Panj peer (or panj pīr), meaning the five saints in Persian, were Islamic saints who overlapped in late 12th and early 13th centuries in northwestern India. There was also a similar tradition in Rajasthan, known as Panch Pir, whose quintet were subsequently Rajputized.
Sufis The Islamic panj pirs were: +Sufi panj peersNo.NamePortraitLifespanRegionReference(s)1.Mu'in al-Din Chishti 1143 – 1236Ajmer, Rajasthan2.Qutb al-Din Bakhtiyar Kaki 1173 – 1235Mehrauli, Delhi3.Farid al-Din Ganjshakar 1179 – 1266Pakpattan, Punjab4.Baha al-Din Zakariya 1182 – 1268Multan, Punjab5.Lal Shahbaz Qalandar1177 – 1274Sehwan, Sindh The above Sufi saints are mentioned (alongside Nizam al-Din Awliya) in the great love-epic of the Sufi poet sayyid Waris Shah, Heer Ranjha, which opens with an invocation to them.
Rajasthan The concept of panch pir in Rajasthan likely derived from the earlier concept of punch pir in Punjab and other parts of northwestern India. Which figures were included in the panch pir quintet varied by region, however Goga was usually always included amongst the five. In Rajasthan, these panch pir were: +Rajasthani panch pirsNo.NamePortrait1.Gogaji2.Pabuji3.Ramdevji4.Harabhuji5.MallinathjiSometimes included:Meha Mangali (Mehoji) These five (or six) figures were folk-deities. Some of these figures were not originally perceived as Rajput heroes and became Rajputized later-on after the 18th century. Originally, figures such as Gogaji, Pabuji, Ramdetji, and Harabhuji were originally associated with the downtrodden sections of society, particularly peasants and pastoralists, but they became appropriated as Rajput figures and their identities were usurped by the ruling-classes.
See also
Panj Pyare
Notes
References