ABSTRACT
The Madaris are a group widely acknowledged to be a partof a shared religious tradition in India. They are streetperformers who do magic tricks, or walk around with monkeys, bears, or snakes. However, the tradition of the Madaris has been traced back to Badi-ud-Din Shah Madar, who was a Syrian Sufi of the fifteenth century. According to the Sufi tradition, Shah Madar came to India after travelling for many years in the Arabian Peninsula. There, he founded the Sufi brotherhood of the Madaris and settled in Makanpur, a village 60 km northeast of Kanpur. He died around 1436. His tomb, or dargah, is venerated by thousands of people to this very day.
