Bakhsh, Data Ganj
(d. c. 1072), Sufi master and writer. An honorific title meaning "Master Bestower of Treasure" given to the Sufi master ʿAli b. ʿUthman Jullabi Hujviri, whose shrine in Lahore, Pakistan, is one of the foremost Muslim religious sites in South Asia. Data Ganj Bakhsh was born in Afghanistan and arrived in Lahore in 1039 after an extensive study tour across Arab and Iranian lands in search of religious knowledge. He is best known for his Persian work Kashf al-mahjub (The Revelation of the Veiled), an early systematic presentation of Sufism as a distinct Islamic perspective. His mausoleum was constructed soon after his death and has been renovated and expanded numerous times.
In addition to his being revered for his scholarly reputation, Data Ganj Bakhsh has served as the patron saint of the city of Lahore since the twelfth century. His tomb was a major pilgrimage site for kings, Sufi masters, and common people through the medieval period, and its popularity has increased in modern times. Although the shrine is busy year-round with visitors offering prayers and seeking material as well as spiritual benefits, the saint's annual death celebration (ʿUrs) takes place on the twentieth of Safar (second month of the lunar Islamic calendar) and is now administered by the government of Pakistan. The celebration in 1999 was attended by an estimated 600,000 to 700,000 pilgrims, making it one of the largest gatherings of its kind in the Islamic world. The shrine also regularly hosts concerts of qawwali music and performances of dhamal dance. The shrine complex is surrounded by both a bazaar and charitable institutions that provide food and medical care to the indigent.
Further Reading
Hasan, Masudul. (1971) Hazrat Data Ganj Bakhsh: A Spiritual Biography. Lahore, Pakistan: Hazrat Data Ganj Bakhsh Academy.
Huda, Qamar-ul. (2000) "Celebrating Death and Engaging in Texts at Data Ganj Bakhsh's ʿUrs." Muslim World 90, 3 & 4 (Fall): 377–394.
Hujviri, ʿAli b. ʿUthman. (1976) The Kashf al-mahjub: The Oldest Persian Treatise on Sufism. Reprint, translated by Reynold A. Nicholson. Lahore, Pakistan: Islamic Book Foundation.
Latif, Syad Muhammad. (1892) Lahore: Its History, Architectural Remains, and Antiquities. Lahore, Pakistan: New Imperial Press.
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