Camina Drummer
NEXT weekend’s Outback Sufi Conference not only bring music, poetry and spiritual reflection to Broken Hill, but it’s also an opportunity to revisit the legacy of Muslim cameleers and their history in the town.
One such cameleer was Bejah Dervish, a camel driver, explorer and devout Muslim, born in what is now Pakistan.
Mr Dervish first arrived in Australia in about 1890, later becoming a key figure in the 1896 Calvert Scientific Exploring Expedition which saw him navigate desert landscapes with skill and strength.
His story, which is now immortalised in a mural on Bromide Street, speaks to a history of resilience, cultural richness and contribution by the cameleer communities, many of which lived on the fringes of towns like Broken Hill.
Between the 1860s and 1920s, an estimated 2000 to 4000 cameleers, predominantly from South Asia and the Middle East, transported goods across the Australian interior to support infrastructure, postal routes and remote settlements.
Not only did the cameleers bring the dromedaries, but they brought spiritual traditions, including Sufism.
Although there have long been rumours of Sufi practice among Muslim cameleers, evidence has only emerged in recent years.
The most compelling proof comes from the work of Dr Abu Bakr Sirajuddin Cook, research fellow at the Almiraj Sufi and Islamic Study Centre.
His studies on rare handwritten manuscripts has for the first time revealed some cameleers were indeed practicing Sufis.
Two of the three known manuscripts are now housed among the artefacts at the historic Broken Hill Mosque.
Written in a shifting blend of Arabic, Persian, Urdu, and Farsi, the texts contain spiritual and genealogical links to one of the world’s oldest Sufi orders, an order whose traditions are still alive across the globe today.
As part of his research, Dr Cook will present a talk at the Outback Sufi Conference on Saturday, May 10 at Thyme on Argent at the Outback Sufi Conference
The conference also welcomes renowned artist and poet Elyas Alavi, whose multimedia work The Sound of Silence, presented at the 2024 Sydney Biennale, references the rabab instruments found among the artefacts at the Broken Hill Mosque.
Alavi will also give a public talk about his work on Saturday, May 10, exploring the intersection of memory, displacement, and sound in diasporic and spiritual contexts.
That evening, the community is invited to gather at The Broken Hill Art Exchange for an Open Mic Sufi Poetry Night, also on May 10, where all will be welcomed to share poetry inspired by longing, love, and the journey of the heart. All are welcome to attend and participate.
From the cameleer camps of the past to the poetry circles of today, the Outback Sufi Conference reawakens Broken Hill’s links to a global spiritual tradition.
