Charkhanama
Topic: Bhakti and Sufi Traditions · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 2 "Bhakti-Sufi Traditions"
Meaning
A charkhanama was a short song in Dakhani, the language of the Deccan. Women sang it while spinning thread on the charkha, the spinning wheel. Chishti sufis around Bijapur wrote these songs in the 17th–18th centuries. Each song was a form of zikr, the repeating of God's names, set to the rhythm of the wheel. Through simple songs like these, Islam spread in Deccan villages.
Example
Around Bijapur, Chishti sufis also wrote other work songs: lurinama (lullabies) and shadinama (wedding songs). Kannada vachanas and Marathi abhangs probably inspired them.
Don't confuse with
- Qawwali: sufi music sung by trained singers at shrines. The charkhanama was a simple home song that women sang while working.
Related concepts
- Chishti silsila
- Muinuddin Chishti
- Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki
- Nizamuddin Auliya
- Nasiruddin Chiragh-i Dehli
- Baba Farid
- Shaikh Salim Chishti
- Gesu Daraz
- Langar
- Sama