Islamic Studies Saiyid Aḥmad of Rai Bareli
by
Moin Ahmad Nizami
  • LAST MODIFIED: 07 January 2025
  • DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195390155-0311

Introduction

Saiyid (also Sayyid) Aḥmad (b. 1786–d. 1831) was the founder of a religio-political movement, at times remembered as the Mujahidin movement, that combined religious reform with an armed struggle in early-19th-century North India. He was born in the town of Rai Bareli, near Lucknow, to a religious family that had strong connections with the Naqshbandi Sufi order. He went to Delhi for education in 1804 and became a disciple of Shāh ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz (d. 1824; son of Shāh Walī Allāh). ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz initiated him in the Chishtī, Naqshbandī, and Qādirī orders and entrusted him to his younger brother Shāh ʿAbd al-Qādir (d. 1813) for further education. Later, in 1812, Saiyid Aḥmad joined the Afghan ruler of Tonk (in Rajasthan), Nawāb Āmir Khān (b. 1768–d. 1834), and served as a soldier, eventually becoming his close confidant. In 1817, when the Nawāb signed a treaty with the British, Saiyid Aḥmad left his services and went to Delhi. He established himself as a religious leader and a Sufi guide and founded the Ṭarīqa-i Muḥammadiya (Path of the Prophet), a Sufi order emphasizing strict observance of Sharia. He received active support from the family of Walī Allāh, particularly from Shāh Ismāʿīl (d. 1831) and Shāh ʿAbd al-Ḥayy (d. 1828), the nephew and son-in-law of ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, respectively. Between 1817 and 1821, Saiyid Aḥmad made extensive tours of the countryside towns of the Gangetic basin and made full use of the networks of scholarship that connected the religious families of such towns. Accompanied by his closest followers, Saiyid Aḥmad urged people to denounce “heretical religious innovations” (bidʿat), preached absolute oneness of God, and stressed a reform of social practices. In 1821, along with some 753 disciples, he set out on a pilgrimage to Mecca via Calcutta. On his return in 1823, he spent a few years collecting funds and seeking support for jihad, which began with his migration to the northwest in 1826. He assumed the title of Amīr al-muʾminīn (Leader of the Believers), and the Mujahidin clashed with the Sikhs in the Peshawar region. In the battle at Balakot in 1831, Saiyid Aḥmad died fighting along with his closest companion, Shāh Ismāʿīl. The Mujahidin movement, however, outlived Saiyid Aḥmad. When the East India Company annexed Punjab in 1849, the Mujahidin came into direct conflict with them. They remained active throughout the 1850s and it was only in the 1860s, after a series of trials, that the British managed to bring an end to the flow of money and men to the frontier.

General Overviews

There is substantial literature on the life of Saiyid Aḥmad written from different perspectives in Urdu and English. Early accounts include Thānesarī 1891, an Urdu work containing detailed biographical information, although Saiyid Aḥmad’s anti-British attitude has been glossed over. Khān 2007 is based on the events of Saiyid Aḥmad’s life narrated by his followers. Another early source in Persian is the unpublished Naqwī MSS 1476, 1477, which provides a detailed account of the career of Saiyid Aḥmad. ʿAlī 1881, also in Persian, contains details for the early life of Saiyid Aḥmad and covers the period until his return from hajj. Two of the most popular and comprehensive Urdu biographies are Mihr 1955, and Nadwī 1977. Later English writings draw heavily from these two biographies. Nizamī 1991 offers a good summary of the movement in Urdu, suggesting strong links with the family of Shāh Walī Allāh. General overviews in English may be read in Ahmad 1975 and Hedayetullah 1970. A more analytical study is Pearson 2008, with a strong focus on the reformist literature produced by the early Mujahidin. Metcalf 1982 provides a general overview of the period and the wider context of Saiyid Aḥmad’s movement. This can be supplemented by Ziad 2021, which looks at Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi networks in the area where the Mujahidin flourished.

  • Ahmad, Mohiuddin. Saiyid Ahmad Shahid: His Life and Mission. Lucknow: Academy of Islamic Research and Publications, 1975.

    An extensive study but offering a similar interpretation as in other Urdu biographies.

  • ʿAlī, Saiyid Muḥammad. Makhzan-i Aḥmadī. Agra, India: Matba Mufid-i aam, 1881.

    Written in Persian by the nephew of Saiyid Aḥmad, it gives an eyewitness account of many of the events dealing with the early period of his life. Manuscripts are available in Maulana Azad Arabic and Persian Research Institute, Tonk, India (MS 1527, 1528, 1529); Bodleian Library (MS S. Digby, Or. 120); and British Library (Or. 6650).

  • Hedayetullah, Muhammad. Sayyid Ahmad: A Study of the Religious Reform Movement of Sayyid Ahmad of Rae Bareli. Lahore, Pakistan: Sh. Muhammad Ashraf, 1970.

    Covers the life of Saiyid Aḥmad before migration to the northwest. Gives a useful overview on different facets of his life as a reformer, Sufi, and activist.

  • Khān, Muḥammad Wazīr. Waqāʿi Aḥmadī. Lahore, Pakistan: Sayyid Ahmad Shahid Academy, 2007.

    Also known as Tārīkh-i kabīr. An early work in Urdu on the life of Saiyid Aḥmad narrated by his followers who settled in Tonk after the battle of Balakot. Written in simple language, the work narrates the events without offering any interpretation. MS preserved at Maulana Azad Arabic and Persian Research Institute, Tonk, India.

  • Metcalf, Barbara. Islamic Revival in British India: Deoband, 1860–1900. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1982.

    DOI: 10.1515/9781400856107

    A pioneering study of reformist movements in South Asia. Although the book is focused on the Deoband school founded in 1866, the first two chapters provide an overview of the intellectual scene in South Asia during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries and give a good background for the emergence of the Mujahidin movement.

  • Mihr, Ghulām Rasūl. Saiyid Aḥmad Shahīd. Lahore, Pakistan: Kitab Manzil, 1955.

    A detailed account of the life and career of Saiyid Aḥmad. Mihr’s is the most authoritative account on the travels and battles of Saiyid Aḥmad and his followers. However, little information is provided on the local politics and tribal structures of the northwest region.

  • Nadwī, Saiyid Abul Ḥasan ʿAlī. Sīrat Saiyid Aḥmad Shahīd. 2 vols. Lucknow, India: Majlis Tahqiqat-i Islam, 1977.

    A useful and comprehensive account of the life and jihad movement of Saiyid Aḥmad. Volume 1 covers the period until his migration to the northwest, and volume 2 focuses on the Mujahidin activities there leading to Saiyid Aḥmad’s death.

  • Naqwī, Jaʿfar ʿAlī. Tārīkh-i Aḥmadī. Tonk, India: Maulana Azad Arabic and Persian Research Institute, MSS 1476 and 1477.

    Also known as Manẓūrāt al-ṣuʿadā fī aḥwāl al-ghuzāt wa-l shuhadā. An unpublished Persian work giving details on the life and career of Saiyid Aḥmad.

  • Nizamī, Khalīq Aḥmad. Ḥażrat Saiyid Aḥmad Shahīd aur unkī tehrīk-i iṣlāḥ wa jihād. Bareilly, India: Dairah-i Ilmullah, 1991.

    A brief overview covering aspects of reform and jihad and suggesting strong links with the family of Walī Allāh.

  • Pearson, Harlan O. Islamic Reform and Revival in Nineteenth-Century India: The Tariqah-i Muhammadiyah. Delhi: Yoda Press, 2008.

    An insightful study of the reformist literature produced by the followers of Saiyid Aḥmad. Chapter 2 offers a brief overview of the career of Saiyid Aḥmad. The book offers an excellent discussion on the efforts of Saiyid Aḥmad’s followers to propagate their teachings through print.

  • Thānesarī, Muḥammad Jaʿfar. Tawārīkh-i ʿAjība. Delhi: Matba-i Faruqi, 1891.

    Also published as Sawāniḥ Aḥmadī and Ḥayāt-i Saiyid Aḥmad Shahīd. The author was associated with the Mujahidin and wrote to divert the attention of the British from the followers of Saiyid Aḥmad.

  • Ziad, Waleed. Hidden Caliphate: Sufi Saints beyond the Oxus and Indus. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2021.

    DOI: 10.4159/9780674269385

    A study of the Sufi revivalist networks of Central Asia and northwest India, focusing on the Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi order. Although not directly dealing with Saiyid Aḥmad, the book gives an overview of the Sufi revivalist traditions in the region where Saiyid Aḥmad’s movement also flourished.

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