Nath Ascetics, Malang Faqir or Safi: Deconstructing Samis’ Religious Associations in Sindh

This article is a study of the Sami people in Sindh. It explores why most Samis negate their association with the Gorakhnath tradition while keeping some remnants and claiming to be Safi. Is Safi a new religious category? In the light of vernacular sources and ethnographic fieldwork, I illustrate how the exchanges between the Nath ascetics and the Sufis created a modified and derogatory image of the former. To change this image, Samis gradually disassociated themselves from the Gorakhnath tradition to adopt a new term, Safi, for their religiosity.