{{Short description|Indian Sufi saint}} {{For|the Assamese film|Ajan Faquir Saheb}} {{More citations needed|date=March 2012}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2018}} {{Use Indian English|date=October 2018}}
'''Azan Faqir''' ({{langx|ar|أذان فقير}}),(Assamese : আজান ফকীৰ) born '''Shah Miran''', also known as '''Ajan Pir''', '''Hazrat Shah Miran''', and '''Shah Milan''' (presumably from ''Miran''), was a Sufi,<ref name=brahmaputrabeckons>{{cite book |title=The Brahmaputra Beckons |year= 1982|publisher=Brahmaputra Beckons Publication Committee |asin=B0000CQAKG |page=39 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s7y1AAAAIAAJ&q=%22Azan+Fakir%22 |accessdate=2008-09-05 |author1=Committee, Brahmaputra Beckons Publication}}</ref> poet, Muslim preacher and saint from the 17th century<ref>{{cite book |title=A Socio-economic & Cultural History of Medieval Assam, 1200 A.D.-1800 A.D. |last=Sarma |first=Satyendranath |year=1989 |publisher=Pratima Devi |page=230 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M4xAAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Azan+Pir%22 |accessdate=2008-09-05}}</ref> who came from Badaun in Uttar Pradesh 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,<ref>{{cite book |title=Social and Economic Profile of North-east India |last=B. Datta-Ray |first=B. |year=1978 |publisher=B. R. Pub. Corp. |page=343 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RgAlAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Azan+Pir%22 |accessdate=2008-09-05}}</ref> and to reform, reinforce and stabilise Islam in the region of Assam.{{citation needed|date=September 2020}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ajan Peer Dargah {{!}} Sivasagar {{!}} Government Of Assam, India |url=https://sivasagar.assam.gov.in/tourist-place-detail/401 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230105192822/https://sivasagar.assam.gov.in/tourist-place-detail/401 |archive-date=2023-01-05 |access-date=2025-12-25 |website=sivasagar.assam.gov.in |language=en}}</ref> The nickname ''Azan'' came from his habit of calling azan.<ref>{{cite book |title=Sufi Movements in Eastern India |last=Tamizi |first=Mohammad Yahya |year=1992 |publisher=Idarah-i Adabiyat-i Delli |page=96 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pzcbAAAAIAAJ&q=%22Azan+Pir%22 |accessdate=2008-09-05}}</ref>
According to one version{{Which|date=May 2010}}{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}} his name was "Hazarat Shah Syed Mainuddin". He is known for his ''Zikr 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 Syed Abdul Malik states that Azan Fakir was a preacher with profound mastery over the Qur’an, the Hadith and Islamic philosophy.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Sufi saint Ajan Fakir made Assam a symbol of the syncretic religious traditions |url=https://www.awazthevoice.in/heritage-news/sufi-saint-ajan-fakir-made-assam-a-symbol-of-the-syncretic-religious-traditions-21851.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250601041759/https://www.awazthevoice.in/heritage-news/sufi-saint-ajan-fakir-made-assam-a-symbol-of-the-syncretic-religious-traditions-21851.html |archive-date=2025-06-01 |access-date=2025-12-25 |website=www.awazthevoice.in |language=en}}</ref> thumb|Hajarat Ajan Pir Dargaah, Horaguri Chapori, Sivasagar
==Career== Azan Fakir was a disciple of Khwaja Nizamuddin Auliya. He came to Assam accompanied by his brother Shah Navi. He married the daughter of a Muslim named Syed Usman Gani of Khandokar village in Rangpur, Assam. <ref>{{cite book |last1=Datta |first1=Amaresh |title=Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: A-Devo |date=1987 |publisher=Sahitya Akademi |isbn=978-81-260-1803-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ObFCT5_taSgC |language=en}}</ref>
==The conspiracy== In course of time his influence spread, he acquired a good number of followers and earned the enmity of an Ahom official, Rupai Baruah Dadhora (Rupai Phuke-mit), who by conspiracy convinced the Ahom king that Azan Fakir was a Mughal spy and had orders passed for plucking out the Pir's eyes.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-08-30 |title=Assam: Historical Azan Pir Dargah affected by flood in Disangmukh |url=https://www.indiatodayne.in/assam/story/assam-azan-pir-dargah-affected-flood-412897-2021-08-30 |access-date=2025-12-25 |website=India Today NE |language=hi}}</ref> The Pir, according to some songs, had two earthen pots brought into which he let his "two eyes drop".He then asked the soldiers to throw the pots into the nearby Dikhow River instead of taking them to the King.{{cn|date=October 2025}}
==Aftermath== The king was alarmed and for atonement made land grants to Ajan Fakir at Soraguri Chapari, near Sibsagar and had a matha built for him.{{cn|date=October 2025}} This place on the bank of Brahmaputra has become a holy place with Ajan Pir's Dargah where an annual urs is held. His ''dargah'' is at Saraguri Chapari near Sibsagar town.<ref name=":0" />
==Works== Azan Fakir composed 160 zikir and zari but 90 only recovered.
==See also== *Ajan Faquir Saheb, a 2008 Assamese-language film about him.... * Islam in Assam * {{Interlanguage link|জাৰী|lt=Jari Gan|As}}
==References== {{reflist}}
{{refbegin}} * {{cite web |last=Bora |first=Utpala |title=Zikir and Zari: Sufi songs of Assam |website=Posoowa |url=http://www.posoowa.org/2006/05/26/305/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929060952/http://www.posoowa.org/2006/05/26/305/ |archive-date=2007-09-29 |date=May 2006 }} * {{Citation |last=Jogesh |first=Das |url= |title=Folklore Of Assam |date= |publisher=National Book Trust, India |isbn= |pages=111–2 |language=en}} * {{Cite journal |journal=Radiance Viewsweekly |volume=XLVI |issue=11 |date=2008-06-15 }} * {{Cite book |last=Malik |first=Abdul |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e1AxAAAAMAAJ |title=Ajan Fakir |date=1990 |publisher=Sahitya Akademi |isbn=978-81-7201-040-9 |language=en}} * {{Cite book |last=Nofil |first=Zafri Mudasser |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ADNazgEACAAJ |title=The Identity Quotient: The Story of the Assamese Muslims |date=2021 |publisher=Har-Anand Publications Pvt Limited |isbn=978-93-88409-87-2 |pages=110-20,120-27 |language=en}} * {{Cite journal |last=Deka |first=Dipanjali |date=2022-08-10 |title=Reading Resemblances and Fluidity Between the Zikir Songs of Azan Fakir and Other Song Genres in Assam |journal=ShodhKosh: Journal of Visual and Performing Arts |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=152–159 |doi=10.29121/shodhkosh.v3.i2.2022.155 |issn=2582-7472|doi-access=free }} {{refend}} * {{Cite journal |last=Hussain |first=Abul |date=2021 |title=Sufi Songs of Assam: Zikir and Zari |url=https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3867058 |journal=SSRN Electronic Journal |doi=10.2139/ssrn.3867058 |issn=1556-5068}} * {{Cite journal |last=Imdad Ullah |first=Tufail |last2=Kalita |first2=Garima |date=2025-12-04 |title=Cultural and Literary Dimensions of Zikir: The Assamese Tradition of Devotional Chanting |url=https://doi.org/10.63363/aijfr.2025.v06i06.2252 |journal=Advanced International Journal for Research |volume=6 |issue=6 |doi=10.63363/aijfr.2025.v06i06.2252 |issn=3048-7641|doi-access=free }} *
== External links == {{Commons category-inline}} <!--{{wikiquote-inline}}--> * {{Cite AV media |url=https://youtube.com/playlist?list=RDoXpGKbGVPEE&playnext=1&si=o4C64jmYCzX52OQr |title=AZAN FAKIROR ZIKIR - Hafeza Begum Chowdhury & Group║BackPack Studio™ (Season 6)║Folk Music - Assam |date=2023-12-15 |last= |type=Video |publisher=Anahad Foundation |access-date=2025-12-25 |via=YouTube}} *
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fakir, Ajan}} Category:Islam in Assam Category:17th-century Indian people Category:17th century in the Ahom kingdom Category:Indian Sufis Category:People from Assam Category:Students of Nizamuddin Auliya