The Shrine of Baba Farid (Punjabi: مزار بابا فرید دا, romanized: Mazār Bābā Farīd Dā; Urdu: بابا فرید درگاہ, romanized: Bābā Farīd Dargāh) is a 13th-century Sufi shrine located in Pakpattan, Punjab, Pakistan dedicated to the Punjabi Sufi mystic and poet Baba Farid.

The shrine is one of the most important in Pakistan,[1] and was among the first Islamic holy sites in South Asia[2] – providing the region's Muslims a local focus for devotion.

[2] Today the shrine is considered to be the most significant in Punjab,[1] and attracts up to two million visitors to its annual urs festival.

[7] In 1315, the Sufi mystic Amir Khusrow noted in detail that the 50th anniversary of Baba Farid's death was celebrated by an urs festival which attracted devotees who heard recitations of the saints deeds, and were treated to entertainment by an ensemble of dervishes.

[2] Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq was noted to have made frequent visits to the shrine when he was Governor of Punjab and ruled from nearby Dipalpur.

[2] The 14th century chronicler Shams-i Siraj 'Afif noted that the Governor, and future Sultan, brought his son and nephew, the future Sultans Muhammad bin Tughluq, and Firuz Shah Tughlaq to the shrine, where they participated in the turban-tying ceremony known as dastar bandi,[2] which conferred symbolic authority in a way similar to a coronation ceremony.

The British colonial regime maintained ties with shrine, and sought to employ it towards the goal of "indirect rule" over the region through political and social systems that predated their arrival.

[12] In April 2001, 36 devotees were crushed at a stampede at the shrine as pilgrims rushed towards the Behishti Darwaza at the opening of the annual urs festival.

[14] In recent years, the founder and chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, former cricketer Imran Khan, has regularly visited the shrine at night.

[2] The trio of shrines allowed local Muslims for the first time to access to Islamic holy sites without having to journey to the Middle East.

[2] Shah Jahan in 1692 issued a farman, or royal decree, that descendants of Baba Farid known as be extended support from the Mughal court.

The number of descendants was so large, that they formed a new class of landowners in the region around Pakpattan who were privileged relative to the agricultural clans that were found in the area.

[17] The shrine's hereditary caretakers, or diwan, eventually began to assert themselves as political administrators by operating a network of forts and devotee-soldiers.

British colonialists in the late 19th century noted that the Chisti were influential, but relied entirely on tenant farmers from local agricultural clans.

[2] The Khokars, Bhattis, Dhudhis, and Hans clans at were reportedly able to raise an army of 10,000 men to defend the shrine and Chisti if needed.

[2] Such traditions included the tying of a turban (dastar bandi) to signify inheritance of Baba Farid's spiritual authority, the regularization of qawwali music, establishment of the shrine's free kitchen, and opening of the tomb's southern door to allow visitors to the urs festival to directly pass the shrine's most sacred area.

The diwan and his family were considered the most important, followed by the shrine's khalifas, members of the Chisti class, chiefs of local agricultural clans.

[2] By the 13th century, a widespread belief had taken root in Muslim societies that a Sufi saint's spiritual powers could be inherited by his descendants.

[1] Resources directed towards subsidiary shrines were used to maintain social services, such as the langar which served free meals to the poor.

[1] Appointment of a successor for the hereditary title required "revelation" from Baba Farid's spirit to determine the inheritor of his baraka, or blessed direct access to God.

[1] Selection of the inheritor was supported by consent from Baba Farid's committed devotees, and members of the baradari network of shrines.

[1] Erosion of the diwan's spiritual role resulted in criticism of the entire shrine system by Muslim reformist movements in the 20th century.

At the time of Sayid Muhammad's death in 1934, another crisis over inheritance erupted as some members of the shrine's baradari bodies disputed the succession of a minor, Ghulam Qutb ad-Din, to the role which they argued was inappropriate to be filled by a young man.

[1] British Courts accepted Ghulam Qutb ad-Din as the next successor, and established a caretaker system for the shrine until he reached maturity, and arranged for his training and education at Lahore's prestigious Aitchison College – a plan which was met with resistance by members of the baradari who feared that an education there would signal the diwan's integration into the British values system, rather than that of Islam.

In 2018, on the occasion of annual urs celebration of Baba Farid, the police commissioner of Sahiwal District was invited by the administrative team of the shrine.