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A mystic of the 8th century AH; the Ṣadr-e Jahān whom Ibn Baṭṭūṭa met in Ḵatā and who became the leader of the Muslims in China. His name is not mentioned in most biographical dictionaries; his father's name, his birthplace and the dates of his birth and death are unknown.
According to the Qandīya, a treatise that recounts his life and miracles, his lineage goes back to ʿOmar b. al-Ḵaṭṭāb; the nisba “Sāḡarčī” derives from his having been for a time governor of the small town of Sāḡarč in the region of Samarkand.
In Baghdad he went to Shaikh Nur-al-Dīn ʿAbd-al-Raḥmān Esfarāyenī (d. 717) and became one of his beloved disciples; the shaikh preferred him to his own successor ʿAlāʾ-al-Dawla Semnānī (659-736). He then stayed for a time in Mecca, and afterwards went to Ḵatā, that is, northern China.
Ibn Baṭṭūṭa (703-779), who met him several times in Ḵatā, describes him as one of the great preachers, a generous and open-handed man who would sometimes borrow money and give it away to people. When the sultan of India heard of him, he sent him forty thousand dinars and invited him to Delhi. Borhān-al-Dīn paid his debts with the dinars and declined to go to India, saying that he did not wish to go to a king in whose presence scholars had to stand. He then went to China; by order of the Khan he became the leader of the Muslims there and received the title “Ṣadr-e Jahān”.
His Circle of Influence — He is one of the shaikhs who granted permission to guide disciples to Mīr Sayyed ʿAlī Hamadānī and to Shaikh Nāṣer-al-Dīn ʿOmar b. Moḥammad b. ʿOmar b. Aḥmad al-Kabīrī.
His Works — Five lines of a prayer (monājāt) by him have survived (Aḥmad Monzawī, Fehrest-e nosḵahā-ye ḵaṭṭī-e fārsī).
His Tomb and Complex — In accordance with his will he was buried in Samarkand, near the southern wall of the citadel (arg), beside the grave of Shaikh Nur-al-Dīn Baṣīr (d. 646) (Qandīya; Abū Ṭāher Samarqandī, Samarīya). Amīr Tīmūr (736-807) restored the dome of his tomb. According to Abū Ṭāher Samarqandī, a copper vessel containing a single hair of the Prophet (peace be upon him) hangs from the ceiling of the tomb.
Miracles
The following are narrations that appear in the source as REPORTS; the atlas records them not as “this is what happened” but as “this is what the sources relate.”
According to the Qandīya, extraordinary deeds appeared from him while he stayed in Mecca. (Source: Dānešnāme-ye Jahān-e Eslām, “Borhān-al-Dīn Sāḡarčī”)
It is also said that after an “ascension of the saints” he attained the station of the pole (qoṭb) and thereafter went to Ḵatā. (Source: Dānešnāme-ye Jahān-e Eslām, “Borhān-al-Dīn Sāḡarčī”)
According to the Qandīya, in China, in the king's presence, he overcame an idol-worshipping priest by his miracles; whereupon the king pledged allegiance to him and gave him his daughter in marriage. All of the shaikh's children were from this wife. (Source: Dānešnāme-ye Jahān-e Eslām, “Borhān-al-Dīn Sāḡarčī”)
Differing Scholarly Views
The tomb building — The atlas's earlier record referred to the tomb by the name Ruhabad and as a building erected by Amīr Tīmūr. The source consulted gives the building no name; it describes its location as near the southern wall of the citadel and beside the grave of Nur-al-Dīn Baṣīr, and says that Tīmūr restored the dome. The name and construction date of the building could not be confirmed from the source consulted; the atlas does not take sides.
Place of death — The atlas's earlier record stated that he died in China and that his body was brought to Samarkand by his son. The source consulted regards the place and date of his death as unknown and says only that he was buried in Samarkand in accordance with his will.
Sources
- Dānešnāme-ye Jahān-e Eslām (Dânişnâme-i Cihân-ı İslâm · Encyclopaedia of the World of Islam) — Parvāne ʿUrūjniyā · vol. 3, entry “برهانالدین ساغرچی (صاغرجی)”
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Permanent ID: EA-Z-000364 · this address reaches the same record even if its name changes; use it when citing.