The Shattari silsila was introduced into India during the Sultanate period, but they did not make much impact. Shah Abdullah (died 1485) brought the Shattari order during the Lodhi period. This order produced a number of saints, the most important of whom was Muhammad Ghauth (1485-1562) of Gwalior. He was a disciple of Haji Hamid Husur. His two well-known works are Jawahir-i-Khamsah and Khalid-i-Makhazin which deal with Sufi doctrines and practices. His other work Bahr-al-Hayat or Ocean of Life describes the practices of the Yogis.

He was respectful to all religions and in fact he stood up even when receiving non-Muslims much to the great annoyance of his co-religionists. The famous musician Tan Sen and even Humayun seemed to have been attracted towards it. The Shattari saints tried to bring Hindus and Muslims closer by laying emphasis on the similarity of their spiritual thoughts and practices. Some of them such as Shaikh Qadiri learnt Sanskrit to enable him to delve deep into the scriptures of the Hindu religion. Wajih-al-Din Gujarati (1599) and Shah Pir of Meerut were other prominent saints of this order.

The Shattaris regarded the shaikh or pir as being in direct communication with all the saints, prophets and even God. It was not necessary for a Shattari to undergo the rigours of self-discipline. The very fact of his being a member of the order absolved him of this penance. The Sufis of this order led a spiritual life in comfortable worldly surroundings. It did not make much headway and the number of its followers was not very large.