Abstract:

This paper discusses the identity of Dilshad who financed the restoration of the Afaq Khojam mausoleum in 1226 A.H. with her Sufi activities, and analyzes the connections between her and the legend of "Fragrant Concubine" through a review of legends, inscriptions, archives, and historical records. I point out that Dilshad was actually the Fragrant Concubine in early Chinese descriptions of the "Fragrant Concubine temple" (Afaq Khojam mausoleum), on the other hand that the Fragrant Concubine legend in Peking was about Khoja Jahan's widow Fatimä (Rongfei/Baktan Fei), these two were not related at all. I argue that the widely spread Mämurä version of false the "Fragrant Concubine legend“ nowadays was created on the basis of a reconciliation of these two contradictory or unrelated legends. I also argue that, like the Fragrant Concubine legend, which has been constructed by selection, reorganization or re-creation, the narrative of Dilshad who were an important figure in the Sufism activities of the Afaq Khojam mausoleum, has been consciously ignored and seriously distorted by different groups of people according to their psychological tendencies in recent years. I argue this is also the result of various social forces seeking to rationalize the current situation by constructing her identity to serve their actual benefits. This paper is based on multilingual materials, including Manchu, Chinese, Turkic and Persian.