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Across the scorched expanse of the Deccan plateau, empires have long had a habit of turning to dust. The fortresses of forgotten sultans crumble into the red earth, yet within the whitewashed, time-battered courtyards of the region’s dargahs, a community of mystics stubbornly refuses to evaporate.

These are the Sufi Faqirs, whose lives are structured around a radical, ongoing experiment in voluntary poverty (faqr) and absolute spiritual independence. Having first arrived in the region during the 14th century, their spiritual ancestors rejected the gold-encrusted power of royal courts to embed themselves in the grit of the common bazaar.

Armed with the vernacular, street-smart rhythms of early Dakhni Urdu folk poetry, they built an inclusive spiritual sanctuary that........

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