1898 engraving of a fakir in Benares, India. From "Round the World: A Story of Travel from the Narrative of Ida Pfeiffer."
A fakir or faqir is a Muslim Sufi ascetic in Middle East and South Asia. The Faqirs were wandering Dervishes teaching Islam and living on alms. The term has become a common Urdu, Bengali, and Hindi word for "beggar." The term has also been used to refer to Hindu and Buddhist ascetics. These broader idiomatic usages developed primarily in the Mughal era in India. There is also a now a distinct caste of Faqir found in North India, descended from communities of faqirs who took up residence at Sufi shrines.
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