Sayyid Amir Kulal

 

Amir Kulāl (1278–1370),  was a Persian Sufi Islamic scholar, widely considered to be one of the most influential in history. He was a member of the mystical Khajagan order. His father was the Sufi scholar Saif ud-Dīn Hamza a sayyid descendant of Prophet Muhammad. Saif ud-Dīn Hamza was amir (chieftain) of the Persian Kulal-Tribe, his full title being Amir-i-Kulal. After his father's death, Shams ud-Dīn became the amir and head of the tribe. By this time his reputation as a scholar and religious figure had spread through Chagatai Khanate and the title Amir-i-Kulal, had become his common name. Because he made earthenware, he was popularly referred to as “Kulāl”, which means "potter" in Persian.

Kulal had a number of students who later became prominent figures in history, including Baha-ud-Dīn Naqshband and the conqueror Amir Timur. After rise of the Timurid dynasty, a close relationship began between the houses of Amir Timur and Amir Kulal and continued through the Mughal line in India. Kulal is buried at Sokhar, near Bukhara, Uzbekistan.

Amir Kulal's father, Amir Saif ud-Dīn Hamza, was a direct descendant of Husain ibn Ali, grandson of Muhammad. The entire tribe of Kulal were descended from Muhammad.

The Kulal tribe settled in the area of modern-day Vabkent near the end of the twelfth century. Around 1340, the city was visited by Ibn Battuta who spent a night there as a guest. Battuta described it as beautiful, saying that it had "... many gardens and rivers".

The tribe's date of settlement can be approximated with the remains of the madrasa (a form of Mosque) which was constructed at Vabkent in 1198 under the patronage of Burhan ud-Din Abdul Aziz II (whose name adorns the Madrasa's minaret, the only surviving segment of the building). The builders of the madrasa were members of the Kulal tribe and copied the Kalyan mosque (Po-i-Kalyan) style, making upgrades in the design and technology. This made the Vabkent madrasa a more refined form of Kalyan mosque.

The tribe quickly established a small industrial base at the central market of Vabkent and built mills in the surrounding areas, which continued to operate well into the sixteenth century. The city's main industries were coin minting; alloying of steel; creating pottery; and milling. Their highly glazed pottery and tiles, unmatched in quality and quantity, were their main export. This earned the tribe the title of Kulal (potter) and gave them their name. Their kiln designs were highly efficient and were able to produce up to 1500 pots in each batch. Utilizing wind and water resources for milling and industrial processes coupled with efficient kiln designs resulted in considerably higher earnings per capita, leading to a healthy lifestyle for the entire tribe.

Despite a history of wars and conflict in the area, the Kulal tribe was not once attacked. There are three main reasons for this:

The tribe was famous as being entirely composed of descendants of Muhammad, gaining them considerable respect from the neighboring tribes; this was a considerable advantage in a Muslim dominated country.

The city was surrounded by a terrain of gardens and greenery criss-crossed by numerous rivers and streams at one side and an endless desert at the other, which was barren and uninhabited. This, coupled with the lack of substantial material value in the small city, was a big enough deterrent for any invading army which would have to travel at least one day to reach the city which lied at the boundary of the Kyzyl Kum desert.

The social system was devised into three sections—the political system, monetary system, and publicity system. Their political system was simple. The most learned of the tribe was chosen as the head. The goal of the head, other than being the qazi and administrator was to represent the tribe and politically maneuver through times of war. Also, the post was not hereditary. No hereditary claim to the "throne" meant there wasn't one family in the tribe which would grow up to have amassed huge portions of tribe wealth in a couple of generations, in case the head turned out to be corrupt. Also, this avoided any mutual tussles between heirs of any deceased chieftain, as there was nothing to fight for. Their monetary system was even more advanced (for their time) than the political system. All of the mills and manufacturing plants were owned in essence by the community. Anyone willing and skilled was allowed to operate and earn a living as long as he kept the structure maintained and donated for construction of newer structures. The system worked superbly well and at least at a smaller scale of a couple of thousand individuals proved could be sustained for a number of centuries. Strict codes of intermarriages within the tribe, relatively small birthrates (compared to the one prevalent at the times), single marriages and continuous outward migration meant the population stayed nearly constant throughout the time period.

By the time of Amir Kulal wrestling had become a Kulal trademark sport. The tribe held regular contests both at Vabkent and Bukhara in which outsiders also competed. The Kulal youth were almost always successful, instilling the idea of the Kulal tribe as superior and fierce warriors.

The full name of Amir Kulal is as follows:

Amir Kulal ibn Hamzah ibn Ibraheem ibn Muhammad ibn (Muhammad) Hasan ibn Abdullah AlShaheed ibn Jafar ibn Husain ibn Ali ibn Hasan AlQayem ibn (Muhammad) Husain ibn (Ahmad) Husain ibn (Muhammad) Ali AlDaynori ibn Moussa AbuSobha Moussa AlThani ibn Ibraheem AlMurtdha ibn Moussa AlKadhim ibn Jafar AlSadiq ibn Muhammad AlBaqir ibn Ali Zainualabdeen ibn AlHusain AlSebit, son of Fatimah ibnt Muhammad, ibn AlImam Ali ibn AbiTalib AlHashemi AlQurashi.

Shams ud-Dīn Amir Kulal was born at Bukhara. His father Saif ud-Dīn Hamza was head of the Kulal tribe and a renowned scholar. As head of the tribe, Saif ud-Dīn Hamza was titled Amir-i-Kulal (Leader of Kulal tribe). Shams ud-Dīn was educated in his childhood and early in his life took the position of head of the madrasa at Vabkent. He was also known as a great wrestler. By the time he became the head of Kulal tribe his fame as a scholar and religious figure had spread through the surrounding region with many noble and powerful families sending their children to study under him, most notably from the Barlas Tribe