Ajan Fakir

Who is Ajan Fakir?

Ajan Fakir, born Shah Miran, also known as Azan Pir, Hazrat Shah Miran, and Shah Milan, was a Sufi Syed, poet, Muslim preacher and saint from the 17th century who came from Baghdad to settle in the Sibsagar area of Assam in the north-eastern part of India, where he helped to unify the people of the Brahmaputra valley, and to reform, reinforce and stabilise Islam in the region of Assam. The nickname Azan came from his habit of calling azan.

According to one version his name was "Hazarat Shah Syed Mainuddin". He is particularly known for his Zikir and Zari, two forms of devotional songs, that draw from local musical traditions and have striking similarities with borgeets of Srimanta Sankardeva, the 16th-century saint-scholar from Assam. In addition, the late renowned author and Sahitya Akademi award winner Abdul Malik states that Azan Fakir was a preacher with profound mastery over the Qur’an, the Hadith and Islamic philosophy.