Syed Dadu

Syed Dadu, or Pir Dadu was a gifted vakil in Sind. He was born in 879/1474. He was an efficient scholar of Arabic and Persian and acquired high command in Indian languages. His lineage runs as Syed Daud bin Yasir bin Khair al-Din bin Mahr al-Din bin Gul Muhammad bin Hashim bin Moinuddin bin Aminuddin bin Buraqanuddin bin Shamsul wa Shak bin Quwwamuddin bin Syed Ali bin Muhammad bin Hussain bin Daud bin Zaid bin Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Hamza bin Yousuf bin Hasan bin Sakhaudullah bin Abul Hasan bin Abdullah bin Ali Jawad bin Imam Zayn al-Abidin.

His father, Yasir was appointed as a vakil, who came in Sind with his family including his wife Jahan Khanam, two sisters A'ijina and A'ish and three sons. He was persecuted, therefore, he left his family with his son Dadu and went to Punjab and Kashmir with two sons, Alauddin or A'as al-Din and Jamar al-Din and examined possibility of Ismaili mission. He learnt that many Ismailis had become Sunnis due to persecution. He preached in secret and succeeded to bring them in the Ismaili fold.

The early Sumra rulers in Sind were the Ismailis, but the later Sumra adhered Sunnism. The Sumra dynasty in Sind ended almost before 762/1361. Henceforward, the local feudal chiefs descended from the Sumra rulers were also known as the Sumras. A certain Muhammad Sumaro had killed Husn Arjun, the amir of Fateh Bagh and assumed the power. He was deadly against the Ismailis, whom he used to grind under the millstone of cruelty.

When Yasir was in Punjab, he learnt that the Ismailis were harassed in Sind. He sent his two sons in Sind and summoned his small son, Daud to join him in his mission in Kutchh, Gujrat and Kathiawar. He told his sons to hold a meeting with Muhammad Sumaro at Fateh Bagh. Both of them arrived in Fateh Bagh, and requested Muhammad Sumaro to let the Ismailis live in peace. He called for the qadi and ordered to issue fatwa against them. The qadi issued fatwa and under the vehement agitation of the bigoted qadi, the two brothers, A'as al-Din and Jamr al-Din were paraded in the streets and beheaded.

Yasir was much grieved in Jamnagar to hear the executions of his sons. He left his son, Dadu in Kutchh and went Iran with religious dues, but was murdered in Baluchistan. Pir Dadu came in Fateh Bagh and built the shrine of his brothers with the help of local people. He resided in different parts of Sind for many years without exposition.

Syed Dadu visited Anjudan at the age of 80 years, where Imam Khalilullah I appointed him his vakil for Sind, Kutchh and Kathiawar in 961/1554. The Imam also sent a written letter to be read in the Indian jamat, which reads: "I consider Bawa Daud, the son of late vakil Yasir as my son. You and the jamats must treat him as a grand vakil above all other front ranking vakils. You must obey him. All the vakils have rendered efficient services with my orders to impart you with great deal of enthusiasm. They suffered difficulties and hurdles. I have now promoted him (Syed Dadu) above other vakils. I inform the jamats that I have authorized him to do what I used to do, therefore, I order to take his dastbosi." With this mandate, Syed Dadu arrived in Sind and read the Imam's letter in the Jamatkhanas.

Culling up the fragment of traditions, it seems that in accomplishing their mission with the maximum impact, the Ismaili da'is in India had lowered the linguistic and cultural barriers to conversion to great extent. What was commonly known in India that the term Khoja designated not religious identity, but affiliation to a caste of petty traders. Neither the orthodox Muslims nor Hindus would claim the Khoja Ismailis as co-religionists. The mixed character of Khoja Ismailis' rituals and the Hindu elements in their society was such an index by which the Islamic character among them became hard to judge at that time. Their reverence towards the first Imam Ali, the commemoration of the event of Karbala however placed them among the Shi'ite Muslims, while the tributes they offered to the Imams signified their affiliation to the Nizari Ismaili branch. In matter of marriages and funeral ceremonies, they had to knock the door of the Sunni mullas. In consideration of these conditions, Pir Dadu had laid much emphasis in enhancing the sense of their belonging in Islam, and tried to define a sharp position of the Khoja Ismailis. He first reviewed the religious practices for the first time after Pir Sadruddin with the instructions of Imam Khalilullah Ali. He also revised the old daily prayer, and removed some old practices and ginans. With a fresh mandate, he also conducted brisk mission activities and converted a large number of Lohana tribe of Hinduism, notably the family of Khoja Bhaloo (d. 1016/1607) in 961/1554.

Pir Dadu arrived in Sind at the end of 961/1554 and resided at Fateh Bagh when Shah Hasan, the last ruler of the Arghun dynasty in Sind had died in 961/1554, and a certain Mirza Essa Khan Trakhan took the reign. Pir Dadu's life was insecure at Fateh Bagh, therefore he immediately wrote to Jam, the ruler of Jamnagar in Kutchh for seeking refuge, which had been granted. He repaired to Jamnagar with forty families in 994/1587 along with the sons of his brothers, where he was feted honours. Soon afterwards, another batch of forty to fifty families was also invited from Sind. A plot of land near the town was assigned to them, which was fortified with walls, one of its gates is still known as Dadu's Gate.

Pir Dadu then reported to have moved to Bhuj, the capital of Kutchh in the reign of Rao Bharmal I (1585-1631). He procured cordial ties with the local ruler, and continued his mission in Kutchh and sent his representatives in other parts of India. He also visited Kathiawar, where he converted a bulk of the Hundu Lohana tribe. Pir Dadu died at the age of 120 years in 1005/1596 at Bhuj, where his mausoleum still exists. The Imams continued to appoint the subsequent vakils in the descendant of Pir Dadu. The best known among them was his son, Syed Sadik, known as Sadik Saltar. He visited Iran and was consigned the office of vakil for Kutchh.

Mumtaz Ali Tajddin S. Ali is an popular Ismaili Scholar, He has written many articles on Ismaili Imam, Ismailism, and Pir Dadu in Encyclopedia of Ismailism, must read 101 Ismaili Heroes etc.

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