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Literature
Early Chishti shaykhs adopted concepts and doctrines outlined in two influential Sufi texts: the ʿAwārif al-Maʿārif of Shaykh Shihāb al-Dīn Suhrawardī and the Kashf al-Maḥdjūb of Hudjwīrī. These texts are still read and respected today. Chishti also read collections of the sayings, speeches, poems, and letters of the shaykhs. These collections, called malfūẓāt, were prepared by the shaykh's disciples.

Spiritual lineage
Sufi orders trace their origins ultimately to the Islamic prophet Muhammad, who is believed to have instructed his successor in mystical teachings and practices in addition to the Qur'an or hidden within the Qur'an. The Chishti, though Sunni, trace their lineage through Ali. This is not unusual for Sufi orders, which tend to stress devotion rather than legalism and sectarianism.
The traditional silsila (spiritual lineage) of the Chishti order is as follows:
'Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib
Al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī (d. 728, an early Persian Muslim theologian)
'Abdul Wāḥid Bin Zaid Abul Faḍl (d. 793, an early Sufi saint)
Fuḍayl ibn 'Iyāḍ Bin Mas'ūd Bin Bishr al-Tamīmī
Ibrāhīm bin Adham (a legendarly early Sufi ascetic)
Ḥudhayfah al-Mar'ashī
Amīnuddīn Abū Ḥubayrah al-Baṣrī
Mumshād Dīnwarī
Abu Ishaq Shamī (d. 940, founder of the Chishti order proper)
Abu Ahmad Chishtī
Abu Muhammad Chishtī
Abu Yusuf Nasar-ud-Din Chishtī (d. 1067)
Qutab-ud-Din Maudood Chishtī (Abu Yusuf's son, d. 1139)
Haji Sharif Zindani (d. 1215)
Usman Harooni (d. 1220)
Mu'īnuddīn Chishtī (1141-1230)
Qutab-ud-Din Bakhtyar Kaki (1173-1228)
Farīduddīn Mas'ūd ("Baba Farid", 1173 or 1175 - 1266)
After Farīduddīn Mas'ūd, the Chishti order divided into two branches:
Chishtī Sabri, who follow Alauddin Sabir Kaliyari (Sabiri/Sabriya branch)
Chishtī Nizami who follow Nizāmuddīn Auliyā. (Nizami/Nizamiya branch)

History
Mughal princess Jahan Ara's tomb (left), Nizamuddin Auliya's tomb (right) and Jama'at Khana Masjid (background), at Nizamuddin Dargah complex, in Nizamuddin West, Delhi
The Encyclopedia of Islam divides Chishti history into four periods:
Era of the great shaykhs (circa 597/1200 to 757/1356)
Era of the provincial khānaḳāhs (8th/14th & 9th/15th centuries)
Rise of the Ṣābiriyya branch (9th/15th century onwards)
Revival of the Niẓāmiyya branch (12th/18th century onwards)
The order was founded by Abu Ishaq Shami ("the Syrian") who taught Sufism in the town of Chisht, some 95 miles east of Herat in present-day western Afghanistan. Before returning to Syria, where he is now buried next to Ibn Arabi at Jabal Qasioun Shami initiated, trained and deputized the son of the local emir, Abu Ahmad Abdal. Under the leadership of Abu Ahmad’s descendants, the Chishtiya as they are also known, flourished as a regional mystical order.
The founder of the Chishti Order in South Asia was Moinuddin Chishti. He was born in the province of Sistan in eastern Iran around 536 AH (1141 CE), into a Sayyid family claiming descent from Muhammad. When he was only nine, he memorized the Qur'an, thus becoming a hafiz. His father died when he was a teenager; Moinuddin inherited the family grinding mill and orchard. He sold everything and gave the proceeds to the poor. He traveled to Balkh and Samarkand, where he studied the Qur'an, hadith, and fiqh. He looked for something beyond scholarship and law and studied under the Chishti shaykh Usman Harooni. He moved to Lahore and then to Ajmer, where he died. His tomb, in Ajmer, is the Dargah Sharif, a popular shrine and pilgrimage site.
Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti, popularly known as Khwaja Gharib Nawaz (protector of the poor), was born in 1141 C.E. at Sanjar in the Sistan province of Iran. He was a direct descendant of the Prophet Mohammed.
The Urs – observed between the first and sixth days of the Hijri month of Rajab – is also the much sought –after occasion when “Jannati Darwaza” (door to heaven) is opened for the devotees. People from all religions offer chadar and floral tributes at the grave of Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti.
At the beginning of the sixteenth century Maulana Jamali, author of Siyar al-Arifin, undertook the pilgrimage to Ajmer. He refers to the existence of families of attendants long established at the shrine, and the significant quantity of gifts brought to it by Hindus as well as Muslims.
To quote in support the view of Sheikh Jamali, a mystic and historian of the times of Humayun, “Every year, many distinguished men come to kiss the dust of the Astan (Dargah of Ajmer) and present amounts of cash to the khadims of this magnificent tomb, and pay them their respects.
Sultan Mahmud Khilji also built a mosque near the shrine, known as the Sandal Khana especially for the khadims.
The Tarikh-i- Daudi mentions that; Sher Shah Suri himself went to Ajmer to perform the pilgrimage in 1554 C.E. and gave large alms to the faqirs of the khanqa and performed the necessary ceremonies of going around it.
Akbar was the first Mughal Emperor to take an interest in t Khwaja Moinuddin Chisty, and with his imperial patronage the fortunes of the shrine dramatically improved. Akbar visited the grave of Khwaja Moinudin Chisty fourteen times.
Akbar visited the Shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti every year, on annual Urs, on the birth of a Prince and between successes in his military campaigns. He was always found paying thanks giving pilgrimage at the Shrine and lavishly pouring cash and kind as Nazar on Khadims. The young Emperor firmly believed that all his successes were due to spiritual blessings of Khwaja Moinuddin Chisty whom he considered his Pir.
Akbar converted his residence into a palace which is still in the possession of the descendants of Shaikh Daniyal, known as Mahal Valas among the Khadims.
Each of Akbar’s visits to Ajmer was celebrated by his making substantial offerings at the shrine, conferring endowments on it beautifying it. He also arranged for the management of the shrine and for the treatment of pilgrims, and for the extension of mosques and khanqas in the territory. A lofty college and high spacious palaces were built on the road to Ajmer.
Akbar initiated the building of the mosque (Akbari Masjid) which is named after him at the shrine; in 1571 C.E. he had the mausoleum of Khwaja Moinuddin Chisty further embellished.
It was not only Akbar and the Khilji Sultans who adorned Khwaja Moinuddin Chisty’s tomb. By the early 17th century the dargah was clearly an impressive establishment with a considerable staff financed by the endowments and offerings of devotees. There was already accommodation for the staff, facilities for the pilgrims’ ritual ablutions, monumental gateway (the Buland Darwaza), at the entrance of the shrine, and a lavishly decorated mausoleum for the saint.
Emperor Jahangir believed that he owed not only his ‘very existence’ to Khwaja Moinuddin Chisty but also his throne.
Tuzuk-i Jahangir mentions that the king presented 36000 rupees to the servants, who, by way of loyalty, had bored their ears.
In the three years he was at Ajmer, Jahangir visited the shrine nine times. He gave the dargah one of its cauldrons (degs) and on the inaugural occasion he lit the fire beneath it himself and the contents of the pot fed five thousand poor, as well as himself and his wife, Nur Mahal. Jahangir had made a vow that they should place a gold railing with lattice-work at the enlightened tomb of the revered Khawaja. In the month of (Rabi II) it was completed and it cost 110,000 rupees.
Shah Jahan’s daughter Jahan Ara Begum, was a loyal follower of Khwaja Moinuddin Chisty and as an expression of her devotion, she had a porch of white marble built over the main entrance to the saint’s mausoleum known as the Begumi Dalan that has been recently decorated.
In 1888 C.E., the walls and pillars were painted a rich red, gold and blue, at the expense of the Nawab Mushtak Ali Khan of Rampur.
In the 19th century the dargah was not entirely neglected. A succession of Maharajas endowed it with a series of villages.
Maharaja Jai Singh of Jaipur in 1730 C.E. gave approximately 42961 tolas of silver to Kwaja Moinuddin Chisty’s grave.
The Scindia family was devoted to the shrine. Bishop Heber, who visited Ajmer shortly after the beginning of British rule noted that the Scindia family, while masters of Ajmer, were magnificent benefactors of its shrine. They spent annually 2000 rupees on the distribution of food to the poor at the two Id festivals.
Shivaji Maharaj who is venerated in Maharashtra paid deep respect to the shrines of Muslim saints in Deccan and made large endowments for Muslim saint’s tombs. He had great respect for Pir Shaik Yaqub Baba Aulia of Konkan and the Sufi saint Baba Sharifuddin.
In 1793 C.E. the Nawab of Karnatak, Muhammad Ali Khan Wala Jah, built the Karnataki Dalan as a shelter for the pilgrims to the shrine.
In1800 C.E. the Maharaja of Baroda presented a chatgiri with which to cover the ceiling of the mausoleum.
In 1911 December 23 Queen Mary of Britain visited Ajmer and its shrine. She gave 1500 rupees to the shrine.
The present main gate of the dargah was built by the Nizam of Hyderabad in 1915
The dargah at Ajmer Sharif today attracts lakhs of people – Muslims, Hindus, Christians and others – from the Indian sub-continent and from other parts of the world, depicting a rare blend of religions. People assemble at the shrine during the week-long Urs every year to beseech for fulfilment of their prayers.
Moinuddin was followed by Qutab-ud-Din Bakhtyar Kaki and Farīduddīn Mas'ūd 'Baba Farid Ganjshakar'. After Fariduddin, the Chishti Order of South Asia split into two branches. Each branch was named after one of Fariduddin's successors:
Nizamuddin Auliya - This branch became the Chishti Nizami branch.
Alauddin Sabir Kaliyari - This branch became the Chishti-Sabiri branch.
Later, yet other traditions branched from the Chisti lineage; in many cases they merged with other popular Sufi orders in South Asia.
As a result of this merging of the Chishti order with other branches, most Sufi masters now initiate their disciples in all the four major orders of South Asia: Chishti, Suhrawadi, Qadri, and Naqshbandi. They do however, teach devotional practices typical of the order with which they are primarily associated.
The Chishti order has also absorbed influences and merged at times with various antinomian fakir Sufi groups, especially the Qalandar. Some Chishtis both past and present have lived as renunciants or as wandering dervish.
In more recent times, a more contemporary expression of traditional Chishti Sufi practices can be found in the establishment of the Ishq-Nuri Tariqa in the 1960s, as a branch of the Chishti-Nizami silsila.
In addition, a number of pseudo-Sufi or mixed-Sufi type groups or movements in Islam, have also been influenced by the Chishti Order proper - the best known and most widespread example is of the Jamaat Ahle Sunnat, a Sunni Muslim sect with a huge international following, which is in essence not a proper Sufi organization though adopting many Sufi customs and traditions.

Mughal rulers
Several rulers of the Mughal dynasty of South Asia were Chisti devotees. The emperor Akbar was perhaps the most fervent of them. It is said to be by the blessing of Shaikh Salim Chishti that Akbar's first surviving child, the future Jahangir, was born. The child was named Salim after the sheikh and was affectionately addressed by Akbar as Sheikhu Baba.
Akbar also credited the Chisti sheikhs with his victory at the Siege of Chittorgarh. Akbar had vowed to visit the Chisti dargah, the tomb of Moinuddin Chishti, at Ajmer if he were victorious. He fulfilled his vow by visiting the dargah with his musicians, who played in honor of the sheikh.
Shah Jahan's daughter, Jahanara Begum Sahib, was also a devout follower of the Chisti Order.
The passing of Shah Jahan; attending him, his daughter Princess Jahanara.
The Mughal Emperor Akbar was a great patron of the Chishti Order.

Other notable Chishti shaykhs in India
Tajuddin Chishti (Chishtian Sharif, Pakistan)
Nasiruddin Chiragh Dehlavi (Dehli, India)
Amir Khusro (Delhi, India)
Akhi Siraj Aainae Hind (West Bengal, India)
Burhanuddin Gharib (Maharashtra, India)
Bande Nawaz (Gulbarga, India)
Noor Muhammad Maharvi (Mahar Sharif, Pakistan)
Muhammad Suleman Taunsvi (Taunsa Sharif, Pakistan)
Khwaja Ghulam Farid (Mithankot, Pakistan)
Muhammad Shamsuddin Sialvi (Sial Sharif, Pakistan)
Meher Ali Shah (Golra Sharif, Pakistan)
Inayat Khan (Vadodara, Gujarat)