4
The Formative Period
Historical changes
If the twelfth century is held to be a turning point in the history of
Sufism, it is because the new Sufi orders now took on their definitive shape
through their chains of lineage, by which their originators could, with
confidence, identify their spiritual links with their mentors in ascending
order right back to the Prophet himself. With this knowledge, it was a
simple matter for the disciples of these shaykhs — even when spatially and
temporally far apart — to establish themselves as belonging to a single
lineage. And thanks to their being able to trace their spiritual antecedents
so far back, they now had an unassailable and permanent identity, thus
guaranteeing an unbroken tradition, even with the spread of the shayks’
khalifas
to far-off places.
This latter evolutionary phase took place at a time when hordes of
people from Central Asia were thronging into Islamic strongholds in an
unremitting quest for new regions over which they could establish their
suzerainty. Leaving their homelands around Samarqand and Bhukhara, they
advanced rapidly on horseback and such was their strength and determination
that it was only a matter of time before they took over the reins of the
Abbasid Empire.Another swarm of migrants followed on their heels, having
been forced by the Mongol invaders to abandon their homes. In an attempt
to evade the Mongol threat, they finally found their way in large numbers
on to the Gangetic plains, where they endeavoured to build new empires
for themselves. The turning point came when in 1258 the Mongols sacked
