Sayyid Mir Jan was a Sayyid, both maternally and paternally. Among his paternal ancestors were seven of the Twelve Imams, and among his maternal ancestors were eleven of the Twelve Imams and Sayyid Bahauddin Naqshband, Sayyid Alauddin Atar, and Khwaja Khawand Mahmud. After the Battle of Karbala, the Ahl al-Bayt went back to Medina. From there Musa al Kazim was forced to go to Iraq. One of the descendants of Musa al-Kazim was called Khwaja Sayyid Mir Ismail Muhammad Hakim. One son of Khwaja Sayyid Mir ismail Muhammad Hakim was Khwaja Sayyid Mir Latif, an ancestor of Hazrat Sayyid Mir Jan. The descendants of Sayyid Mir Latif immigrated to Bokhara and after that to Kabul, where Sayyid Mir Jan was born. Sayyid Mir Jans maternal ancestors were Askari Sayyids, i.e. descendants of Imam Hasan al-Askari. His son was Sayyid Ali Akbar. His existence was hidden, because of political conflicts. Sayyid Ali Akbars descendants also migrated to Bokhara, where the prominent Sufi saint Bahauddin Naqshband, founder of the Naqshbandi Sufi Order, was born. A descendant of Bahauddin Naqshband after 7 generations was Hazrat Ishaan, whose descendants later immigrated to variable regions of South Asia, like Khorasan, today known as Afghanistan in order to spread the Ishaqiyya Naqshbandiyya branch´s teachings.
Biography
Family
Sayyid Mir Jan was a son of Sayyid Mir Hasan. Both his brothers chief justice Khwaja Sayyid Mir Fazlullah and Sayyid Mir Mahmud are regarded as saints as well. His younger brotherSayyid Mahmud Agha was his disciple, becoming a qutb one rank below Sayyid Mir Jan. Other siblings included two brothers named Sayyid Mir Azimullah and Khwaja Sayyid Mir Taqiqullah, and five sisters. Sayyid Mir Jan married his wife in Medinah, and had 2 sons. His wife and his sons passed away during a natural disaster.
Lineage
The lineage of Hazrat Sayyid Mir Jan´s family is the following:
29 Sayyid Mir Fazlullah, brother of Hazrat Khwaja Sayyid Mir Jan
30 Sayyid Mir Muhammad Jan
31 Sayyida Bibi Rahima Sadat
32 Mir Sayyid Sultan Masood Dakik
Early Life and education
Sayyid mir Jan was introduced in Tasawuf in the age of 5 years. His father Sayyid Mir Hasan was also a high ranking saint, who used to teach his sons about Islam and Sufism. Sayyid Mir Jan was educated in Kabul and became a professor of Islamic theology. Later he has built his own university in Lahore. Sayyid Mir Jan and his brother Sayyid Mahmud also wrote poems.
Spiritual journey
After his education in Kabul, Sayyid Mir Jan went on a spiritual journey and became the successor to many Sufi Saints who had trained him in Sufism. Sayyid Mir Jan Shah Saheb became khalifa of 7 Sufi tariqats, including tariqats of the Naqshbandi, Qadiriyya, Chishtiyya, Suhrawardiyya, Qalandariyya, Kubrawiyya, and Madariyya orders. He stayed in Medina for a decade to be trained by one of his masters, and while there married a local woman. Later, he traveled to Lahore to the tomb of Hazrat Khwaja Khawand Mahmud, also known as Hazrat Ishaan. Hazrat Ishaan was a Sufi saint from Bukhara, whose wilayat was also in Lahore. Hazrat Ishaan's successors included his two sons Moinuddin Naqshband in Srinagar, Kashmir and Bahauddin in Lahore and their descendants until the late 18th century, by which time the lineage was lost. According to a legend, Hazrat Ishaan made prophecies about Sayyid Mir Jan, naming him as his successor to revive his lineage.
Spiritual rank
Sayyid Mir Jan was Qutb ul Aqtab, also called ghawth, the highest ranking Wali Allah of his time. In Sufism the Ghawth is known as the cosmic leader of the whole universe and righteous successor of Prophet Muhammad. His lineage is claimed by his followers to be the only legitimate line for the next Ghawth after him.
