Shah Jalal (Persian: شاه جلال‎; Bengali: শাহ জালাল full name:Yamanī Shāh Jalāl ad-Dīn al-Mujarrad) is a celebrated Sufi Muslim figure in Bengal. Jalal's name is associated with the Muslim conquest of north-eastern Bengal and the spread of Islam in Bangladesh through the Sufi Movement. He was buried in Sylhet, Bangladesh,formerly known as Jalalabad, while the country's main airport is named in his honour.

Born Makhdum Jalāl ad-Dīn bin Muhammad, he was named al-Mujarrad (probably for his lifelong celibacy or performing of prayers in solitary milieu) and entitled Shaykh-ul-Mashāykh ("Great Scholar"). Shah Jalal's date and place of birth is not certain. Various traditions and historical documents differ. A number of scholars have claimed that he was born in 1271 CE in Konya in modern day Turkey and later moved to Yemen either as a child or adult while the majority believe he was born in a village called Kaninah in Hadhramaut, Yemen. He was the son of a Muslim cleric, who was a contemporary of the Persian poet and Sufi mystic, Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi but was educated and raised by his maternal uncle Syed Ahmed Kabir in Mecca. He excelled in his studies and became a Hafiz there, increasing proficiency in Islamic theology (aqidah). He achieved spiritual perfection (kamaliyyah) after 30 years of study, practice and meditation.

Abd Al-Rahman bin Abdallah al Shashi (Arabic: عبد الرحمن بن عبد الله شاشي‎) (b. 1829 - 1904), popularly known as Shaykh Sufi, was a 19th century Somali scholar, poet, reformist and astrologist.

Shaykh Sufi was born in Mogadishu, where he founded the Qadiriyyah congregation, an Islamic school of thought or tariqah whose disciples included colleagues of his such as Uways al-Barawi. He studied astrology and wrote extensively on the future of Mogadishu and religious sciences, and authored popular books such as Shadjarat al Yakim ("The Tree of Certitude").

Besides his scholarly career, Shaykh Sufi was known as a great mediator between merchants and shop keepers in the coastal cities. As a reformist, he is credited with having put an end to what he considered to be the urbanites' immoral dancing rituals. In private, he also wrote many poems, which would eventually be taken up by fellow scholars such as Abdallah al-Qutbi in their books.

After his death in 1904, Shaykh Sufi's resting place became a site of annual pilgrimage for the faithful from across Somalia and East Africa. A cemetery would eventually be constructed around his mausoleum, where prominent Somali ministers, entertainers and Presidents would also be buried.

Ustad Imdad Khan (1848–1920) was a sitar and surbahar player. His two sons Enayat Khan and Wahid Khan, his grandsons Vilayat Khan and Imrat Khan, and great-grandsons Shahid Parvez, Shujaat Khan, Nishat Khan, Irshad Khan, Wajahat Khan, Shafaatullah Khan and Hidayat Khan have all upheld his musical tradition, musical luminaries themselves.

Khan was born in Agra, as the fourth generation of what was to become the Imdadkhani Gharana (school) or Etawah gharana, named after the village outside Agra where the family soon moved. He was taught by his father, Sahabdad Khan, a trained vocalist and self-taught sitar player, but Imdad came to greatly develop and define the family style and techniques. Imdad Khan was also trained by the legendary beenkar Bande Ali Khan (disciple and son-in-law of Haddu Khan). In the 19th Century, the instrumental classical music of North India was dominated by the Senia style, passed down through the musical dynasty of Miyan Tansen's descendants, who played in the dhrupad ang. Imdad instead evolved a style based on the newer, more popular khyal singing. It is said that in his youth at Etawah, Imdad practiced on the sitar in a state of chilla (isolation) for some twelve years. When he moved with his family to Kolkata, the house in which they lived was named "Riyaz" (practice).