Qalandar

Qalandar is the name given to a certain group of dervishes that once existed mainly in the 13th century in the Islamic world from Central Asia to Morocco. They resembled in some ways the hippie movement by separated themselves from other Muslims by the malāmatiyya teachings and through clothing, behavior and lifestyles.

The origin of the term is not explained so far: he first appears in a Ruba ʿ ī of Baba Tahir ʿ Uryānī and in a short treatise entitled Kalandar - nāma ( "Book of Qalandar " ) of the famous Sufi ʿ Abd Ansari (d. 1088/89 ). In the Arab literature one finds the forms karandal and qalandar. However, current assumptions lead the word, for example, on the Persian Kalandar " ugly, awkward man," Kalantar of Kalān " huge, large " or on the Greek kaletor from the root kaleo back. In Turkish qalandar received the meanings:

In Turkish works one finds vivid and detailed descriptions of the appearance of the Qalandar. In Ḫwāǧa -i Ǧihān wa natīǧa -i ǧān the Turkish writer Wahidi from the 16th century to describe them as clean-shaven, with shaved eyebrows and bald head, a cone- shaped hat made ​​of woven animal hair on the head and a yellow or black cloth, a drum and a banner bearing before him.

There are great similarities between the Qalandar and the Haidari, Ǧāmī and Bektashi groups, which differed in terms of their appearance, but going about a similar lifestyle. In Ottoman texts the word qalandar also synonymous with other terms ( ışık, Torlak ) is needed. In the Punjab calendar means " a man who trained a monkey show ."