Footnotes




[1] Similar texts exist which are ascribed to the same or different authors. One Rajasthani oral version is attributed to the Nath Jog1 Matsyendranath. For written versions, see Gohil, 1994, pp. 17-32. The oral versions in Rajasthan are mainly collected from the untouchable Meghval members of the Nizarpanth and the Kamadyas of Ramdev..

[2] In the Rajasthani and Gujarati traditions the secret Nizarpanth is referred to by various names, among others it is called Nij or Nijia Dharm.

[3] The region of Multan (with the city called Multan and the nearby Ucch) now in Pakistan (former Sind, present Punjab) has been the centre of the Ismaili mission (dawa) in the Subcontinent. Delhi, as the capital of the earlier Sultanate and then of the Mughal empire, represents a strategic point for the ambitious Nizari dawa.

[4] Maybe an allusion to the living Imam of the Nizaris, Islam Shah also called Shah Salim (fifteenth century), a reference which could give an idea of the period during which the first oral version of this song was composed or point to the time when the local community now referred to as Bisnoi had been converted.

[5] The fourth Veda which, in the Nizari tradition, is in fact the secret fifth Veda, sometimes called Athar Ved to distinguish it from the fourth one, is one of the names of the Nizari Ismaili religious message in the Subcontinent, represented by the ginanic heritage and by the whole tradition of the Imams and Pirs. See Daylami Aradh, v. 2. and Gohil, 1994: 57.

[6] Payal is here the Rajasthani equivalent of paval, the specific name of the Holy Water in the Nizari tradition of the Subcontinent.

[7] During the first period of the Nizari mission the centre was located in the famous fortress of Alamut, situated in the region of Daylam, Iran. Alam is one of the names of Allah, and, of course Fatima is the famous daughter of the Prophet Muhammad who became the wife of Ali, the first Imam of our Era according to the Ismaili tradition.

[8] For the series of the five, seven, nine and twelve crores, see Shackle and Moir, 1992: 170. ln the Khoja Nizari tradition it is the missionary Pir Sadruddin (d. 1416) who will save the remaining twelve crores of devotees, while in the Rajasthani and Gujarati tradition this role is given to one Balchand. Sadruddin is said to have used Hindu names while working among the Hindu converts, for example Sahadev and Harchand (and maybe Balchand). According to another version (Z. Moir, 1999), Sahadev, however and then maybe Balchand, would be a different figure, perhaps a local missionary acting under Sadruddin's order.

[9] It is interesting to note here that the original authorship of this song is ascribed to the famous Nizari missionary Nur Satgur (twelfth century?) to whom many Ismaili ginans are ascribed. See one below and Shackle and Moir, 1992. According to this Rajasthani version of Daylami Aradh, the text has been transmitted through a chain of disciples, among whom are Sahni and Devayat. This could throw some light on the problem of authorship of the ginans. For example, one could surmise that the "real" authors of the songs were the (originally) Hindu disciples who have put into a poetic form the discourse of their spirituai guide. Devayat Pir, also called Devayat Pandit is famous in the Rajasthani and Gujarati traditions for his prophetic songs, see Gohil, Ibid.: 52-70. Another famous name is "Sahadev Joshi" (Ibid.: 107) whom the Gujarati Nizarpanthis do not hesitate to identify with the Khoja Pir Sadruddin.

[10] Allusion to the ghat-pat ceremony, the regular Nizari ritual.

[11] Name of Ali's sacred double-edged sword.

[12] Maybe near the Chenab river, one of the tributaries of the Indus, which indeed flows near Multan, in Punjab.