Bakhtiyār Kākī, Kh^ʷājah Quṭb al-Dīn b. Kamāl al-Dīn al-Ushī, an eminent 7th/13th century Sufi mystic of the Indian subcontinent and one of the great ‘spiritual poles’ (aqṭāb, sing. quṭb) of the Chishtī order. Although there is disagreement over his exact lineage, he is recognised as a descendant of the Prophet through al-Ḥusayn b. ʿAlī, with some tracing his lineage through Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq (Ghulām Sarwar, 1/267).

The date of Bakhtiyār Kākī’s birth is found variously as 5…