Historical-Intellectual Relations of Mystics and Sufis of Kerman and India

From ancient times, the two regions of Kerman and India have been neighbors and there were relations at different levels between their people. In the Islamic period, Kermani and Indian Sufis, as preachers of mystical teachings, always provided part of the cultural relations between the two regions. This dissertation, which has been written in a descriptive-analytical method, tries to investigate the extent of these relations. Studies show that a large number of Kermani mystics migrated to live in a freer religious environment in India due to political turmoil and religious prejudice, or at the invitation of prominent mystical rulers and Sufis of India to seek their support. His emigration paved the way for the strengthening of Indian practices, the establishment of new branches, the transmission of Iranian customs and occupations, the writing of magnificent mystical works, the spread of the Persian language, the development of Shiism, and finally the survival of a kind of “Iranian mysticism” outside Iran. In contrast, a small number of Sufi immigrants from India generally came to Kerman on the pilgrimage to Mecca or Atabat and wanted to meet and accompany the famous mystics of Kerman. His presence has increased the prestige of Kermani mystics among the people of this region and has caused the transmission of Kermani Sufi thought to other parts of the Islamic world.