Nizamuddin Awliya

نظام الدين أولياء

– †

† Hijri date derived by computation from the Gregorian/Julian date; it may differ from the transmitted date by a day or two.

Delhi

Nizam al-Din Awliya (1238 - 3 April 1325) was the Chishti master of Delhi, a disciple of Baba Fariduddin Ganjshakar at Ajodhan and his successor; he kept his khanqah at Ghiyaspur in Delhi, refused service at the sultans' court, and his centre became the leading centre of Sufism in India.

Depth

At a glance

Roles
mystic · Scholar
Region
South Asia
Identifiers
Wikidata

Life in time

12001225125012751300132513501375 c.
The Crusades, Ayyubids and Mamluks · The Mongol and Post-Mongol Era Contemporaries: Ibn Jama'a, Badr al-Din Muhammad ibn Ibrahim · al-Ju'bari Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Umar · Sitt al-Wuzara' al-Tanukhiyya · Zaynab bint al-Kamal · Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi

In space

Delhi

Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph

Place in the story

    sufi (documented)

    Roles are dated and sourced; the museum describes the act and attributes the judgement.

    Summary

    Nizam al-Din Awliya (1238 - 3 April 1325) was the Chishti master of Delhi 1. The English article's lead calls him an Indian Sunni Muslim scholar and a Sufi saint of the Chishti Order 1. The Arabic article's prose likewise calls him a Sufi of the Chishti order 2. He was a disciple of Baba Farid and his successor 1.

    Early life

    His full name is given as Muhammad b. Ahmad Ali al-Badaoni al-Bukhari, his family being of Bukhara origin settled at Badayun, where he was born in 1238 1. The Arabic article dates his birth at Badayun to 633 AH, and the Urdu article's birth section converts his traditional birth in Safar 636 AH to 1237, against its own lead's 1238; those variants are preserved in the record 2 3. His father died while he was young, and he was raised in poverty by his mother and came to Delhi to study 3.

    Disciple of Baba Farid

    At Ajodhan he became a disciple of the Sufi saint Fariduddin Ganjshakar, commonly known as Baba Farid 1. He visited Ajodhan each year to spend Ramadan with his master 1. On his third visit, Baba Farid made him his successor 1. The Urdu article devotes a section to his discipleship and succession under Baba Farid 3.

    The Delhi khanqah and death

    He settled at Ghiyaspur in Delhi, where his khanqah drew students and visitors from every rank while he himself refused service at the sultans' court 1. His predecessors in the Chishti chain — Fariduddin Ganjshakar, Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki and Moinuddin Chishti — are named in the article as the masters of the order's spiritual chain 1. He died at Delhi on 3 April 1325, given as 18 Rabi al-Thani 725 AH 1.

    Connections

    Explore the connections

    Taught
    Amir Khusrow
    Studied under
    Baba Farid
    Died in
    Delhi

    People and things also explored

    Amir Khusrow· Delhi· Afsarwala Tomb, Delhi· Afsarwali Masjid, Humayun's tomb compound, Delhi· Begumpur Mosque, Delhi· Mosque of Isa Khan Niyazi, Delhi· Jami Masjid, Kotla Firuz Shah (Firuzabad)· Kalan Masjid, Turkman Gate, Delhi

    Sources

    1. Nizamuddin Auliya — English Wikipedia
    2. Nizam al-Din Awliya — Arabic Wikipedia
    3. Nizamuddin Awliya — Urdu Wikipedia
    • Nizamuddin Awliya (Q2427934)
    Cite this page

    islam.museum contributors. “Nizamuddin Awliya”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/nizam-al-din-awliya/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-11-02.

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    Wing

    People

    Prophets, companions, scholars, rulers, scientists, poets, travelers: women and men who shaped the story.
    Related

    Amir Khusrow

    Amir Khusrow (1253 - October 1325) was a poet, musician and scholar of the Delhi Sultanate and the most celebrated Persian-language poet of India. Born at Patiyali and raised in Delhi, he served the courts of eight of its sultans, wrote in Persian and Hindavi, and was credited with musical and poetic innovations that remain rooted in South Asian culture, earning him the epithet 'Parrot of India' (Tuti-i Hind). In 1310 he became a disciple (murid) of the Chishti Sufi saint Nizamuddin Auliya, in whose praise and memory he wrote, and he died in Delhi a few months after his master in 1325.