RAS question
A key difference between the Chishti and Suhrawardi orders was:
Correct answer: (D) Chishtis avoided state patronage while Suhrawardis accepted it.
A key difference between the Chishti and Suhrawardi orders was that the Chishtis generally kept away from state patronage, while the Suhrawardis accepted it and maintained links with ruling elites.
Explanation
The distinction lay in their attitude to political power. Chishti saints valued austere living and avoided contact with state authority; Nizamuddin Auliya, for example, refused to visit the Sultan's court. IGNOU eGyanKosh, Block 8 PDF says that Nizamuddin Auliya saw seven successive Sultans of Delhi but avoided the company of kings and nobles and never visited the court. By contrast, the Suhrawardi figure Bahauddin Zakariya followed a worldly policy, built a large fortune, accepted state patronage, and maintained links with the ruling classes. So the correct contrast is not theological identity, but the orders' relationship with the state.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) There was a clear difference in attitude to political authority: the Chishtis kept distance from courtly power, while the Suhrawardis accepted patronage and ruling-class links.
- (B) The Chishtis believed in austere living and avoided state power, so describing them as palace-dwellers reverses their stated image.
- (C) Both orders were Sunni, so the contrast was not Chishti Shia identity versus Suhrawardi Sunni identity.
Concept
This tests the Sultanate-period Sufi orders, especially how different silsilahs related to political power. It recurs in RAS because medieval Indian history often asks candidates to distinguish religious movements by social practice, patronage, and state relations rather than by names alone.