India GOKhwaja Moinuddin Chishti, Gharib Nawaz: the saint of Ajmer
خواجہ معین الدین چشتی
The Sufi who brought the Chishti order to India; his tomb in Ajmer is among the most visited shrines in India, open to every faith.
Gharib Nawaz, the name Ajmer calls him by, means “protector of the poor”. Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti did not found the Chishti order, which takes its name from Chisht in Afghanistan; he brought it to India, where it has been the most prominent Sufi order of South Asia ever since. His tomb, Ajmer Sharif, receives people of every faith; qawwali is sung there, and the air smells of rose water and incense.
Story
Born in Sistan, he wandered from Bukhara and Baghdad to Lahore and settled in Ajmer in about 1192, the year the Rajput kingdom fell, and the poor of the new order and the old alike came to his door for food and a word. Akbar walked the whole way from Agra in 1570 to give thanks for a son and came back again and again; the cauldrons at the gate are his and Jahangir's. The roses on the grave are grown by Hindu farmers of Pushkar, and the sanctum is open to women, which is not so in Delhi.
“Be generous like a river, warm like the sun, hospitable like the earth.”
Attributed to the Khwaja
Places linked to them
Dargah Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti · Ajmer Chilla Khwaja Sahib · AjmerThe Chishti chain
He was initiated by the Sufi master Usman Harooni, and after settling in Ajmer married, around 1209–1210, the daughter of Saiyad Wajiuddin; he had three sons and a daughter. Hagiographies trace his descent to the Prophet’s family through Imam Musa al-Kazim, though the genealogies differ.
More important for India is the chain that ran from him. His spiritual successor, Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki, settled in Delhi; from Kaki the line passed to Baba Farid in Punjab and from Farid to Nizamuddin Auliya, whose dargah in Delhi still holds qawwali on Thursday evenings. A visit to the Nizamuddin Dargah is, in a sense, a visit to the same family of saints. One difference is noticeable: in Ajmer women are allowed into the shrine, while at Nizamuddin women traditionally do not enter the inner chamber.
Ajmer: the Dargah and the cave
Two places in Ajmer belong to him, and almost everyone sees only the first.
Dargah Sharif
The tomb complex grew over centuries: the white marble dome dates from 1532, Akbar rebuilt the sanctum in 1579 and probably commissioned the red sandstone Akbari Mosque, Shah Jahan added the Jami Masjid in 1637, and the yellow Nizam Gate was donated by the Nizam of Hyderabad in 1911. The great cauldrons, the degs given by Akbar and Jahangir in 1568 and 1614, still cook food for pilgrims. Entry is free.
Chilla Khwaja Sahib
The rock cave on the hill above Ana Sagar where, by tradition, he stayed on first reaching Ajmer and kept his chilla, the forty-day retreat a Sufi makes alone. The entrance is so low you bow to get in; pilgrims tie threads as they make a wish. Busy at the Urs, nearly empty otherwise; no ticket.
The Urs
Urs comes from the word for “wedding”: Sufis keep a saint’s death anniversary as his union with God, the Beloved. The Ajmer Urs fills the first six days of Rajab, the seventh month of the Islamic calendar, with night-long qawwali, and closes on the sixth morning, Chhati Sharif, with a sung poem at the gate accompanied by nothing but clapping. Because the Islamic year is lunar, it moves about eleven days earlier every year: in 2026 it is expected on 11–16 December, in 2027 on 30 November – 5 December. The exact days depend on the sighting of the Rajab moon and can shift by one; the Dargah Committee announces the flag-hoisting a few weeks ahead. Daily crowds of up to about 20,000 swell to hundreds of thousands at the Urs, so book rooms early.
✅ Before you go in
- Take off your shoes before entering and cover your head.
- Men and women use separate entrances.
- Photography inside is restricted; keep the phone in your pocket near the tomb.
- Thursday, the saint’s day, and Friday, with the Jumma prayers, are the most crowded.
- Roses for the grave are sold in the bazaar outside, along with rose water and sweets for pilgrims.
❓ FAQ
Why was Moinuddin Chishti famous?
He brought the Chishti Sufi order to India and settled in Ajmer, where, the tradition says, the poor of every faith came to his door for food and a word. His tomb is one of the most visited shrines in India.
Is Khwaja Gharib Nawaz related to the Prophet Muhammad?
His hagiographers trace his descent from the Prophet’s family through Imam Musa al-Kazim. Historians note that the genealogies differ.
Who built the dargah in Ajmer?
Many hands over centuries: the marble dome is from 1532, Akbar rebuilt the sanctum in 1579, Shah Jahan added a mosque in 1637, and the Nizam of Hyderabad gave the main gate in 1911.
How many wives did Khwaja Gharib Nawaz have?
The sources agree on his marriage, around 1209–1210, to the daughter of Saiyad Wajiuddin; he had three sons and a daughter.
Can non-Muslims visit Ajmer Sharif?
Yes. The dargah welcomes people of all faiths; cover your head, remove shoes and dress modestly.