Sarmad and Abhay Chand: A Jew and a Brahmin

Our understanding of our past is formed not only by what we are told or get to read, but also by what we are not told or do not get to read. The story of Sarmad illustrates this so well.

Sarmad was born in Armenia, which is a land-locked country surrounded by Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey and Iran. Persian influences must have been strong in Armenia since the family of Armenian Jews that Sarmad was born into spoke Persian. Sarmad is a Persian name which means eternal or everlasting.

Though exact biographical details are not available it is broadly agreed that he was born around 1590 in a place called Kashan in Iran. That is why he is known as Sarmad Kashani. He came from a family of traders, though some traditions place him in a family of carpet weavers. Despite the fact that details about his birth, childhood, family profession etc are hazy; the narrative about his youth and his later years is rather straightforward and generally agreed upon.

When he came of age, he was handed a bundle of merchandise and sent off to make a life for himself. If this biographical detail is true, then it is more than likely that he came from a mercantile background because a craftsperson does not normally hawk his own produce. It is the trader who buys from the craftsperson and sells it to the consumer. So Sarmad, the merchant, picked up his bundle and set off to make a living.

We are talking of a time when every adventurer, craftsman, calligrapher, merchant, traveller, weaver, poet or a Sufi from major parts of the then known world, excluding of course the newly “discovered” lands, was headed for Hindustan. This happened because every one of those who returned home from Hindustan carried tales of her riches, trade opportunities, diversity of faiths, people, ideas, philosophical trends, crafts, fabrics and literary traditions. Some of those who heard the tales chose to discover the truth and made a bee line for Hindustan. Sarmad, too, set off on his journey of discovery.

What drew him to Hindustan was not just business opportunities. He also had deep interest in spiritual matters and was keen to participate in the great philosophical debates on the question of the divine that raged across the land. Despite the accidental arrival of Europeans in the land of the Native Americans almost 100 years earlier, it was Hindustan that was still the land of opportunity.

So Sarmad travelled to Hindustan and headed for Thatta. The ancient city of Thatta, perhaps a flourishing port in the time of the Indus valley civilisation, had continued to be a major centre of trade and Commerce, despite the river changing its course over centuries. Journeys across the vast desert lands, conducted on foot or on camel back were perilous, tiring and lonely and travellers tended to band together and look for companionship. Sarmad found himself travelling with an old gentleman and soon they began to converse. The old man was a Sufi and Sarmad, a Persian speaking Jew, was familiar with the mythologies of both Christianity and Islam. He also knew the Talmud and the Torah and so the two must have discussed and debated the three faiths that had much in common and yet there were differences that seemed irreconcilable. The net result of the long conversation was that Sarmad converted to Islam and to Sufism.

Together they travelled to Thatta. When Sarmad began visiting a Sufi shrine in Thatta, it was not clear whether he went alone or with the Old Sufi, but his visits were regular. He was attracted to the shrine because he could meet other Sufis and engage them in discussions. And then there was the music and a handsome young man who came to the shrine and sang every evening. This young singer was a Brahmin boy Abhay Chand. Sarmad was besotted with him and sat there evening after evening gazing at Abhay Chand. It wasn’t long before Abhay Chand reciprocated the affection and the two became inseparable.

The orthodox elements in both the communities were not very happy, but all their efforts came to naught. Around this time or a little earlier, perhaps even before meeting Abhay Chand, that Sarmad got rid of all his worldly goods and gave up wearing clothes as well. He roamed the streets without a thread on his body, not unlike the Jain monks of the Digambara sect or the Shiva-worshipping Naga sadhus.

According to some writings, he grew his hair and stopped clipping his nails. Paintings drawn in the mid-1660s, believed to be portrayals of Sarmad, show him sitting hunched forward, his large eyes closed, lost in thought, his long hair covering his shoulders, not a thread on his body.

It has been suggested that both Sarmad and Abhay Chand travelled to Delhi, reaching Shahjanabad in the 1650s. They pitched their camp next to the hospice of Khwaja Abdul Hasan, popularly known as Hare Bhare Saheb.
Next week, same day, we will resume the tale of the Armenian Jew who became a Sufi and his encounter with Aurangzeb.

The author is a historian, and organises the Delhi Heritage Walk for children and adults