A well-known seventeenth-century painting shows a Chishti Shaikh with his disciple. Whom does it depict?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya and Amir Khusrau
Option (1) Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya and Amir Khusrau — Correct. The seventeenth-century painting shows Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya with his disciple Amir Khusrau, the poet who visited the Shaikh and wrote about him.
Option (2) Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya and Ziyauddin Barani — Incorrect. Ziyauddin Barani was a court historian who visited Shaikh Nizamuddin and wrote about him. The painting pairs the Shaikh with the poet Amir Khusrau instead.
Option (3) Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti and Amir Khusrau — Incorrect. Khwaja Muinuddin is the saint of the Ajmer dargah, the most revered Chishti shrine. The painting shows Amir Khusrau with his own Shaikh, Nizamuddin Auliya.
Option (4) Nasiruddin Chiragh-i Dehli and Amir Hasan Sijzi — Incorrect. Nasiruddin Chiragh-i Dehli has his own dargah in Delhi. Amir Hasan Sijzi was a poet who visited Nizamuddin's khanqah, but the painting shows Amir Khusrau with his Shaikh.
NCERT (2026-27): “7.1 Life in the Chishti khanqah … “Fig. 6.12 A seventeenth-century painting of Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya and his disciple Amir Khusrau” |