This photograph of a group of fakirs or dervishes is from an album of
rare historical photographs depicting people and places associated with
the Second Anglo-Afghan War. The term
fakir sometimes refers to
Hindu holy men, but in this context it is understood to describe a Sufi
Muslim holy man, who practices an ascetic form of Islam with a stress
on poverty and personal devotion to God. The Sufi men in this photo
resemble beggars, and in fact many fakirs begged for alms as a means of
basic subsistence. The fakir seated in the left-center, staring at the
camera, is the subject of another photograph in the album. In his lap is
a
kashkul, a bowl or pot for receiving food donations,
symbolizing the emptying of the Sufi’s ego through the renunciation of
worldly goods and aspirations.
Source: Library of Congress
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