Move to Delhi In obedience to the desire of his spiritual master, Mu'in al-Din Chishti, Khwaja Bakhtiyar moved to the city of Delhi during the reign of
Iltutmish (r. 1211–1236) of the
Delhi Sultanate. Many people started visiting him daily. He continued and extended the musical tradition of the Chisti order by participating in
sama or
Mehfil-e-Sama. It is conjectured that this was with the view that, being in consonance with the role of music in some modes of Hindu worship, it could serve as a basis of contact with the local people and would facilitate mutual adjustments between the two communities. On the 14th of
Rabi' al-Awwal 633 A.H. (27 November 1235 CE)
His influence over people visiting the
Dargah during the Annual
Urs, 1948. As a well-known saint, Khwaja Bakhtiyar Kaki exercised great sway over the people. He continued the policy of non-involvement with the government of the day. This was the traditional way of saints of the Chisti order in South Asia, as they felt that their linkage with rulers and the government would turn their mind towards worldly matters. During the lifetime of the Khwaja he was held in great esteem by the Delhi Sultan, Iltutmish. It is contended that the
Qutb Minar, the world's tallest brick minaret, partially built by Iltumish, was named so after him. He was also the favorite saint of the
Lodi dynasty which ruled over Delhi from 1451 to 1526. His importance continues to this day and can be gauged by the following historical fact. When
Mahatma Gandhi launched his last fast-unto-death in Delhi in 1948, asking that all communal violence be ended once and for all, he was pressed by leaders of all denominations to end the fast. One of the six conditions that Gandhi put forward to end the fast was that Hindus and Sikhs as an act of atonement should repair the shrine of Khwaja Bakhtiyar Kaki which had been damaged during the communal riots.
Phoolwalon-ki-sair festival The darbaar shrine of Qutb al-Din Bakhtiyar Kaki has also been the venue of the annual
Phoolwalon-ki-sair (a festival of flower-sellers) in autumn, which has now become an important inter-faith festival of Delhi. The festival has its origins in 1812, when Queen Mumtaz Mahal, wife of the Mughal Emperor,
Akbar II (r. 1806–1837) made a vow to offer a
chadar and flower
pankha at the Dargah and a
pankha at the
Yogmaya Temple, also at Mehrauli, if her son Mirza Jehangir, who, after inviting the wrath of Sir Archibald Seton, the then British Resident of the Red Fort, was exiled to Allahabad, returned safely. And as the legend goes, he did, and so began the tradition.
Royal grave enclosure and his son
Akbar II, with
Moti Masjid in the background, next to the Kaki Mausoleum complex in 1890s Incidentally,
Akbar II is now buried nearby in a marble enclosure, along with other
Mughals,
Bahadur Shah I and
Shah Alam II. ==Works==