Baba Jyoti Shah

Baba Jyoti Shah, born around 1840, was a famous Sufi sant and poet of his time. He belongs to the Chishti order of Sufism. He was the contemporary of Khwaja Ghulam Farid. He was the friend of saint Maolvi Ghulam Rasool of Alampur. He was a very learned and enlightened person. His poetry too much resembles with that of poet Baba Bulleh Shah. But, unlike Bulleh Shah, he and his poetry, today, has nearly gone in fugitiveness and abscondment. His poetry was very popular among the masses, in British India, and was often sung by Qawals (India’s classical singers). But after the partition of British India, in 1947, due to extremely negligence and suppression by extremist Mullahs, his poetry soon disappeared from the horizons. Today, whatever we know about this ‘forgotten poet’ is much due to Baba Malang Sahib's descendants and the Qawals, some of whom, like Sher Ali and Mehr Ali, still preserve a small number of his poetical verses. British Indian Museum had also supposed to preserve some portion of his, yet unpublished, poetical work. He said in one of his hymns:

Yaaroon Is Soorat Day Andar Ik Soorat Hor Vi Rehandi Ay

Rab Bandyaan Vich Enj Rachya, Jiwen Mehndi Rang Rangendi Ay

His disciple Enayat Shah Zeldar, an ex-feudalist turned saint under him, succeeded him, after his death.

Baba Jyoti Shah’s dated of death, and date of birth too, is still disputed. It is believed that he died in the mid 1st half of 20th century, perhaps around 1926 in Punjab, India. The village ‘Jyotishah Alampur’ of Indian Punjab is named after him.