3 - Locating the Great Lady within the Sufi Milieu of Sixteenth-Century Central Asia

Summary

Chapter 3 contextualizes Aghā-yi Buzurg and her community within the Sufi milieu of sixteenth-century Central Asia by highlighting a particular aspect of this community, ṭarīqa-yi nā-maslūk (the untraveled path), one of the most frequently used designations to refer to the community in the Maẓhar al-ʿajāʾib. This chapter emphasizes the complex nature of “the untraveled path” by exploring the association of Aghā-yi Buzurg and her followers with the Khwājagān–Naqshbandī Sufi tradition. Aghā-yi Buzurg’s community was unique among Sufi groups: first, because it was guided by a woman, and second, because this woman had not been trained by a living master but instead had received her spiritual training from the enigmatic saintly figure of Khiżr, believed to be endowed with immortal life.