Atlas
About this atlas
The atlas holds the chains of transmission from the Prophet as the standard references and the classical sources record them: the Sufi orders, the chains of Qurʾān recitation, the teachers of the schools of law and ḥadīth, and the lines of the Prophet's family, with the places they spread and the living houses and teachers who carry them today. Every link shows its sources; where they differ, both readings are shown, and we do not rule on any community's claims. Ibn ʿArabī's own life, teachers and readers are on their own page.
عبد الله الدهلوي
ʿAbdullāh al-Dihlawī (Shāh Ghulām ʿAlī)
Died 1240/1824 · born 1156/1743 · Delhi
Mazhar's successor; teacher of Khālid
Sources for this person
The chain up to the Prophet
Dates are given where the sources give them. Years are CE; the Hijri year is in each name's detail.
Route 1 of 3, the best-sourced: Naqshbandiyya. Tap a rule to read its basis, sources and checks.
Sources differ on 12 links of this route.
- The Prophet Muhammadمحمد632
- Muḥammad Sayf al-Dīn al-Fārūqī al-Mujaddidīمحمد سيف الدين
the community's own accountin Naqshbandiyya
initiation · Muḥammad Sayf al-Dīn al-Fārūqī al-Mujaddidī to Nūr Muḥammad Badāʾūnī · The community's own account
Order's own chain.
the community's own account: naqshbandi.org, 'Origins' (Naqshbandi Haqqani Order's own golden chain)Checked against
- Arthur F. Buehler, Sufi Heirs of the Prophet (Univ. of South Carolina Press, 1998), ch. 3, p. 76 fig. 3 · silentBoth names appear in Figure 3; OCR of the chart does not show the connecting line.
Nūr Muḥammad Badāʾūnīنور محمد البداؤنيthe community's own accountin Naqshbandiyyasources differ
initiation · Nūr Muḥammad Badāʾūnī to Mazhar Jān-i Jānān · The community's own account
Bedāʾūnī was Mazhar's principal master; Mazhar stayed six years at his tomb and took further initiations elsewhere.
TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, 'Mazhar Cân-ı Cânân' (Hamid Algar)the community's own account: naqshbandi.org, 'Origins' (Naqshbandi Haqqani Order's own golden chain)Checked against
- Arthur F. Buehler, Sufi Heirs of the Prophet (Univ. of South Carolina Press, 1998), ch. 3, p. 76 fig. 3 · silentBoth names appear in Figure 3; OCR of the chart does not show the connecting line.
Where the sources differ, side by side. We do not rule between them.
- Mazhar also took initiation from Shāh Muḥammad Zubayr, Shāh Ḥāfiẓ Saʿdullāh and Muḥammad ʿĀbid Sunnāmī, the last also linking him to Qādirī, Suhrawardī and Chishtī lines.TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, 'Mazhar Cân-ı Cânân' (Hamid Algar)
Mazhar Jān-i Jānānمظهر جان جانان1781the community's own accountin Naqshbandiyya
initiation · Mazhar Jān-i Jānān to ʿAbdullāh al-Dihlawī (Shāh Ghulām ʿAlī) · The community's own account
Dihlawī served Mazhar for 22 years and received ijāza; he succeeded him.
TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, 'Abdullah ed-Dihlevî'TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, 'Mazhar Cân-ı Cânân' (Hamid Algar)Checked against
- Arthur F. Buehler, Sufi Heirs of the Prophet (Univ. of South Carolina Press, 1998), ch. 3, p. 76 fig. 3 · silentFigure 3 lists Ghulām ʿAlī Shāh (d. 1240/1824) with Mazhar's line; OCR does not show the edge.
ʿAbdullāh al-Dihlawī (Shāh Ghulām ʿAlī)عبد الله الدهلوي1824
Other routes (2)
Route 2 of 3: Naqshbandiyya
Sources differ on 11 links of this route.
- The Prophet Muhammadمحمد632
- Muḥammad Sayf al-Dīn al-Fārūqī al-Mujaddidīمحمد سيف الدين
the community's own accountin Naqshbandiyya
initiation · Muḥammad Sayf al-Dīn al-Fārūqī al-Mujaddidī to Nūr Muḥammad Badāʾūnī · The community's own account
Order's own chain.
the community's own account: naqshbandi.org, 'Origins' (Naqshbandi Haqqani Order's own golden chain)Checked against
- Arthur F. Buehler, Sufi Heirs of the Prophet (Univ. of South Carolina Press, 1998), ch. 3, p. 76 fig. 3 · silentBoth names appear in Figure 3; OCR of the chart does not show the connecting line.
Nūr Muḥammad Badāʾūnīنور محمد البداؤنيthe community's own accountin Naqshbandiyyasources differ
initiation · Nūr Muḥammad Badāʾūnī to Mazhar Jān-i Jānān · The community's own account
Bedāʾūnī was Mazhar's principal master; Mazhar stayed six years at his tomb and took further initiations elsewhere.
TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, 'Mazhar Cân-ı Cânân' (Hamid Algar)the community's own account: naqshbandi.org, 'Origins' (Naqshbandi Haqqani Order's own golden chain)Checked against
- Arthur F. Buehler, Sufi Heirs of the Prophet (Univ. of South Carolina Press, 1998), ch. 3, p. 76 fig. 3 · silentBoth names appear in Figure 3; OCR of the chart does not show the connecting line.
Where the sources differ, side by side. We do not rule between them.
- Mazhar also took initiation from Shāh Muḥammad Zubayr, Shāh Ḥāfiẓ Saʿdullāh and Muḥammad ʿĀbid Sunnāmī, the last also linking him to Qādirī, Suhrawardī and Chishtī lines.TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, 'Mazhar Cân-ı Cânân' (Hamid Algar)
Mazhar Jān-i Jānānمظهر جان جانان1781the community's own accountin Naqshbandiyya
initiation · Mazhar Jān-i Jānān to ʿAbdullāh al-Dihlawī (Shāh Ghulām ʿAlī) · The community's own account
Dihlawī served Mazhar for 22 years and received ijāza; he succeeded him.
TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, 'Abdullah ed-Dihlevî'TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, 'Mazhar Cân-ı Cânân' (Hamid Algar)Checked against
- Arthur F. Buehler, Sufi Heirs of the Prophet (Univ. of South Carolina Press, 1998), ch. 3, p. 76 fig. 3 · silentFigure 3 lists Ghulām ʿAlī Shāh (d. 1240/1824) with Mazhar's line; OCR does not show the edge.
ʿAbdullāh al-Dihlawī (Shāh Ghulām ʿAlī)عبد الله الدهلوي1824
Route 3 of 3: Naqshbandiyya
Sources differ on 10 links of this route.
- The Prophet Muhammadمحمد632
- Muḥammad Sayf al-Dīn al-Fārūqī al-Mujaddidīمحمد سيف الدين
the community's own accountin Naqshbandiyya
initiation · Muḥammad Sayf al-Dīn al-Fārūqī al-Mujaddidī to Nūr Muḥammad Badāʾūnī · The community's own account
Order's own chain.
the community's own account: naqshbandi.org, 'Origins' (Naqshbandi Haqqani Order's own golden chain)Checked against
- Arthur F. Buehler, Sufi Heirs of the Prophet (Univ. of South Carolina Press, 1998), ch. 3, p. 76 fig. 3 · silentBoth names appear in Figure 3; OCR of the chart does not show the connecting line.
Nūr Muḥammad Badāʾūnīنور محمد البداؤنيthe community's own accountin Naqshbandiyyasources differ
initiation · Nūr Muḥammad Badāʾūnī to Mazhar Jān-i Jānān · The community's own account
Bedāʾūnī was Mazhar's principal master; Mazhar stayed six years at his tomb and took further initiations elsewhere.
TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, 'Mazhar Cân-ı Cânân' (Hamid Algar)the community's own account: naqshbandi.org, 'Origins' (Naqshbandi Haqqani Order's own golden chain)Checked against
- Arthur F. Buehler, Sufi Heirs of the Prophet (Univ. of South Carolina Press, 1998), ch. 3, p. 76 fig. 3 · silentBoth names appear in Figure 3; OCR of the chart does not show the connecting line.
Where the sources differ, side by side. We do not rule between them.
- Mazhar also took initiation from Shāh Muḥammad Zubayr, Shāh Ḥāfiẓ Saʿdullāh and Muḥammad ʿĀbid Sunnāmī, the last also linking him to Qādirī, Suhrawardī and Chishtī lines.TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, 'Mazhar Cân-ı Cânân' (Hamid Algar)
Mazhar Jān-i Jānānمظهر جان جانان1781the community's own accountin Naqshbandiyya
initiation · Mazhar Jān-i Jānān to ʿAbdullāh al-Dihlawī (Shāh Ghulām ʿAlī) · The community's own account
Dihlawī served Mazhar for 22 years and received ijāza; he succeeded him.
TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, 'Abdullah ed-Dihlevî'TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, 'Mazhar Cân-ı Cânân' (Hamid Algar)Checked against
- Arthur F. Buehler, Sufi Heirs of the Prophet (Univ. of South Carolina Press, 1998), ch. 3, p. 76 fig. 3 · silentFigure 3 lists Ghulām ʿAlī Shāh (d. 1240/1824) with Mazhar's line; OCR does not show the edge.
ʿAbdullāh al-Dihlawī (Shāh Ghulām ʿAlī)عبد الله الدهلوي1824
How to read the marks
- Two sources: a solid rule. Two independent references give the same link.
- One source: a lighter rule, so labelled.
- The community's own account: a dotted rule. The order tells it; we have not yet read it against a reference source.
- A gap in the rule: the sources omit names between the two. The label says which.
- The sources differ: tap the ≠ to read each reading with its source.
- A ring: a spiritual link, without a meeting (uwaysī).
Who received from ʿAbdullāh al-Dihlawī (Shāh Ghulām ʿAlī)
1 recorded, each with the chain set it belongs to.
- Mawlānā Khālid al-Baghdādīخالد البغدادي1827
two sourcesin Naqshbandiyya
initiation · ʿAbdullāh al-Dihlawī (Shāh Ghulām ʿAlī) to Mawlānā Khālid al-Baghdādī · Two independent sources
Told in 1809 to seek the path in Delhi, Khālid joined Dihlawī, was made khalifa and sent back to Sulaymāniyya.
TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, 'Hâlid el-Bağdâdî'TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, 'Abdullah ed-Dihlevî'Checked against
- Encyclopaedia Iranica, 'BAḠDĀDĪ, ḴĀLED ŻĪĀʾ-AL-DĪN' (Hamid Algar), Vol. III, Fasc. 4, pp. 410-412 · agreesInitiated at Delhi in 1809-10 by Shah ʿAbd-Allāh (Ghulām-ʿAlī) Dihlawī and sent back as his khalifa for western Asia.
- Arthur F. Buehler, Sufi Heirs of the Prophet (Univ. of South Carolina Press, 1998), ch. 3, p. 76 fig. 3 · silentKhālid (d. 1242/1827) appears in Figure 3 below Ghulām ʿAlī Shāh; edge not legible in OCR.
How to cite
Mashraba Reader, Atlas of transmission, “ʿAbdullāh al-Dihlawī (Shāh Ghulām ʿAlī)”, https://www.mashraba.org/atlas/figure/abdullah-dihlawi (data of 31 October 2026).