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18. Tolerant Hinduism

Shared Ritual Spaces—

Hindus and Muslims at the

Shrine of Shahul Hamid

vasudha narayanan

This essay was previously published as “Shared Ritual Spaces: Hindus and Muslims at the Shrine
of Shabul Hamid in South India,” Religious Studies News,February 1998, 15, 30, 41.

In contrast to what is commonly perceived as Hindu-Muslim conflict in the Indian
Subcontinent, the sharing of a metaphoric world and the mutual adaptation of re-
ligious vocabulary and ritual among Hindus and Muslims may be found in the
Tamil-speaking region of South India. A striking example of this mutual adaptation
can be found at the dargah (shrine) of Shahul Hamid (ca. 1513–1579) in the city of
Nagore.
Nagore is on the eastern coast of South India, and the dargah is right on the Bay
of Bengal. This is where Shahul Hamid lived in the later part of his life, and where
he is buried. Shahul Hamid was apparently a thirteenth-generation descendant of
Muhiyudin Abd al-Qadir (Katiru) al-Jilani, a renowned Sufi saint. When just a
child, he was visited by the prophet Kiliru (Khazir) and blessed by him. Kiliru spit
into Shahul Hamid ’s mouth, thus transmitting divine grace (a common motif in
Tamil Islamic poetry). Shahul Hamid did not get married but is said to have spiri-
tually fathered a son. (This son, Yusuf, and a daughter-in-law are also buried at
Nagore.) At the age of 44, after extensive travels all over the Middle East, Shahul
Hamid reached the city of Nagore. He was received with honor by Achutappa
Nayakar, the Hindu ruler of Thanjavur, who is said to have donated two hundred
acres of land to his entourage. Later, another Hindu ruler—Raja Pratap Singh