Abstract
Mediation refers to an intervention between the state or
political authorities and the people, as well as invention among
varied social groups in order to mitigate or resolve differences,
and thus avert possible conflicts among them. In premodern
polities, Sufism and its institutions provided a mediating space to
the people. The sufis in premodern South Asia played a
mediational role vis-à-vis the state as well as the society. The
sufi shaykhs influenced the state policies in favour of the people
by affecting the behavior of the rulers towards other political and
social groups. Some of them associated with the rulers for
mediating between the rulers and the ruled, and successfully
used their influence for redressing the grievances of the
aggrieved. Some of the sufis avoided the company of the kings
and nobles, but performed the mediational role in their own way
by indirectly mediating among the conflicting social and political
groups.
