India’s 800-year-old connection with Jerusalem: Baba Farid’s lodge, now a rest stop for Indian travellers

In October 2021, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar unveiled this new plaque emphasising the 800-year connection between India and Jerusalem.

How did this connection come to be?

Legend has it that Baba Farid, a Sufi saint from Punjab, spent 40 days in deep meditation at this place. Although he returned to Punjab, Indian Muslims going to Mecca started visiting the walled city of Jerusalem to pray at this spot.

Over time, this place transformed into a shrine and a hospice for travelers from India.

Who was Baba Farid?

Baba Farid, born in 1173 CE in the village of Kothewal near Multan, hailed from a family that had migrated from Kabul to Punjab. He followed the Chishti order and, was one of the first Sufi saints to write his verses in Punjabi. Many of these verses are enshrined in the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of Sikhs.

Lore has it that Baba Farid found a modest lodge within one of the gates of Old
Jerusalem, known as Bab-az-Zahra among Muslims and Herod’s Gate among
Christians. (Express photo: Monojit Majumdar)

During his travels in Punjab and beyond, he visited Jerusalem, where he prayed at the Al-Aqsa mosque and composed verses.  Lore has it that he found a modest lodge within one of the gates of Old Jerusalem, known as Bab-az-Zahra among Muslims and Herod’s Gate among Christians. This lodge was situated within a compact khanqah—dedicated structures for Sufi orders, serving as both seminaries for the order’s followers, and hospices for travelers— atop a small hillock within Herod’s Gate.

After Baba Farid’s departure, the khanqah evolved into a hospice for travelers from India, earning the name Zawiya Al-Hindiya, meaning “the Lodge of Hind.” Remarkably, despite changing hands, including Christian crusaders, Mamluks, and Ottoman rulers, the lodge retained its association with India.

The medieval traveller Evliya Chelebi described Zawiya Al-Hindiya—the Indian hospice—as one of the largest Zawiyas in the city in 1671. Navtej Sarna, a diplomat-author, uncovered a document from 1681 that detailed a leadership dispute over the lodge, and another document mentioned a sheikh named Ghulam Mohammad Al-Lahori who engaged with the Ottoman administration in 1824, resulting in the expansion of the lodge’s facilities.

The lodge’s prominence continued during the Ottoman rule, primarily under sheikhs from South Asia. However, a significant shift occurred when the Ottoman Empire’s dissolution began in 1919. By 1921, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Amin Al-Husayni, took charge and initiated extensive renovations and rebuilding efforts. To fund these projects, the Grand Mufti sought support from Muslim patrons worldwide, including the Muslim princely states in British India.

In 1921, the Grand Mufti informed leaders of the Indian Khilafat Movement about the ‘Indian Lodge’ in dire need of repair. Khwaja Nazir Hasan Ansari, a young man from Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, took on the task. By 1924, he
had completely renovated the lodge, which provided sanctuary to numerous travelers and pilgrims from British India for the next 15 years. During World War II in 1939, the lodge served as a refuge for soldiers from British India fighting in North Africa.

How did the lodge get associated with independent India?

After India gained independence, Nazir Ansari sought official recognition for the lodge from the Indian embassy in Egypt, cementing its Indian identity. The lodge has faced several conflicts, enduring rocket strikes in 1952 and
the Six Day War in 1967. Over time, the Indian Hospice expanded to its current 7,000 square metres. It also hosts the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and the Jerusalem Health Centre within its premises.

In 2000, the hospice was the site of a meeting between former Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh and Palestinian leader Faisal Husseini.

There is no Indian diplomat or visiting dignitary who doesn’t visit the hospice.

Today, Sheikh Mohammad Munir Ansari, born in Jerusalem in 1928, serves as its administrator. In 2011, he was honoured with the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman (Overseas Indian Award), the highest accolade conferred by the
Government of India on overseas Indians.

Despite the turmoil in the region, two Indian flags continue to fly proudly at the lodge. Every August 15, the Ansaris mark Independence Day with a song all of them know: “Saare jahaan se achha, Hindustan hamara.”

This property is under the ownership of the Waqf Board of India and is accessible only to individuals of Indian citizenship or heritage. The hospice features six guest rooms, a small mosque, a library, a dining hall, and a kitchen. Guests are encouraged to take care of their own cooking and laundry, utilising supplies and equipment provided by the hostel.

The Ansari family continues to maintain the hospice, offering hospitality, and a slice of India in Jerusalem.