Khwaja Fazal Mohammed

Khwaja Fazal Mohammed was one of the direct descendants of Shah Khalilullah, the qutub of Ni'matullāhī order. Fazal's ancestry can be traced back to Shah Nimatullah Wali, the 14th century Persian Sufi master of Iran and Musa al Kadhim, the 7th Imam and a renowned scholar who was a contemporary of the Abbasid Caliph Al-Mansur.[4][5]

In the initial years Fazal Mohammed popularized the teachings of the qutub of the Ni'matullāhī order in Odisha. He later left spiritualism and joined the service of the Raja of Dhenkanal State. Fazal was appointed as the Samanta of Madhi gada by Raja Bhagiratha Mahendra. He assisted the Raja in his tiger hunting campaigns, the Raja in his life had killed not fewer than 352 tigers.[2]

Fazal Mohammed married Dilshaad ara Begum, the daughter of Sheikh Nurullah Ali who again was from the same spiritual order, they had a son named Atharuddin Mohammed who would grow up to be the Diwan of Dhenkanal.[6]

In 1868, Fazal Mohammed while on his way to a distant court, suffered from a heart attack and fell down from his horse, he died there. As per the Sunni Ni'matullāhī traditions, he was buried in the same spot and a tomb was built upon his grave which was commissioned by the Raja himself.[7]

Today, his tomb at Solada, Angul is revered mostly by Hindus and is taken care of by the local tribals and hindu villagers.[8] The Choti Masjid built at Cuttack near Qadam e Rasool is dedicated to Fazal Mohammed and is named after him.[9]