Many eminent Sufi poets and scholars of Sindh were born in the sixteenth century. One such eminent Sufi poet was Shah Abdul Karim, the great-great-grandfather of Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai (1689-1752). Shah Abdul Karim was born in a Syed family in Mutalvi town, now called Matiari, in 1538. Later, he settled in Bulri, hence was called Shah Abdul Karim Bulri Waro. When his father Syed Lal Muhammad died, he was taken care of by his mother and elder brother Syed Jalal Shah. From a very young age, Shah Abdul Karim had a penchant for sama, the ecstatic devotional practice of the Sufis. He used to bunk school to attend sama sessions. When his elder brother Syed Jalal Shah came to know about Shah Abdul Karim’s activities, once he gave him a good dressing down, brought him before his mother and complained about his activities. But his mother comprehended her son’s spiritual nature. Rather than scolding him, she did not reprimand him at all. Later, Syed Jalal Shah also realized it and knowing the young Shah Abdul Karim’s spiritual predisposition for sama, he relieved him from household chores. This gave Shah Abdul Karim more time to attend the religious discourses and gatherings of learned scholars of that time. He also started spending his time in the company of faqirs.
According to Abdul Raza bin Muhammad Wasi the author of Bayan ul-Arifin, once a saintly person stayed in the mosque of Bulri. Abdul Raza bin Muhammad Wasi compiled a biography, discourses and poetic work of Shah Abdul Karim in 1629, six years after his death in 1623.
When Shah Abdul Karim heard about him, he went immediately to meet him and serve him. He stayed for about six months in Bulri and Shah Abdul Karim served him well during these months and became his disciple. One day he revealed in narrative his name to him that he was Sultan Ibrahim from Bihar. Sultan Ibrahim asked him about the eminent saints of Sindh. Shah Abdul Karim shared the names of Makhdoom Nuh, Miran Syed Muhammad Yousaf Shah Rizvi and others and their tariqas. Amongst those names, Sultan Ibrahim told to Shah Abdul Karim that Miran Syed Muhammad Yousaf Shah Rizvi seemed to be a saintlier person. On the next day, Shah Abdul Karim did not find Sultan Ibrahim in the mosque. He was sad not to find him in the mosque and began searching for him in Bulri and other villages. A thought sprang in his mind that he might have gone to the khanqah of Miran Syed Muhammad Yousaf Shah Rizvi at Thatta. He rushed to that khanqah, where he found him sitting before Miran Syed Muhammad Yousaf Shah Rizvi who was an eminent Mahadvi saint of Thatta. Shah Abdul Karim was elated to find Sultan Ibrahim. When Sultan Ibrahim saw Shah Abdul Karim barefooted, he gave him his shoes to wear. Shah Abdul Karim did not wear the shoes and instead, he went to the market to get a cap made out of those shoes and wore it on his head. After meeting Miran Syed Muhammad Yousaf Shah Rizvi, Sultan Ibrahim left for Makkah to perform Hajj. Shah Abdul Karim beseeched him to take him along but his mentor did not hear him and asked him to take care of his family. After the death of his elder brother Syed Jalal Shah, much family responsibility was placed on him.
When Sultan Ibrahim saw Shah Abdul Karim barefooted, he gave him his shoes to wear. Shah Abdul Karim did not wear the shoes. Instead, he went to the market to get a cap made out of those shoes and wore it on his head
Shah Abdul Karim also spent some time in the companies of mystics and scholars of Thatta: prominent amongst these were Makhdoom Adam Samejo and Miran Syed Muhammad Yousaf Shah Rizvi.
Shrine complex of Shah Abdul Karim Bulri Waro
After some time, Shah Abdul Karim came into contact with Makhdoom Nuh Halai (1505-1589), a Suhrawardi-Awaisi saint and the founder of Sarwari Jammat. Shah Abdul Karim spent a lot of time in his company and became his disciple.
Shah Abdul Karim composed poetry in Sindhi. He was the first Sindhi Sufi poet who used folk tales of Sasui and Puhnun, Suhni and Mehar, Umar and Marui, Leela and Chanesar etc as symbols to express his mystic thoughts. According to Bayan ul-Arifin, Shah Abdul Karim was fond of travelling and he travelled to many places and even visited Ahmedabad in Gujrat where he participated in sama sessions of the mystics of Ahmedabad. He also met Sheikh Issa Jundullah (d.1555-1621), an eminent Sufi of Ahmedabad who was originally from Pat Sharif in Dadu, Sindh.
Tombs of Syed Muhamamd Dalel Shah and Syed Abdul Ghani Shah
There are many deputies and disciples of Shah Abdul Karim in Sindh, known as the Karimi Faqirs. The list is very long, however, the prominent disciples included: Dervish Mahrar Nuhrio, Mian Abdullah, Dervish Haroon, Dervish Allah Dino Lohar, Syed Qasim Mashhadi, Syed Jaffar Bakhari, Qazi Munwar bin Makhdoom Murad and many others who were the scholars and mystics in their own right.
Shah Abdul Karim died at Bulri village in 1623 and left behind five sons and two daughters. Shah Abdul Karim had eight sons but three of them died during his lifetime. The name of his sons included: Syed Lal Muhammad (died in childhood), Syed Abdul Rahim (died during the lifetime of Shah Abdul Karim), Syed Jalal Shah, Syed Burhan Shah, Syed Lal Muhammad Sani, Syed Din Muhammad, Syed Shah Hussain and Syed Abdul Quddus (died in childhood).
Inside the shrine
The shrine complex of Shah Abdul Karim of Bulri is located about 40 km southwest of Tando Muhammad Khan town. The tomb of Shah Abdul Karim is believed to have been built by his great-great-grandson Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai. He laid the foundation of the tomb and three-domed mosque in 1154 AH/1741 AD and it took two years to complete both the tomb and mosque in 1156 AH/1143. Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai stayed two years at Bulri and supervised the construction of shrine complex of Shah Abdul Karim. During these two years, Shah Abdul Latif used to hold Raag with his disciples at the Dargah of Shah Abdul Karim. There is also located the Hujro of Shah Abdul Latif east of Shah Abdul Karim’s dargah where Shah Abdul Latif and his disciples used to stay and hold Raag every night. It is also said that Shah Abdul Latif went to Multan to buy the kashi tiles for the tomb of Shah Abdul Karim.
Tomb of Syed Abdul Wasi Shah
There are four graves under the wooden canopy of Shah Abdul Karim. Apart from the grave of Shah Abdul Karim, three other graves belong to his sons-Syed Lal Muhammad, Syed Shah Hussain and Syed Din Muhammad. To the south of this wooden canopy are two graves which belong to Syed Muhammad Salah Shah and Syed Sahib Dino respectively. Syed Sahib Dino was a famous poet of the Sindhi language.
Apart from the tomb of Shah Abdul Karim, there are also few other tombs which belong to descendants and disciples of Shah Abdul Karim. As one enters the main gate of shrine complex of Shah Abdul Karim, one notices four tombs on the right. Amongst these, three tombs are of the sajjad nashins of the dargah of Shah Abdul Karim which belong to Syed Muhammad Dalel Shah son of Syed Din Muhammad, Syed Abdul Ghani Shah son of Syed Muhammad Dalel Shah and Syed Abdul Wasi Shah son of Syed Abdul Ghani Shah. On the left of the main gate are four tombs of which one belongs to Syed Abdul Quddus Shah, grandson of Shah Abdul Karim and the great grandfather of Shah Abdul Latif. Three other tombs belong to Qureshi and Shirazi disciples of Shah Abdul Karim.
Devotees at the shrine of Shah Abdul Karim
In 1937, the façade of the tomb of Shah Abdul Karim was decorated with kashi tiles of Hala. According to the inscription, Syed Ghulam Hyder Shah, the sajjada nashin of Shah Abdul Karim’s dargah got the façade decorated with kashi tiles. Faqir Khalefo Ghulam Qasim mujawar (caretaker) of the dargah of Shah Abdul Karim and a member of the jammat (community) of Loung Faqir worked on the tomb. Faqir Khalefo Ghulam Qasim was from Kalhora caste.
Today, the shrine Shah Abdul Karim is visited by hundreds of his devotees every day.
Sama which was started by Shah Abdul Karim still continues at his dargah. In fact, both Sama and Latifi Raga are organized at the shrine of Shah Abdul Karim Bulri Waro.
The writer is an anthropologist. He may be contacted at zulfi04@hotmail.com. Excerpts have been taken from the author’s forthcoming book “Saints, Sufis and Shrines: A Journey through the Mystical Landscape of Sindh”
