Zakariya was born in 1161 or 1182. His family was of
Hashimid lineage, and thus traced their descent back to
Asad ibn Hashim, one of the ancestors of the Islamic prophet
Muhammad. Baha al-Din's family was originally from the
Khwarazm region in
Central Asia, but had settled in
Kut Karur in the
Punjab region, near the city of
Multan. His father was Wajih al-Din Muhammad, while his mother was the daughter of Husam al-Din Tirmidhi. For fifteen years, Zakariya travelled to different cities in southern Punjab, where the order was able to attract large numbers of converts from
Hinduism. Zakariya finally settled in Multan in 1222. Under his influence, Multan became known as "
Baghdad of the East," and is referred by Zakariya in his Persian poetry: Zakariya became a vocal critic of Multan's ruler at the time,
Nasir-ud-Din Qabacha, and sided with
Iltutmish, the
Mamluk Sultan of
Delhi when he overthrew Qabacha in 1228. and so he was awarded the title
Shaikh-ul-Islam by Iltutmish to oversee the state's spiritual matters, in gratitude for his support. Zakariya was also granted official state patronage by the Sultan. Zakariya, Shahbaz Qalandar,
Baba Farid and
Syed Jalalauddin Bukhari, together became the legendary
Haq Char Yaar, or "Four friends" group, which is highly revered among South Asian Muslims. == Spiritual philosophy ==