Dehat Bibi

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Dehat Bibi, also known as Dehat Ded, was a female disciple of Sheikh Noor-ud-din Wali, the patron saint of Kashmir. She and her sister Behat Bibi are sometimes called Tsat'a Kori, meaning “girl disciples” of Nund Reshi. Their father was a Kashmiri Pandit who worked as a village patwari and converted to Islam under the saint’s influence. Dehat Bibi and Behat Bibi became the only known female khalifas (successors) of Nund Reshi, showing their deep spirituality and knowledge.

They are buried at Zalsu village, near Tsaar (Chrar Sharif) in Kashmir. The two sisters attended an important meeting between Sheikh Noor-ud-din and the proselytizer Saiyed Muhammad Hamadani, which indicates the high regard in which Nund Reshi held them.

In the exchange, Hamadani noticed the Reshi’s frail body and suggested guarding it like a rider guards a horse. The Reshi replied that controlling one’s breath (nafas) and desires is crucial, else the body could become unmanageable. Dehat Bibi is said to have remarked, “Those who have already reached their destination do not need a ride or a whip.” Hamadani asked who she thought had reached that goal. She answered, “Those who have freed themselves from the clutches of self.” When asked if she was a girl or a boy, she responded, “If I am non-existent (neest), then I am neither; if I am existent (hast), then I am nothing.”