Sufi movements in South India; with special reference to Ba Alawiyya

This study examines the religious and spîritual culture of the South Indian geography, which is little known primarily in Ġslâmic lands and particularly in Turkey. It discusses the history of Ġslâm in the region, its administrative structure, and the essential dynamics that have occurred throughout history. This study deals with the place, importance, and contribution of Sûfism in the Ġslâmic heritage of South India. The study covers the entry and expansion processes of the Ba Alawiyya Sûfi order which has been influential in the region in the last 4 centuries, the encounter of the local people, the sociocultural influence of the representatives of the order in the religion, their political interventions and the spîritual legacy left by them. It tries to explain the Ba Alawiyya Sûfi literature, mystical views, the main ideas and personalities, and its impact on the people and culture of South India. It deals with the struggles of Ba Alawi members against colonialism, their relations with the Ottoman caliphate, and their role in the formation of contemporary South Indian Ġslâmic culture. Among the important issues to be addressed in the thesis is the influence of Tasawuf on mystic movements and other religious organizations that have emerged in the region recently, as well as the influence of mystical movements on contemporary South Indian Ġslâmic culture with a special reference to Ba Alawiyya.