Qazi Akhi Jamshed (I/10) He was from the village of Rahra Mau, about 6 km from Baragaon, where his great-grandfather, Qazi Abdul Latif, son of Qazi Jalal Uddin, had settled. Qazi Jamshed left his home at a very early age and went to attend on Makhdoom Jalal Uddin Jahania Jahangasht, one of the most revered sufis of his times. After spending about 12 years in this service, Qazi Jamshed became his Murid. His association with his Pir was so close that Makhdoom Jahania Jahangasht called him Akhi, or friend, which became a permanent prefix to Qazi Jamshed’s name. One Makhdoom Sahib was so impressed with Qazi Akhi’s knowledge and perfection that he gave him a Khirqa and advised him to go and settle at Kannauj. Qazi Jamshed left Uchch and stayed at Kannauj for sometime. But due to congestion and unhealthy surroundings of the area, he shifted to a suburb of the town known as Rajgir, which is at the banks of the river Ganga.

Qazi Akhi Jamshed was of very pure habits and did not have any superficiality or worldly feelings. His virtues were his exhaustive devotion to the Almighty, his high ideals, complete contentment with the surroundings and extensive powers of enacting miraculous deeds. Due to his extreme holiness and piety, Kings, Nawabs and other elites used to visit him for fulfillment of their desires. A few of them became his murids as well. Khwaja-i-Jahan, who established an independent Kingdom of Jaunpur, visited Qazi Jamshed frequently, and it is said that due to blessings of Qazi Jamshed, he was able to carve out an empire for himself. The story goes that Khwaja Jehan, when he was at Delhi, visited Makhdoom Jahania Jahangasht and asked for his blessings. Makhdoom Sahib, in turn, told his disciple Qazi Jamshed to request these blessings. Qazi Sahib asked Khwaja Jehan to raise his hands for prayers and asked him to say what he wanted. While listening to his desires, Qazi Jamshed blessed him to become an independent King.

Qazi Akhi Jamshed was very popular in the masses. People living around Rajgir loved him. It is mentioned in Mirat-ul-Israr that once during Holi, a festival observed with vigor and enthusiasm in the whole of northern India, a crowd of village folk came to Qazi Akhi and started dancing and singing in front of him. Qazi Sahib also got into the mood of ‘Jazb’, (trance) and joined in dancing. He kept on dancing for about three days without any break and without taking food or water. This activity was not appreciated by his disciples, who considered dancing and singing with infidels to be against the tenets of their religion. They reported this matter to the King of Jaunpur, who did not pay any heed to it and took it lightly, saying that possibly it was a way of expressing one’s gratitude to God at the time of Holi. His stature could also be judged by the fact that Sheikh Kamal Uddin Laharpuri, himself a very renowned Auliya, used to receive instructions in his dreams from Qazi Akhi Jamshed. Once he was told to build an apartment for his wife, and he complied. This place became Sheikh Kamal’s resting place when he died.

Sheikh Noor Uddin, a nephew (son of his sister, Sakina) of Qazi Akhi became his Khalifa. The exact date of Qazi Sahib’s demise is not known. Sheikh Abdur Rehman Chishti says that he could not find out the date of his death, but it is definite that Akhi Jamshed was alive through the reign of Sultan Ibrahim Sharqi, who died in 844 H. Therefore, the date of Qazi Sahib’s death could be somewhere around 860 H. Other sources mention the date as 11 Shawwal 801 H, which seems incorrect. There is an interesting story mentioned in Mirat-ul-Kaunain about the day of his death. It says that Akhi Jamshed died on Monday, the 10 Shawwal, and when the body was being taken for burial, an old woman who lived nearby stated wailing “how Akhi Jamshed, being such a perfect saint, could die on Monday, which was supposed to be inauspicious day”. Hearing this, Akhi Jamshed peeked through the ‘Kafan’ and said “Alright if this day is inauspicious for you, then I will live for one more day”. Akhi Jamshed remained alive that day and died the next day. How far it is true is left to the readers to ponder. He is buried at Rajgir, in the district of district Kannauj.

[Biographical sketch of Kidwais of Avadh : with special reference to Barabanki families pub. 1989
by Riaz-ur-Rehman Kidwai, out of print]