Painting Of "Rahman Baba Praying", Kashmir,

Painting Of "Rahman Baba Praying", Kashmir, Dated 4th Jumadi I, 1213/14th October 1798.

Painting Details:- Hazrat Ilyas and Hazrat Khizr seated beside a pond with 'Abd al-Rahman praying in the foreground. The image of His Holiness Elias and His Holiness Khidr and 'Abd al-Rahman praying.

Abdur Rahman Baba or Rahman Baba born on 1653 at Bahder Kalay, Hazarkhwani, and Peshawar was a Pashtun poet from Peshawar in the Mughal Empire (modern-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan).

He is considered one of the most popular poets among the Pashtuns in Pakistan and Afghanistan. His poetry expresses a peaceful mystical side of local culture which is becoming increasingly threatened by less tolerant interpretations of Islam. Rahman Baba was a member of the Ghoryakhel Mohmand sub-tribe of the Pashtuns, a group which migrated from the Hindu Kush mountains to the Peshawar valley, from the 13th to the 16th century.

He grew up in a small pocket of Mohmand settlers on the outskirts of Peshawar. Rahman Baba apparently lived peacefully in the area, and never mentions his involvement in the fierce inter-tribal conflicts of his day. Opinion is divided about Rahman's family background. Several commentators are convinced that his family was village Maliks (chieftains). 

However, Rahman Baba was more likely to have been a simple, though learned man. As he claimed: "Though the wealthy drink water from a golden cup, I prefer this clay bowl of mine." Abdur Rahman Baba died in 1715 CE, and his tomb is housed in a large domed shrine, or mazar, on the southern outskirts of Peshawar (Ring Road Hazar Khwani). The site of his grave is a popular place for poets and mystics to collect to recite his popular poetry. In April each year, there is a larger gathering to celebrate his anniversary.

© Bonhams