Khâlid-i Baghdâdî

Mawlana Khâlid Shahrazuri, also known as Khâlid-i Baghdâdî and Mawlana Khalid, was a Kurdish Sufi mystic and poet who lived from 1779 to 1827. He is renowned as the founder of the Khalidiyya, a significant branch of the Naqshbandi Sufi order. This order had a profound influence not only in his native Kurdish regions but also across many parts of the western Islamic world. His literary contributions include some of the earliest examples of prose and poetry in Central Kurdish. Shahrazuri was born in 1779 in the village of Karadağ (Qaradagh), located in the Shahrizur region, approximately 5 miles from Sulaymaniyah. He acquired the epithet 'Baghdadi' due to his frequent stays in Baghdad. His family traced their lineage to the third Caliph, 'Uthman, leading to the occasional addition of 'al-'Uthmani' to his name. He received his education in Sulaymaniyah, a prominent educational center of his time, studying under esteemed scholars like Shaykh `Abdul Karam al-Barzinji and Shaykh `Abdur Rahim al-Barzinji. One of his notable disciples, Ismail Sirajuddin Shirvani, played a role in spreading the Khalidiyya Order to the Caucasus, which subsequently contributed to the Murid War.