Of Gorakhnath and Girnari

Zulfiqar Ali Kalhoro TFT Issue: 07 Dec 2018

Zulfiqar Ali Kalhoro on the ascetic with many names, Jamil Shah Girnari

Gate of Jamil Shah Girnari's shrine

Like many other saints in Thatta, the religious identity of Jamil Shah Datar Girnari is also
contested. He also carries dual identities as Gorakhnath for Hindus and Jamil Shah Datar
Girnari for Muslims, who was brought from Girnar by Gopichand (Pir Patho) to retake a
cave from Sami Dayanath. Like Pir Patho’s tales, the legends of Jamil Shah Datar Girnari are
also very intriguing. Prior to coming to PirAr/Pir Patho in Thatta, Jamil Shah lived in Girnar,
a group of five hills, now located in Jungagadh district in Gujarat, India where he wandered
and practiced tapas (austerities) in the hills of Girnar, hence was called Girnari. There are
five hills at Girnar each carrying the names of Guru Dattatreya, Gorakhnath, Amba Mata,
Kalika Mata and Jamal Shah/Jamil Shah Pir also called Datar (bountiful). There is an
ornately carved tomb over his chilagah at Girnar which is now the most holy place for the
Muslims in Junagadh district.

Girnar is the most sacred place and pilgrimage centre for both Jains and Hindus. Jamil Shah
Girnari dwelt at Girnar and interacted with both Nath Yogis and Jain monks. He kept
wandering in the mountains of Girnar and Mount Abu in the Aravalli Range. He also
wandered in the hills of Pacham, Kharir and many other mountains in Kutch and Gujarat
where there are his chilagahs. According to a manuscript which is kept by the present
gadinashin of the shrine of Jamil Shah Datar Girnari, there are six chilagahs of Jamil Shah
Girnari in Kutch, Gujarat and Rajasthan. He is known by different names at those Chilagahs.
In Khrir Chilagah he is worshipped as Pir Haji Bhrang Bajro, in Pacham area, he is called
Pachamai Pir and elsewhere he is known as Pir Mallinath, Kathar Pir, etc. The multiple
identities of Jamil Shah Girnari show that he lived and preached among many religious
communities in Kutch, Gujarat and Rajasthan where his devotees knew him by these
different names. All the above-mentioned ascetics whose names Jamil Shah adopted are
popular shrines in Kutch, Gujarat and Rajasthan. The multiple identities of Jamil Shah Girnari
show that he lived and preached among many religious communities in Kutch, Gujarat and
Rajasthan where his devotees knew him by these different names.

Like his multiple identities in Kutch, in Sindh he carried a dual identity and was called
Gorakhnath and Jamil Shah Girnari. He was brought from Girnar to Pir Ar by Pir Patho
(Gopichand) to recapture the cave from Dayanath who was converting people according to
the popular folklore. As legend has it, PirPatho/Gopichand went to Girnar to complain that
he was sitting there while Dayanath had set the hill of PirAr on fire. Knowing through his
supernatural sight that Gorakhnath was coming to Pir Ar, Dayanath fled to Dhinodhar. As
the story goes on, Gorakhnath with his supernatural power extended his hand and seized
Dayanath by the ear and brought him back to Pir Ar. He reproached him and split his ears
(as this was custom among Naths to initiate someone into their panth) – thus made him his
disciple. According to hagiography of Jamil Shah Girnari, he made Sami Dayanath his
disciple and now the descendants of that Sami play music at his shrine. This tale probably
has hidden meanings regarding how the Ismaili community was facing resistance from
Suhrawadri saints. PirPatho/Gopichand’s help from Gorakhnath/Jamil Shah Girnari was
perhaps sought to stop the growing influence of Suhrawardi saints who were the first to
challenge the power of Nizari Ismailis in Sindh.

Shrine of Wajihuddin, the chief khalifa of Jamil Shah Girnari

According to the hagiography, his real name was Syed Abdul Hadi and Jamil Shah was his
title with Girnari as nisba. He was also called Datar. According to Tuhfat al-Kiram, Jamil
Shah Girnari came to Pir Ar on the request of Pir Patho.
When PirPatho went to meet Jamil Shah at Girnar, two of his disciples – Sheikh Wajihuddin
and Pir Abro Halani, both from Sindh – were already staying with him at Girnar. Pir Patho
requested him to go with him to Pir Ar which he accepted and came to Sindh and settled at
Pir Ar. Moreover, it is believed that he was a Chishti saint and was initiated into Chishti
tariqa by Khwaja Abbas Noorani. Later he also became a disciple of Sheikh Shahabddin
Suhrawardi (1154-1191). Jamil Shah Girnari died in 1244. He died without issue. Before
death he predicted that the caretaker of his shrine would be a person who would have six
fingers! After his death a boy named Loung Palah alias Shah Loka (whose shrine is at
Chiliya which is located 8 km southeast of Thatta), who had six fingers, was brought to Pir
Ar and was made the gadinashin of Jamil Shah Datar Girnari. These intriguing tales do not
end here.

Some modern historians of Sindh who are now connected with the shrine of Jamil Shah
Girnari are trying to prove him as a Suhrawardi saint, dispelling legends which revolve
around his dual identity, a peculiarity of many of the Ismaili saints in Sindh. One needs to
take two things into account to establish the religious identity of Jamil Shah Girnari. Firstly,
if he came to Pir Ar in Sindh on the request of Pir Patho, it was certain that both belonged
to the same religious community. One needs to ask to which community both belonged.
After reading all the legends and tales that surround about both figures, I believe that he
was neither a Chishti nor a Suhrawardi saint but rather a Nizari Ismaili saint who preached
under the Nath guise among Nath Yogis of Girnar and later in Sindh. Secondly, his dual
identity like Pir Patho (Gopichand) places him in the list of forgotten Ismaili saints of Sindh.
His preaching with dual identity as Gorakhnath and Jamil Shah Girnari reminds one of the
practice of taqiyya which was practiced by Ismaili saints. Like Pir Sadruddin who was
Sahadev for his elite Hindu Lohana traders and his son Pir Tajuddin as Prahlad, similarly,
Jamil Shah Girnari was Gorkahnath to many of his Hindu ascetics be they Samis, Sadhus,
Sants, Kapris or Kanphatta Yogis. It was common among Ismaili saints to take a double
Hindu-Muslim name.
 The mosque of Jamil Shah at Pir Patho
Jamil Shah Girnari had four khalifas Shah Hussain alias Wajihuddin (who was his chief
deputy and is also buried in the shrine complex of Jamil Shah Girnari), Sheikh Zakariya,
Sheikh Mamon and Karim Qatal who also preached his thought and ideology in Sindh.

Today, the shrine of Jamil Shah Girnari is frequented by both Hindus and Muslims. The
Khoja Ismaili community outnumbers other communities at the annual festival of Jamil
Shah Girnari. They also venerate the chilagah of Jamil Shah Girnari near 103 Mori in
Gorabari tehsil in Thatta district. The Khoja community also holds the annual festival at the
chilagah of Jamil Shah Datar Girnari. The Khojki script on a wooden beam placed on stone
carved pillars of Jamil Shah Girnari’s otaro (sitting place) at PirPatho tells many tales that
Pir Ar, now Pir Patho, was the centre of Ismaili saints rather than Suhrawardi mystics.
The author is an anthropologist and has authored four books: ‘Symbols in Stone: The
Rock Art of Sindh’, ‘Perspectives on the art and architecture of Sindh’, ‘Memorial
Stones: Tharparkar’ and ‘Archaeology, Religion and Art in Sindh’. He may be contacted
at: zulfi04@hotmail.com