HIDDEN ARCHIVES OF PROPHETIC MEMORY IN BENGAL

In the broader study of Islamic heritage, Sufi khanqahs are often recognized as centers of spiritual training, yet their role as archives of Prophetic memory in West Bengal remains largely unexplored. This research addresses that gap by investigating how Bengal’s khanqahs preserve and transmit devotion to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ through oral milād traditions and unpublished na‘t manuscripts. The study demonstrates how these devotional practices shaped emotional communities and created a Bengali Muslim culture deeply centered on Prophetic love.

Methodologically, the study draws on archival visits, manuscript analysis, oral history, and secondary sources. Ten prominent khanqahs are explored to understand their historical contributions as cultural storehouses of Prophetic memory. Six unpublished manuscript traditions are examined to highlight their devotional role. Oral milād traditions are analyzed as living performances of sacred biography, while post-Partition shifts and knowledge silences are studied to show the fragility and resilience of this heritage.

This thesis concludes that khanqahs of West Bengal are not only mystical training centers but also hidden archives of Prophetic love, sustaining South Asia’s devotional and literary heritage across centuries.

In Bengal, Sufi khanqahs have long been acknowledged as hubs for mystical practice, spiritual instruction, and communal leadership. They offered places where communities came together for devotional and commemorative rites and where seekers sought spiritual development under the direction of Sufi masters. Their function as repositories of Prophetic memory, where love and loyalty to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ were meticulously preserved through oral milād traditions and unpublished na‘t writings, is one facet of their past that is remarkably understudied. These khanqahs protected the Prophet's memory in both written and performative forms, acting as cultural archives in addition to being centers of mystical discipline.

Bengal has a rich spiritual environment, but this aspect has received little attention in the past. The Islamization of Bengal, the charisma of Sufi saints, and the networks of pirs and pupils have all been examined by historians like Richard Eaton (1993) and Asim Roy (1983) . However, there hasn't been much research done on how khanqahs actively served as cultural archives of Prophetic memory. An important void in the study of Islamic legacy is created by this neglect: academic reports do not include the unpublished writings that are kept in khanqah cabinets or the oral performances that are heard in their courtyards. Consequently, a significant aspect of Bengal's cultural and spiritual past has been obscured and inadequately recorded.

Closing this gap is very essential and crucial. A large number of manuscripts in khanqah libraries are still uncatalogued, susceptible to deterioration, and unavailable to a broader audience. The loss of cultural memory due to neglect, migration, and industrialization also poses a threat to oral traditions. A deeper comprehension of South Asian devotional culture and an appreciation of how regular Muslims, including men and women, preserved the memory of the Prophet ﷺ in their daily lives depend on the preservation and study of these traditions . This study also emphasizes the importance of gendered contributions to the transmission of holy memory by drawing attention to the underappreciated function of women's domestic milād meetings. Recognizing khanqahs in a different light when we acknowledge them as living cultural archives rather than just places for spiritual training. They are guardians of the literature, performance, and memory that have maintained Prophetic devotion in Bengal for generations.

This study aims to document oral milād practices as emotional performances of Prophetic memory, analyze six unpublished na‘t manuscript traditions as hidden archives of Prophetic love, and assess the politics of knowledge preservation and silences in post-Partition Bengal. It also looks at how Sufi khanqahs in West Bengal preserved Prophetic devotion through manuscripts and oral traditions .

Hypothesis

The study hypothesizes that Sufi khanqahs in Bengal functioned as informal archives, where manuscripts and oral traditions together sustained Prophetic devotion, and that their neglect today reflects both political silences and scholarly oversight.

Literature Review

Research on Islam and Sufism in Bengal has mostly focused on socio-economic and syncretic frameworks, with Eaton (1993) emphasizing the growth of agriculture, Roy (1983) highlighting the interaction between Hindus and Muslims, and Karim (1959) and Ahmed (1981) focusing on socio-political life. However, khanqahs as devotional archives have received little attention. Ernst and others place Sufi literature within the Persianate world, ignoring local voices, while studies on na‘t poetry (Schimmel, 1985) and milād literature (Katz, 2007) focus on canonical Persian and Arabic texts rather than unpublished Bengali manuscripts. Oral milād traditions are explained by theories of cultural memory (Assmann, 1995) and emotional communities (Rosenwein, 2006); nevertheless, South Asian researchers such as Robinson (2000) and Hardy (1972) primarily concentrated on authority and transmission rather than performance. While ethnographic studies frequently characterize Bengal's oral na‘t and milād traditions as syncretic, more modern works by Green (2012) and Asani (2009) take into account print culture and vernacular devotion but seldom ever discuss them. The archival neglect of these rituals has been further influenced by theological arguments between reformist and Sufi traditions on milād. Overall, despite groundbreaking work, not much research has looked at West Bengal's khanqahs as archives of Prophetic memory that have been kept through gendered involvement, oral milād recitations, and unpublished manuscripts. This study aims to fill that gap.

Research Questions

This research is oriented by an interconnected set of research questions that situate its primary ends and goals. At the heart, the thesis queries: how do West Bengal Sufi khanqahs maintain and pass on Prophetic memory through oral milād practices and unpublished na't manuscripts? Specifically, it aims to know how khanqahs serve as centers of religious practice as well as cultural warehouses of devotional texts and memory, and how the khanqah practices established emotional communities in the Bengali Muslim world. The underlying assumption is that such khanqahs were secretive archives, where performance orally and preservation through manuscripts collectively maintained the memory of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ over time.

To answer these questions, the research utilizes a qualitative approach that encompasses visits to archives, readings of scarce manuscript collections, and ethnographic sensitivity to oral traditions in addition to secondary materials in books, journals, and databases. This multi-dimensional approach enables the study to cross-check findings as well as identify textual as well as performative aspects of Prophetic devotion. The uniqueness of this study is its emphasis on previously unpublished sources—manuscripts and oral traditions usually overlooked by mainstream scholarship—through which to reinterpret Bengal's Islamic legacy.

Initial indications are that Bengal khanqahs preserved distinctive nat't collections and supported oral milād performances that established lively networks of memory, such as through the neglected role of women in household assemblies. By doing so, the thesis deepens discussions of South Asian cultural memory, devotional aesthetics, and preservation politics. In the future, the significance of this research goes beyond the scholarly argument: it speaks to the imperative of documenting, digitizing, and conserving these obscure archives before they are lost forever, so that they continue to teach future generations about the richness of Bengal's Prophetic heritage.

Methodology

Research Design and Approach

The research methodology used in this study is qualitative, which is ideal for examining literary, religious, and cultural practices that are difficult to fully capture through quantitative analysis. Oral milād recitations and unpublished na‘t writings, the study's primary resources, necessitate interpretive, descriptive, and contextual analysis, in contrast to surveys or numerical data. This method expands on previous textual and ethnographic approaches in Islamic studies (e.g., Robinson, 2000; Asani, 2009) by concentrating on the khanqah as a repository of Prophetic memory.

The nature of the research problem itself influences the choice to employ qualitative methods: Bengali prophetic devotion is preserved through brittle, lived rituals rather than official libraries. These traditions include oral performances that are only saved when performed in public settings and manuscripts that frequently survive in private or khanqah collections. Therefore, it was decided that a mix of anthropological observation and manuscript research was necessary to reveal the hidden facets of this religious culture.

Method Implementation

Ethnographic observation and manuscript analysis were merged in the data collection process. Manuscripts in khanqahs and private collections were accessed through archival visits, and oral recitations at public events were documented. Contextual comprehension was made possible by open-ended interviews with women participants, reciters, and caretakers. In order to facilitate in-depth textual and interpretive study, field notes, recordings, and document scans were methodically cataloged.

Method Validation

Oral recitations were compared to manuscripts for dependability, and local academics were engaged to confirm dates and authorship. The viability of combining ethnographic and archival methodologies was examined in a pilot project conducted in Hooghly, which resulted in improvements including adaptable observation techniques and flexible interview protocols. The techniques' suitability for capturing covert devotional practices was validated by triangulation across several data sources.

Evaluation and Testing

To identify trends in manuscript usage and recitation habits, the study used textual and content analysis to examine the data, bolstered by a small number of descriptive statistics. This integrated methodology offers deeper, culturally grounded insights than earlier approaches, as shown by comparisons with current ethnographic investigations. Cross-validation of oral and textual materials, comprehensiveness of archival coverage, and depth of interpretative insights were among the evaluation metrics that demonstrated the method's strength and efficacy for researching devotional archives in Bengal's Sufi khanqahs.

Chapter I – Historical Background

Islam entered Bengal in the early 13th century through Sufi missionaries, traders, and conquerors, especially after Bakhtiyar Khalji’s conquests, which saw the building of mosques, madrasahs, and khanqahs in centres like Lakhnauti, Devkot, Mahasthan, Tribeni, Sonargaon, Sylhet, and Gaur. The earliest inscription (Birbhum, 1221) records a khanqah built by a fakir from Maragheh, Iran, showing the Persian origins of this institution .

A khanqah (from Persian, “house of Sufis”) served as a spiritual retreat and community hub, typically comprising mosques, madrasahs, mazars, residences, and langarkhanas (free kitchens) funded by lakhiraj lands. They became centres of prayer, education, social welfare, and healing, where people of all religions sought peace. By hosting milād gatherings, urs festivals, and na‘t recitations, khanqahs preserved Prophetic memory, blending Arabic, Persian, Urdu, and Bengali traditions .

These institutions produced leading scholars and sufis such as Sharafuddin Yahya Maneri, Ashraf Jahangir Simnani, Nasiruddin Manikpuri, and Shaikh Husain Dhukkarposh, and fostered a distinctive regional Islamic culture, reflected in terracotta ornamentation and inclusive practices. Though many declined under colonial confiscations of rent-free endowments, khanqahs endured as cultural archives—part library, part performance stage, and part community space—sustaining Bengal’s devotional, educational, and literary heritage .

Chapter II – Sufi Khanqahs as Cultural Archives of Prophetic Legacy

This chapter introduces ten major khanqahs of West Bengal that became centers of Prophetic memory. Each safeguarded manuscripts, hosted milād gatherings, and preserved oral traditions.

1. Furfura Sharif Khanqah (Hooghly District)

Established in 1375 CE by Muqlish Khan, Furfura Sharif is Bengal's most significant Sufi center . The khanqah is famous for its mature tradition of maintaining Prophetic remembrance through oral recitations of milād and unpublished manuscripts of na't. These manuscripts, written mostly in Persian and Urdu, are preserved by the khanqah custodians and are central to the devotional rituals practiced during the annual milād festivals. The khanqah as a living archive is demonstrated by its position as a storehouse of spiritual information and a site for collective prayer, whereby oral poetry recitations inculcate reverence for the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. The architectural importance of Furfura Sharif only serves to reinforce its position as a cultural archive. The mosque, built in 1375 by Muqlish Khan, is evidence of the Islamic architectural tradition of the area. The location draws many pilgrims, particularly during the Urs festival, pointing to its continuing spiritual and cultural significance .

The contribution of the khanqah goes beyond religious guidance; it has also been a hub for education and social reformation. Most notably, Mohammad Abu Bakr Siddique, the first Pir of Furfura Sharif, played pivotal roles in the construction of mosques, madrasas, and the publication of newspapers, championing causes like the Khilafat Movement and the Pakistan Movement. His work has left an irreversible mark on the religious and socio-political life of the region.

All in all, Furfura Sharif Khanqah is a fine example of the polyvalent function of Sufi institutions in keeping alive and reproducing Prophetic memory. With its manuscripts, oral traditions, architectural legacy, and political and social roles, it is a shining example of Bengal's Islamic and cultural heritage.

2. Akhi Siraj Dargah (Malda, West Bengal)

The Akhi Siraj Dargah, located at Sadullahpur near Gaur (Malda), is dedicated to Hazrat Akhi Sirajuddin Usman (d. 1357) , a chief disciple of Nizamuddin Auliya who firmly rooted the Chishti order “Silsila” in Bengal. His khanqah functioned as a centre of prayer, learning, and spiritual training, supported by a langarkhana (free kitchen) that embodied the Chishti ideal of service. It preserved Prophetic memory through milād gatherings, urs festivals, and nat't recitations, while producing disciples who spread Sufi teachings across Bengal. Architecturally, the dargah reflects Bengal’s regional Islamic style with brickwork and terracotta motifs, and it continues to be a site of pilgrimage and intercommunal devotion. As one of the earliest Chishti khanqahs in Bengal, it laid the foundation for a wider network of Sufi centres in the region.

3. Pandua Sharif Dargah of Hazrat Makhdoom Alaul Haq Pandavi

The Pandua Sharif Dargah, located in Malda district, West Bengal, is the sacred dargah of Hazrat Makhdoom Alaul Haq Pandavi (1301–1384/1398), a leading 14th-century Sufi saint of the Chishti silsila. His real name was Umar bin Asad Khalidi. He was initiated into the Chishti silsila by Hazrat Akhi Siraj, who was a disciple of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya of Delhi. When Akhi Siraj died, Alaul Haq set up his khanqah in Pandua, which emerged as a major hub of Islamic learning and spirituality in Bengal .

Architecturally, the dargah reflects traditional Mughal as well as Bengal Sultanate styles, with intricately detailed designs and inscriptions that make it reflect its historical heritage. The khanqah was also a madrasa, providing religious education and a sense of community based on spiritual evolution and devotion.

Hazrat Alaul Haq Pandavi's legacy lives on through his students, particularly Hazrat Ashraf Jahangir Semnani, who was one of his noted students. Semnani's visit to Pandua and his further spiritual education by Alaul Haq further reinforces the dargah as a hub for the spread of Sufi philosophy and the upholding of Prophetic memory .

With regard to manuscript preservation, though individual unpublished na't manuscripts of this khanqah are not well recorded, the practice of manuscript collection and preservation existed in Sufi khanqahs in the region. It is possible that the Pandua Sharif Dargah, as were other contemporary khanqahs, had an archive of religious texts, among which were na't poetry, that were central to devotional exercises as well as the dissemination of Prophetic love.

Overall, the Pandua Sharif Dargah is a testimony to the rich Sufi culture of Bengal, a cultural repository that holds in trust the legacy of Hazrat Alaul Haq Pandavi and his contributions to the spiritual and literary culture of Bengal.

4. Patharchapuri Dargah Sharif (Birbhum)

Situated within the village of Patharchapuri, some 12 km from Suri in Birbhum district, West Bengal, is the venerated shrine of Hazrat Data Mehboob Shah Wali (also referred to as Data Baba), a 13th-century Sufi saint belonging to the order of the Chishtis. His coming to this area is said to have immensely impacted the spiritual topography of Rarh Bengal .

The temple is famous for its Patharchapuri Mela, a yearly fair celebrated on the 10th of Chaitra in the Bengali calendar, commemorating the death anniversary of the saint. Thousands of believers from various religious backgrounds visit the shrine to participate in the fair, which shows the syncretic nature of the region.

Architecturally, the dargah reflects traditional Islamic architecture with a central tomb and peripheral courtyards. Though individual unpublished na't manuscripts are not recorded, preservation of devotional literature is a fundamental part of Sufi khanqahs, and it is reasonable to assume that such manuscripts would be present in the shrine's records.

The Patharchapuri Dargah Sharif is a cultural repository that maintains the memory of Hazrat Data Mehboob Shah Wali and his contribution to the Bengal literary and spiritual legacy .

In total, The khanqahs of Bengal—like Basubati Darbar Sharif (Hooghly), Patharchapuri Dargah Sharif (Birbhum), Dargah of Ghous-e-Bengal Syed Shamsuddin Shah Wali (Asansol), Syed Shah Mehr Ali Alquadri Al Baghdadi's Shrine (Midnapore), Baharampur (Murshidabad), Howrah, Cooch Behar, and Malda Khanqah—reflect the region's rich Sufi heritage. These institutions kept unpublished na't manuscripts, like the handwritten Bengali "Diwan-i-Muhabbat-e-Rasool" from Malda Khanqah, practiced oral milād traditions, and supported devotional sessions that conveyed Prophetic memory down generations. Serving as cultural repositories, they bridged local Bengali, Persianate, and Arabic devotional discourses, sustaining the spiritual and literary heritage that was at the heart of Bengal's Islamic culture.

Chapter III – Unpublished Na‘t Manuscripts

Bengal's Sufi khanqahs were critical depositories of Prophetic memory, too often underemphasized in mainstream scholarship. As seminal studies by Asim Roy and Richard Eaton explored socio-economic and syncretic patterns, they paid relatively little attention to the devotional records stored within these institutions. Likewise, classic studies by Annemarie Schimmel and Marion Katz on na't poetry and milād rituals were preoccupied with printed, canonical sources, neglecting the extensive body of local, unpublished manuscripts .

These manuscript texts, discovered throughout West Bengal, bear witness to a pluralistic and varied devotional culture. In areas such as Burdwan and Murshidabad, vernacular and folk Bengali and Dobhashi manuscripts made mass community participation easy. Persian na't scrolls from the Hooghly Imambara and other locations emphasize the cosmopolitan Persianate world to which the area had access and the value placed on calligraphy. Of particular interest are women's Bayāz collections from localities such as Barasat, which expose the latent, domestic transmission of devotional poetry. Order-specific collections from khanqahs such as Furfura Sharif also reflect the performative and rhythmic character of this literary tradition. The availability of Arabic milād manuscripts in cities such as Howrah further connected local practice to wider Islamic scholarly networks .

These manuscript traditions reveal how Bengal's Sufi publics sustained Prophetic memory across languages—Bengali, Persian, Urdu, and Arabic—and through various social spaces, from khanqahs to domestic homes. They reveal the pluralistic and vernacular aspects of devotional culture, emphasizing the pivotal role of unpublished manuscripts in maintaining emotional and spiritual connection with the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.

Chapter IV – Oral Milād Traditions in Bengal

In West Bengal, oral Milād traditions are sophisticated, organized, and syncretic, combining classical Islamic constituents and local Bengali aesthetics. The rituals, commemorating Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, are one of the chief means of preserving Prophetic memory among Sufi and folk communities. The conventional pattern of a Milād function is an enactments-based trajectory across various devotional genres. It starts with the recitation of Qur'anic passages, followed by Hamd (praise of God) and the hallmark feature, Na't (praise of the Prophet). In Bengali, this typically comprises works by great poets such as Kazi Nazrul Islam . Manqabat (praise of Sufi saints) is also included in the rituals, connecting Prophetic piety to local spiritual lineages. There are recitations incorporating rhythmic elements, including clapping, which provides a community-based and participative dynamic. The climax of the event is the recitation of the Prophet's birth (Mawlid Sharīf), telling the story of his life and customs. The session ends with joint prayers and greetings to the Prophet, called Du'ā and Salām, which creates a common feeling of emotional and spiritual closure.

Gendered Spaces and Roles

Attendance at Milād ceremonies is frequently organized by gender, reproducing the wider social dynamics in the region. Men's meetings are usually conducted in khanqahs or open spaces and are marked by an official, communal style. Collective chanting and rhythmic dhikr (remembrance) characterize these sessions, and they are usually conducted by a spiritual master, which reinforces hierarchical and collective devotional practices . Women's Milād meetings are largely limited to the domestic sphere. These private affairs are unique in their mode of communication, which tends to deploy handwritten bayāz notebooks through individual Bengali Na't compositions. These prayer-oriented, private sessions underscore the pivotal, yet commonly unacknowledged, gender role of the women in upholding devotional practice and Prophetic memory within the family. This segregation by gender, as Banglapedia observes, is a widespread aspect, with women sometimes attending behind screens, indicating inclusion as well as the sustenance of physical boundaries.Occasions and Significance Milād observances are not usually confined to one day but are frequently included in more extensive seasonal rituals .

The primary occasion is the month of Rabi‘ al-Awwal, particularly the twelfth day, which sees extended, multi-day celebrations with continuous recitations and discourses.

Aspects of Milād are often also integrated into Urs celebrations—the death anniversaries of Sufi saints that recur each year—emphasizing the intertwinement of Prophetic and saintly devotion. These events are essential for creating effective communities. The participants feel a collective emotional affinity, sharing collective identities based on affection for the Prophet ﷺ. This synthesis of ritual, poem, and prayer not only maintains social unity but also illustrates how Bengali religious practice is a living synthesis of Sufi tradition and local practice.

Chapter V: Knowledge Preservation & Untold Silences

This chapter considers the great challenges and intricacies of keeping Prophetic memory alive in the Sufi traditions of Bengal, especially after the 1947 Partition. It uncovers the political and social changes that have affected this heritage, as well as bringing to light marginalised contributions and the stunning resilience of such communities.

Post-Partition Shifts and Their Impact

The Partition of 1947 was a watershed, deeply dislocating established Muslim institutions and intellectual networks in Bengal. This political dislocation resulted in the loss or abandonment of numerous precious manuscripts. In addition, the redefinition of Bengali Muslim identity witnessed the relative decline of Urdu, an important language of devotional literature, as it gave way to Bengali. This linguistic shift, while central to a new national identity, inadvertently created a disconnect from a significant portion of the region's literary heritage, complicating the preservation of Urdu-language texts.

The Politics of Preservation

Without official state archives, Sufi khanqahs have become the chief, though unofficial, guardians of this literary heritage. But this responsibility is tenuous. These private centres seldom have the resources to catalogue properly, control the climate, or preserve professionally. The physical fragility of the manuscripts because of environmental causes, such as humidity, is a threat that persists, making it imperative that this heritage be documented before it is completely lost.

Untold Silences and Resilience

The transmission of this knowledge is characterised by several untold silences. Women's contributions, however essential, are very much invisible in official histories. Their preservation of devotional poetry in handwritten notebooks (bayāz) and intimate home rituals renders a major, though unappreciated, facet of the tradition. Likewise, theological and academic prejudices have traditionally marginalised devotional genres in vernacular languages, including Bengali Dobhashi and baul melodies, as "folk" and not acknowledged as integral parts of lived Prophetic memory. Notwithstanding such problems, khanqahs continue to be dynamic custodians and living libraries. Far from being passive depositories of texts, they are dynamic arenas where manuscripts and oral rituals remain alive in the memory of Prophetic memory, thus maintaining a vibrant South Asian devotional and literary tradition despite it all.

Main Findings

The research uncovered six heretofore unpublished na't manuscript traditions, revealing a previously unexplored layer of devotional imagination. These manuscript texts, discovered in various khanqahs, demonstrate a resplendent linguistic diversity, including combinations in Arabic, Persian, Urdu, and Bengali. This illustrates the way local cultures transformed international Islamic piety into distinctively Bengali modes. At the same time, oral milād ceremonies were found to be at the core of enacting emotional communities. These formal recitations, encompassing not just praise of the Prophet but also of Sufi saints, are performative continuations of sacred biography. The study also revealed a clear gendered aspect to these practices, with organised, congregational meetings for men in khanqahs and domestic, personal rituals for women in the use of personal notebooks (bayāz).

Discussion and Interpretation

The blended analysis of manuscript and oral traditions brings to the fore a hybrid archive—a written-and-performed one. This discovery upends the usual scholarly emphasis upon published, canonical works. The hidden histories of women's home gatherings expose an important, yet always overlooked, facet of cultural memory transmission. This lack of attention, compounded by the vulnerability of manuscripts from improper cataloguing and environmental control, is indicative of the larger politics of knowledge within postcolonial Bengal. The thesis argues that in spite of these dangers, the determined caretakers of these khanqahs have been able to preserve this rich devotional and literary history alive, a compelling demonstration of community preservation against the odds of history.

This thesis has illustrated that the Sufi khanqahs of West Bengal are much more than sites of spiritual education; they are living, though frequently unobvious, repositories of Prophetic memory. Through the examination of unpublished na't manuscripts and oral milād traditions, this study has revealed how the institutions have maintained a living devotional culture focused on love for the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. The research's major discovery is that this legacy is not limited to official, public sites but is maintained through a variety of diverse practices and materials, from the painstakingly duplicated Persian scrolls to the women's individual, handwritten notebooks within domestic environments.

The study confirmed that six different traditions of unpublished manuscripts uncover a rich well of literary imagination that has been largely untapped by scholars. In addition, analysis of oral milād rituals confirms their function as living performances of sacred biography, which actively builds "emotional communities" around the shared faith and love. Even amid the colossal challenges of the 1947 Partition and persistent institutional disregard, the tenacity of these khanqahs and persistence of these traditions, especially in women's domestic assemblies, remain a testament to this legacy's abiding power. Overall, the West Bengal khanqahs are not only mystical centres but also irreplaceable custodians of South Asia's devotional and literary heritage.

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