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A bakhsh (بخش) is a type of administrative division of Iran. While sometimes translated as county, it is more accurately translated as district, as they are similar to a township in the United States or a district of England.

In Iran, each ostan or province consists of several shahrestan or county (Persian: شهرستان shahrestān‎), and each shahrestan has one or more bakhsh or district (Persian: بخش bakhsh‎). A bakhsh usually consists of tens of villages with a central town or city. The official governor of a bakhsh is called bakhshdar which is the head of bakhshdari office.

There are usually a few cities (Persian: شهر shahr‎) and dehdars (municipalities or rural agglomerations) (Persian: دهستان dehestān‎) in each county. Dehdars are a collection of a number of villages and their surrounding lands. One of the cities of the county is appointed as the capital of each county.

To better understand such subdivisions, the following table may be helpful. Assume that province P is divided into two counties: A and B. County A has 3 districts: Central, X, and Y. The Central district is the district that contains City M, the capital of the county. Each district might contain one or more cities and/or one or more RAs (rural agglomerations). In our example, the Central district contains City M, City N, and RA T composed of the villages V1, V2, V3, and V4, in turn; district X contains City O and RA U; and district Y has no cities and one RA V. The minimal county consists of only one city as the only district, named Central, of course. The county B in the following table is of such type, containing only one city Q.

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Mīān Muhammad Bakhsh (Punjabi: میاں محمد بخش ) was a Sufi saint and a Punjabi/Pahari poet; he belonged to the Qadiri tariqah. He is especially renowned as the author of a book of poetry called Saiful Malūk. He was born in a village called Khari Sharif, situated near Mirpur, Azad Kashmir.

Lineage[link]

He was a fourth generation descendant of Damriyan Wali Sarkar, who is buried in Khari Sharif. Damriyan Wali Sarkar's khalīfah was Dīn Muhammad; and his khalīfah was Mīān Shamsuddīn, who had three sons: Mīān Bahāval Bakhsh, Mīān Muhammad Bakhsh - the subject of this article -, and Mīān 'Alī Bakhsh. Mīān Muhammad Bakhsh's ancestors originated in Gujrat, but had later settled in the Mirpur District of Azad Jammu & Kashmir. He was a poet of Phari language (widely spoken in different parts of Kashmir.

Dispute about date of birth[link]

There is considerable disagreement about his year of birth. Mahbūb 'Alī Faqīr Qādirī, in a biography printed as an appendix to the text of Saiful Malūk gives the date as 1246 AH (1826 AD), a date also followed by the Shāhkār Islāmī Encyclopedia; 1830 and 1843 are suggested in other works. Mīān Muhammad Bakhsh himself states in his magnum opus - Saiful Malūk - that he completed the work in the month of Ramadan, 1279 AH (1863 AD), and that he was then thirty-three years of age. Hence, he must have been born in 1829 or 1830.

Upbringing[link]

He was brought up in a very religious environment, and received his early education at home. He was later sent with his elder brother, Mīān Bahāval, to the nearby village of Samwal Sharīf to study religious sciences, especially the science of Hadith in the madrassah of Hāfiz Muhammad 'Alī. Hāfiz Muhammad 'Alī had a brother, Hāfiz Nāsir, who was a majzub, and had renounced worldly matters; this dervish resided at that time in the mosque at Samwal Sharīf. From childhood Mīān Muhammad had exhibited a penchant for poetry, and was especially fond of reading Yūsuf ō Zulaikhā by Nur ad-Din Abd ar-Rahman Jami. During his time at the madrassah, Hāfiz Nāsir would often beg him to sing some lines from Jami's poetry, and upon hearing it so expertly rendered would invariably fall into a state of spiritual intoxication.

Mīān Muhammad was still only fifteen years old when his father, falling seriously ill, and realizing that he was on his deathbed, called all his students and local notaries to see him. Mīān Shamsuddīn told his visitors that it was his duty to pass on the spiritual lineage that he had received through his family from Pīr-e Shāh Ghāzī Qalandar Damriyan Wali Sarkar; he pointed to his own son, Mīān Muhammad, and told those assembled that he could find nobody more suitable than he to whom he might award this privilege. Everybody agreed, the young man's reputation had already spread far and wide. Mīān Muhammad, however, spoke up and disagreed, saying that he could not bear to stand by and allow his elder brother Bahāvul to be deprived of the honour. The old man was filled with so much love for his son that he stood up and leaving his bed grasped his son by the arms; he led him to one corner and made him face the approximate direction of Baghdad, and then he addressed the founder of their Sufi Order, Shaikh 'Abdul-Qādir Jīlānī, presenting his son to him as his spiritual successor. Shortly after this incident his father died. Mīān Muhammad continued to reside in his family home for a further four years, then at the age of nineteen he moved into the khānqāh, where he remained for the rest of his life. Both his brothers combined both religion and worldly affairs in their lives, but he was only interested in spirituality, and never married - unlike them.

Formal pledge of allegiance[link]

Despite the fact that he had essentially been made a khalīfah of his father, he realized that he still needed to make a formal pledge of allegiance or bay'ah to a Sufi master. Having completed his formal education he began to travel, seeking out deserted locations where he would busy himself in prayer and spiritual practices, shunning the company of his fellow-men. He took the Sufi pledge of allegiance or bay'ah with Hazrat Ghulām Muhammad, who was the khalīfah of Bābā Badūh Shāh Abdāl, the khalīfah of Hājī Bagāsher (of Darkālī Mamuri Sharīf, near Kallar Syedan District Rawalpindi), the khalīfah again of Dumriyan Wali Sarkar. He is also said to have travelled for a while to Srinagar, where he benefitted greatly from Shaikh Ahmad Valī.

Poetic talents and works[link]

Once he had advanced a little along the Sufi way he became more and more interested in composing poetry, and one of the first things he penned was a qasidah (quatrain) in praise of his spiritual guide. Initially he preferred to write siharfis and duhras, but then he advanced to composing stories in verse. His poetry is essentially written in the Pothohari dialect of Panjabi, and utilizes a rich vocabulary of Persian and Arabic words.

His works include: Siharfi, Sohni Meheinval, Tuhfah-e Miran, Tuhfah-e- Rasuliyah, Shireen Farhad, Mirza Sahiban, Sakhi Khavass Khan, Shah Mansur, Gulzar-e Faqir, Hidayatul Muslimin,Panj Ganj, Masnavi-e Nīrang-e ‘Ishq. He also wrote a commentary on the Arabic Qasidat-ul-Burda of al-Busiri and his most famous work, entitled Safarul ‘Ishq (Journey of Love), but better known as Saiful Maluk.

Death[link]

He died on the 7th day of the Islamic month of Dhu al-Hijjah 1324 AH (1907 AD), and was buried in Khari Sharif, not far away from his great great grandfather, Damriyan Wali Sarkar. To this day many people visit his tomb with the intention of receiving spiritual blessings.

References[link]

Shahkar Islami Encyclopedia: Syed Qasim Mahmood. (Lahore, n.d.) [In Urdu.]

Sharh-e Kalam-e Mian Muhammad Bakhsh Saiful Maluk O Badi’ul Jamal: Abul Kashif Qadiri. (Lahore, n.d.) [In Urdu.]

External links[link]

• Full text of Saiful Malūk
• The Rumi of Kashmir: Mian Muhammad Bakhsh Qadiri
• Short Documentary on Mian Muhammad Bakhsh

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2008)

Ustad Rahim Bakhsh
Ustad Rahim Bakhsh
Background information
Native name	استاد رحيم بخش
Birth name	Rahim Bakhsh
Also known as	Ustad Bakhsh Waris-e-Kharab Koy e Kharabat
Born	1920 (1920) Kharabat, Kabul, Afghanistan
Died	2002 (2003) (aged 81-82)
Genres	Khayal, Thumri, Tarana and Ghazal Classic
Occupations	Hindustani Classical Vocalist
Years active	1935–2000

Rahim Bakhsh (Persian:رحيم بخش), commonly known as Ustad Rahim Bakhsh (Persian: استاد رحيم بخش) was an ustad (maestro) of Hindustani classical music and also of native Persian Khurasa classical music culture from Afghanistan. He is also well renown and popular in a few neighboring countries. He was born in Kharabat into a well-known Tajik (Persian) family, a traditional part city of art in Kabul and was the creator of a new classical music in Afghanistan. With his work he represented the more than 4500 years old Tajik culture of central Asia. He was counted as leading authorities of classical music in Afghanistan. Like virtually all classical vocalists of Afghanistan, he belonged to the Patiala Gharana (gharana meaning a school or style of music) of Hindustani (see on Indo-Persian culture) classical music. The Ustad (pers.: master) died in 2002. His last wish was to have his grave beside his teacher Ustad Qasim. Ustad Rahim Bakh's grave is situated in Kabul on a place called Showda where every Friday night Sufis are praying.

Early life[link]

Muhammad Rahim was born in 1922 in Kharabat district of Kabul Afghanistan He began his music training at a young age of 8 under the tutelage of his grand father Mohammad Akbar and later under his father Khalifa Imamuddin studying the art of Tabla. By the age of 10, Mohammad Rahim was officially accepted by the school of Ustad Qasim Afghan, becoming the 7th string student of this great afghan master.

Mohammad Rahim studied Tabla, Harmonium and vocal and sang the classical songs of his master at the schools performance events. An official of Radio Kabul invited Mohammad Rahim to sing on national radio which was broadcasted live in its entirety. His first recorded song was Umrey khyal mastam was highly received by the public, that the he was offered a fulltime position as an official singer of National Radio. Mohammad Rahim known as Rahim bakhsh on the radio, walked from his home in Kharabat to the radio station, perform his song and with musical instrument on his back, walked back home only to repeat it three more times daily.

External links[link]

• One of his famous songs.