Qadiri networks in Punjab: Uch, Lahore and the Noshahi branches

A wider devotional tradition with regional centres

Qadiri networks in Punjab belong to a wider tradition associated with Abdul Qadir Gilani and his teaching in Baghdad. Nihat Azamat’s reference account distinguishes earlier circles gathered around individual Sufi teachers from the more enduring institutions and branches of later orders. Qadiriyya spread across many regions through such connections. In South Asia, Uch became an important centre, with teaching continuing through successors rather than remaining confined to a founder’s lifetime. The name therefore identifies a broad religious tradition within which particular Punjab establishments developed their own histories.[1]

Teachers and writings connected Uch with Lahore

Arthur F. Buehler traces Muhammad Ghawth’s establishment at Uch in the late fifteenth century and the continuing work of successors in Punjab. His account links the region with teaching in Delhi and Agra as well as Multan. Centres were connected by travelling teachers, authorisation to guide disciples and remembered chains of instruction. They did not simply reproduce the same local household in every town.[2]

Lahore offered another important setting. Buehler connects Mian Mir with Khizr Sivistani of Sehwan and describes Mulla Shah as one of Mian Mir’s successors. Dara Shikoh’s association with these teachers brought a Mughal prince into the network. His writings recorded Qadiri religious lives and teachings, giving later readers another route into their memory. The connections between a teacher, successor, royal disciple and written account reveal several ways a network could be sustained.[2]

The Noshahi branch and its own routes

Arif Nevshahi’s account follows a distinct regional branch associated with Haji Muhammad Noshah Ganj Bakhsh. It identifies Sulayman Nuri Balwali as his teacher and Sahenpal as the centre of his later activity. Successors worked in Kabul, Kashmir and Kandahar, while further branches developed around other deputies in Punjab. The reference also records a substantial literary tradition in Arabic, Persian, Urdu and Punjabi and a collection of writings at Sahenpal. Noshahi connections therefore involved books and remembered teachers as well as visits to a central shrine. These particular chains sit within the broader Qadiri tradition without exhausting its diversity.[3]