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You may not know this but the dominant Islamic tradition in Bangladesh is Sufism, which is a mystical tradition that draws from Islam. In Bangladesh there are many popular sects of Sufism. For instance, the Chishti order of Sufi practices was founded in India for Muslims who wanted a more austere and devotional life. The Malkaniya order was founded by a woman named Malka Hans or "the Hansi lady." The cult of Bauls is practiced by followers of folk religion who follow itinerant musicians and rural preachers going from village to village singing songs and telling stories. This is the mystical tradition that Tagore was interested in, and drew on it for inspiration. The other major strand of Islamic thought that is practiced in Bangladesh is represented by the Wahhabi or Salafi tradition. The name means “followers of the salaf”, the first three generations of Muslims who were closest to Prophet Muhammad. They believe, like many puritan movements, that Islam has gone off track and become too “Westernized”. This includes listening to music or singing or dancing or poetry—all things associated with Sufism. Tagore was very much aware of all these traditions and he made it his life's work to reach out across the boundaries separating Hinduism and Islam. Tagore's earliest play, "Valmiki Pratibha" (“Valmiki’s Inspiration”, 1883), dealt with the legend of poet Valmiki who wrote "Ramayana", India’s great epic poem. Valmiki was a robber who eventually reformed and wrote the sacred text. The story shows that though religion may be born of earthly needs it must transcend its origins and reach towards the divine. Tagore lived during a time of great tension between Hinduism and Islam; he dedicated his life to rapprochement between the two communities. He believed that a single literary language could bring them together. In a letter to poet and close friend Rabindranath Kar, he explained how he felt: "I want to create a new consciousness, the language of the future which will take the place of all other languages. This language will be different from all other languages. It will come from the same source as humanity’s first cry… this language will belong as much as to you as it does to me. I am trying to put humanity’s first cry down on paper, and I am trying to write this cry in such a way that it will be the most beautiful of all languages. Once we have brought this language into existence we can mix all other languages with it and this will give birth to a new international language. Tagore helped found the Bangla Academy in Dhaka (the capital) and was its first Director (1902–06), also serving on the Bengal Education Commission (1914–16). Tagore translated Arabic and Persian works, including works by Ibn al-Arabī, Ferdowsi, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and John Milton. cfa1e77820