Qalandariyya as Method: Tracing Baba Rahim Mashrab in Contemporary Central Asian Culture

A talk with Professor Rachel Harris, SOAS University of London

The figure of Baba Rahim Mashrab, the 17th century poet and itinerant dervish is an important icon amongst Uzbeks and Uyghurs. Born in Namangan, Mashrab travelled across the region of Central Asia, to Kashgar, Khotan, Bukhara, and Balkh, leaving behind a rich repertoire of ecstatic ghazal poetry, and a collection of extraordinary tales of his exploits and encounters, in the Divan-i Mashrab.

This paper traces Mashrab’s journeys and his legacy in contemporary musical performance. It reflects on the diverse ways in which his poetry is realised musically in different contexts and locales, and the diverse ways in which his poetic texts and his life stories are listened to and interpreted. Taking the qalandar as our starting point allows a richer kind of mobile and connected cultural history to emerge.

The footsteps of Baba Rahim Mashrab traverse multiple boundaries and binaries : secular-religious, national-local, classical-folk, traditional-popular. The multiple interpretations of his repertoire in different locales cast light on patterns of oral tradition, twentieth century processes of national culture making, and the legacy and practice of Sufism in Central Asia.