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The article examines in detail the hagiographical text, A ‘zam al-karamat along with its contexts as a means to explore the often contradictory forces at work in the written expression of customary religiosity in early twentieth-century India. Amid the various forms of ideological attack on traditional religiosity present in Hyderabad State in the guise of Muslim and Hindu doctrines of religious nationalism and reform during the early twentieth century, in A ‘zam al-karamat, customary religion was able to find literary expression that describes devotional activities unaffected by Hindu or Muslim calls for religious reform. Despite this, A ‘zam al-karamat manifested a struggle to define and control the religious identity of Banne Miyan, a Muslim saint.