitability o f death provides a particularly rich selection suitable for recitation at funeral assemblies [29-32]. O thers relate to m ore joyful occasions, such as the arrival o f a letter from the Im am or, above all, the celebration o f the news o f his approaching visit in person [11, 12]. The annual religious calendar again differs from that observed by the Sunnis and Isna A sharis. G reat im portance is given to the celebration o f the Aga K h a n ’s date o f accession on Im am ate Day, with which a special ginan o f uniquely late nineteenth-century date is associated [10], also to the Im am ’s birthday. The two Id festivals determ ined by the lunar Hijri year which are the m ajor feast-days for m ost M uslim s are celebrated by the Ismailis, b ut there are no ginans particularly associated with them. Besides the Ids, the Persian New Y ear (Pers nau-roz) is celebrated on 21 M arch, when food is distributed at a special majlis, and a p articu lar ginan is sung [13]. The significance o f the Persian New Year w ould appear to date from the time o f the A ga K h an s’ arrival in India from Iran. Certainly from the time o f A ga K h an III, its im portance has been m arked by its being the occasion when the com m ittees o f officers are annually appointed to run the local congregation’s affairs. A dm inistrative com petence and com m unity spirit, rather than any religious qualifica­ tions, are nowadays expected from m em bers o f these com m ittees, headed by the M ukhi ‘stew ard’ and K am adia (kamadia) ‘acco u n tan t’, traditional titles going back to the pre-A ga K han period when they enjoyed considerable local power. The responsibilities o f the M ukhi and K am ad ia include officiating over the daily rituals, but they are prim arily lay officials. Since the wholesale reorganizations undertaken by the A ga K hans, the local com m ittees are nowadays tied into an elaborately hierarchical adm inistrative structure o f boards and councils. As th ro u g h o u t Ismaili history, one o f their m ost im p o rtan t functions is to ensure the p roper remission to the Im am o f voluntary donations and the obligatory 10% tithe

13

Ismaili hymns from South Asia

(dasohd), upo n whose p roper paym ent such very great stress is continually laid in the ginans [16: 4]. The tithe-collector has always been an officer o f great im portance, form erly know n by a variety o f local titles, including khiyato in Sind, vakil (A r wakll) in K achchh and bavo in G u jarat, b u t he now goes by the prosaic English nam e o f ‘Estate A gent’. Since all spiritual powers are by Ismaili definition vested in the Im am , there can be no priesthood, in the sense o f a form al religious hierarchy with sacerdotal status, any m ore than in any o th er branch o f Islam . Since fresh legal rulings can be introduced at any time by a farm an [01: 4] o f the Im am , the Ismailis do not have a class o f religious clerics properly com parable to the Sunni 'ulam a, whose status is based on their m astery o f a largely fixed religious law, the Shariat, although religious instruction is placed in the hands o f the W aaezeen (A r wa'izin) o r ‘preachers’. Their duties include the form al teaching o f Ism aili doctrine in the religious schools attached to the jam a atk h a n a referred to in Pakistan as ‘Sindhi schools’ o r ‘night schools’. This program m e o f instruction includes the teaching o f approved sim ple ginans. Finally, however, it m ay again be em phasized that the ginans themselves reflect the rather different distribution o f spiritual authority which m ust form erly have prevailed when the Im am was far d istan t in Iran and the Pirs or their Sayyid descendants were the nearest approaches to holiness the local believers could hope to gain access to. T he extreme reverence accorded in the ginans to the Pirs often, indeed, m akes it hard to distinguish the figure o f the Pir from th at o f the Im am . Pre-m odern sources reveal th at som ething o f this reverence long continued to be paid to the Sayyids, themselves im p o rtan t form ulators o f the ginanic tradition, before the m ore disciplined arrangem ents o f the m odern period supplanted their authority. T his past context m ust continually be borne in m ind when considering the ginans, which can only be properly understood if they are analysed as p roducts o f their own period.

02 T H E G IN A N S The preceding general sketch has deliberately avoided all but the m ost passing reference to the co n ten t and form o f the ginans themselves. Before this necessary task can be properly attem pted, it will be appropriate to draw attention to the process o f their textual transm ission, in so far as this is at present understood [02: 1], and to give some account o f the overall repertoire o f the ginanic literature and the categories o f au th o rs to w hom it is ascribed, in so far as the latter aspect can ever hope to be fully understood [02: 2]. There then follows a m ore substantial section dealing with the m ain them es handled by the ginans [02: 3]. This section is intended to provide no m ore than a reasonably coherent and straightforw ard survey o f an intrinsically complex and som etim es confusing subject, since specific term s and oth er m atters o f detail are dealt with in the notes to the hym ns which m ay be individually consulted through the subject index. It is followed by a broad description o f the form al characteristics o f the ginans, whose own conspicuous lack o f literary artifice has been th o u g h t sufficient justification for n o t attem p tin g m ore pedantically m inute analysis [02: 4]. O riginal K hojki texts o f the two sh o rt exam ples selected for form al analysis are reproduced on pp. 31-2, after the concluding brief assess­ m ent o f the place o f the ginans in the context o f some immediately com parable South A sian religious literatures [02: 5].

14

The Ginans

02: 1 Textual transmission N o realistic discussion o f the ginans is possible w ithout first facing the realization th a t they are, at least in their present form , o f quite recent origin. The linguistic evidence [04], which reveals a n o ta b le lack o f discernibly archaic features, is itself a q u ite sufficient d em onstration o f the tru th o f this assertion. It may o f course be objected th at this evidence is based on an analysis o f fairly recently printed texts. This objection may, however, be fairly countered by the fact th at the language o f the m anuscripts is in no way substantially different, certainly n o t to the significant degree which w ould be required for proper authentication o f the pre-sixteenth-century dates implied by the usual poetic signatures o f the ginans. This is n o t to deny th at m uch authentic m aterial m ust indeed have been preserved at least from the tim e o f Pir Sadruddin (d. 1416?), since to pronounce all the ginans attrib u ted to one o r o th er o f the great early figures o f the M ission to be the fabrications o f later au th o rs seems even m ore im plausible than a com plete acceptance o f those traditional claim s whose inconsistencies were long ago dem onstrated [Ivanow 1948: 40-2]. T he difficulty, hitherto hardly faced, is to decide w hat is realistically to be assigned to which period, and, if possible, to which au th o r. This is not a task which can properly be undertaken in these pages, which merely try to state the problem s rather than to offer facile solutions. A long period o f oral transm ission m ust certainly be supposed, if the m odernity o f linguistic form s in the ginans is to be reconciled with early dates for their com position. The existence o f such a trad itio n is rendered very plausible by the ability o f a few older m em bers o f the com m unity today to recite a repertoire o f two hundred or m ore ginans by heart. Some parallel older m anuscript (M S) tradition may also be supposed, and here it may be observed th at Pir D ad u (d. 1593) is said to have been instructed by the Im am to collect the teachings o f the earlier Pirs and produce a w ritten record o f them [N anjiani 1894: 240-50]. This, at least, is w hat seems to be suggested by the attested M S tradition [Nanji 1978: 911], recorded in the specially adap ted business script unique to the K hojas which is know n as K hojki [03]. The standardization o f the canon around 1900, described below, appears to have resulted in the destruction o f large num bers o f MSS. The principal collection o f those th at survive, num bering some 250 items, was assembled by the Ism ailia A ssociation for Pakistan. This was then partly transferred to the Institute o f Ismaili Studies in London, which now holds ab o u t 150 items, including some from other sources. N either o f the draft catalogues to these collections [N oorally 1971, M oir 1985] has yet been published. There is also a small collection in H arv ard University [Asani 1992], with others in private hands in South Asia. In all, perhaps some 500 K hojki MSS survive. W hile som e older M SS contain scribal notes indicating loose connexions with earlier copyists, the oldest M S so far identified dates from only 1736, containing fifty ginans with further item s added dow n to 1822 [M oir 1985: no. 1]. M ost o f the surviving K hojki MSS are in fact dated o r to be assigned to the later nineteenth century, with the last attested date being as late as 1930. They thus largely overlap in time w ith the period o f the printed editions. A variety o f geographical points o f origin is attested in or for the M SS, m ostly in Sind and K achchh, b u t also including a few in the Panjab and G ujarat. Some were clearly produced for ja m a a tk h a n a use, containing lists o f Pirs, local agents, and farm ans, but the m ajority ap p ear to be anthologies for personal use. These M SS, called pothi ‘holy b o o k ’, are usually com posite collections, containing a

15

Ismaili hymns from South Asia

num ber o f m iscellaneous items which were apparently collected at random over time, and are characteristically bou n d with the folios sewn in very thick w rappers in the special style revealingly called khato ‘account book, register’. A cursory inspection reveals a tendency tow ards increased use through time o f conventional Islam ic form ulae. T he later M SS, which also naturally tend to be bulkier and to contain m ore items, tend for instance to use A H (or even A D ) rath er th an the usual VS dates, and to add the basmala to the traditional Sindhi opening form ula alla(h) tohar ‘with the help o f G o d ’. A general tendency for the language o f the M SS to becom e progressively less Sindhi and increasingly G ujarati over tim e m ay also be noted. Besides the ginans themselves, sometimes headed padh ‘recitation’, the M SS also often contain such other item s as acrostic tables (cari akharx) [03: 2] and the very p o p u lar fortunetelling tables (fal-namo) often attributed to a Pir or Sayyid, as well as less interesting m iscellaneous item s from other sources such as popular devotional songs (bhajan) or poem s (ghazaft. O ccasional indications in some MSS o f the raga in which a p articular ginan was to be perform ed aw ait systematic investigation. T he herm etic nature o f the K hoja tradition renders it unlikely th at m any item s will be attested from independent sources. In the one case where such sources are know n to exist, it has been cogently argued th at an alleged ginan, the Bujh nirahjan attrib u ted to Pir S adruddin, is in fact a Sufi text o f Q adiri origin [Asani 1984]. Sem i-independent sources w ould, however, seem to exist in the ginans preserved in MS form by the Im am shahis and the M om nas, although neither seems so far to have been examined. U ntil such time as the M SS begin to be thoroughly investigated, studies o f the ginans will thus continue to have to rely on the com prehensive printed editions published from Bombay. Bracketed references to these in the following paragraphs employ the sigla listed in the first p a rt o f our bibliography. The existence o f the num erous local traditions and private collections evident from the surviving M SS was hardly consistent with the increasingly centralized control o f the com m unity being pursued by the A ga K hans after their arrival in India [01: 3]. A process o f collection was accordingly begun with the aim o f producing an authorized canon. A pparently initiated by A ga K h an II [Nanji 1978: 10], this process was greatly furthered by his successor. The first K hojki lithographs were published in the late nineteenth century by one G hulam H usain [GG]. He was replaced by Lalji Devraj, who was officially authorized by the A ga K han as sole receiver o f MSS and editor and publisher o f ginans. D evraj’s publications began with the unsystematic production o f lithographed editions o f individual longer ginans [SV], and a once very popular anthology o f selections which we have extensively draw n upon [ES]. As the num ber o f MSS available to him grew, the scale o f his operations becam e m ore am bitious [Asani 1984: 112-4]. D evraj’s catalogue o f approved ginans [Devraj 1915], published under the title Tapasil buk ( < A r tafsil) or ‘Book o f details’, rem ains a m ost useful guide to the surviving ginanic literature, although it naturally excludes som e items found in the MSS b u t proscribed for their H induistic or otherw ise unacceptable character [Ivanow 1948: 43-4]. Ju st how m uch does survive is uncertain, since Devraj is said to have systematically destroyed all the 3500 M SS which came into his possession by burying them . However frustrating his radical procedure has proved to later scholars, it certainly had the effect o f producing a canonical collection whose status was hard to challenge. Printed in Bom bay at the K h o ja Sindhi Press (K hoja Sindhi C hapakhanun), the com m unity’s official religious

16

The Ginans

publishing organization, in specially cut K hojki moveable type, a series o f five volumes, each containing one hundred ginans, was published by Devraj from 1914 onw ards, running into several subsequent editions [D2-5]. These, and the G ujarati-script transliterations which soon accom panied them , have since been regarded in the com m unity as canonical. T heir nu m b er was com pleted by a sixth volum e [D6], published by D evraj’s successor R em atulla Virji from the Recreation C lub Institute which had replaced the K hoja Sindhi Press. Individual ginans were also printed in the same form at [SK]. T he D evraj edition long rem ained standard, until the changes in the direction o f the com m unity [01: 3] necessitated its revision. This resulted in the currently authorized twovolum e collection called Girian-e Sari/\ which was first published in from Bom bay and K arachi [GS] in 1978-9 in G u jarati, since the sharp decline in fam iliarity with K hojki no longer m ade it w orthw hile to produce an edition in that script. This is not an independent version, b u t a carefully prepared selection from the Devraj collections which excludes m any items, and which adds to literal corrections o f printing errors a num ber o f consistent changes o f w ords and phrases no longer considered appropriate. A ttention is draw n to such changes in the notes to those hym ns included here which are present in both the older D evraj texts an d the new collection. O u tsid e these p rin te d sources, the Im am sh ah is have th eir own program m e o f publications in G ujarati script. U nlike the K hoja texts, these are n o t simply translitera­ tions from K hojki, b u t observe the norm s o f standard G ujarati orthography. The texts o f these printed Im am shahi versions differ substantially from those received am ong the K hojas, as illustrated in o u r extract [9A] from one such version [AV].

02: 2 The ginanic repertoire In its printed form the sacred literature o f the K hojas com prises some 700 verse com positions described as ginans. A lthough various fanciful alternative etym ologies have been proposed, the w ord ginan itself is quite clearly a local phonetic realization o f the fam iliar Sanskrit w ord jnana- ‘know ledge’. In the hymns themselves, the term ‘ginan’ is in fact m ost frequently used in the basic sense o f the higher knowledge to which the Ismaili teachings give access. By an extension o f m eaning apparently unique to Ismaili usage, the hym ns also use the term ‘ginan’ to describe ‘hym ns o f higher knowledge’. This double conn o tatio n rath er accurately reflects the predom inantly didactic tone o f the ginans [02: 3]. The term ‘g inan’ is also very elastic so far as length is concerned. As may be seen from the examples q uoted below [02: 4], m ost ginans follow the traditional form at o f the Indian hym n fam iliar from m any o ther languages and religious traditions. C om posed in loose quantitative m etres, such ginans contain a num ber o f rhym ed verses, com prising couplets or sho rt stanzas, which may vary from four or five up to fifty or so, with one verse repeated as a refrain, and the poetic signature (Sk bhanita) o f the supposed au th o r included in the final verse. Some hym ns on a clearly defined topic or others which have become particularly fam iliar m ay have acquired a title, but this is not a regular feature o f the Devraj editions. M o st o f the ginans included in this book are o f this usual type, which is nowadays alone used for recitation. Little use seems to have been m ade o f the independent short gnom ic couplet o f the sloka type fam iliar in other South Asian religious literatures. N aturally less suitable for

17

Ismaili hymns from South Asia

recitation, such sloka-sets are to be found only in a few obscure ginans no longer in use. There is, however, a distinct class o f ab o u t sixty long ginans. These too are no longer recited, an d it seems d oubtful if some ever were, at least in their full length, w hich m ay run into several hundreds o f verses o r stanzas. T heir contents are, however, frequently o f considerable interest. They typically consist o f lengthy theological treatises, com pendia o f m yths an d sim ilar m aterials, an d hagiographic narratives, in o ther w ords encyclopaedic com pilations o f the type th at m ight be expected to emerge nearer the end o f a tradition th an its beginning. A few selections from some o f these long ginans have been included here, and others are referred to in the notes. U nlike the shorter hym ns, these long ginans regularly have a title, som etim es m ore th an one. W hen there is also a shorter ginan on the sam e subject, the longer ginan is conventionally distinguished by the addition o f S vado o r G m oto ‘G reater’ to its title, versus S nihdho or G nano ‘Lesser’. Both the com m on didactic tone and the hom ogeneity o f form al structures are m ore striking than differences o f approach and style between the ginans assigned to one a u th o r o r another. Such com m on features are to be expected in any single tradition o f South A sian religious literature. In the case o f the ginans, however, particularly serious do u b ts m ust be raised by the uncertainties which surround both their textual transm ission [02: 1] and the history o f the Pirs an d Sayyids [01: 2] to w hom they are attributed. M ost o f the 700-odd ginans are in fact ascribed to four au thors, the three great early Pirs o f the trad itio n an d the controversial Im am Shah. F u rth er discussion will be found in the introductory notes to the hym ns indicated in brackets:

Pir Sham s [37] Pir Sadruddin [3] Pir H asan K abiruddin [39] Im am Shah [40]

115 236 86 189

[including [including [including [including

10 long ginans] 18 long ginans] 7 long ginans] 18 long ginans]

To these may be added the three im portant long ginans attrib u ted to Im am S hah’s son Sayyid N a r M uham m ad Shah [38]. Given the prolific o u tp u t o f so m any South A sian com posers o f religious poetry, these large totals are n o t in themselves necessarily suspicious. D o u b ts m ust however be raised by internal inconsistencies o f style and anachronism s o f content, quite a p art from the obviously m odern language in which they are recorded [04]. The same dou b ts may be felt even m ore strongly a b o u t the twenty-one further ginans ascribed to the early Pirs before Sadruddin, including ten associated with Pir N u r Satgur [34], while oth er questions are raised by the four said to be translations o f w orks by the Im am s [28]. Such general reservations may be less keenly felt in regard to the rem aining sixty-odd ginans, variously attrib u ted mostly in ones and twos to authors m ostly o f the seventeenth an d eighteenth centuries, variously nam ed as Pirs or Sayyids [6]. It seems very likely th at m any o f the ginans ascribed to prestigious earlier figures in fact date from this period, and this supposition is given some weight by the increasing num bers o f short ginans to be found in the later MSS. Finally, reasonably certain provenance may be established for the m ost recent items o f all, like the anonym ous late ginan com posed for the accession o f A ga K han III to the Im am ate in 1885 [10].

18

The Ginans

In ord er to assist readers to form their own estim ate, ou r selection attem pts w ithin its lim ited com pass to provide representative sam ples o f the w orks draw n from all these categories o f au th o rs, while including a m ixture both o f very po p u lar hym ns and o f less fam iliar item s interesting from one or an o th er point o f view in their own right. The forty ginans we have included in full or in p a rt are, however, prim arily arranged n o t by au th o r b u t by other loose categories. The didactic tone is to the fore in I ‘H ym ns o f instruction’ [19], an d frequently to be encountered in those assigned to II ‘R itual hym ns’ [10-17] on the basis o f their association w ith p articular cerem onies as explained above [01: 5]. It is overlaid by a som ew hat greater degree o f lyricism in those grouped as III ‘D evotional hym ns’ [1823], while larger theological topics are covered in the hym ns included in IV ‘T he cosmic cycle’ [24-33]. Instructive in a rather different fashion, the selection brought together as V ‘Tales o f the M ission’ [34-40] consists o f selected com plete hym ns and extracts from longer w orks belonging to the im p o rtan t category, nowadays rather unfam iliar within the com m unity itself, o f the ginans containing hagiographic narratives o f the early Pirs.

02: 3 The ginanic themes A ttem pts to describe the them es o f the ginans tend to begin by sketching their handling o f the elaborate cosm ic schemes th at are so intrinsic a feature o f esoteric Ism ailism at all phases o f its developm ent [Ivanow 1948: 28-40, N anji 1978: 99-136]. Such approaches risk arousing the frustration caused by the evident failure o f the ginans to m atch the schem atic clarity o f Fatim id theology, since they seldom deal with such themes systematically. They m ay also risk presenting a false picture, m ade untrue to its subject by its invented precision, o f the sharp dichotom y between the received views o f an orthodox Sunnism or Isna A sharism true to the vision o f a pure Islam and the apparently H induistic cast o f the Im am centred scheme o f the ginans. Especially in tod ay ’s circum stances, this may in turn lead to aw kw ard justifications o f the theological expressions evolved in the pre-m odern period by the ginans in order to achieve an artificial harm onization between them and those o f m odern Islamic thought. F urther m isunderstandings may thus be quite unnecessarily introduced into an already involved subject. The au th o rs o f the ginans, w hether they are to be ascribed to the Pirs o f the M ission themselves o r to later au th o rs attem pting to reflect their glory, are certainly n o t to be interpreted in term s o f the narrow neo-orthodoxies w ithin which so m uch South Asian Islam has retreated to debate its identity. N o r o f course, on the other hand, are they to be treated either as proto-C ongressites actively seeking to reconcile the doctrines o f N izari Ism ailism with those o f H induism , or as early proponents o f the desirability o f conform ing to H indu beliefs held to be essentially true, in the m ode so characteristic o f m odern exponents o f H induizing Indian nationalism . The ginans are m uch better addressed in their own term s. Given the typical character o f the ginans as teaching hymns, it seems m ore sensible to approach their content by exam ining those themes which m ost frequently recur in their directly expressed instructions. The successive conceptual layers which underly these may then be naturally unpeeled. This, after all, may be assum ed to have been the m ethod by which the teachings o f the M ission were transm itted to local converts and congregations, w ho w ould be thoroughly steeped in the hym ns before, if ever, penetrating the mysteries

19

Ismaili hymns from South Asia

tow ards which they point. O ur approach, in other w ords, is to exam ine the ginans as evidence o f the practical operation o f the fam ous m issionary m ethod o f the Ismailis, which has th ro u g h o u t history so aroused the suspicions o f other M uslim s for its apparently com prom ising strategy o f conveying their version o f Islam ic doctrines through the use o f ideas and vocabulary already fam iliar to its local target audience. Allowing room for the distinction o f later accretions and elaborations to this basic scheme, this procedure seems m ore realistic th an some im plausible reconstruction o f the original planning o f the M ission to India in which N izari Ism ailism was broken dow n into its doctrinal p arts, each o f which was then neatly slotted in with attractively sim ilar H indu ideas and couched in Indian vocabulary. The following sum m ary o f the m ain ginanic them es is principally intended as a guide to the links between key term s o f the ginanic vocabulary, since neither these links n o r the specialized senses in which these term s are used will always be ap parent to uninitiated readers o f o u r texts. M ore detailed explanations o f individual term s may be found in the notes through consulting the subject index. A ttention need only be draw n here to the frequent parallel use o f Sanskritic (Sk) term s together with their synonym s o f A rabic (Ar) or Persian (Pers) origin to express a single concept, norm ally indicated by one English equivalent in o u r translations, since this is so strikingly distinctive [04: 1] and interesting a characteristic o f the ginanic terminology. The ginans are typically addressed by the Pir as au th o r to the pious believers (Sk rakhisar, munivar = A r momin). E xhortations are continually repeated to follow the W ord (Sk sabad, vacan), i.e. the teachings (sikhaman) o f the True Path (Sk sat-pahth), the stan dard term for Ismailism in the ginans, which is still current am ong the Im am shahis but is no longer used am ongst the K hojas themselves. A cceptance o f the True Path has three m ain im plications for the individual believer: to need to follow a righteous style o f life (Sk sat-dharam) in order to avoid the fate which awaits the worldly, the need to practise regular devotional m editation in ord er to attain individual enlightenm ent, and the need to participate com pletely in all the rituals and duties o f the congregation. D etailed regulations for daily life are only occasionally prescribed [1], although generalized injunctions frequently urge the requirem ent to live uprightly and abste­ miously, w ithout however striving for an exaggerated asceticism. The w orld (Sk ju g , sohsar = A r duniya) is depicted as a place o f illusion (Sk maia). This tru th , however, evades the hum an m ind (Sk man), which in its unregenerate state is blinded by heedless delusion (Sk bharam = A r gaphalat), and is dom inated by the five instinctual passions (pahj bhu) o f lust (Sk ka m ), anger (Sk karodh), greed (Sk lobh), attachm ent (Sk moh) and pride (Sk ahahkar). U ltim ately, these can only lead the soul (Sk jiv) to destruction. The inevitability o f death is frequently em phasized, som etim es by gloom y descriptions o f the lonely misery o f the grave and the torm ents o f hell (Pers dojak). The consequences o f sin (Sk /?#/? = Pers guna) are, however, m uch m ore frequently depicted in the Indian term s o f th at dreadfully fam iliar process o f rebirth (avagaman) in which one m ust w ander through the ages o f time (Sk jug) in continual cycles o f return (phera) from one form o f existence (Sk bhav) to another. This imagery o f transm igration is one o f the several features o f the ginans whose H induistic associations have come to cause reservations today. This destructive p attern, however described, can only be escaped by the discipline o f subduing the selfish impulses o f the m ind (man mar-) in order to becom e aware o f the T ruth (sac, sac = Sk sat = A r hak) through self-awareness. W hile external righteousness is

20

The Ginans

necessary for this process to be begun, it is n o t sufficient for its com pletion. Individual fulfilm ent o f the creature’s true destiny is attained by opening the h eart (Sk rade = Pers dil) through loving devotion to the divine N am e (Sk = Pers nam). T he N am e is symbolized in the form ula (Sk sabad, akhasar = A r elala) which is dually prescribed in the daily m editation for repetition (Sk jap) and rem em brance (Sk samaran — A r zikar). G reat em phasis is placed in the ginans upon the proper practice o f this loving m editation, which is to be u n dertaken after rising early in the m orning. The ultim ate reward for its regular practice is the enlightenm ent granted through the grace (Sk pirasad= Pers meher) o f the Pir and Im am , the repository o f the m ost concentrated form o f the Divine Light (A r nur = Sk jo t), the characteristic Ism aili term for the spiritual principle in creation. As it awakens the heart, the practice o f devotion replaces the selfish power o f the five passions by the altruistic impulses o f the five virtues, re-defined in Ism ailism as tru th (Sk sat), co ntentm ent (Sk sahtokh), tolerance (Sk khamia), rem em brance (A r zikar), and faith (A r iman). W hile the righteous believer is thus strengthened by the inner illum ination gained through m editation, these qualities cannot be realized by his rem aining in ascetic isolation. M uch stress is accordingly laid on the need for total com m itm ent to the congregation (Sk gat = A r ja m at), synonym ous with ‘the com m unity’, the term now used by K hoja Ism ailis to define themselves instead o f the older ginanic term ‘True P ath’. The com m itm ent dem anded is at once exclusive and comprehensive. O vert confrontation o f the practices o f o th er religious traditions, w hether H indu or Sunni, has never been characteristic o f the history o f Ism ailism in South Asia, at least since Fatim id times, and it is certainly n o t a prom inent feature o f the ginanic teachings. M ore em phasis is laid on the exclusive character o f the True Path, which is n o t to be revealed to outsiders, and the w orship o f their idols (Sk murat = Pers but) is consistently condem ned. G reater space is given to exhortations urging a com prehensive com m itm ent to the congregation, which m ust even m ore than today have been an inw ard-looking unit within which nearly all the believers’ social as well as religious activities were conducted. H onesty is urged in business, along with charity (Sk dan) to the less fortunate. P rom pt and regular attendance at the ritual functions o f the com m unity in congregation is regularly enjoined, especially at the cerem ony o f the H oly W ater (ghat-pat), also called the ‘nectar’ (ami = Sk ahbarat), which represents the public experience o f the same ecstasy which is achieved inw ardly through the m editation, b oth being alluded to as the ‘am brosial delight’ (ami-ras). T hus bonded in devotion, the congregations themselves flow together as spiritual forces in their own right (Sk gatiuh gahga). Both the practical and the ritual aspects o f com m itm ent come together in the proper paym ent o f the 10% tithe (dasohd) for remission to the Im am through the Pir (Sk gurm ukhe), upon which the ginans lay such very great em phasis as a prim e religious obligation. The rejection o f asceticism in favour o f a disciplined worldliness, able to enjoy the ninetenths rem aining after deduction o f the tithe, is o f course consistent with this em phasis, which also includes the requirem ent to pay a further tithe o f one-fortieth p a rt (calisa) to the Im am ’s local representatives. It is as the Im am ’s ordained representative that the Pir is vested with total authority over all the believers com prising the congregations o f the com m unity. N o figure is m ore prom inent in the ginans than the G uide (Sk gur = Pers pir). He is also called the True G uide (Sk sat-gur), since the message which he conveys, the W ord o f the G uide (Sk gur-vacan, gursabad), alone opens the way to salvation. T he preceding outline o f the central place given in

21

Ismaili hymns from South Asia

the Ism aili in terpretation o f Islam to the m ediation o f auth o rity between G o d an d the believer [01: 1] here finds its m ost striking expression, resulting in such apparently startling term s as the D ivine G uide (Sk gur barama, sat-gur barama), since at the time when the ginans were com posed this interm ediary au thority was effectively delegated by the distant Im am to the Pirs, thereafter to be claimed by those w ho spoke in the Pirs’ nam e. The repeated injunction to follow lovingly and unquestioningly the sole au thority o f the P ir’s teaching is o f course also to be understood in the light o f the history o f schism within the com m unity, although a com prehensive study o f the ginans from this aspect has yet to be undertaken. So far as the ginans are concerned, therefore, there are thus tw o great interm ediary levels o f au th o rity between the believer and G od, the Pir and the Im am , som etim es sym bolized as the m oon (cahdo) and the sun (suraj). Since it is the relationship o f the believer to the entire hierarchy o f spiritual powers ascending to G od which form s the central them e o f the ginans, it is indeed in m any contexts not always possible fully to distinguish the P ir from the Im am , w ho are often merged in such doublets as the ‘G uide and L o rd ’ (Sk gur-nar) or ‘L o rd and G uide’ (Pers pir saha). It is however upon the Im am himself, whom G od has m ade the true repository o f His Light, th at the believer’s hopes and aspirations are focused through the m editation. The ultim ate goal is the vision o f the Im am (Sk darasan = Pers didar), w hether this is achieved through the inner experience open to all, or the actual visit to Iran possible only for the lucky few to behold the Im am o f the age (Pers hajar jom a). The glorious status o f the Im am is m arked by the use o f num erous honorifics to describe him, either singly or in com bination (sami = Sk nar, rajo, s i r i - A r mola, saheb = Pers saha), all represented in English as ‘L o rd ’, ‘M aster’, etc. M any further epithets are taken into the ginans from the colossal Ind ian repertoire o f divine honorifics, e.g. ‘L ord o f the Three W orlds’ (Sk tribhovar). Some o f these honorifics have nowadays com e to be too closely associated with their V aishnava origins (e.g Sk sam ‘the D ark O ne’, a stan d ard epithet o f K rishna), and are replaced by m ore neutral items. The vast gulf which m ight seem to exist between ordinary believers and a being dignified in such honorific term s is physically confirm ed by the Im am ’s distan t residence in the West (pacham). Spiritually, however, the gulf is bridged by the ties o f love ( p ia r - Sk pirit, het) which unite the believers with their Im am . These ties derive their au th o rity from the Prom ise (Sk vacan, vaca = A r kol, karar), the covenant by which the believers prom ise their unswerving devotion and the Im am prom ises them his love a n d th e ir u ltim a te deliverance to enjoy the u n d y in g bliss o f heaven (Sk am arapuri= J>Qr$ behesat). This salvation is at one level the reward prom ised to the individual pious believer, at an o th er the destiny guaranteed to the righteous as a whole guided by the True Path in the cyclical scheme o f Ism aili cosm ic time. Each cycle is closed by the final apocalypse o f a R esurrection (A r kiam at), when the Im am will com e to bring deliverance as the prom ised M ahdi, the everlasting L ord o f the R esurrection (Pers kaem saha). W ithin the present cycle the Im am ate was at first concealed, being vested in beings w ithout a public mission, the line o f seventy-six vessels (Sk patr), before it became m anifest in the line o f Ali from whom the one Im am ate has been handed dow n to his successors. D ue reverence is regularly accorded, as th ro u g h o u t all branches o f Shiism, to the Five H oly Ones (Pers panj-tan), i.e. Ali and four persons closest to him, but it is Ali him self who is m ost frequently invoked. Since the spirit o f all the living Im am s is the same, they may all be called ‘A li’ (A r ali), the first and

22

The Ginans

last (A r aval akhar). There is an obvious sim ilarity between this cyclical scheme, so uniquely characteristic o f Ism ailism w ithin Islam , and the V aishnava doctrine o f the ten m anifestations (Sk avatar) o f V ishnu through the four ages (Sk jug) which constitute a cycle o f H in d u cosm ic time. This striking resem blance is repeatedly dwelt upon in the ginans, in accordance w ith the lim ited reinterpretation o f indigenous beliefs typical o f the Ism aili M ission. T he m ysterious figure o f K alki, whose appearance is prom ised in the Vaishnava scheme a t the end o f the present K aliyuga (kalajug) as the saviour from its evils, is recast and given a greater significance as the ‘Stainless O ne’ (Sk nakalahki), i.e. none o ther than the Im m aculate M ahdi w ho as the ultim ate m anifestation o f Ali the Im am is called the tenth m anifestation (Sk dasam avatar). This reinterpretation o f fundam ental Ism aili doctrine in such very H induistic term s has over the last hundred years becom e increasingly unacceptable within the com m unity, let alone outside it, to the p o in t where only vague and indirect references to it are allowed to rem ain in the ginans included in the reduced m odern canon. Such references are, however, hardly intelligible w ithout some appreciation o f the form er elaborate developm ents o f the scheme which figure so largely in the ginanic literature, however m uch these are now decried, probably w ith considerable justification, as accretions added by later authors. Particularly in the several ginans bearing the title Das avatar, the whole elaborate story o f the Vaishnava m anifestations dow n to R am a, K rishna and B uddha is taken over w ith m ore o r less fantastic attem pts to reinterpret these divine heroes as proto-Im am s and those w ho followed them as proto-believers. As is the way with such m ythological m aterial, further stories are readily generated, as in the confused narratives telling how the Stainless One finally destroys K alingo, the dem on-king o f the K aliyuga. The devolution o f spiritual power from Im am to Pir here too finds its reflection in the m ythical recasting o f Pir S adruddin as Sahadeva (sohodev), as H arishchandra (har-cand), or as the ‘G uide o f the Twelve’ (bar gur). The last epithet refers to his having been responsible for the salvation o f twelve crores o f souls in K aliyuga o u t o f the total thirty-three crores (karodi tetris) o f the saved now enjoying the divine bliss o f paradise, which is denied to the thirty-six classes ( varan chatris) o f those w ho refuse to follow the True Path. The im m ense im portance in Ism aili theology o f the status o f the Im am as the appointed representative o f G o d m ust continually be rem em bered if the purpose o f the ginans is properly to be understood. The concept o f the P rophethood is relatively less developed, tending to receive fuller treatm ent only in those ginans o f dem onstrably later prom inence, when Isna A shari influences from Iran have com e to give additional em phases to the ad ap tab ly all-em bracing ginanic scheme. F or the earlier au th o rs, the L ord G od H im self (sami = A r alah) is the distant Invisible Being (Sk alakh purakh), typically described in negative term s as lacking form , qualities or involvem ent with the w orld (Sk arup, naragun, mrihjan). The creation o f the universe is described in the usual double term s, draw n from both the twin Ismaili and Indian schemes which explain creation as a process o f em anation from G od. This results in the successive appearance o f the layers o f creation as the seven or ten heavenly and lower w orlds (Sk bhaman = A r tabak). T he created w orld in tu rn provides the scene for the enactm ent o f the fam iliar cycles o f decay tow ards sin and death from which the True Path, whose first appearance in India is celebrated in the hagiographic narratives o f the M ission spearheaded by the Pirs, offers the way o f redem ption which is guaranteed by the prom ise o f the everliving Im am .

23

Ismaili hymns from South Asia

The ginanic them es thus collectively form a belief system with a high degree o f underlying internal coherence. This itself represents a creative achievement o f the religious im agination p erh ap s m ore rem arkable than th at seemingly syncretic grafting o f H induistic ideas on to an Islam ic base o f a very individual type which has tended to attract d isp ro p o rtio n ate an d som etim es dismissive com m ent in the analyses o f outsiders. The continuing special place o f the ginans in the affections and the religious life o f the com m unity bears witness to their success as m edia for conveying a particular Islam ic m essage to a p articu lar body o f South A sian believers.

02: 4 Forms and styles It m ust however be observed th at the them atic coherence to which we have draw n attention is a quality which underlines the ginans as a whole rather than being particularly noticeable in the expression o f any given example. Perhaps because o f the very fam iliarity o f the system to the ginans’ audience, not to speak o f their authors, whatever their creative role in its form ulation, the style o f exposition is seldom very systematic. The level o f systematic exposition ap propriate to a theological treatise is o f course anyway hardly to be expected in a hym n. But even w ithin the norm s o f religious poetry, the ginans can often appear exceptionally disorganized in the character o f their presentation. T his som etim es disconcerting quality is to be directly linked to the typical nature o f their form al expression. Like the religious verse o f all those South Asian traditions, w hether H in d u o r M uslim , which were n o t affected by the elite conventions o f high literature, the form al elem ents o f the ginans are dem onstrably draw n from those o f local folk-poetry. U nlike m ost other such traditions, however, the ginans hardly seem to aim to enhance the intrinsic appeal o f their message through deliberate further artistic developm ent and integration o f these folk-elem ents. T he typical sim plicity o f form al organization may be illustrated by a very simple example, a p o p u la r sh o rt ginan [D3: 121 (cf.fig.A), GS2: 5] by the nineteenth-century com poser Sayyida Im am Begam [01: 2]: R 1 2 3 4

ae eji eji eji eji

rahem raheman, ab to rahem karoge. tan man dhan guru arapan kije, to ginane ginane ginan. dan sakhavat har-dam kije, to dane dane dan. sabh ghat ekaj raheman dise, to sane sane san. kahet imam begam mera pir hasan saha, imane imane iman.

A general im pression o f the sense and feel may be conveyed by a loose verse rendering: R 1 2 3 4

Should mercy touch You, K indly Lord, Will Y ou now mercy show? O, if all I have I give the G uide, H is know ledge helps me know. O, for those w ho ever freely give, H is gifts will overflow. O, in every h eart O ne L ord appears, Its glory’s G lorious Glow. O, to H asan Shah my Pir I [Imam Begam] say: T hrough faith my faith will grow.

24

The Ginans

All the basic form al features o f a typical ginan are present here. The verse m arked R, here placed first b u t in m any hym ns printed second, is the refrain ( varani) repeated in recitation after each o f the m ain verses. The rhym ed one-line verses begin w ith the usual ginanic interjection eji ‘OP w hich is additional to the m etre, like the poetic signature (Sk bhanita) in the last verse. T he western p u n ctu ation used in o u r anthology is copied from the D evraj editions, which use a com m a to m ark the caesura dividing the m etrical line into tw o, a sem icolon to distinguish lines in longer verse-structures, and a full stop to m ark the end o f a verse. T he m etres o f the ginans are o f the usual Indian quantitative type [Asani 1991: 8-9], which are counted by syllabic m easures (Sk m atra), with a short syllable being equivalent to one m atra and a long syllable to two. The underlying m etre here is a fam iliar variety whose line is divided into two unequal halves. The first h alf has a count o f 16, com prising four equal rhythm ic units o f 4 each, the second one o f only 11, with two units o f 4, followed by a shorter one o f three containing the rhyme. The refrain is, as often, o f a rather different pattern , w ith the rhym ing second h a lf being placed first, followed by a half-line with a co u n t o f only 12, o r three units o f 4. In western notation, the underlying m etre o f the m ain verses m ay be represented as follows, w ith two short syllables being equivalent to a single long:

Several deviations from this underlying pattern will be noted in the scansion o f the ginan itself:

R

ae rahem raheman, ab to rahem karoge.

rr~

~r ~ — r~, ~~ - r - - i - y.

1 eji tan man dhan guru ar apart kije, to ginane g inane ginan.

rr_~ ;r 2

r - "r v

rj rj.

eji dan sakhavat har-dam kije, to dane dane dan.

n

„ .

.

r

. _

.

3 eji sabh ghat ekaj raheman dise, to sane sane san.

4

n — [.........]■ - i........r

' • t ■t •

eji kahet im am begam mera pir hasan saha, imane imane iman.

Sim ilar deviations from a strict m etrical co unt may be found in all the ginans included in this book, and should be borne in m ind in applying the underlying pattern given at the beginning o f the notes to each hym n to any given verse. Such irregularities are often greater than in this exam ple. Some may be accounted for by the vagaries o f K hojki spelling [03: 5], though others m ust surely be attrib uted to the uncertain process o f textual transm ission [02: 1]. A n absolute conform ity to the prosodically perfect standards dem anded in art-poetry is

25

Ismaili hymns from South Asia

anyw ay n o t to be expected, since the ginans are after all hym ns designed for chanting. A lth o u g h we have n o t considered it to lie w ithin o u r com petence to describe the m usical trad itio n s associated with the ginans here, it m ay be noted in passing th at Im am Begam herself was a noted singer o f ginans, though she incurred official disapproval for her use o f instrum ental accom panim ent. Even w hen these factors are taken into account, however, the ginans do often appear quite roughly finished even by the standards o f o th er Indian p o p u lar traditions o f religious verse. B oth the elastic extensions o f the m etrical p atterns to accom m odate additional w ords an d the rem arkably casual use o f rhym e, which is often reduced to approxim ate assonance o r som etim es partially o r entirely dispensed with altogether, can often m ake the ginanic idiom seem generally rather prosaic, notw ithstanding occasional touches o f a rem arkable freshness. These elastic form al structures are capable o f m ore or less infinite extension, with verses m ade up o f a whole variety o f lines and half-lines rhym ed in this way or that. As in m ost poetic literature, the m etrical lines in long ginans are often even m ore casually strung together th an in the sh o rter lyrics. The m ost seemingly com plex stanza-patterns occur in the long ginans o f Sayyid N a r M uham m ad Shah, o f which an example is given here for com parison an d co n trast w ith the Im am Begam ginan. The titled stanza proper has five lines, each divided into tw o rhym ing half-lines w ith an underlying m etrical count o f 16 or 15, depending on the nature o f the rhyme. It is followed by a refrain headed re tunhi ‘O you!’, consisting o f tw o rhym ed lines with unequal halves, having a count o f 16 + 12, with the rhym e followed by re ‘o!’. T he exam ple [SV: 132 (cf. fig. B)] is taken from the story which precedes th at told in 38, and relates the com ing o f Pir Sham s to Uch where he encounters the great Sufi saint B ahauddin Zakariya:

p ir la m a s k S uhc m en Urid

tab tiah thi gur j i uce aveah,

avi m isit man otara kareah.

bhaudi jakaria tihah m ota pir,

mane un kuh te sagale sudhir.

ketalak saiad hota tiah,

bhaudi kuh mane soe mili jiah.

gur j i esi gam e avi raheah,

ek din daria par sele gaeah.

kagal kadhi gur j i bedi kin i,

sel us upar kar kar lini.

26

The Ginans

re tuilhi ~ ~

R

- 1- ~

~ I~ ~

-

I~ ~ ~

~

-, - - - - 1- - - - - 1- - [-1;

darili upar gur ji bau phzreli, do pohor hoi gaelin tline re;

- 1- - I~ - - ,

- - - - - I - - I -- [-].

slinjhe phzreli soe sat-guru,

tab bhaudi dithlin lie re.

I~

~

The character of this narrative episode may again be conveyed most directly through a loose verse translation: How Pir Shams arrived in Uch

From there to Uch then came the Guide, and in a mosque he did reside. Bahauddin the mighty Pir, all wise men there did much revere, And all the Sayyids of that place, in him united put their faith. So there the Guide had come to stay, and made a river-trip one day. The Guide from paper made a boat, and went upon the stream to float. 0 you!

As on the waters roamed the Guide, the hours of midday passed, o! At eve, watched by Bahauddin, the Guide returned at last, o! While the formal metrical structure is apparently more elaborate than that of the Imam Begam ginan, it will readily be appreciated that it is almost completely subordinate to the demands of the content in the usual fashion of the ginans as a whole. Such literary quality as this narrative can claim hardly exceeds the vividness of its naivety. Most of the other narrative passages included in the final section of our anthology will be found to be of a similar character, with the most crabbed examples [39, 40] disregarding metre and rhyme to such an extent as hardly to be conceived as ever having been sung. The notable informality of the metres and rhymes of the ginans is fully characteristic also of their more general stylistic features. As might be expected, rhetorical devices involving plays on words are conspicuous by their absence, and while instances of alliteration and assonance do certainly occur, how deliberately they are constructed is not always certain. The characteristic style of the ginans after all favours a very straightforward directness, formally signalled by the extremely frequent use of introductory interjections like eji or jire 'o!', or the insertion in the middle or at the end of the line of such vocatives as bhlii or virli 'o brother!'. This directness is more prominently displayed in the fondness for the use of direct speech, not only after the poetic signature in the final verse, where it is a regular commonplace, but also in those vivid ginans cast as abrupt dialogues between actual or symbolic characters [23, 33, 34, 35], whose form may be considered rather original in the general context of South Asian religious verse. Much more familiar in this context is the device whereby the poet in addressing the divine Beloved assumes the role of a young woman pining in His absence. Here perhaps the most notable feature of the ginans is the very sparing use made of this convention, which

27

Ismaili hymns from South Asia

elsewhere gives rise to b o th some o f the m ost rem arkable and the least m em orable lyrics o f oth er religious traditions. Instances will be found here, particularly in the hym ns o f entreaty [18, 19], where the usual ginanic tone o f sober instruction is at least partially overlaid by a m ore lyrical expression. These are n o t usually developed in any very rem arkable m anner, although there are occasional touching vignettes o f dom estic life [22, 23]. One o f the m ost attractive consequences o f the poetic device o f the female heroine, ado p ted prim arily as an appro p riate m edium for the unrestrained expression o f feelings, is the natu ral way in which a simple country girl m ay be associated w ith im agery m ore o r less directly draw n from the observation o f rural life. In the ginans, however, im agery o f this type is quite rarely encountered [19], although there is the occasional striking description o f a half-im aginary landscape [11]. In keeping with the puritanical ethic so characteristic o f South Asian Ism ailism , images o f life tend to be less vividly draw n than those evoked by the contem plation o f death in the m inds o f the com posers o f the ginans. Some o f the m ost m em orable ginans are devoted to gloom y pictures o f the terrors o f the grave [31], som etim es extended to include an apocalyptic vision o f the awesome phenom ena o f the Resurrection [30]. The absence o r very sparing em ploym ent o f m any o f the types o f im agery encountered in the poetic literatures o f m ost other South A sian religious traditions may doubtless be accounted for by the historic social position o f the K hojas as an enclosed com m unity principally engaged in business and com m ercial occupations. As m ight be expected from this profile, a notable use is certainly m ade o f im agery draw n from business life. M any o f these images m ay n o t be especially rem arkable in themselves, but it is w orth draw ing attention to the frequency with which, for instance, references are m ade to the Teachings as precious jewels o r instructions are issued to the believers to conduct their spiritual lives on the lines o f sound business practice [7, 8, 9]. In a sim ilar way, the imagery associated with b o th w orldly luxury and descriptions o f heaven [22, 32] tends to suggest the idealized lifestyle o f the prosperous m erchant, rather than that o f the usual rural chieftain. Occasionally, too, the com m ercial imagery is developed in an extended fashion, as in the description o f the m em bers o f the com m unity as clerks w orking for the divine firm under the great M agnate [32]. Finally, no sketch o f the literary qualities o f the ginans w ould be com plete w ithout a m ention o f their strikingly original use o f anim al characters. Perhaps because o f the relative distance o f the com m unity from intim ate contact with the life o f the countryside, anim als quite often assum e a life o f their own in the ginans. N otable instances include the description o f the birds and beasts o f the jungle as early converts to the True Path [37], and the im aginative depiction o f the developm ent o f the com m unity as a dialogue between the tiger and the cow and her calf [33]. O ther traditions do not appear to contain anything quite com parable to this endearing anim al imagery, which may thus perhaps be regarded as an original developm ent by the au th o rs o f the ginans from folk-story motifs.

02: 5 South Asian parallels As stated in o u r preface, one o f the m ain aims underlying the preparation o f this volum e for publication in the series o f SOAS South Asian Texts has been the desire to introduce the

28

The Ginans

ginans to a wider readership. F o r reasons which should certainly be apparent from all th at has been said in the foregoing sections o f this introduction, both the historic isolation o f the K hojas and m odern sensibilites have caused their religious literature to be very little know n o r studied outside their com m unity. Such w ork as has been done has quite naturally tended to view the ginans in the context o f Ism aili studies, itself a rather esoteric discipline. W hile in no way seeking to deprecate the value o f this approach, it is accordingly hoped th a t the general observations m ade in the preceding pages as an introduction to o u r anthology will have served to delineate the background an d characteristics o f the ginans w ith sufficient clarity to help begin the long overdue task o f integrating their study with th a t o f better know n South A sian religious literatures. It is perhaps after all less as a m ore o r less diluted local expression o f Ismaili doctrine th at the ginanic literature is m ost interestingly to be viewed than as a quite independent and distinctive developm ent within the com plex cultural w orld o f South A sian Islam . Since the investigation o f parallels has yet to be seriously undertaken, only the m ost general observations may suitably be offered here. In the first place, it may again be noted th at the simple structures and restricted images o f the ginans, whose em phasis is didactic rather than lyrical, only roughly approxim ate to the generic form s and styles in which so m uch m ediaeval Indian religious writings are cast, no m atter w hether these are o f Sufi or bhakti inspiration. Parallels with the local Sufi literatures in Sindhi [Schimmel 1974] and Siraiki [Shackle 1981], produced in those p arts o f the lower Indus valley which are the historic centres o f Ism ailism , w ould at first sight seem to offer an obvious parallel, which has indeed suggested itself to m ore than one a u th o r [Allana 1984, Asani 1977, Schimmel 1980]. T hough superficially attractive, given the apparently close historical links between Sufism and Ism ailism in the region, n o t to m ention the proven transference o f one text from one tradition to the other [Asani 1984], such suggested parallels are hardly borne out by a close reading o f the texts o f the two traditions. For a start, the great Sufi poets have a sharp individuality quite unlike the rather ill-defined authors o f the ginans. Furtherm ore, while the local Sufi poetry attested from the sixteenth century also uses local themes and vocabulary to express Islam ic ideas, it does so not only with an exuberance quite uncharacteristic o f the ginans b u t also with a close reliance on both the A rabic tradition o f Sunnism and the conventions o f Persian poetry whose pervasive influence is thus seen to extend far beyond the courtly lyric o f the elite tradition [Shackle 1981]. It does not, however, figure at all the ginans, whose isolation from the general context o f Indo-M uslim literature is thus fu rth er underlined. Only in the earliest and least sophisticated com positions associated with the Sufi tradition, notably the verses attrib u ted to Baba Farid Shakarganj (d. 1266) may a less distant parallel perhaps be discerned [Shackle 1992]. The increase over the centuries in the profound influence o f the high tradition upon the local expressions o f Islam in the region suggests that parallels are m ore likely to be found am ongst M uslim com m unities whose remoteness, however defined, from the elite culture o f the n o rth Indian h eartlands was com parable with that o f the Ismailis. Two such possibilities may be suggested. One is the small corpus o f K ashm iri verse associated w ith Shaikh N uru d d in (d. 1438), the founder o f the heterodox Rishi order o f Sufis, whose succinct form ulation and unusually im agery [K achru 1981: 21-3] recalls som ething o f the quality o f the ginans. A m ore striking parallel, though, is the p o pular puthi literature produced in Bengali for a rural mass audience, whose recent adm irable description [Roy

29

Ismaili hymns from South Asia

1983] reveals so m any rem arkable similarities to the ginanic device o f equating Islam ic figures w ith the fam iliar ch aracters o f the H in d u p an th eo n . H ere a com parative investigation by those w ith the necessary linguistic skills w ould undoubtedly prove exceedingly illum inating. W ider com parisons o f Indo-M uslim literatures with those o f other religious traditions often prove to be rather fruitlessly m ore concerned with visions o f some ultim ate unity o f aspiration th an with any very clear perception o f the fundam entally different sources o f their inspiration. It is doubtful if m uch is to be gained from com paring the austered ginanic idiom to the personalized lyricism so central to the V aishnava poetic tradition in H indi [Snell 1991] and G ujarati [M allison 1986]. C ontrasts are here m ore profitably to be pursued th an any real parallels [M allison 1989, 1991]. If parallels with bhakti literatures are to be sought, a m ore prom ising approach would ap pear to be to those o f the nirguna traditions whose position in relation to m ainstream H induism has often been as peripheral as th at generally perceived to be true o f the Ism ailis w ithin Islam . T he characteristically disem bodied nature o f the ginanic descriptions o f the em bodied Im am s does after all m ake the ginans, however paradoxically, ap pear m ore nirguna than saguna in feeling. Since so m any additional considerations and definitions are involved, this is hardly the place to explore the num erous parallels which may be seen to exist between the ginans and the literatures o f such sim ilarly independent traditions as those o f the D ad u p an th is o r the Sikhs, although it is hoped to do so on a future occasion. F or the present it will be m ore suitable n o t to delay readers further, but to allow them to approach the ginans for themselves, prepared if necessary by some acquaintance with the K hojki script, which is illustrated on the following pages as a prelim inary to an account o f the principles determ ining o u r rom anizations therefrom [03], followed in turn by a sum m ary gram m atical description o f the m ixed ginanic language [04].

30

The Ginans

'-VJ I '-(' \( ~ '?fl "\( ~ "!) I oi '-VJ 'Ti Yll "\l ~ '?fl ~ ~ i 3\ , '-VJ I'-(' "\l ?, lfl "\( ?. '?fl I oi ...

'-f :rr1 Yl o-i '?fl oi r11Jt ~ )l '-VJ '\l "t 'tv> 'ml ~ l Vll ~Y' o-i I 0:. ~y' o-i I0::. ~)" oi I oi- '-VJ'Ti Vll. "£I oi \.'i. ~I :.1 Yl

'Ylt

~ '\l '11fl

(1)

%l/£ ~'

-r;:.1o:t "ilo:t ~~o-i-'-VJ'11"Yll.

'-f:rY/ \.'i. 'YYl :>) ~ '-f~ fl ~ ~ '?fl I oi Vll \_\{I Oi ~~I ~ii \.Q I Oi- -191 Yll.

U~)

~ ~' (3)

'-f:IT/ ~ ~ Yl £t 'fl I (f) ~ :,1 'fl =i?l 'll Vft 1t ~ '~ o-i \.{(I~ I,

Fig. A Imam Begam: lie rahem raheman [02: 4]

31

Jsmaili hymns from South Asia

ta:e 'Wt":\1\( ""81 \'1"' ):6/"" ~~: ~) 01 l:t Y)'Yri!Y)t'--'1 1:wt:~~3"fl:6JSl:~) ~'"'""') ):t:

'-¥)lr:Vt:~\'flYJYJ):~rtH"l:~ Q~):u: ~)6J~!J'\ 'YA \_yt~):·-m t):~)'c)\.Vt "0) la

a

4

3 to

•yii

ha

5 >L

r

o l

s2

i

u

s1

U

gh

h

e

k

•Ml

kh

vji

c

-to.

ch

i>?

/

7)

f

h

Z

t

2

th

y rn

d

XP

dh

n

n

t

vl

th

d‘

P

X

ph

b1

r

I

oo)

y s

£

dr

X

tr 35

dh 'n o

bh V

•V?

h

m

yn

cfjdh b2/bh

Ismaili hymns from South Asia

T he m ercantile origins o f K hojki are dem onstrated by the reduced set o f fo u r vowelletters in the first row, while the last row shows the typical reduction o f the sibilant series to the single graph s and by the incorporation o f separate signs for the conjuncts dr and tr. A notable feature o f the syllabary is the apparently odd distribution o f graphs for w riting the voiced plosives. Like m ost north-w estern alphabets, K hojki m akes no real distinction between j and j h , which are anyway rather weakly contrasted phonem es. But like m any o th er Sindhi m ercantile scripts, K hojki does distinguish in principle between the phonetically significant triple sets o f implosives \gJ j J d1 bJ], explosives [g2 j 2 d d2 b \ and aspirates [column 4]. The distinction is however very blurred in practice, b o th in the M SS an d in the printed editions, confusions being due to two factors. First, the relatively low prom inence o f Sindhi elements in the language o f the stan d ard recensions o f the ginans [04: 1] m akes the distinction o f implosives virtually redundant, freeing their graphs for random reassignm ent to the corresponding explosives. This is particularly confusing in the case o f d, norm ally used for dental d, b u t also som etim es employed to write retroflex J, in which case it is so distinguished w ithout com m ent in our transcription. A second confusion arises from the very im perfect distinction in alm ost all K hojki texts between the graphs for the aspirated and unaspirated letters, especially the voiced series, hence the double values assigned to the two final graphs in colum n 5. The early lithographed editions produced by G hulam H usain and D evraj [02: 1] closely follow the loose orthog rap h ic conventions o f the MSS [cf. fig. B on p. 32], although they tend to settle upon *3. for dh and for bh, and to use the N agari-derived graph to distinguish o from u. T he later D evraj printed editions [cf. figs. A and C above], on which m ost o f o u r texts are based, are m ore systematic in their spellings, if still very far from any perfect regularity. T he following order o f letters is used in the arrangem ent o f rom anized w ords in our glossary:

O jl i

u

a

-9 ) a

0

k

kh

° /v g

3S

h

c

■ a ch

r> m

*8

h

Z

t

n

VI

t

tr

dr

dh

n

b

bh

in

I

V

Of s

-7

I

*1

Z

36

th

m

'x rv /tt d A rt

O0)

th

■m e 0 ) fa gh

■*> j/jh * * * h t,d h

t/*K. d

p

X

Ph

y

H.

r

h

The Khojki Script

Particularly noteworthy here is the elegant solution to the problem of distinguishing u from o. This advantage contrasts however with the effective blurring of any very real distinction in the overall distribution of the graphs between g j 4 db and the aspirated gh jh qh dh bh. Simply in order to make the glossary easier to use, the clusters tr and dr (occasionally also used to write dhr) have been allocated more predictable places than they are accorded in the traditional syllabaries. Apart from the letters distinguished by diacritics listed below [03: 3], this basic invenL>ry is extended only infrequently in the Devraj printed editions. The Nagari-derived conjunct }"\ k~ is very rare. Slightly more frequent is the Marathi-derived oa for the retroflex {, here assimilated alphabetically with the usual :z.t I. Attempts were later made at further refinement of the syllabary by adding diacritics which would allow Khojki to match the full repertoire of the Sindhi-Arabic alphabet. Illustrated in the often reproduced table in Allana 1969: 26, these have had little cur:-';ncy outside the primers produced for Tsmaili students in the early years of Pakistan, and may be disregarded here.

03: 3 Vowel-signs and additional symbols As noted above, the Khojki script is distinguished from its mercantile forebears principally by its having acquired a relatively sophisticated system of vowel-signs to distinguish vowels following a consonant. Both in the MSS and in the printed editions there is a seven-term system of such vowel-signs, called /akinli in Sindhi, versus the five- or six-term system of independent vowels:

(}

li

7R.

ka

n1

kli

1tV kz

'W2.. ki

§

~ ku

u

.......

Dot ke

o/'.;, 0

~·

ko

There is no distinction between consonants with or without -a in the printed editions, although some MSS make erratic use of a superscript dot to correspond to the Nagari visrlim. Although found in almost all types of texts, the distinction of short -1 from long -i is more apparent than real, with a marked general preference for -i. Similarly, written u -u correspond to both Nagari short u -u and long i7 -u. The signs for -1 -i -u are normally joined

37

Ismaili hymns from South Asia

by ligatures to the preceding consonant. Maintained in the printed editions through the use of specially cast ligatures, some of these combinations are liable to cause confusion, notably:

Wl.

ti

X'1. ri

~

mi

y.

ru

There are no separate symbols regularly corresponding to the Nagari vowels ai and au, digraphs being use~ instead [03: 5]. Only in some MSS and early printed lithographs is the Nagari-derived ?.t_a ko occasionally used in place of the simple 7-lt ko or the digraph n~ kau. The script has only a single mark of nasalization, erratically employed in all types of Khojki texts. Many MSS and early lithographs indicate nasalization with a small superscript circle, while the convention of the printed editions is to prefer a superscript dot. Nasalization is transcribed here as n:

-l an • -'?1 an

~ kan

-r.L1 kan

In the glossary, words with nasalized vowels follow those with the corresponding unnasalized vowels, in keeping with the usual convention of Gujarati dictionaries. A single diacritic is used to differentiate learned allophones, typically in loan-words. This .is the handsome superscript triple dot, obviously copied from the Perso-Urdu cY sin. Its commonest use is indeed to distinguish .1> from s. It is also employed to distinguish z from j, or f from ph, and occasionally to indicate the Arabic 'ain, as in the name 'ali. In view of the very erratic use of this diacritic, it has been disregarded in the alphabetic arrangement of the glossary in all the following instances:

...

..3"J. z ... ~ f .,

ph

'a

,

"1s

s

Another borrowing from the Persian script occasionally encountered in the early lithographs, though hardly in the later editions, is the use of taSdid to indicate doubled

38

The Khojki Script

consonants. Our transcription only indicates the doubling of consonants where there is a printed taidid in the Khojki text, e.g.:

mahammad

Other graphs associated with the script derive from different sources. The numerals are identical with those associated with the Gujarati script:

ct,

1

y

6

a.

2

"'

7

'3

3

c

8

1)

4

"'

5

e

9

~0

0

Finally, in their systems of punctuation there is once more a contrast between the MSS and early lithographs [fig.B] and the Devraj typeset editions [fig.A]. The former are characterized by the elaborate marking of word-boundaries with a double dot or double circles, of caesuras by a vertical stroke, and of verse-endings by a double stroke. We have followed the English punctuation used in the later editions, which mark word-boundaries by a space, caesuras by a comma, line-endings within a verse by a semicolon, and verseendings by a full stop [02: 4].

03: 4 Transcription The foregoing sections will have indicated that Khojki orthography, even that of the standard Devraj editions, is very far from being perfectly consistent. The following editorial principles have accordingly been adopted, concerning the representation of inherent -a, the indication of nasalization, and the resolution of the ambiguous Khojki notation of the voiced plosive consonants. Since the language of the printed editions is modern, it has seemed more elegant to avoid the ugly writing of final -a in all cases other than such monosyllables as na or ba. A hyphen has similarly been preferred to the awkward -a- in such compounds as sat-gur, although the medial -a- has been allowed to stand in such genuine Sanskrit compounds as varadatli. All other vowels are transcribed as written in Khojki, including all instances of -a- outside compounds, and the imperfectly distinguished -1- and -i-. The alphabetic arrangement of the vowels in the glossary is explained in the introductory note thereto. Khojki scribes and editors are both lavish and erratic in their provision of superscript

39

Ismaili hymns from South Asia

circles or dots to indicate nasalization [03: 3]. The relatively clumsy prominence of ;, in romanization has made it desirable to reduce its incidence as much as possible in our transcription, and it has accordingly been eliminated in all non-phonemic contexts. Thus e.g. nan is reserved for the neuter plural of the Gujarati possessive postposition, while the much more common negative adverb appears as na throughout, irrespective of the Khojki notation. A strictly mechanical transliteration of the unaspirated and aspirated voiced consonants, especially of the most frequently confused pairs dfdh and bfbh [03: 2], would simply perpetuate the meaningless proliferation of apparent doublets, as still maintained in the current Gujarati transliterations of the Devraj editions. We have accordingly devised a standardized transcription reflecting etymological and phonetic realities. Thus the past participle diyo 'given' is transcribed throughout with initial d-, even where the texts may spell it with the graph cr:t , otherwise reserved for dh-. Finally, we have in the interests of additional clarity chosen to follow the Hindi convention of writing postpositions as separate words without hyphens, extending this rule to include most simple postpositions after pronouns [04: 6-8], whereas the Devraj editions generally follow the Gujarati convention of writing nouns followed by postpositions as single words.

03: 5 Variant spellings These transcription rules eliminate many purely superficial Khojki orthographic variants. As our glossary shows, many orthographic alternates remain, in addition to the genuine doublets arising from the parallel use of forms from different languages [04: 1]. The patterns of these alternates, whose graphic variety often obscures the metrical count [02: 4], are mostly similar to those found in Gujarati spellings. Most of these variant spellings involve sequences of vowels, including vowels with -h-. Since the Khojki script lacks regular vowel-signs corresponding to the Nagari ai and au, the following types of variants are very common: -ai-

n·Jl.~\ kaiso

T>..t£~1 kaeso

-

"' 't.( 't.l

"Y/1(.

-

"'oo}

bae{ho

~~

n~· baya{ho

~ betho

-o-

-ava-

-

ln 0 :lfl maula

-

.,,~,

~0::1-J

keso

'?-J QO) hay

/we -ao-

-au-

-e-

-ay[ a]-

-ae-

7V~

kaol

crt~\;;; cavatho

40

u\1 ;:;;t

mota kol cotho

The Khojki Script

The writing of vowel-sequences with or without the semi-vowels -y- and -v- is similarly inconsistent:

-liy[a]-

-lie~l"tt'lS\ kliem ':)l)

'tC

glie

'lf.\.\oO)YI kliyam !)))

oo)

-ill-

-zyli?.lfOollJlll kzylimat

-zyu-

•

kzyun

-iyli-

'JVl_.., IYJYI killmat s,~...,,

'lA{"o~

gliy

_5-f'l•on duniyli

dun ill

-iyu-

-iu-r.ut~'

kiun

~tE

piu

-iv,

f\(l.·~

piyu

'7VLC/

kinv

"\.tl.Of

piv

Sequences of vowels with-h-are particularly liable to be spelt in several different ways, as in Gujarati. The two commonest types of alternation may be illustrated by:

-a he-

..,.;;,'1!.

maher

~.,~

sahel

-

-n.;;; ~

,.,. ~\))

bahot

1S\~J':a.J maho/

meher ~'t.(~

-aho-

-e-

-ae-

-ehe-

sael

Yl"l

mer

~~

sel

-

-oho-

-n,1fi,n ;n,.~,~

-o-

bohot

~\'rj

bot

moho/

~·~

-

mol

Individual vowels are more consistently spelt, although the rather common alternation between -a- and -z-f-i- in pre-tonic position, especially before r, may be noted:

41

Ismaili hymns from South Asia

-ar~~~~ ;'4~

karocji sari

-r-

7fif'(_l twt1.

if..n

"~~'~

pachlllJ-

"t. '\l/1 \\1 'l

rakhisar

k~rocji

Slri

-a-

-ir-

m"'i"1... siri -i-

-I-

""V""tl.\ "