Wirasat - Pargana Chail- Allahabad

Company Bagh - Allahabad - Alfred Park

2020-04-30T01:11:00.013+05:30

Allahabad is a city that is proud of its great historical past and its rich cultural heritage and there are a lot of places with a marvelous history. Today our subject is one of the relics of British Era , park established as Alfred Park known as Chandra Shekhar Azad Park now which by far is the most delightful place in the city of Allahabad to find communion with Nature.

Background

Allahabad came under the British grip virtually on 14 Nov, 1801 when it was ceded by Nawab Saadat Ali Khan of Awadh to Marquess Wellesley, the Governor General of India although the magnificent fort of Allahabad had already been in occupation of the East India Company forces invariably since 1772. The ceded part of Awadh was termed as ceded provinces that included Moradabad, Bareilly, Etawah, Etah, Farrukhabad, Kanpur, Allahabad, Gorakhpur, Azamgarh and Basti and all these were formed into Seven districts.

In 1803, a Collector, a Magistrate and a Judge were appointed to look after the affairs of these seven districts. Richard Almuhty was appointed the District Collector of Allahabad whose name is immortalized in the form of a indianized locality as Mutthi Ganj.

In 1834, the head quarters of the ceded (North West ) Provinces was established in Allahabad but a year later it was transferred to Agra

In January 1858, Earl Canning visited Allahabad and read Queen Victoria's proclamation, transferring control of India from the East India Company to the British Crown (beginning the British Raj) at Minto Park. Allahabad became the capital of the North-Western Provinces in 1858 and was also the capital of India for a day

A Panoramic view of the park with Victoria Memorial in Centre

1857 Uprising

It is not the appropriate to discuss the foundational reasons that caused that kind of widespread unrest amongst the masses that erupted in the shape of such large-scale armed uprising. However I must say that in addition to its general economic unrest, the land revenue policy was a major factor of dissatisfaction amongst the landlords and peasants which might have caused the conflagration of the uprising of 1857. The secret society of the revolutionary group and disgruntled landlords had already been working in Allahabad. Pargana of Chail ( Called Ba Haveli ) was the hotbed of these anti-establishment activities as the real players of disobedience and uprising in Allahabad were the Zamindars of Pargana Chail.

According to Savarkar at Allahabad the Muslims were more advanced than the Hindus. They were most prominent in management of the machinery of the secret society-

See Indian war of Independence 1857. P 174.

Few would know that almost all of today’s city of Allahabad was under the Pargana of Chail being the home pargana of the district. The city side between the river and Khusro bagh was dominated by the Mewatis , a gallant community who had been living in Allahabad city since the arrival of Mughal Rule and were owners of many villages in that part of City.

One of those Mewati villages was Samdabad where on 5th June 1857, a panchayat of Mewatis was organized by the secret society at the house of Saif Khan Mewati where it was decided to incite the native sepoys and citizens and start action on 6th June together. As per the agreed upon programme the neighbouring muslim zamindars of Rasulpur, Samdabad , Saidabad , Kaharia along with those of Beli, Baghara, Fatehpur Bichhuwa , Chhitpur , Sultanpur , Salori, Katra, Bakhtiari , Minhajpur, Mehdauri and Bakhshi , and Daryabad all revolted on the given time. They plundered the houses and Property of British Soldiers and acted in full solidarity with Maulvi Sahib.

he Indian Mutiny, 1857

M. P. Srivastava

p177

The next day 7th of June, the leader and the organizer of the entire uprising, Maulvi Liyaqat Ali of Pargana Chail arrived in the city and camped at Khusro Bagh. He organized the sepoys, gave speeches, published pamphlets which harboured the Hindu Muslim Unity with anti-British feeling among the masses alike and soon he assumed full authority in district of Allahabad.

The Mewatis of Samdabad, Rasulpur and other adjoining villages along with the native sepoys gathered around Maulvi Sahib and he raised the slogan of Jihad against the British. He invoked in the name of Mughal Badshah and appointed officers to assume full control of the city. The slogan was:

Khalq Khuda Ki

Mulk Badshah ka

Hukm Maulvi Sahib ka !

It is another gory story how James George Smith Neill, the butcher of Allahabad & Cawnpore, recovered the British Authority in the city during 6 to 15 June when his men forced their way under conditions of severe opposition and recovered the city from the native fighters.

Neil, the Butcher of Allahabad

At the outset he sent the fusiliers and Sikhs to attack and destroy the Pathan village of Daryabad and Mewati Villages of Samdabad and Rasoolpur. He himself marched towards the city and destroyed all the villages that belonged to insurgents. He faced no opposition as the revolutionaries had already left the city a day before. He ruthlessly destroyed one after another all the villages and made sure that all the villages were destroyed beyond the church. The following days were bloody and gloomy as the British army led expeditions daily to burn and destroy insurgent villagers. The troops burned houses, killed babies in cradles, young, middle aged men and women of all age were burnt alive by Neil. He killed as many people in Allahabad alone as all English men & women killed throughout the country. Eight Carts for dead bodies went for Eight months in Allahabad (and Chail) to find the corpses hung at the cross roads and markets and threw them in Ganges

A History of the Sepoy War in India, 1857-1858, Volume 2 Kaye page 669

He informed the Secretary to the GOI in his letter of 17 Jun 1857 that he would attack and completely destroy all the villages close to and forming the suburbs of the city which had been inhabited by the worst of the insurgents and would give a severe blow to the disaffected merchants and zamindars who rose against us and took active part ( Allahabad Collectorate Mutiny Basta No.5 )

The original Jama Masjid of Allahabad situated west of the Fort on the banks of Yamuna was also destroyed and was turned into barracks for Army.

Mewatis

Mewatis are actually Meo ( Mev), an ethnically unique tribal community originated from a geographical region called Mewat (Haryana). They claim to have a Rajput origin , descendants of an ancestor who had converted to Islam during the Aibak Rule. They are neither Pathan nor Baloch, though some of them use Khan with their names.

The Indian Mutiny, 1857 P.183

M. P. Srivastava

Allahabad had a considerable presence of Mewatis in the city , reportedly around one hundred thousand mewatis were in Allahabad at the time of Uprising, They held many villages and were adversely affected after the new regulations and taxes imposed by the company Bahadur. They were valiant and marshal group and took part whole heartedly in the uprising for which the entire community had to pay huge price for after the debacle, when they were identified as the real contrivers of the rebellion and the virtually , chased , driven away and left completely devastated.

They bore the brunt when their men and women were shot & burnt indiscriminately, women with sucking infants were also shot brutally. Their villages along with the most famous Samdabad & Rasulpur, Saidabad, Chhitpur , Nimi Bagh were all ransacked and burnt.

A wall of the destroyed mosque of old village Chhitpur

Photo from the backside of the wall.

Photographs by Vaibhav Maini

This mosque is a Waqf property registered as Waqf No 252 at Nimi Bagh (5 Biswa 3 Dhur)

There are remains of a wall that formed part of demolished mosque of village Nimi Bagh , just adjacent to Chheetpur village , seen on the Park Road and close to it are few graves of Martyrs who fell during the retaliatory bombardment at the village. Old timers inform that this mosque is a Mughal Era construction and is a testimony to the amount of destruction that took place in the aftermath of 1857 uprising and we don’t know how many other Mughal era structures could have gone to rubbles.

The remaining mewatis, after destruction of their village, ran away and took shelter with the populace in other parts of the city. After the dust settled a group of Mewatis from Samdabad moved south of Kotwali and founded a new village with the same name. Today we find a locality Samdabad between Rani Mandi and Attarsuiya and While men of Rasoolpur founded a village with same name near Islamia College between Atala and Karela bagh Labour Colony.

After the civil station was properly laid out and inhabited, the British purposely removed the old native villages inside the civil station to preserve their life with the contamination of the native hamlets.According to Ballhatchet , the prime example of this was the uprooting of Nimi Bagh, a village just beside Chheetpur village , that lay on the eastern side of the Company Bagh, it was uprooted in 1901 as an insanitary eysore. (The City in South Asia: Pre-modern and Modern By Kenneth Ballhatchet, John Harrison -Page178)

Cannington

After the British gained full authority over the city, the company started the process to rebuild the city with a view to provide complete security to the British residents. Lord Canning took up the residence in Allahabad in about 1858 and made it the head quarters of Provincial Administration.

A large area comprising of Eight villages which were confiscated without paying any compensation to the owners on account of their taking part in uprising. All these villages were razed down in June 1857 with inhabitants killed or driven away ; land taken over was given a status of Nazul lease. The land was utilized for the laying out of the new Civil station of Cannington named after Lord Canning, the then Viceroy of India, who personally supervised the city plan under JC Harper who along with three engineers prepared the entire plan. The new station Cannington turned out to be the Pride of United Provinces, now known as Civil Lines of Allahabad. It was the largest town planning in India before the establishment of New Delhi as the capital.

The Indian Geographical Journal, Volume 38

The Civil Lines with its neat grid line pattern, tree lined avenues, well groomed parks , gymkhana club and orderly road were actually laid out over those Eight villages that were razed in revenge. Less to say that the entire civil station was built on the dreams, bodies, deaths, fears , tears, shrieks of the hundreds of men and women and children of erstwhile villages. As the noted writer from Allahabad Neelum Saran Gour describes, civil lines actually sprang up “from a history of violation.”

A Hand-book for Visitors to Lucknow:Henry George Keene P-16

The new civil station, an exclusive European settlement was reserved only for white men as we can see the eastern boundary of Cannington was extended up to the Government House on Lowther Road with the large railway colony to the south and new Cantonment in the west. The Queens road (Now Sarojini Naidu Road) was laid to connect civil lines to the Government House. This was done to separate European quarters from the other parts of the old city. Two people who played major role in the planning of the new station were Major Richard Strachey who prepared the final plan for this civil station and Commissioner Cudbert Bensley Thornhill supervised its execution

Alfred Park ( Company Bagh)

Prince Alfred

Prince Alfred Ernest Albert ( 1844 –1900) was the second son of Queen Victoria and was known as the Duke of Edinburgh from 1866 until he succeeded his paternal uncle Ernest II as the reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in the German Empire. He was the first British prince who set foot in India in 1869 and left in 1870. He travelled to Sri Lanka and Hong Kong as well during this trip.

Sir William Muir extended an invitation to the prince to visit Allahabad during his tour, the government decided to open the public park to be named after him. Donations were sought and the residents of Allahabad raised the sum of Rs 7,000 for establishing a people's park. The foundation was laid by Prince Alfred in 1870.

A very large tract of land was required to develop a large park. After the 1857 uprising the old European quarters and the old British Cantonment were destroyed and the entire area was almost lying unused. Even after the detailed plan was evolved to develop a New Civil Station and Cantonment, the old Cantonment was still not much in use.

We learn from different reports that a greater part of the Old south Cantonment along with two entire confiscated villages of Samdabad and Chheetpur were earmarked to develop the park. Nearly 133 acres of land in total was reassigned for the Park. The eastern part of the park is where Chheetpur existed where the southern part of park is where the village of Samdabad stood. As per my research Rasoolpur village was not within the boundary of the lands of proposed Park.

A few other reports suggest that the Park includes another village named Sultanpur Bhava. It says that a village named Sultanpur was also burnt and the people hanged after the rebellion of 1857. The remaining residents were allowed to settle near Khuldabad . They named their new locality as Sultanpur Bhava in memory of their previous home.

Studies in Humanities - Simla University

The development of Park was completed in 1878 and became one of the most serene and delightful places in Allahabad and was rightly called the chief ornament of new Civil Station.

Government House was located east of the Park while the Thornhill-Mayne Memorial lay to its west. To the North was Muir Central College (187-1876) by William Emerson, West of the park are the Italianate St. Joseph’s roman Catholic Cathedral (1871-9) .

A few more structures were added inside the Alfred Park in due course of time viz. Victoria Memorial , a band stand , stadium ,tennis courts , Allahabad Gymkhana. Much later additions were Music Academy and Allahabad Museum.

Victoria Memorial

To the east of the bandstand stands an open canopy which once sheltered a large statue of Queen Victoria which was built in 1905. It is a hugely decorated neo-gothic canopy measuring 7ft 5 inches in height sculpted from Italian Lime stone which once housed an imposing Statue of Queen Victoria.

Victoria Memorial -without Victoria

Old Photograph of Statue of Victoria

A dream sequence

When the plans were made to erect a memorial for the Queen Empress, the Queen Victoria Memorial Committee for Allahabad held a competition to commission the statue. Several models were submitted and George Edward Wade (1853-1933) was awarded £125 for his selected model and was paid Rs 17,000 as a fee for his heroic marble seated figure of the Queen. Wade was actually given to make another statue of the Queen as well for Colombo. It happened that his second (other model) was selected for Allahabad where as the original model for Allahabad was sent to Colombo in 1901 where it still stands near the presidential palace. See Statues of the Raj - reference below.

The statue at Allahabad was inaugurated by the then Lieutenant-Governor of the Province, Sir James LaTouche on 24th March, 1906.

Old Post card with a photograph of Victoria Memorial

The Statue in Lucknow Musuem today

After the independence the statue was removed to Collectors compound in 1957 and from there it was relocated to the State Museum at Lucknow. The canopy has been vacant since then without any statue.

The park had a huge statue of King George V as well installed at the center of the park just next to the gate of the Museum which also got removed post independence of the country.

Band Stand

The park served as the ceremonial ground for the official ceremonies of the British Raj and parties were arranged regularly which was followed by the musical performances of the Police Band. Elegant and suave Allahabadis congregated here and enjoyed partying and socializing along with musical numbers by regimental bands.

A recent photograph - Band stand

Old Card showing band Stand in Alfred Park

This Bandstand was gifted to the Park by Babu Neel Kamal Mitra, Spirit Baron and a famous Bengali resident of Lal Kothi Allahabad.

Army bands have long stopped playing here and Band Stand seems to have gone to a niche of history.

Thornhill & Mayne Memorial

On the north of the Bandstand is situated the Thornhill and Mayne Memorial which was built in 1870 by the then Commissioner of Allahabad, Francis Otway Mayne, in memory of his close friend and town planner of Allahabad, former commissioner Cudbert Bensley Thornhill. In 1868, Mr. Mayne, started collecting funds to erect a memorial in honor of his friend Mr. Thornhill, who died the same year and with whom he had conceived of establishing a library and a Museum at Allahabad. This building is popularly known as Allahabad Public Library now.

Thornhill & Mayne Memorial

An old Photograph

Initially the public library was opened in 1864 at Chatham Lines in the building of Government Press along with a small museum. In 1870, the library shifted to a building behind the police station of Colonel Ganj. The Museum was shifted to Lucknow in the year 1879.

Mr. Cudbert Bensley Thornhill was the commissioner of Allahabad in 1861 and became a member of Board of Revenue in 1867. He died at sea off Aden (Yemen) on 1 July 1868.

Thornhill-Mayne Memorial

The building was designed by Richard Roskell Bayne (1837-1901) an engineer with the Railways, in Scottish Baronial style with an elaborate hammer beam roof. A polychromic structure with lofty towers and arcaded cloisters look real with shapely pillars of granite and sandstone.

When Mr.Mayne passed away in 1872, the building was still under construction. A report of 1877 suggests that the construction was still going on. The work was completed in 1878 and Allahabad got its finest architectural marvel in the form of Thornhill- Mayne Memorial. The library finally shifted to the present premises at Alfred Park in 1879

A plaque at the building reads as follows:-

Plaque in Mayne Memorial

Columns

“This building which has received the name of the Thornhill-Mayne Memorial is erected in memory of Cudbert Bensley Thornhill, CSA & Francis Otway Mayne, C.B. both of Bengal Civil Service, who died the former on 11th July 1868 at sea off Aden, & the later On 30th August 1872 at Allahabad. The name preserves the memory of the close and uninterrupted friendship which during their lives united them. The memorial itself bears lasting testimony to the affectionate regard in which they were built By those who caused it to be erected.

Various Census of India - Page 117 - 1877

First session of Legislative Council of North West & Oudh Provinces at Thornhill

In 1887 a Council was established for making Laws and Regulations for the United Provinces of North West and Awadh. The first meeting of this legislative Council was held at Thornhill Memorial Hall on 8 January 1887 presided over by General Alfred Omyns Lyall , Lt Governor. The following gentlemen attended the meeting:-

1. M.A. Mc Conaghey; Commissioner of Lucknow

2. Hon’ble J.W. Quinton, member Viceroy’s Exec. Council

3. John Woodburn, Chief Secy to the Govt.

4. Justice George Edward Knox

5. Hon’ble Syed Ahmed Khan Bahadur KCSI

6. Pandit Ajudhyanath Kunzru , lawyer

7. Maharaja Pratab Narain Singh of Ayodhya

8. Rai Durga Prasad Bahadur of Gorakhpur

9. Mr.Thomas Conlan . C.I.E , Bar at Law

Mosque of Samdabad

There are remnants of a mosque inside the Alfred Park where one finds dome and columns razed to the ground The mosque continues to be in a dilapidated condition as it never functioned as a mosque after its destruction.

The rubble of razed mosque

Another look of the razed mosque

Photographs of the destroyed mosque

This was actually the Jama Masjid of Village Samdabad , since the village was completely destroyed during the retribution by Neil after the recapture of the city.The Jama Masjid of Samdabad was bombarded and razed to the ground . From its remains we find that it might have been a nice structure with all the shades of later architecture of Nawabi of Awadh. It looks there was a compound along with the grave of Baba Sandal Shah , the mosque and its courtyard etc , Unfortunately only the entrance gate of the complex remains intact and we can safely that it must have been amongst the tallest gate of any mosque enclosure in Allahabad.

The Gateway to the Complex - standing in awe !

The dargah of Sandal Shah Baba is a registered waqt property comprising of 5 bigha and 12 dhur registered under the no. 284. Here is the waqf details.

Waqf Record

Mosque of Kariman Bibi

If we move further south near Gymkhana Club, we find another small mosque which is functional and still operative. A tablet on the western wall of the restored wall inside the mosque tells us that the mosque was commissioned by a lady Kareeman Bibi that bears a date "tareekh 15 ramzan 1231 Hijri” the date of foundation of this mosque. This date roughly corresponds to the English year 1810 AD . The masjid has been renovated and given a new looks around 25 years ago.

Inscription in the Small mosque

The Small mosque

This was not a Zenana mosque as misconstrued by some people. It was simply another mosque in a large village. In all large Muslim villages finds a principal mosque along one or two small mosques, in some cases private mosques are built inside large mansions as well. In this case it was another small mosque of village Samdabad.

Sandal Shah

There is a tomb of Baba Sandal Shah just in front of the entrance of the mosque. Not only the local populace but people from afar visit the Dargah. After conducting a research and speaking to a lot of old timers , I can conclude now that Syed Firoz Ali Alias Sandal Shah Baba was a wanderer Sufi saint who had settled in Samdabad in late seventeenth century , he lived in a small hut in front of the mosque. The residents of Samdabad had already erected a mosque , a well and a large courtyard After his demise , he was buried in front of this mosque where he used to pray during his life time . Later on some of his followers like Gulab Shah and Jalal Shah too were buried close to his grave. All these tombs and graves belong to the pre-1857 period as no burial was allowed after the British recapture. Since this area was part of Samdabad village, my hunch is a lot of other graves must be there which have been leveled due to lack of maintenance over the period of time.

In the Waqf records, the dargah is enlisted as No. 284 Waqf Dargah Sandal Shah Peer baba along with the Mosque , the area in Waqf is 4 Bigha and 4 Dhur .

Grave of Sandal Shah Baba

Tomb

People at Sandal Shah Shrine

Grave of Richard ( the fake Chief Justice)

There is an old grave here in the Park that belonged to a British soldier who fell down during the tumult in 1857. A few years back some unknown guys put a board around a grave stating that it was a the grave of Sir Henry Richards , the former chief Justice of Allahabad High Court. As a matter of fact Sir Henry Richards died and was buried in Natal, South Africa. His descendents are settled in the UK.

Board with the wrong information ,Grave of Sergeant Watkins

This grave actually belongs to George Richard Watkins, soldier of British Army killed during the tumult of 1857. The original epitaphs reads as follows:-

Sacred to the memory of George Richard Watkins,
Quarter-Master Sergeant of the 6th Regiment who was killed on 6th June 1857
Aged 30 years 1 month and 21 days.

(Refer the Book :List of inscriptions - By E.A.H Blunt - 1911 - Allahabad. Page 154 )

Allahabad Museum

Allahabad Museum has also an premises inside the park, it is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Culture-Government of India, is one of the premier museums of India.

The earliest attempt to establish a museum in Allahabad was made by the late Mr. Batten the then Secretary , Board of Revenue , North West Frontier Province and a museum was set up in 1863 by North Sir William Muir, before being shut down in 1881. After the initiative to reopen the museum was taken by Jawaharlal Nehru, the then President of the Allahabad Municipal Board, stalwarts like Madan Mohan Malviya , Pt. Sundar Lal , Mr. HS Crosthwaite and the then leading newspaper The Pioneer, the museum was eventually opened in the Municipal Board building in 1931. Due to space constraint, the museum was shifted to the present building at the Alfred Park. The foundation stone of the present museum building was laid on 14 December 1947 by PM Jawaharlal Nehru and the museum was opened to the public in 1954. In 1985 it was declared an Institution of National Importance

Efforts & services of Rai Rameshwar Choudhary, The Then Maharaja of Vijayanagram , Madan Mohan Malviya , Pt. Sundar Lal , Mr. HS Crosthwaite, Mr. Brij Mohan Vyas, first Honorary Secretary of Museum and Mr. Satish Chandra Kala , the curator of Museum can never be forgotten in the maintenance and raising the standard of the Museum.

Allahabad Gymkhna Club

Allahabad Gymkhana Club was established in the early years of the last century. It was the interaction club of the elite of the society, it was meant strictly for British judges, lawyers and officers who met in an atmosphere of easy camaraderie and enjoyed indoor games as well. Incidentally it was one of the oldest tennis centers of India.

One of the oldest tennis centres of India

The Allahabad Gymkhana Club hosted the All-India Tennis Championships since 1910 and Hockey Tournaments along with the Connel Cup Polo tournaments since 1920. . However as a matter of fact it was not an official national championship, It was purely established by & for the British officers and their families, 10 years before the All India Tennis Association was actually founded.

Sport in South Asian Society- Boria Majumdar P 118

Pioneer - 1920

The championships staged both men's and women's singles play and also doubles. The first women singles tournament was also started here and the first champion was Mrs. Kendall. In 1946, the All-India Championships tournament was renamed the National Lawn Tennis Championships of India by the India Lawn Tennis Association.

Allahabad organized the championship uninterruptedly from 1910 to 1938, then in 1944, there from 1946–1949 and then in 1950–1951.Matches for the Central India Lawn Tennis Tournament were played on the grass courts of Gymkhana Club annually in February which discontinued in the late eighties bringing an end to the era of glory of Tennis in Allahabad.

Allahabad Gymkhana club had a number of tennis courts of all types including the Grass, Gravel & Hard courts. Players who have played here include Ken Rosewall , Roy Emerson, Fred Stolle, Ilie Nastase , Iftikhar Khan , Ramanathan Krishnan, Joydeep Mukherji, Premji Lall ,Chuck Mckinley, Roger Becker, Kurt Nielsen and Akthar Ali . Ken Rosewall had great appreciation for grass courts of Allahabad . He considered it to be best in India. E.V. Bobb, D.N. Kapoor, P.L. Mehta and Abad Hussain were stars and heroes who rose to national fame from the courts of Allahabad Gymkhana Club. Like so many delightful things the tournament too went away from Allahabad leaving a memory of those days.

In the late eighties, the Gymkhana Club turned into a murky & gloomy place of wine & crime and the district administration had no way but to close the doors of this elite club.

Can we do something to restore the tennis courts of the Allahabad Gymkhana Club to their old pristine glory ?

Chandra Shekhar Azad

The Alfred Park is now known as Chandra Shekhar Azad park after a revolutionary freedom fighter who died fighting with the British Police here in 1931.

Azad Memorial with a new tree

During the British Raj the freedom fighters used the Alfred Park as a hideout. Chandrasekhar Azad, original name Chandrasekhar Tiwari (1906-31) , a firebrand freedom fighter who led the youth against the British and reorganized the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association after most of the HRA’s members had been killed or imprisoned was wanted by the Police. He was constantly on move dodging the police. On February 27, 1931, he arranged a meeting with few comrades inside the Alfred Park. Unfortunately this time he was betrayed to the police, who surrounded him as soon as he entered the park. He took cover behind an old Tamarind tree in Park during the fight, resulting in the encounter between British Police led by Sir JRH Knott Bower and Azad alone. A gun battle ensued, Azad kept the police party at bay and wounded two police officers but when he found himself running out of bullets he shot himself rather than surrendering before the police. Born on 23rd July, 1906, he was yet to complete 25 years of his life at the time of his martyrdom.

Copy of the Original Photograph Azad lying dead

Yashpal (1903-1978) the Hindi writer was a partner with Azad recalled that Azad, Surendra Pandey and Yashpal himself first set out that morning to buy sweaters and medicines for their planned trip to Russia, Azad directly went to Alfred Park whereas Yashpal and Surendra went to Chowk. They heard about the police action inside Alfred Park while they were still at the stores in Chowk.

A statue was erected to mark the place where Azad died in front of the Science Faculty of the Allahabad University by some businessmen of Katra.

Where is the Original Tree where Azad Died

The old timers confirm that they have not seen the tree under which lay the body of the revolutionary after being shot by the police. Now the question is what happened to that tree ?

Yashpal's autobiography about the Tree in Alfred Park

It is told that the original huge Jamun tree fell down in a storm. A new sapling was planted in its place which today marks the place of martyrdom in the park but the fact is that the bullet ridden tree where Azad died was removed by British Administration as people flocked to pay respects to Azad daily in huge numbers and lighted incense sticks and put vermillion at the trunk. It was confirmed by Yashpal in his Autobiography, who was partner with Azad in the whole exercise that fateful day.Citation above.

Hiding spot

If we give another look into the hiding spot it seems highly improbable for an intelligent revolutionary like Azad to have taken refuge in this particular spot, since it is situated barely 800 yards from the sprawling Science Faculty of the University and about 300 yards from the Thornhill Road. No conspirator or fugitive would try to have a meeting or try to hide so close to a busy road and university. During that period it was a deeply wooded forest with thick shrubs and bushes all over and he could have gone deep inside to hide, It seems that, he was having a meeting deep inside the Park but was surrounded and chased by the police for an encounter. He kept firing while running till he reached this spot left with only one bullet and where he finally died.

Is it possible that in order to give public an easy access to salute him, a memorial was built near the main road and the campus had two main gates near the Statue (University gate-now demolished, and the Indian Press Gate) .

The Colt pistol of Chandra Shekhar Azad is displayed at the Allahabad Museum

Madan Mohan Malviya Stadium

The Cricket Stand of Allahabad Gymkhana Club was refurbished and a full fledged stadium came up after being sponsored by the Regional Council of Sports, UP , constructed in 8.5 acres where a lot of Cricket Matches were played in the past .Now mostly used by Uttar Pradesh cricket team for their domestic matches.

Ganga Nath Jha Sanskrit Institue

Kendriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha - Ganganath Jha Research Institute (from 1943-1971) and Ganganatha Jha Kendriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth (from 1971-2002) was founded on November 17, 1943 with a view to perpetuate the name and works of Sir Ganganatha Jha (b.1871 & d.1941), a renowned figure of Orientology and Indology. Today it is the premier institute for Sanskrit learning.

The Prayag Sangeet Samiti (The Academy of Indian Music).

It was founded in the year 1926 with an aim to popularize and propagate Indian Classical Music by Deshraj Major (Dr.) Ranjit Singh, Late Baijnath Sahai and Late Satyanand Joshi. The Samiti was initially housed in South Malaka since the year 1936, construction of the second edifice was completed in the year 1955 . The Prayag Sangit Samiti remains the premier Institution for the practice and propagation of music in India. It has two fine buildings , Mehta Auditorium is shown below.

Name

The park has always been known as Company Bagh (Company Garden ) by one and all simply because it was established by & for the British officers popularly known as company bahadur.

Although it was named Alfred Park since the time of its inception but the local populace continued to call it Company Bagh. After the independence of the country in 1947, the Municipality of Allahabad renamed the Park as Motilal Nehru Park.

A lot of documents show that the Museum and Sanskrit Institute was shown to be situated inside Motilal Nehru Park.

Uttar Pradesh District Gazetteer 1968.

However again in 1982 it was proposed to name a part of the park where Chandrasekhar Azad’ memorial is erected was renamed as“ Chandra Shekhar Azad Park”.

The entire park was the given the name of Chandra Shekhar Park in 2018 by the Allahabad Development Authority as they carried on with the beautification of the Bagh under directions of the Allahabad High Court

But for the world ,

it is Company Bagh ,

now and forever.

Similarly as Allahabad has become Prayag Raj but

It still is Allahabad

Now and forever.

In the words of an Urdu Poet

Ye chaman Yun hi rahega aur hazaron Bulbulein

Apni apni boliyan ______sab bolkar ud jayengi

Khalid Bin Umar

This article will form a chapter of upcoming book " The city of God - Allahabad :
This chapter may separately be published as a booklet shortly.

***********************

I am grateful to Mr. Sanjay Kala, the professor , whose immense love for this place is outstandingly pure and inspiring ,while his constant proddings and encouragement helped me explore and write on this subject.

References

A History of the Sepoy War in India, 1857-58 - Volume 2
Sir John William Kaye

A Hand-book for Visitors to Lucknow:
By Henry George Keene

The Indian Geographical Journal –
Volume 38 - Page 26

Statues of the Raj
Mary Ann Steggles,
British Association for Cemeteries in South Asia

Forces Behind the Indian Public Library Movement, 1858-1892
Om Prakash Sharma University of Chicago, 1970

Against History, Against State: Counterperspectives from the Margins
By Shail Mayaram

The Indian Geographical Journal, Volume 38
Indian Geographical Society, 1963

Cities and towns of India
Ramesh Chandra
Commonwealth Publishers, Jan 1, 2004

Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences: Page 133
Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla, Volume 10

India: Modern Architectures in History
By Peter Scriver, Amit Srivastava

Prayag Pradeep – Shaligram Srivastava -1937

The Indian Mutiny, 1857
M. P. Srivastava - 1979

Indian Miniatures in the Allahabad Museum
Satish Chandra Kala, Allahabad Municipal Museum

Where the rivers meet. Neelam Saran Gour -2009

Building for the Raj: Richard Roskell Bayne;

Anthony Welch, Martin Segger, and Nicholas DeCaro

REPORT ON THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE N.-W. PROVINCES
ALLAHABAD - 1872

Kaye's and Malleson's History of the Indian Mutiny of 1857-8, Volume 2
Sir John William Kaye- 1910

Three Rivers and a tree – Neelum Saran Gour - 2015

Prayag Or Allahabad: A Handbook
Modern Review Office, 1910

A Handbook to visitors to Lucknow – Henry George Keene Page 15-16

Pande, B. N. Allahabad Retrospect and Prospect, Allahabad, (1955)

Singhavalokan – Yashpal – Page 69

(History of the Indian Mutiny, Holmes Rice Page 220-221)

Correction of Ultimate error - in Mirat al Jalali

2018-10-20T22:45:00.007+05:30

MIratul Jalali

Correction of Exceptional but fundamental error in Mirat ul Jalali

Today I am going to present my findings about the real ancestor of the Bukhari Sadat settled in Pargana Chall of District Allahabad, India

The Bukharis of Chail

The Bukharis of Chail and the informed ones of Chail have known for long that Sadaat-i-Bukhari of Chail are descended from One Qazi Husamuddin Bukhari who lies buried in a Village named Parsakhi(in Tehsil Sirathu). This Qazi Husamuddin is reported to be the son of Syed Sadruddin Raju Qattal Suharwardi of Uchh , the younger Brother of celebrated saint Syed Jalaluddin Bukhari more famous as Makhdoom Jahaniyan Jahan Gasht RA.

Now question arises from where do we/they get this information ?

Mirat al Jalali

The Answer is that there is only one source of this information and that is a book named “Mirat ul Jalali” compiled and published by a gentleman named Syed Khaleel Ahmad of Mindara ( Mendara, Pargana Nawabganj, Soraon ) of Allahabad in 1918.Janab Khaleel Ahmad of Mendara was an inspector of Police and it seems that after retirement he dedicated his time to compile and publish the family history family trees in the form of Mirat al Jalali. Apparently he visited the villages of Bukhari Sadat in Chail and compiled the information into shajras and then published the book and for this great Endeavour we must be thankful to him.

Through this book we came to know that Qazi HusamUddin Bukhari was the ancestor of the large clan of Sadat Bukharis scattered in Chail and that he was the son of Hazrat Sadruddin Raju Qattal. Everyone who has read that believed all the information to be correct and after the publications of this book a few more Shajras were prepared in Chail, for example Hakeemuddin Urf Ikramullah Shah of Bada Gaon, who copied and imitated MIrat Al Jalali but the fundamental & cardinal fact was missing.

The principle of any such research is to find a reliable source of information, published or unpublished that supports the contents of a book but unfortunately there was no source quoted in Mirat al Jalali or any other Shajras to verify the information given in the book. There are references in the book about other details but not about the main subject Qazi Husamuddin.

Ever since I took up the task of visiting, compiling and writing notices on the villages of Chail. I was intrigued about the few statements of this book that seemed to me quite incorrect but ___without any contrary evidence and proof____ , my observations were just an assumptions ,they would not become facts unless proven true with historical evidences.

The first and most important fact was the statement that Qazi Husamuddin Hasan , the ancestor of Bukharis in Chail , was the son of Shaikh Sadruddin Raju Qattal ( sometimes spelt as Rajan Qattal) which is 100 % incorrect. This fundamental and cardinal issue was unbelievably WRONG in Mirat al Jalali.

Now I present here my finding about Syed Sadruddin Raju Qattal

Syed Sadruddin Raju Qattal Suhrwardi ( 730-827 AH)

Was a famous saint of Suharwardi order, was the son of Syed Ahmad Kabir and younger brother of Syed Jalaluddin Bukhari aka Makhdoom Jahanian Jahan Gasht of Uchh, He died on, 16 Jumada Al Aakhir 827 Hijra , 1424 AD leaving behind five sons ( in some records only four) namely,

The names of real sons of Makhdoom Raju Qattal

Jalaludddin Khwaja
Roohullah
Abu ishaq
Abdul Azeez
Banda nawaz

Out of them only three got their lineage continued. There is no one with the name of Husamuddin amongst his children. I checked this first in the books then I contacted Uchh Bahawalpur to find out the details. I was confirmed that there was no son of Raju Qatal with the name of Husamuddin.

My doubts which i had from the very beginning were now confirmed when I went through the Bukhari Shajras and did not find name of Qazi Husamuddin amongst the sons of Hazrat Sadruddin Raju Qattal

I was in a perplexed situation where I could not believe that our forefathers would have lied and spread such misinformation about their lineage ? I was in a fix but I did not give up , I tried my level best to reach the source of Shajras of Bukhari Sadat in Uchh.

By the grace of Allah SWT it took years to reach to the correct source from Uch Bahawalpur to find out the correct line of succession.

I found out that Qazi Husamuddin is the son of Shihab uddin , the grandson of Makhdoom Jahaniyan Jahan Gasht.

Now the lineage goes like this.

The Correct Shajra Nasab

Thus it is now established that Qazi Husamuddin was the great grand son of Makhdoom Jahaniyan Jahan Gasht.

Bagh Sadaat – Hakeem Syed Tajammul Husain Shah Naqvi Al Bukhari

It is further corroborated with the book , Bagh Sadaat – Hakeem Syed Tajammul Husain Shah Naqvi Al Bukhari Uchhvi wherein he has categorically mentioned at page no.129 about Husamauddin to be the son of Shihabuddin , further he has given the names of Bada Gaon and Kashiya as the places of residence of Sadat Bukhari of Chail.

It clearly mentions Mauza Kashia Daak Khana Moorat Ganj, Allahabad -Don’t confuse yourself that only Kashia is mentioned here, the fact is that Kashia had a record keeping family there until 1947 at the Takia hence whenever someone wanted information about the Bukharis of Chail they contacted Takia at Kashia. You would notice that Bada Gaon is also mentioned.

Please appreciate that the writer and compiler of this book was in Lahore and still he managed to compile the information correctly after sitting so far from Allahabad while our own people could not do so in the past hundreds of years.

RIyaz ul Ansab by Syed Maqsood Naqvi Page No. 117

There is another Authentic book on Naqvi Sadat named Riyaz ul Ansab by Syed Maqsood Naqvi. On page no. 117 he has produced the same Shajra. Bhure Miyan is shown as the son of Syed Husamuddin .

Also all the 8 sons are not mentioned here because whatever information was received at Markaz Uchh was registered. The first born Bhure Miyan is clearly mentioned and the first settlement was possibly at Kashia , hence the branch of Kashia is mentioned here as a specimen. It does not mean there are no other sons of Syed Husamuddin.

Makhdoom Nasiruddin Mahmood Nar

Makhdoom Nar Nasiruddin was the son of Makhdoom Jahaniyan Jahan Gasht Syed Jalaluddin Bukhari , Full name is Nasiruddin Mahmood. Old chroniclers mentioned him as “ Nar Nasiruddin” , here Nar refers to his Manhood, vitality and it refers to his numerous wives & children that he fathered.

Famous genealogist Syed Karam Husain Bukhari Uchvi has mentioned in his book “ Bahr al Matalib fee ansaab aal I abi Taalib that he had many wives with whom he had 25 sons and 22 daughters, out of which only 14 have their lineage going

The ones who had children were

1 Ismail , 2 Alauddin, 3. Shihabuddin, 4 Sharfuddin, 5 Alamuddin, 6 Abdul Haq, 7 Abdul Razzaq , 8 Faizullah, 9 Eesa, 10 Sirajuddin, 11 Taifur , 12 Bahauddin, 13 Makhdoom Hamid Kabir Shamsuddin, 14. Hazrat Burhanuddin Qutub I Alam Ahmadbadi

The ones who had no issue, La walad

15. Qutubuddin, 16 Kamaluddin, 17 Jalaluddin, 18 Husamuddin, 19 Jamaluddin, 20 Qayyum , 21 Zainul Abidin, 22 Abdul Wahad, 23 Asadullah, 24 Salahuddin , 25 Islam Shah

(Bahr al Matalib fee ansaab aal-i-abi Taalib)

Surprising Unawareness & laxity !

I am surprised as to how this ultimate blunder took place, how can a person insert someone as the father of another without having information proof or evidence ? that too , about such an illustrious family of Sadaat in Indian subcontinent . I cannot believe how Hazrat Sadruddin Raju Qattal became the father of Qazi Husamuddin Bukhari ? There is no documentary proof or valid reference to this fact.

MIratul Jalali edited by Syed Aftab Ahmad Bukhari

Wrong Information

Fake and wrong information.

Shajras containing Husamuddin Name wrongly as the son of Sadruddin Raju Qatal

Another page from Miratul Jalali with wrong entry

Though I would not doubt the intention of Khaleel Ahmad Mindarvi Marhoom but I am at a loss to understand that if he was not sure or he had some doubts , he should better have not written a book that has been published twice and thrice and whoever would read it till the end of this world will take the contents to be gospel truth. This means that Mohtaram Khaleel Ahmad Sahib had no idea and he simply copied the wrong information about the father of Qazi Sahib apparently on hearsay or word of mouth ?

It also corroborates the fact that the Bukharis had long lost the contact with their origin and had forgotten the original Shajra over the long period of time along with the names . Someone at a later date tried to compile and put together the names in the form of the Shajra and in this course he inserted the name of Makhdoom Sadruddin Raju Qatal as the father of Qazi Husamuddin because they had lost the original records. Had they got the original record and shajra , they would not have committed such a ultimate mistake.

We may be surprised at the grave negligence of the Bukharis of Chail but how we can justify the laxity and negligence of recent compilers and editors of the same book who lived in Pakistan but could not identify or rectify the error ? They were in the best position to visit their ancestral abode and could have verified the records personally.

Syed Aftab Ahmad Bukhari Marhoom who edited and updated that book in 1993 was in Karachi and recently Afroz Ahmad Sahib marhoom published a heavy weight book named “ Hadaiq -i-Jalali” in 2014 with updated Shajras of all the eight villages of Bukharis in Chail. He made lofty claims about Shajras and genealogies in this book but he himself did not know his real ancestor ?

Hadaiq i Jalali - Heavy weight Book

Wrong Shajra again in Hadaiq i Jalali

It is noteworthy that Afroz Sahib had published not less than two dozen shajras of all the villages of Chail but I am sorry to say that none of his work is reliable or trustworthy. They have facts and fiction both mingled with actual or fictinal names. His book“Hadaiq-i-Jalali is a bunch of lies, distorted facts and gross misinformation.

I would have never liked but I am compelled to write a brief rebuttal of his book. This is not my mizaj but I will write this for the posterity as to how the freelance cynical and whimsical history writing could play havoc. May Allaah swt save me and all from these kind of errors and sins.

The fact is that these gentlemen including Maulvi Khaleel Ahmad of Mindara had NO IDEA about this error. Since they had no doubt about the records, they did no research whatsoever and just copied and multiplied and forwarded the shajras without doing a factual cross-check. May Allah have mercy on all of these elders ! They did try to do good and did great work but somehow missed some very basic facts unchecked.

Now it is a responsibility of the present generation of Bukharis of Chail to put their records straight , correct their Shajras, change the name of their ancestor , print a new book of Shajra , get the Mirat al Jalali corrected with a proper note and foreward about the monumental & original mistake of the compiler.

The Correct Shajra Nasab

I am thankful to Mr. Saiful Islam who kept chasing me for completion of my research on the subject. He is also an descendant of Qazi Husamuddin from Basedhi.

Was’salaam

Khalid Bin Umar

Ratgaha - Pargana Chail

2016-08-20T03:16:00.001+05:30

Road to Chail Khas

The road goes on..

This goes to Ratgaha

Turn towards Ratgaha

FIelds

Ek Ek Kar Rukhsat ho Jaogey
Darwaze Per Ruke Baghair !!!

Jo Ghar tha Apna hi Ghar tha
Har Aangan Apna Aangan tha

Uff ye guzre hue Lamhon ka Hujoom
Dar -o-deewaar Qayamat__ thahrey !

Kitni Hangama Kheziyan Samete hue ek khamosh Ghar

Enclosed Graveyard of Ratgaha

Renovated Mosque !

Mosque from other angle.......

Gate of the mosque Zun-Nurain , Ratgaha

Mosque Inside

Usmani House !

Gate

Gate of Usmani House

An alley to the interior !

House of Iffan Miyan

Other side of Village

Name

Ratgaha is a relatively mid-sized village located in Pargana & Tehsil Chail of Kaushambi District (formerly Allahabad ) UP (India) . It is located 25 km to the east of the District Head quarters Manjhanpur and 3 km away from Chail town and about 200 Kilometers from the provincial capital Lucknow. It falls under the Chail Block within Charwa Police station.

Nizampur Puraini , Muhiuddinpur taluka Saiyid Sarawan , Chilla Shah Bazi, Chilauli, Paharpur Sudhwar, Chail are the nearby Villages. It is located a bit deeper inside the heart of Pargana Chail and hence you need to know the the correct way to reach the village. The easiest route would be to go through the slip way off the main Manauri-Chail road.

Demography

It is among the 42 villages of Chail Block of Kaushambi district. According to the government records, the village code of Rathgha is 160578. The village has 431 homes

The total population of this village in 1951 was 655 while in the last census it is 2528. Out of this, 1370 are males while the females count 1158 here.

The total geographical area of village is 40.62 hectares.

Origin

It is relatively a new village of Pargana Chail , an addition , the name of which is not found in the old records because the village was carved out, named and established few years after the uprising of 1857. The history of the establishment of this village is closely associated with the disturbance in 1857. In order to get to the history of the village, we need to go back to history of the present city of Allahabad.

Before 1857 (Ghadar) there was a large village in Allahabad named” Muhiuddinpur Kaharia” . The village was located at the place where now stands High Court, Polo Groud, Railway Colony and some parts of Cantonment. The entire village with its adjoining Purwa (hamlets ) were owned by the descendants of Shaikh Muhiuddin Sahib who got this village from the Lucknow Nawabi in the beginning of 18th Century.

Kachpurwa (Allahabad Railway Station )

The Allahabad railway station as we know it today was initially known as Kachpurwa Station, even some old timers still know or call it “Kachpurwa Tesan”. Till twenty-thirty years back there was an entire generation that knew or called it Kachpurwa. The present Allahabad station is established on the lands of two different villages. The City side station was a purwa inhabited & owned by Kacchis ( A Cultivater caste ) hence known as Kachpurwa. The majority land of the civil lines side was bordered & owned by Shaikh Ghulam Muhammad Urf Bechu Miyan , the owner of Muhiuddinpur Kaharia , a large village of Pargana Chail.

Old Photo graph of Kachpurwa Station

Old Municipal Rates from Kachpurwa Staion

Old Railway Record mentioning Kachpurwa Station

There is a legend about a a grave of a saint in Kachpurwa named Shah Karamat Ali , when the railways tracks were being laid , the authorities tried their level best but failed to lay tracks over his grave and after some miraculous happenings or mishaps they changed the route of the track. The same grave is today known as line Shah baba at Allahabad Station.

Migration to Neewan

During the upheaval & disturbance in 1857 when the law & order broke down and chaos prevailed, the zamindar family of Kaharia which evidently did not take part in the uprising left the village with whatever baggage they could carry on fearing the backlash. Their nearest relatives were in the Village Niwan and hence they pitched their tents in Neewan Village. Neewan was/is a large village on the banks of river Ganges a part of which was taken over and included in the Cantonment in the aftermath of 1857.The Kaharia family lived in Neewan for six months. The Zamindars of Niwan too had suffered badly and were struggling to hold on and with the sudden influx of refugees of many villages like Baghara, Salori, Kaharia, their patience and capacity were on the test.

Moreover after the British recapture, the apprehensions proved true as the British started the revenge game and ,when most of the trees on the GT road was filled with dead bodies and indiscriminate killing became the rage of the day.The news of soldiers approaching Neewan became a daily routine then the family of Muhiuddinpur Kahariya thought it wise to shift to other place.

Migration to Saiyid Sarawan

This time they shifted to Saiyid Sarawan with the other relatives. It was the beginning of 1858 when the family of Zamindars of Kaharia landed in Saiyid sarawan, the railway line was being earmarked and the residents were looking for the new dwelling spaces. The family lived in the eastern part of the village with their relatives. It is noteworthy that they lived in Saiyid Sarawan for almost 3 years and became a part of the the village fraternity.

A Ginni ( Victorian Era ) 1862

During the course of time , the British government decided to compensate the loss of lands of the erstwhile landlords and probably Shaikh Ghulam Muhammad Alias Bechu Miyan was the only Zamindar from the city side who was compensated in 1862. It is reported that he got 14 loads of Gold Mohars ( Ginnis ) carried through donkeys in the compensation.

Immediately an large Guava orchard was purchased near the village Muhiddunpur Taluka Saiyid Sarawan owned by a a teli of Saiyid Sarawan and the foundation of four houses for four sons of Bechu Miyan were laid in a night and the family shifted thereafter. Since the village & the houses were founded in a night, they village was called Rati+Gaha (went through the night) that became RAT-GAHA over the period of time.

It becomes clear that are originally the landlords of Muhiuddinpur Kaharia with 16 Annas of share along with the Mazras. This Kaharia village proudly carries the High Court, Polo Ground and other building in the civil lines including a part of Cantonment and the civil lines side of Allahabad railway station.

Origin of the family

The original documents including the family tree of this esteemed family got lost during the disturbance and the subsequent dislocations from one village to another. Though there has been a consensus that the family is of high origin but the ancestry could not be ascertained due to the lack of complete Shajra ( Family tree ) . A tradition says the family had its origin in Bukhara

What we know today definitely is that Shaikh Muhiuddin Sahib was the originator and founder of Village Muhiuddinpur Kaharia. He had a son named Shaikh Lutf Ulah and he had Shaikh Noor Muhammad and he had Shaikh Ghulam Muhammad Alias BECHU MIYAN……This Bechu Miyan was alive when the 1857 uprising took place , He along with his four sons namely Ramzan Ali , Sadiq Ali , Hidayat Ali , Qaasim Ali left the village for safety.

These four sons are the founders & originators of village RATGAHA. There are four houses in Ratgaha from where come all the shaikhs of Ratgaha. If someone is from Ratgaha , his/her paternal line should reach one of these four brothers.

Shaikh Muhiuddin & his sons are buried in the cemetery around the tomb of Chaudah Peer (14 Peer) complex near the Polo Ground , Civil Lines Allahabad as this was their ancestral burial grounds & part of their village. Even Shaikh Ramzan Ali is buried in the village Muhiuddinpur (now 14 Peer dargah )complex whereas the later ones are buried in Ratgaha.

Zamindari

There is no doubt that they were one of the major landowners of Allahabad with a premium tract of land in their possession. But their fortunes took a very ugly turn when the uprising of 1857 broke out and the debacle of Indian forces brought severe hardship & misfortune for the entire lot of Zamindars of Chail. The lands of Muhiuddinpur Kaharia was confiscated and later earmarked for Cannington ( as Civil Lines was originally known), the old glory & comfort of the family could never be restored although they did purchase ,inhabit and populate another village named Ratgaha . They had got satisfied with their lot and turned their attention towards modern education that helped save their progeny from further fall. It was a wise move.

Marriages

Since the family is reputed to be of a high origin. Their marriages have always taken place with their counterparts in Chail. Mostly they married with the Shaikhs of Neewan & Saiyid Sarawan ,Chail Khas , Audhan, Peepal Gaon, Shaikhpur, Bada Gaon etc. They were known to be a bit choosy lot when it came to contracting marriages….As a result they don’t have a very large kinship network but whatever relations and marriages they have contracted , they are with the “selected few families and hence they have maintained the sanctity of bloodline to a greater extent than others.

Usmani or Siddiqi or What ?

Here I would like to comment on the surname “USMANI” that some of the family members have started using for the past 50-60 years.

As stated above that the original family tree was lost and could not be traced therefore today it is almost impossible to ascertain which branch of Shaikhs they actually came from? Now the questions arises as to why the family is using USMANI with their names so frequently ?

It seems that they picked up this Surname from Saiyid Sarawan. We know that they lived in Saiyid Sarawan for about 3 years and it is highly possible that they picked up their surname from there only. I say so because there is no shajra or documentary evidence available to support that they are descended from Hadhrat Usman (RA) or they are Usmanis. As a matter of fact none of the elders of this family had ever used USMANI with their name.

I had consulted this issue with Janab Zafeer Ahmad Marhoom of Audhan who was from the same family who admitted that he had no document to show that they are Usmanis and he was of the view that they might be Shaikh of Siddiqi origin. He further informed that Shaikh Muhiuddin’s nanihal was also a siddiqi and his take was that the family is of Siddiqi origin. He himself did never use “USMANI” with his name. The family at Rajkot is using Siddiqi as the same surname and the Poet in Kanpur too used the same, namely , Yazdani Siddiqi Marhoom who was from the same family.

This view should not be taken as an objection in disapproval. It is just to say that there is no documentary evidence and if there is any documentary evidence to prove otherwise, it should come out now and clarify things once for all. May be after viewing this , someone comes up with an old documents that clears the confusion once for all.

And Allaah SWT knows best.

Family

Ghulam Muhammad Alias Bechu Miyan is the progenitor of Ratgaha, He had four sons , Ramzan Ali, Sadiq Ali, Hidayat Ali and Qasim Ali. These four brothers and their descendents are what we know as Ratgaha family today.

Jb. Ghulam Muhiyudin Pyare miyan

Jb. Mohd Muqbil Aaley

Jb. Shamsuddin Samar miyan

Jb. Qamaruddin Munney sb.

1. Ramzan Ali had Abdul Sattar & Ghulam Yazdani, Abdul sattar had two daughters only without a son. While Ghulam Yazdani had Saad-ud-din who had Ghulam Muhiyuddin Urf Pyare Miyan (D.2010) , Now Pyare Miyan fathered three, Muhammad Muqbil (Aaley), Qamar-uddin (Munney) and Shams-uddin (Samar). Muhammad Muqbil Aaley is the father of Muhammad Parvez, Owais Usmani, Saif , Taahir & Asif Usmani & Khalid (Late). Qamaruddin Munney has Faisal Qamar Alias Faiz ( known better as Aksar Allahabadi) & Afzal ( Monis)___Shamsuddin Samar Miyan fathered Fazal, Fuzail Usmani, Shuaib and Fazil & Fazeel Usmani.

2. Sadiq Ali had Siraj-ul-Haq Urf Jokhu Miyan who had two sons, Nawab Husain and Imam Husain. Nawab Husain mostly shifted to & lived in a village Kanthua ( in Pargana Kara ) where he got a job whereashis brother Ghulam Imam Husain got a share in Audhan so he shifted to Audhan. While both the brothers were away their paternal house fell down due to disrepair. It was rebuilt and known as “Naya Ghar”

From R to L --Amir , Zahid , Waheed & Farhan Usmani ( Pak) Sons of Tauqeer Ahmad

From R to L - Tauqeer , Taskheer & Safeer Sb.

Nawab Husain had Shabbir Ahmad & Sagheer Ahmad. Now Shabbeer Ahmad Sahib has Zubair Ahmad Urf Achchan (Pak) and Zuhair-ul-Azam who too migrated to pakistan. It was Shabbir Ahmad Marhoom who actually founded the mosque in Ratgaha which is now renovated. Sagheer Ahmad was employed in Jhansi in the pre-partition times , unfortunately he was killed during the riots in 1947. He fathered two, Khalid Mujeed Ahmad ( Usmani ) and Haseeb Ahmad, both in Pakistan.

Now Ghulam Imam Husain Urf Imam Miyan had shifted to Audhan. He had four sons, Zafeer Ahmad, Safeer Ahmad, Taskheer Ahmad and Tauqeer Ahmad. Except Zafeer Ahmad Marhoom who lived in Audhan, the rest of three went to Pakistan. Zafeer Ahmad Sahib at Audhan had Muhammad Javaid, Muhammad Naved, Muhammad Junaid ( now mostly at Mahgaon)_____Safeer Ahmad Sahib had only two daughters____Taskheer Ahmad Sahib had Tahzir Ahmad , Aqeel Ahmad Urf Tariq, Arif, Asif and Hamid while ________Tauqeer Ahmad Sahib had Tauseef Ahmad ( Now Zahid Usmani, Doha) , Wahid Ahmad , Farhan and Muhammad Aamir

Mr.Parvez ,Tanveer ( Rajkot ) with Janab Kaleemullah

3. Hidayat Ali had two sons, Ghulam Rabbani and Ghulam Jeelani. Ghulam Rabbani had a son named Ghulam Haqqani who shifted to & lived in Kanpur till his death. He had three sons , Ghulam Yazdani ( Nafees Ahmad ) , Mabood Ahmad and Maashooq Ahmad in Kanpur. _______________Ghulam Jeelani had two sons namely Muizuddin and Samiuddin. Now Muizuddin had three sons, Riyazuddin Urf Rijjan, Muhib Ullah Urf Munshi Ji and Inaam Ullah Urf Darogha Ji. All three brothers were in the Police Dept. _______RIyazuddin sahib (Retd S.O) had two sons, Janab Ahmad Ullah Principal Mahgaon Inter College who had only a daughter Baby and Kaleem Ullah Urf Babu ( Asstt BSA-Fatehpur ) who has a daughter Imrana _______Inamullah Urf Darogha Ji who after retirement lived in Ratgaha but later on went to live with his son Muhammad Ullah Siddiqi who was employed in railway and settled in Rajkot (Gujarat). Muhammad Ullah sahib settled in Rajkot after retirement and has five sons namely Arshad ullah pappu, Irshad Ullah guddu, Parvez Akhtar Siddiqi Babli, Tabrez Akhtar Pintoo and Tanveer Akhtar Raju. ___________Muhibullah Urf Munshi JI had three daughters only. __________Above mentioned Sami uddin had Wali Ullah who had two daughters only.

Jb. Kaleem Ullah ( Retd. Asstt. BSA )

4.The fourth son Qasim Ali has six sons and a daughter. His sons were Ameer-uddin, Maulvi Zia-uddin, Wahaj-uddin, Saeed uddin, Hameed-uddin, Nazeer-uddin.

Now three of his sons namely Janab Ameeruddin Sahib, Nazeer-udin Sahib and Maulvi Zia ul haq had a daughter with no son whereas Hameed-uddin had no issue. Only two Wahaj-ud-din And Saeed-uddin had the family tree growing up through male members.

Jb. Haseenuddin with his Elder brother

Jb Iftikhar Ahmad Iffan Sb.

Wahajuddin Sahib had four sons, namely Siraj-uddin, Haseen-uddin, Iftikhar Ahmad and Imtiyaz Ahmad( Pak).

Now Sirajuddin sahib was employed in Chittagong and he later on shifted to Karachi , he had two sons namely Qamar-ul-Islam Urf Shahzade and Saif ul Islam Urf Swaleh in Karachi._____Haseenuddin Sahib Urf Assan MIyan had seven sons, Fakhrul Islam Urf Banney , Badarul Islam urf Naushe (Pak), Riyazul Islam Urf Dularey , Noor ul Islam Urf Chand, Rooh-ul-Islam Urf Shahid , Zahir-ul-Islam Urf Sajid(Kolkata) and Zahir-ul-islam Urf Munna.___________ Iftikhar Ahmad Urf Iffan Miyan was a teacher in Shervani Inter College, Sallahpur and lived there, He fathered Anwar Ahmad, Irshad Ahmad , Absar Ahmad and Tanweer Ahmad._____________Last one Imtiyaz Ahmad urf Imman MIyan migrated to Pak in 1960 and further information about his sons could not be gathered.

Saeed-ud-Din Sahib had two sons, Majeed-ud-din and Waheed-ud-din. Majeed-ud-din Marhoom was married in Mahgaon but he got some shares in bharwari thereupon he settled in Bharwari. His sons are Ladey Sahib, Haseen urf Dularey, Shameem and Waseeem Ahmad .

Waheed-ud-din s/o Saeed-ud-din went to Hyderabad Deccan and we do not have any information about his pursuit and issues thereafter. He had a son Maqbool Ahmad.

Haji Hameed-uddin Sahib a retired police officer ,was married in Seondha , his marriage had an ominous memory as hundreds of attendees died due to food poisioing in the food. He had a son who died at young age without any issue.Haji Hameeduddin expired in 1962.

Migration

Since the village itself was a new settlement, none of the others migrated to Ratgaha but a few from Ratgaha did migrate to other places/villages for a better future.

The following have shifted from Ratgaha upon getting shares from their maternal or in-laws.

Jb. Muhammad Ullah Siddiqi ( Rajkot )

(i) First Mention may be made for Janab Majeed-ud-din of Ratgaha who migrated to BHARWARI and today his sons Janab ladey , Haseen , Raheem , shameem sahiban are well settled in Bharwari , they are originally from Ratgaha.

(ii) His brother Janab Waheed-ud-Din migrated to Hyderabad Deccan. Today we do not know the status & whereabouts of this famiy as they have cut off the ties altogether.

(iii) Ghulam Imam Husain shifted to Audhan after a share in nanihal. His son Zafeer Ahmad lived in Audhan while his brothers Safeer Ahmad , Taskheer Ahmad and Tauqeer Ahmad migrated to Pakistan.

(iv) Mohammad Ullah Sahib s/o Inaam Ullah aka Darogha Ji was employed with the Indian Railways who settled in Rajkot after the retirement. His sons are doing very well there.

(v) Siraj-ud-din S/o Wahajuddin migrated to Pakistan. His sons Qamrul Islam & Saiful Islam are there.

(vi) The sons of Ghulam Imam Husain , namely Safeer Ahmad, Taskheer Ahmad and Tauqeer Ahmad went to Pakistan.

Famous persons

Janab Saaduddin was a city kotwal of Mahmoodabad ( Sitapur) he died young while in service. His son Ghulam Muhyiuddin aka Pyare Miyan too served the UP Police.

Maulvi Zia-ul-Haq was a scholar of Arabic & Persian. he who served as a Persian teacher at CAV College Allahabad too. He authored several books e.g Taiseerul Qawaid.

Janab Wahajuddin Sahib was also a Kotwal in the British era. His grand-son Qamrul Islam is a writer based at Karachi.

Janab Haseen-uddin aka Assan Sahib was a police inspector, His son Fakhrul Islam aka Banney Sahib has recently expired who was associated with Chail welfare Society in Allahabad.

Janab Iftikhar Ahmad aka Iffan Sahib was a teacher at Shervani College Sallahpur and settled there. His 2nd son Irshad Ahmad aka Dr. Rashid runs a nursing home in Charwa.

Janab Ladey Sahib s/o Majeed-ud-din Bharwari is running a successful business of Milk Dairy at Bharwari. His sons have further expanded the Business.

Janab Haseen Ahmad Sahib s/o Majeed-ud-din was in AG office , his son Asad is an I.E.S.

Maulvi Shabbir Ahmad Sahib was a teacher whose efforts resulted in the shape of the mosque at Ratgaha in 1960

Janab Ahmad Ullah Sahib was the famed principal of Mahgaon Inter College, who ,after retirement had settled at Saiyid Sarawan till his death.

Qamar-ul-Islam Usmani ( Pak)

Special mention must be made for Mr. Qamar-ul islam Usmani , a writer in pakistan who has made a mark in translating detective stories into Urdu , Born in his nanihal Kathgaon , After doing Matriculation in 1956 from Sallahpur, he joined his father at Chittagong where he was working with the Railways. Subsequently they migrated to Karachi in 1958. He started with translations from Persian to Urdu later from other languages and thus enriched the collection of Urdu detective story genre by penning around 300 short stories. His stories were regularly published in urdu digests like Sab Rang, Dosheeza etc. By profession he is a teacher , superannuated few years back as Principal in Karachi.

Marhoom Ghulam Yazdani aka Yazdani Siddiqi was a famous poet based at Kanpur.

Janab Muhammad Muqbil aka Aaley was in AG Office, Janab Shamsuddin Samar sahib superannuated as Post Master in Allahabad while janab Qamaruddin Munney Sahib retired as a principal In Govt Collage .

Faisal Qamar Usmani aka Aksar Allahabadi is busy into film script & lyrics writing trying his luck firstly at Chennai and now in Mumbai.

Luminaries today !

Owais Usmani

Mention must be made of those few who have revived Ratgaha’s name & fame in our times. The foremost are the sons of Muhammad Muqbil aka Aaley , particularly Owais Usmani who in a relatively short span of time has grown leaps & bounds and virtually carved a convincing niche for himself in the business world by the grace of Allaah SWT.

Owais Usmani

Owais Usmani is an exemplary entrepreneur who seems to have dreamt big and made that happen. He began his career as an employee in a mining company at Muscat (Oman) and grew up to become a partner of the same company. His hard work, dedication and focused approach helped the company grow exponentially. Afterwards he expanded as well as diversified his business in Oman by stepping into other diverse business sectors. In fact, within a period of 10 years, he wrote a splendid story of success and fame which is an inspiration for the aspiring entrepreneurs.

Today he owns or has majority shares (1) in & Arabian Minerals Trading, which exports chrome ore and mineral products to United Arab Emirates, China and India & (2) in National Gulf Minerals & Mining Co. LLC, Muscat, which is the highest exporter of non-ferrous metal products in the country (3) in Aalia Star Mining Materials (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. Shanghai China, which imports chrome ore, iron ore, manganese ore and marble in China.

Apart from success in different business verticals, he has forayed into real estate development in India by launching his first flagship, 100% FDI-funded project 'Presidency Heights', slated to come up on Yamuna Expressway at Greater Noida. The project is also committed to make sectored investment of Rs 2000 crore in the region. His story of success has many lessons and may hard earned tips for the young entrepreneurs to learn.

Business has to do more than make a profit; it also must drive social change. Keeping the principle in mind, the Usmanis have entrusted this noble task to younger brother Asif Usmani who has launched a Non-Governmental Organization named Glow Star Welfare Society in Allahabad that intends to make a positive contribution to the society with a focus on education, healthcare, livelihood as most of the villages in Chail are facing acute poverty with lack of basic facilities and rampant unemployment. I hope & pray that he continues his good work bringing about a real change in the lives of the countrymen.

Parvez Akhtar Siddiqi

Parvez Siddiqi (Leo Marketing)

Mention may be made of another gem of Ratgaha, Parwez Akhtar Siddiqui son of Janab Muhammad Ullah Siddiqui, based at Rajkot (Gujarat ) who has made a mark in manufacturing industrial products under the brand name Leo.His sole proprietorship Leo Marketing Company Rajkot is engaged in Tractor Trailer Hydraulic Jacks & Accessories, Submersible Pumps and Agriculture Machine Parts and doing a brisk business overall.

Fuzail Usmani

Conclusion

When I visited Ratgaha , it was a clear day and the sun was bright, the graveyard was the first noticeable stop that I encountered and a slab told "Usmani" , the village is a middle sized one, and showed the signs of developing and growing economical condition. When we reached the heart of the village where the mosque stands in the midst of all the four major houses of the four progenitors of Ratgaha. There was silence all around , only a few guys were sitting on a charpoy asked me the purpose of visit . Upon getting the answer they pointed to the new beautiful house of Aaley Sahib and when i told them names one by one, their fingers roamed all around , assuring me that I am in the middle of everything here. We roamed a bit in & out of the lanes & by lanes without meeting anyone from the main family of landlords as most of them live in the city. Ratgaha was born in a haste after going through a lot of hardship. The young generation has not forgotten the sacrifice their ancestors had made an now they are trying their best to keep the bond with the village stronger though most of them did never live there yet if they are investing their time, money & energy to sustain , maintain and retain whatever their forefather had created "Overnight"....that is commendable......

Mauj badhe ya Aandhi aaye____diya jalaye rakhna hai
Ghar ki khatir sau dukh jhele__Ghar to akhir apna hai !!!

I am highly grateful and feel indebted to Mr. Shams-ud-din Samar Miyan for his invaluable contribution, help & guidance in creating this piece and Br. Fuzail was a big help ! Thanks a lot

Was'salam

Khalid Bin Umar

Write to me
@ Khalid.bin.umar@gmail.com

Maulvi Liyaqat Ali - An Unsung Hero of 1857

2015-03-14T16:07:00.002+05:30

Maulvi Liyaqat Ali ( D.1892 )

View of the Fort of Allahabad by William Hodges in 1787

A report by Lord Canning, the Governor-General, to the Government

"I shall not be surprised if that strong fortress Allahabad, with all its valuable stores and war munitions, has fallen into the hands of the insurgents. That would indeed be a climax to our misfortunes, more serious than the seizure of Delhi."

Dear All

Today I am writing about a prominent figure of our historical struggle known as the 1857 uprising or MUTINY of 1857. It is not easy to write about a person who has almost been forgotten and who memory has been left for the wayward infrequent historians because we had not only lost the war, we had lost the sense of record keeping as well. On the contrary no effort was spared by British writers to besmirch the memory of the martyred heroes of Indian struggle. Therefore it is not easy to distill from the turgid accounts the limpid truth of a man who lived 150 years ago.

Maulvi Liyaqat Ali who has secured a safe place in the history of Indian freedom struggle was a genius organizer who had evoked waves of enthusiasm, like the full moon stirs the sea, through his words & actions throughout the Doab, was a native of Allahabad. He is remembered by the British writers as a man of considerable influence and authority.

Book : A companion to the Indian mutiny of 1857

Authos: PJO Taylor - Page 5

1858

The word ‘Maulvi’ was synonymous to ’rebel’ in the British eyes. Out of approximately 200,000 people martyred during the revolt, more than 50000 were Ulama. Some claim that in total 5000 of Ulama were hanged to death.

Before going through the life and times of Maulvi Liyaqat Ali, let us have a look at the conditions and precursors that prompted the uprising in 1857.

In the annals of modern Indian history, the year 1757 was a watershed year when Robert Clive defeated Siraj-ud-Daulah of Bengal at the Battle of Plassey. Exactly 100 years after this historical event, the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, or the first Indian War of Independence as Marx called it, infact cleared the path for the British monarchy to take over the reins of India from the East India Company, which had established its control over large part of the country over the preceding 100 years.

We may call it Sepoy Mutiny or India’s First War of Independence or the last gasp of Indian heroes there is little doubt that it was a cataclysmic event that had an everlasting effect on Indian Polity. After the British annexed the kingdom of Oudh in 1856, many sepoys of the Bengal Army—who actually hailed from the areas comprising Utter Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh—felt that their traditions were being trampled upon. When the East India Company issued new rifles along with cartridges greased with the fat of cows and pigs both Hindus and Muslims were outraged. On May 10, 1857, at Meerut, 85 soldiers, who had been chained for refusing to use the cartridges, were freed by their comrades.

Though most history texts describe this revolt, which originated from Delhi, Meerut and Lucknow, as seeking to re-establish Mughal rule, there is more to the uprising. It was more than a mere Sepoy Mutiny or to say some dethroned pensioners struggle. It was actually an eruption of the social volcano wherein many pent up forces found vent. After the eruption the whole social topography had changed.

Besides the sepoys and few princes, millions of common man participated in the rebellion. In the roll-call of the killed, common man were more frequent than the sepoys. The Revolt took place everywhere in the name of one sovereign , the emperor Bahadur Shah and under his flag.

Khalq Khuda ki

Mulk Padshah ka

Hukm company Bahadur ka –

Was changed to

Khalq Khuda ki

Mulk Padshah ka

Hukum Sipah ka or Hukm Maulvi Sahib ka!

A contemporary Bengali diary thus specified the proclamation in Allahabad: 'Badshahi Muluk, and Maulvi Saheb's Hukum, arm yourselves to save the lives (dil) of Hindus and Musalmans and destroy the forces (dalbal) of the firingi. (The Felt Community: Commonalty and Mentality by Rajat Kanta Ray)

Original Photo Graph of Maulvi Liyaqat Ali

Name & Origin

Liyaqat Ali was born in Mahgaon, a village in tehsil & pargana Chail of Allahabad. His was the only son of Shaikh Mehr Ali of Dakkhin Thok (Southern part) of Mahgaon. His Grand-Father's name of Shaikh Ali Muhammad. His uncle was Shaikh Daim Ali who was employed in the British Army stationed with the army of the Raja of Jhansi.

Date of Birth

Liyaqat Ali would have been born between 1810-1830 AD. This is a conjectured time line as it is mentioned in some reports that he was around 40-50 years old at the time of rebellion. Thus we can surmise that he would have been born around 1810-30.

Some writers have mentioned 17^th July 1823 as his date of birth while others have claimed 5th October, 1817 as his year of birth but I am sorry that these are all baseless as there is no document to prove any date or year of birth of Maulvi Sahib. It can only be guessed but should not be guessed wildly. Any particular given dates are simply wild guess.

Family Background

I don’t know who has spread this rumour that the forefathers of Maulvi Liyaqat were big landlords and owned numerous villages, some have gone further to claim that they owned 46 villages .To me this is the biggest lie regarding the life of Maulvi Sahib that goes against all the documentary evidences. Even Dr.Bhatnagar who has authored a book on Maulvi Sahib recently has included this lie only on the basis of hearsay. I would like to know from Dr.Bhatnagar or the other claimants the source or the official records where this is mentioned. I have checked thoroughly and found no such document. It is clear from the documents after his capture that he was from a very modest background and to call spade a spade, he was from a very poor family.

This fact has been ratified even by the British chroniclers that he was from a modest background. The enquiries made by the British after the tumult clarified that his father was a peasant, a moderate farmer. His uncle Daim Ali and even the Maulvi Sahib both had served the British Army. If someone had 46 villages then nobody would go to serve the alien armed regiment in an alien place.

Even Maulvi Liyaqat Ali in his defense mentioned that he was from a very humble origin. It is also noteworthy that Mahgaon was the only large village of Chail where the inhabitants had no zamindari rights since the time of Asaf-ud-Daula. This can be verified from the revenue records available at Tehsil.

His family and Origins

The British under the waves of sheer hatred and disgust claimed that he belonged to the weaver Caste (Julaha) and all the people who supported him were also from the low class. This is the first but the weakest lie which had been refuted during his life time. As a matter of fact he belonged a highly respectable Jafri Shaikh family of Mahgaon which had its origin in MachhiShahr(Jaunpur) via Ghazni till Makkah Al Muazzama. If we go by the hierarchy of the families, he was from one of the class-I clan of Muslim Gentry. The ancestor of this Jafari family came from Arabia via Ghazni and settled in Machhlishar from where one of the off-shoots came to Mahgaon in the beginning of the 17^th Century AD.

The following is the first statement published in John Kaye’s book claiming that he was a weaver and actually it was based on the preliminary inquiries made by the Deputy Collector of Allahabad Mr. Willock and from that day onward till now, nobody took the pains to clarify and get to the reality. Our very respected Dr. Sen and now Dr. Bhatnagar has also copied the same in his book.( See page 35 of Dr.Bhatnagar. Here is the infamous excerpt from Kaye’s book that our so called scholars have been copying like a gospel truth for the past 150 years. (See Eighteen Fifty-seven - Page 155 -by Surendra Nath Sen - India - 1958 )

A History of the Sepoy War in India 1857 Volume 2

John Kaye

Published 1858

Page 262

Page 199 of the same book

Later on their own British inquiries revealed that he was from the respected Shaikh Families of Mahgaon. See the excerpt below.

The charge against him was that “ Liakut Ali, son of Mehir Ali, by caste a sheik, resident of Mahgaon, Pargana Chail, aged about forty-five yam, being a person owing allegiance to the British Government, was a leader in revolt, and rebelled ...

Book : Annual Register 1856

Author: Edmund Burke

I would like to clarify one small but very important point that he was not a Syed as claimed by almost all the post independence authors. Nowhere in the entire pile of records is he mentioned as Syed. The Original Shajra at Mahgaon also does not mention word Syed for the entire family and the fact is that nobody in Mahgaon ever used the word “Syed” ever. Though this family had marital relations with Syed families of environs but they themselves were not Syed, in the strict sense of this term.

Another falsehood that his forefathers came from Khurasan and were appointed Qazi – is wrong. The fact is that his Forefathers came from Ghazni and settled in Machhli shahar Jaunpur they had nothing to do with Khurasan at all. As I stated earlier he was from Jafri Shaikh clan of Mahgaon, Pargana Chail which came from Machhli Shahr Jaunpur and from there they came from Ghazni.

In a nutshell:-

Maulvi Liyaqat Ali was born sometime between 1815-1830. No authentic DOB is available.
He was a Jafari Shaikh by descent. Jafris are the upper class Muslims. He was not a weaver.
He was from a respected but modest rather poor financial background. There was no zamindari in his family and his father was a modest Kashtkar while his uncle was a soldier in the British Army stationed at Jhansi.
His father or any of the grandfathers were not Qazi and none of his immediate ancestor was known or called a Qazi.
His family originally came from Machhlishahar( Jaunpur ) and there they had come from Ghazni and there they had come from Makkah al Muazzamah. Nobody came from Khurasan.

List of myths/lies:-

He was born in 1817 or 1823 – A lie
He was a weaver – A lie
His father or forefathers owned 46 villages - A lie
His father of forefather was a Qazi – A Lie
His family came from Khurasan. – A lie
His family is Syed – A Lie, though the family is very high ranking & married Syeds.
He was captured at the Bombay VT Railway station. - A lie , it was Byculla Station.
He died at Rangoon. - A lie - He died at Corbyn's Cove , Port Blair.

This way I want to refute the so called claim of some modern thinkers that all the leaders of the 1857 uprising were fighting for their own benefits, pensions and lost estates. Maulvi Ahmadullah Shah, Azeemullah Khan, Maulvi Liyaqat Ali are all the torch bearers of 1857 and they were all from almost obscure origins. I do not agree with the view of some so called thinkers that if Tantiya Tope, Rani Laxmi bai were fighting for their lost riyasat, everyone was like them. The facts do not support the view in its entirety. There is no doubt that the events of 1857 certainly coalesced feudal interests with the rising popular resentment against the firangi. This eventually metamorphosed into a powerful and focused nationwide movement. I would quote few authentic voices of our historical literature who agree that it was a national patriotic movement.

Dr. Tarachand writes “It is appropriate to call it the National war of Independene in “ History of Freedom Movement “ Vol II . P.42

Dr.Gautam Sharma says “The mutiny of 1857 has been correctly termed as the first organized fight for independence, (Indian Army through the Ages, P. 413.)

Nehru writes “ It is more than a military mutiny and it spread rapidly and assumed the charcter of a popular revolt and a war of independence , ( The Discovery of India P. 383)

The British Prime minister Disraeli declared in House of Commons that the mutiny of 1857 was a national revolt and not a military mutiny. ( July 27 1857 , Parliamentary Debates,Vol VII )

There is no doubt that the objective of the entire exercise was to drive out the British and establish the Desi Raj. This is evident by different proclamations by Emperor Bahadur Shah Nawab Birjees Qadr, Khan Bahadur Khan of Bareilly, Nana Sahib and Liyaqat Ali of Allahabad. All of them showed deep enthusiasm, sincerity and the scale of hardship they went through is enough to substantiate that it was a patriotic struggle rather than actuated by some self interest.

The events of 1857 certainly coalesced feudal interests with the rising popular resentment against the firangi. This eventually metamorphosed into a powerful and focused nationwide movement that gave birth to a united Republic of India in 1947. (Elementary Aspects of Peasant Insurgency in Colonial India -by Ranajit Guha - History - 1999 )

Early life

We understand that Maulvi Liyaqat Ali learnt basic Arabic, Persian at his village while he travelled to Allahabad city for further studies as per the curriculum prevalent those days. It is reported in some books without any reference that one of his teacher was a pupil of Shah Abdul Azeez of Delhi. There are reports to suggest that he was a complete and proficient Aalim (Qualified Islamic Scholar) who taught firstly at Mahgaon and later on at Allahabad.

Maulvi Liyaqat Ali was attracted towards martial arts since his childhood and as his uncle was employed in the British army stationed at Jhansi, he was naturally inclined towards his Uncle and asked him to get him a job in the army. It is reported in various accounts that he was employed in some of the British regiment where he honed his skill as an swordsman and rider and learned new techniques of martial arts as an add on. It is further reported that he was disappointed by the ways British treated Indian and Indian soldiers and he left his job after a few years of service. On the contrary the British reports say that he was dismissed from his service on account of his mischief and disobedience and inciting seditious activities in the army. Whatever the actual reason might have been, there is no doubt that he left his job and came back home but before returning he visited several places like Delhi and Tonk & Bhopal. Tonk was the place where the relatives and remnants of the Tahreek-i-Jihad by Syed Ahmad Shaheed of Rai Bareli were living and it is most probable that he learned and was motivated towards the armed struggle against the British there in Tonk. He met a lot of holy men, Ulama , teachers on his way back to Allahabad via Rai Bareli. Upon return at Mahgaon he started leading prayers at the mosque in Mahgaon and subsequently started a madarsa nearby. His piety, his eminence as a Aalim and an orator reached far and students from other village/mofussils came to study at his madarsa. He used to collect the food for the inmates of the Madarsa himself going from house to house in the village. His pious life and impressive life-style had earned him great repute and the common man considered him to be a miraculous faqeer of his time. It is also reported that when he shifted to Allahabad he would lead prayers & live in the mosque which now falls inside the Allahabad Cantt.

UP Gazetteers 1959 mentions the following account:

Even if this account is true, this confirms that he used to take tuition and was a not a hereditary landlord of 46 villages.

It seems that when he left job at Allahabad as an Imam of a mosque and a teacher, he took service as a soldier in the army but he was dismissed from there also after 4-5 years for “mischief & violence” because he was suspected of harbouring anti-British feelings there. After his removal from army he came back to Mahgaon and thereafter lead a life of full time teacher, scholar, and preacher. ( Liyaqat Ali File Mutiny Bast No. 5.)

Though these reports are different and despite the tremendous efforts by British writers to blemish the Maulvi they all boil down to a fact that Maulvi Sahib was a teacher in his early life and indeed a man of high respect and third point that he was strongly against the British and their occupation of India since very beginning.

Activities

We cannot say with certainty as to when did he came into the contact with the so called mutineers but there is absolutely no doubt that he was connected with the entire plan from the very beginning and he did not jump into the show in between rather was closely involved and acted in full connivance with Nana Sahib, Azeemullah Khan, Bakht Khan , Maulvi Ahmad Ullah Shah, Deputy Hikmat Ullah and other key leaders of the uprising. The later records suggest that Maulvi Liyaqat Ali had several meetings with the leaders of the uprising and he was entrusted with the task of conveying the exact time & date of start of struggle at different places throughout the Doab.Hence it is also reported that he personally covered the area from Delhi to Mirzapur in such a short time personally meeting the local leaders that it could be considered impossible these days. He issued and published pamphlets with his signature mobilizing locals to stand against the British rule. He sent letters to the chiefs, landlords, Taluqdars for their support in the struggle. Such a gigantic but silent task was finished in such a covert way that nobody could believe the tumultuous amount of disruption and collapse of British Authority it resulted after the uprising broke out. Maulvi worked so hard that Charles Bill observed "the freedom of country became so great that very judges and munsifs joined the secret society - History of the Indian Mutiny vol 1 p.268.

In Allahabad

According to Savarkar

“At Allahabad the Muslims were more advanced than Hindus, they were most prominent in management of the machinery of the secret society ( India War of Independence 1857 p.174) .

He writes that the native Sepoy had already made up their mind , they were waiting for the Sikhs of the Ferozepore Regiment to ally with them. This revolt against the British took everywhere under the name of the King of Delhi and under his flag. His over-lordship was not just recognized but regular reports were sent to him along with Tributes. The Emperor was the commonly accepted centre of Allegiance.

Although everything was quiet at Allahabad at this time, the situation was very confused and the news of the mutiny in the north caused considerable anxiety and doubt. The 6th Regiment of Bengal Native infantry (BNI) was stationed at Cantonment, a wing of Sikh detachment ( ferozepore Regiment) and one company of the 6th Native infantry in the Fort. Colonel Simpson was the commandant of the 6th infantry. Two companies of the 6^th regiment under Lieut Alexander with 150 troopers of the 3^rd Awadh Irregulars were posted in Alopi Bagh, a large encamping ground near the fort.

Role of Muslims in Indian politics

Page 29

KS Sharma

Book: Ruler, Townsmen & Bazaar
Author CA Bayly ...
Page361

Bayly Changes the name to liaqat Hussain.

On 12th May , the news of the revolt at Meerut & on 17^th the progress of revolt at Delhi arrived and tensions rose in the city, European community assembled to work out for any sudden disturbance. However, no precautionary measures were considered necessary until the 5th of June, when all civilians and women and children were ordered into the fort. This was just in time, for, at 10 p.m. on the 6th of June, the 6th Native Infantry, which was stationed in the cantonments two miles from the fort, unexpectedly mutinied. The men attacked their officers in the mess and then plundered the treasury. Incendiary, rapine and murder followed. The mutineers were joined by the entire town rabble, and their savagery was terrible and continued for days.

As local assemblies were organized to mobilize the common man can be seen in the case of Mewatis of Allahabad where the crucial decision to rebel was taken in mauza Samadabad in a 'panchayat of Mewatis held on 5 June 1857 at the house of Saif Khan Mewati and all, excepting Saif Khan, decided to rebel the same day.

In the evening of June 6 , 1857 at 9.20 pm , the real outbreak started at Daraganj. The Indian soldiers posted at Daraganj to guard the Benares bridge were ordered to take the guns on the bridge into the fort. The soldiers disobeyed, seized the guns and started dragging them to Cantonment. Lieutenant Harward tried but in vain, he went to Lietu Alexandar posted at Alopi Bagh and both then set out to punish the sepoys. They came and ordered the cavalry to attack the mutinous sepoys, To their disappointment, the cavalry did not move, signifying that they were with the sepoys. It was then become clear that an open uprising started. Alexandar was shot dead, Lieut Harvard ran for life in the fort. the native cavalry deserted and joined the Anti British crowd. Afterwards it is believed that wherever an English officer was found he was shot dead.

On the 6th June, a large no of British officers had assembled in the mess room for dinner. The heard the sound of bugle , thinking that it indicated the arrival of Benares insurgents, they hastened towards the lines but as soon as they reached there, they were received with volleys and were killed except three. The sepoys then marched triumphantly towards the cantonment; they burnt the bungalows of British and indulged in murder of Europeans. All through the night of 6th June anarchy prevailed. Early next morning, the jail gates were thrown open and 3000 prisoners were released. These prisoners along with other crown and thousands of Mewatis , the railway works were destroyed, telegraph wires were cut-off, the revenue office was burnt. 6^th NI captured the treasury. The leader of the sepoys was Ram Chandra and they broke into the jail releasing the 3000 inmates after raising slogans of Ram Chandra ki Jai.

All the British outside the fort were put to death. The people gained control over the Kotwali and the entire British authority at Allahabad was overthrown and a Green Islamic Flag waved over the Kotwali.

The Fort however continued under the British. In the night the sepoys decided to carry the treasure which was reportedly thirty lakhs of rupees , to Delhi to place it before Emperor Bahadur Shah II but due to the selfish nature of the sepoys , the plan could not be materialized and everyone who participated in the plunder carried off the amount which he could lay his hands on.

There is another report that the said treasure was carried away and after consultations handed over to safety to the Raja of Daundia Khera at Unnao which was recently in news when a sage had marked the place for excavation for the recovery of the same treasure. However this report is not found in any reliable book.

The next day 7th of June, the leader and the organizer of the entire uprising , Maulvi Liyaqat Ali of Pargana Chail arrived and camped at Khusro Bagh. His sincere advisors asked him to save the city from destruction and plunder. He organized the sepoys, gave speeches, published pamphlets which harboured the Hindu Muslim Unity with anti-British feeling among the masses alike and soon he assumed full authority in district of Allahabad. The Mewatis of Samdabad, Rasulpur and other sepoys gathered around him and he raised the slogan of Jihad against the British. He invoked in the name of Mughal Badshah and appointed officers to assume full control of the city. A march was organized through the city and Green Flags fluttered all across the city. A green flag was hoisted at Kotwali and the sepoys saluted them. Thereafter the Maulvi Sahib had the meetings with different leaders of the city and they discussed the ways to establish the order in the city. It was decided that in order to declare the end of English rule, they should arouse the feelings of all to fight for their country & religion. Thereafter He raised a call for Jihad against the British and to convince discordant, he appealed to the masses through a proclamation, in which he declared the Europeans have been guilty of crimes of massacring, plunder and killing human beings and destroying out country. He added that the real paradise lay beneath the strokes of the sword. He quoted Quran from Surah Saf and Surah al Tawbah.

Couplets attributed to Maulvi Sahib

Ai Biradar ye Hadees-i-Nabwi Tu Sun le

Bagh-i-Firdaus hai Talwaron ke Saaye tale !!

Waste Deen ke Ladna na Pa’e Tama’e Bilad

Ahl-i-Islam Ise Shara’ mein kahte hain Jihad

Barah Sau baras ke baad aayi hai daulat Aaage

Haif is daulat Bedar se Momin Bhage !!!

There was a famous Masnavi-i-Jihadiya by Moulvi Khurram Ali Bilhauri (D.1855) which, was very popular during the battles of Sayyid Ahmad Shahid against Sikhs Maulvi Sahib got it published and popularized this versified proclamation of Jihad (famous Jihadi Poem Masnavi) found in his Risala-i-Jihadia” (1856). , To many of the scholars, he was inspired by the philosophy of Shah Wali Ullah Dehlvi , the British rule was Dar-ul-Harb and armed struggle was a religious duty.

Proclamation issued at Kanpur 1857, See the Hijri dates

Maulvi Sahib issued a proclamation inviting everyone to come out and help the sons of the soil regain the territory and no doubt, the proclamation had the desired effect and almost all the prominent landholders of the Doab came out in full support.( Allahabad Mutiny Basta No.5 , File no. 16, Collectorate Allahabad)

Proclamation by Maulvi Liyaqat Ali

The three proclamations were sent to G.F.Edmonstone, Secretary to Government of India, from the Allahabad Magistrate on 26 July 1857. He had received them from Mr Willock at Cawnpore.

Authorization by the Emperor - The next day he declared that he has been authorized by the Emperor of Delhi as the Governor or representative of Delhi. He exhorted people to work tirelessly against the British and added that the real paradise lay under the strokes of the Sword. His speeches had the desired effect and leading Zamindars of Pargana Chail and Gangapar joined him. The reported Farman of Bahadur Shah Zafar in favour of Maulvi Liyaqat Ali appointment as Subahdar of Allahabad is preserved at the Salar Jung Museum, Hyderabad.

(A Handbook for Travellers in India, Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon -by John Murray (Firm), John Murray, L. F. Rushbrook Williams - South Asia – 1920 )

Eminent Muslims of Allahabad joined him and were appointed officials by Maulvi Sahib. Amongst his most trusted one were Sukh Rai ( Tahsildar ) ,Shaikh Nemat Ashraf ( Kotwal ),Chaudhari Shihabuddin of Bamhrauli ( Naib),Shaikh Hadi & Shaikh Faizullah ( Both from Behka Sipah Salars),Shaikh Ghulam Ismail,Shaikh Mohammad Husain,Chaudhari Miran Bakhsh,Maulvi Syed Ahmad Ali,Maulvi Ghulam Hyder,Maulvi Syed Amjad Ali,Husain Ali Khan,Sher Khan,Shaikh Lutf Ali,Shaikh Fateh Ali,Shaikh Najaf Ali ( Ex-Naib Kotwal),Shaikh Najaf Khan( Ex-Naib Thanedar),Shaikh Saifullah ( Tahsildar ),Qasim ALi Khan ( Kotwals),Sheikh Lutf Ali Khan( He was Raja Sindia’s wazeer), Sheikh Fateh Ali( Darogha), Sheikh Najaf Ali (Asst. Kotwal), Najaf Khan (Naib Thanedar), Masood Ali r/o Bheekpur, Tahir Ali r/o Ujhihni, Saqib Ali r/o Jalalpur, and Dildar Husain etc.

The backbone of the revolt was the Landlords and army. Where they remained loyal to the British, any resistance was affectless. It was only the Bengal Army that wholeheartedly took part in the uprising and took one after other stations under his control in Allahabad that the Mutiny assumed the character of a mass revolt. The Villagers of the Doab threw off the yoke.

Book :The History and Culture of the Indian People: British paramountcy and Indian renaissance, pt. 1

Ramesh Chandra Majumdar

Page 497

The Muslims Zamindars of today’s Allahabad City namely from Rasoolpur, Samdabad, Beli, Fatehpur Bichhua, Baghara, Salori, Shadiabad, Minhajpur,Mehdarui, Bakhtiari, Bakshi and other villages in the city took the arms agsint the British and joined the sepoys. They plundered the destroyed the houses and properties of the Europeans. Shaikh Muhammad Hadi & Shaikh Faizullah of Behka plundered the tahsil at Pura Mufti and Thana on 7th June. Villagers from Kazipur, Fatehpur and Syed Sarawan also joined in their activities. Bharwari Railway station was attacked and two officials were killed. The entire police staff of Chail joined the revolutionaries. Entire Chail had risen in a war against the British and were fanatically hostile to them. The Entire Allahabad city of today is actually carved out of all the villages mentioned above.

Book :Civil rebellion in the Indian mutinies, 1857-1858

Author: Shashi Bhusan Chaudhuri

Page 91

The Sepoy Mutiny, 1857: A Social Study and Analysis

Haraprasad Chattopadhyaya

Bookland, 1957 -

The uprising in the city soon spread to the different areas of district. The zamindars of Chail who were predominantly Muslims were most violently anti-British than any other group in Allahabad.As a result it was the severest one to control. The villages particularly mentioned in the annals who were front runners in the struggle were Beli,Baghara, Chhetpur, Mahgaon, Peepal Gaon, Syed Sarawan, Kazipur, Seonrha Fatehpur, Begum Sarai, Ujhihni , Bheekpur , Chail, Pawan, Shaikhpur, Bamhrauli ,Chak Rajpur, Inayatpur, Umarpur Niwan, Saidabad. KathGaon, Bara Gaon, Kashia ,Muhiuddinpur Ghaus, Najiara, Kurai, Lohra, Sarai Meja, Ghayasuddinpur, Rasulpur Deh, Minhajpur, Rohi, Nimi Bagh, Seondha, Sarai Salem, Fatehpur.

A telegram dt.21/7/1857 by MH Court, Collecter of Allahabad to the Commissioner says that Pargana Chail is the epicenter of the rebellious activities in the district.

Control of City It took around 2-3 days for the Maulvi Sahib to completely control the city and he was able to stop the plunder, arson and lootings in the city.

The Trans-Gangetic Area

The Trans-gangetic population lead by Old taluqdar families had also risen to overthrow British authority. Tejbal Singh Taluqdar of Daiya , Faqeer Bakhsh , ex-taluqdar of Kaurihar , Pargana Jhusi, , Ishwari Baksh, Babu Chhaterpal Singh of Shumapur were in open rebellion in Pargana Nawabganj. Raja Gulab Singh in Allahabad was also against British.

The Trans Jamuna Area

The revolt was less felt across Jamuna. Some people tried to raise the standard of revolt but owing to the influence of the Rajas of Manda, Raja of Daiya and Bara , a general uprising could not take place. The Manda Raja acted stronly on the British Side. Dhakan Singh , Zamindar of Dhurawal was the chief instigator in that part. Iswari Bux, Babu Chatttarpal Singh of Shumapur was in open rebellion in Pargana Nawabganj. Tejbal Singh of Daiya, Faqeer Bakhsh ex taluqdar of Kaurihar, also tried to establish their authority there.

It is reported that the majority of the Shia community and a minority of the Sunni community were not convinced by his call and they did not support him.As per Bhatnagar ‘ Only five Shia villages are reported to have taken part in the struggle independently and remained aloof from Maulvi Liyaqat Ali. They were Manuri, Saidpur, Bisauna, Asrawe & Mustafabad all in Chail.The rest of Shia population did not support him and their clerics did not consider the struggle to be a religious one. Maulvi Rahmatullah of Sunni sect also did not support the view for which he was rewarded enormously. A particular Shia family of present Kaushambi has tried his best to enlist their village in the freedom struggle but I am sorry there is no documentary evidence to second their view.

On 14 June, Liyaqat Ali sent the Emperor a report in which he informed him that the whole district had joined the revolt, and 'Hindus and Musalman are fighting jointly against the British.

Allahabad Fort and the Mosque - A painting by Thomas Daniel 1814

Brigadier-General Havelock leaving the Fortress of Allahabad to recapture Cawnpore

Fort of Allahabad

Everything was being done but the fort of Allahabad was out of their control. There was a huge quantity of Arms & ammunition in the fort. If the revolutionaries could gain possession over it, the British authority would have completely disappeared from north India. The companions of Maulvi Saheb were large in number but were not trained soldiers.The next day he ordered to attack the fort but the Sikh soldiers foiled the bid. Savarkar says , had the Sikhs used their brains, the history would have been different. The native sepoys did not have heavy guns while they had to face cannon shelling from the Fort. On 15^th June the British Army came out from the fort and a fierce fighting took place where a lot of senior soldiers of native army fell.

William Groom , an office in the 1^st Madras Royal Fusiliers wrote to his wife ( 14 June 1857) about the condition

“We are surrounded by the whole way, but the wretches never came within shot and were merely looking out for plunder. We are surrounded here by sepoys, Musalman villagers and in fact all mankind. Food is very short and our men are dying in as lawful way from overwork and exposure. The enemies are in a very strong position in a place called “The Kings Garden” three miles off nearly. The whole country is in arms and the few native servants left in the fort seem to be going off rapidly “

The 400 Sikh soldiers who held the fort eventually did not cooperate with the natives and exhibited loyalty to the British Government. On the 7^th June, 1857, a small party of 50 Madras Fusiliers under Lieut. Arnold arrived at Jhusi. As the Benares Bridge was under the control of revolutionaries, they could reach the Fort in the night with great pain & precaution. On the 9^th June another small detachment of 37 men of the same regiment arrived and dropped down at the fort in boats. ( Campbell G. Narrative of the Indian Revolt p. 64)

A report by Lord Canning, the Governor-General, to the Government

Had the fort of Allahabad been captured , the entire history of this country would have been different. Even the British feared and prayed for Garrison at Allahabad because it was one of the strongest and most heavily stuffed garrison of the British Army.

The short lived Authority

However it was Liyaqat Ali who was increasingly feeling crunch of weapons and logistic supports due to sustained confrontation with the British army, found it very hard to continue the struggle. The British army constantly was getting re-enforcement from Benares and Mirzapore.

Col Neil, the most trusted man of the Governor General was summoned by Lord Canning from Madras to Calcutta, who left Calcutta with his wing and provisions pushing forward the re-enforcement by river and by Road to Benares. After dispatching his men & provisions, he made his way by train and horse-dark to Benares and remained in Benares from June 3^rd to Jun 9^th and left Benares with a small party of his regiment and pressed on by the Horse Dak to Allahabad in the scorching heat of June. Neill reached Allahabad on 11^th June with 40 mean and immediately assumed the command. The Sikhs had become overbearing and unruly. They indulged in excessive drinking and alongwith them European too went out of fort at pleasure. ( Thompson F. Official Narrative on Allahabad District ) No. 376, P. 6)

It is reported that Maulvi Liyaqat Ali mounted his cannons on the roof of the Original Jama Masjid near the Jamuna westwards to the fort, to break open a way into the fort. The Keys of the fort were held by a prominent Khatri Banker of Allahabad who promised initially to give him the keys but when Maulvi Sahib’s men asked him for the keys, he put them before the British Armed men betraying the Native sepoys. The next day neil Arrived and the beautiful Jama Masjid was razed to the ground , its rubble and bricks were used to construct the first Jamuna Bridge at Allahabad.

Amaresh Mishra - Lucknow Fire of Grace Page 18

The native sepoys tried so many times but could not surmount the fort while on 11^th June Neil arrived on the other banks of Ganges. He stopped the drinking inside the fort and free access to the commissariat liquor supplies. Neil asked to pound the densely populated civilian areas of Kydgunj & Daraganj with their cannons. The heavy shelling resulted in heavy casualties. Some pro-british citizens in the city deliberately spread the rumours that the British Army is going to pound the city with Gunpowder and the entire city is scheduled to be burnt. This created a panic Panic spread and people ran with their belongings to the safer places. Maulvi Sahib & his army were busy making strategies while they had no parallel to the guns, cannons of the British Army and soon they found it difficult to sustain. Neil's army with Sikh regiment invaded the city and opened fire indiscriminately. Khusro Bagh, the head quarters , was attacked from the Railway station side and fierce fighting went on 16th June.

Book :Annals of the Indian Rebellion

Year :1859

Letter of Colonel Neill

The British captured Daraganj on 12^th June 1857 after a bloody showdown with Liyaqat Ali’s army.

On 14th June 1857 British army along with Sikhs attacked Liyaqat Ali’s army but the brave men of Liyaqat Ali made them kiss the dust and take refuge in the fort.

The Happenings at Allahabad were regularly reported to Delhi till he remained in Charge. He wrote a day before 16^th Jun to Bahadur Shah Zafar that the Sikhs have held the fort vigorously and we have almost no ammunition left with us yet we have not lost hope. The British forces are rushing towards Allahabad via Benares but I assure you that no British would get a Dana or a drop of water from Benares to Fatehpur. Nobody would provide him that. I am sending you 500 soldiers with 5 Canons for your help. In this letter he has given details of the places & people he got support from. It is evident that irrespective of Cast Creed & religion , Hindu Muslims, Zamindars, Taluqdars, Govt Employees, Common man, even some Sikh solders of Ferozepore Regiment stationed in the Fort had also supported him but alas the providence has something else destined.

On the 16^th June, Colonel Neil came from Benares and the Indian soldiers could not sustain the canons in Alopi Bagh. Liyaqat Ali had to take retreat along with his 3000 companions to Khusru Bagh.Colonel Neil tried to capture Khusru Bagh but could not succeed hence he spread news that he will undertake the massacre of the city of Allahabad. Liyaqat Ali had heard the news of the beastly act of British in Samdabad, Rasoolpur and other areas, so he decided to leave Allahabad with the hope that with his departure from Allahabad the innocent people of Allahabad may escape the massacre by British army.

The Maulvi Sahib was also worried about the huge amount of Cash in the possession of his followers and it was finally decided for a small group of his followers to leave with that booty and this movement was kept highly secret. As soon as Maulvi Sahib left in the night of 17^th, Khusro Bagh fell to the British Army.

Liyaqat Ali left Allahabad on 17^th June 1857 to save the common man of Allahabad thereafter started the atrocities and the brutal activities rarely witnessed by the heaven.

On the 18th of June the rebels were defeated and driven out of the city and the British administration was reestablished. The situation at Cawnpore was now serious and it was essential to send a force to relieve the British garrison as soon as possible. On 30^th of June General Havelock arrived in Allahabad with the 64th and 84th Foot and the 78th Highlanders, and he set off for Cawnpore a few days later, taking with him his British troops and a detachment of the Ferozepore Sikhs

On 18^th June, The British army along with the Sikhs marched out to Jail and destroyed completely Samdabad and burned the villages till the cantonment. A new Kotwal Paswan Singh was appointed. Security was established in different muhallas. Trading activities resumed in Chowk & Sarai Meer Khan by 20^th June.

British Take of Allahabad - 11 Jun 1857 , Illustrated News London

The hell broke loose on the inhabitants of Allahabad…….

It is another bloody chapter that after the British recaptured Allahabad, they started the worst and most brutal game of indiscriminate killing of humanity that the sky would have ever witnessed throughout history. . It started with the burning of the villages and crazy hangings irrespective of man women and children. Colonel Neil and his associate Sikh soldiers presented the worst example of atrocities on the helpless. After this victory Colonel Neil wrote to the secretary, Government that he would completely destroy the city and the sub-villages around as the rebels would get help from there. Neill went berserk. He hanged natives in hundreds, and the highway was decorated with corpses hanging from trees. News of Neill's actions spread far and wide -- greeted as proper justice by the shocked British and with awe and revulsion by the natives. Neill's bloodletting may have, in fact, given rise to the events at Kanpur.

Neil ordered the cruel task of mass killing and hanging of the people and burning the villages around Allahabad, Small children if found carrying green flags, were hanged without any question. Muhalla Chowk had seven Neem trees which were used to hang the people indiscriminately and were always full of dead bodies hanging. The Pathan population of Sadiabad and the Mewati Muslims of Rasoolpur became victims of worst type of massacre. The British demolished the Jama Masjid of Allahabad erected by Akbar situated on the Western side of the fort and converted it into an army barrack. Several entire villages near the fort were put to flames. Almost entire population was killed or ran for life in the city.

Neil’s fusiliers killed every native whom they could catch and knew no mercy. They slaughtered nearly 6000 persons in Allah.abad alone. The entire district looked like a vast dreary wasteland dotted with charred houses and ravaged villages.

"The judge's court-house and gallows at Allahabad," from the Illustrated Times, 1857

Ferry Crossing at Allahabad

A British business man of Allahabad was authorized to collect information about the revolutionaries of Allahabad. This British Business man was heavily indebted to various local Businessmen. First thing he did he got all the creditors hanged for fake charges of revolt so that he may not be required to pay his debts.

The Zamindars of Chail who were the front runners and the most violent group during the uprising had to face the worst. The hand of repression fell heavily on them. The British counter-terror was out of proportion and exceeded all bounds. Insane and indiscriminate killing became the rage. Little boys who were guilty of nothing were summarily executed. Hundreds of men in Chail were hanged on trees because their faces were turned the wrong way when they were met on march by British Soldiers.

Almost entire Taluqdari estates in the Pargana of Chail were confiscated. After the rebellion no Muslim landlord could regain one’s erstwhile estate and glory in the entire Pargana of Chail. Many of the leading men were hanged and they were reduced to being moderate to big landowners. Scores of villages were reduced to ashes and rendered desolate, deserted and waste.

How many persons even of Allahabad or even those living in Civil Lines of Allahabad know the historical facts that the area of Allahabad City which is called Civil Lines consisted of eight villages mostly inhabited by Muslims who were surrounded by British army and were burnt. Those tried to escape were shot dead by the army. After all the eight villages and its inhabitants were burnt alive the entire area was utilized for allotment to the British loyal Indians and for construction of Government offices including the Allahabad High Court

Queen Victoria’s Procalamation

The revolt of 1857 opened a new phase in the history of India. The reigns of Indian Government were passed into the Hands of Queen Victoria, the then ruler of England. A minister of British Cabinet called Secretary of state for India was made responsible for administration in India. The Governor-General of India was hereafter called the Viceroy. Queen Victoria issued a proclamation and it was read at a Durbar held at Allahabad on 1st November 1858.

Proclamation of 1858, at Allahabad.

It is reported this Proclamation of Queen Victoria was initially announced from the grounds of that destroyed Jama Masjid. (Lucknow Fire of Grace By Amaresh Misra)

Actually this all forced the British Govt to make Allahabad the centre of the province. In 1834, Allahabad became the seat of the Government of Agra Province and a High Court was established. A year later both were relocated to Agra. After the mutiny in Allahabad, the British truncated the Delhi region of the state, merging it with Punjab, and transferred the capital of the North-Western Provinces to Allahabad, where it remained for the next twenty years. The impact was so strong that in in Jan 1858, Lord Canning once again declared Allahabad as the Capital city, In 1868, High Court was also transferred back to Allahabad from Agra.

Maulvi Sahib in Kanpur

1857 the uprising By Gautam Gupta,

India Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Publications Division

page 135

Maulvi Liyaqat Ali left for Kanpur with 3000 followers & confidantes crossed the Ganges and reached Sangrur Camp and from there reached Kanpur and met Nana Sahib. Maulvi Sahib’s tactical escape from Allahabad was a rude shock for the Britishers hence they announced a reward for his arrest. It is reported that he stayed in Bakshi Sahib’s house at Mori Tola at Kanpur and roamed in Kanpur along with his followers freely. He got news about the atrocities of Neill in Allahabad which he regularly reported to Nana Sahib which enraged Nana Sahib who were determined to take revenge of Allahabad. Nana Sahib defeated General Wheeler at Kanpur and the British were allowed to leave Kanpur by boats on Ganges. It is where that the Sati Chaura Ghat tragedy took place when the hidden guns started fire on English Men & Women. It is that same place where Maulvi Sahib saved the life an English Girl ,the detail of which is presented in the following passages.

Maulvi Sahib at Soraon

When Maulvi sahib saw the defeat of Birjees Qadr and the fall of lucknow, concentrated his army and moved his base to the Gangapaar region of Allahabad. His operated from Soraon and adjoining villages successfully for quite a considerable time. His respect influence and aura was such that almost all the zamidnars of trans-gangetic plain supported him whole heartedly and it was quite difficult for the British to quell the uprising completely even after the capture of Allahabad.

Book :Saga of 1857

Moti Lal Bhargava

Page 190

Till January 1858 , the army of Liyaqat Ali was in control of trans-gangetic area. A very strong force was present at Nusratpur Indigo Factory in a plan to attack the city of Allahabad. Brigadier Franks went ahead and led the assault on the Indian fighters there and defeated Liyaqat Ali’s men on 23 Jan 1858 which actually brought the end of his struggle in Allahabad. However his men were active till the end of 1858 in the partabgarh , Rai bareli area.

Maulvi Liyaqat Ali was reported to have met with Raja Hanuwant Singh of Kala Kankar and Raja Gulab Singh of Tiraul with Taluqdars of Oudh who were jointly planning to punish the chiefs and headmen village who were loyal of the British East India COmpnay.

In July 1858, Anapur in Allahabad was attacked and the chief taken as a prisoner. The next day they punished the landlords of Nasirpur, Nawabganj , Tikri and other villages in Soraon. Phaphamau , Kaurihar area was again in their control till the end of 1858. The last major Battle when Major Berkely after crossing the river attacked the fort of Dahiyawan ( Raja Shivdatt Singh Bisen ) on one morning in July 1858 and surprised the entire army of Maulvi Liyaqat Ali . Dahiyawan fort served as the headquarters of Liyaqat Ali then. Colonel Berkeley left no stone unturned in the battle that left around 600 persons dead in which Raja Sangram Singh of Singraur alongwith his son Bisheshwar Singh died. However Maulvi Sahib managed to save his force and reached the Nazim’s camp at Ahladganj, Berkely tried his best to capture the Maulvi alive but it was not destined for him.

Maulvi Sahib in Lucknow

For some time Liyaqat Ali kept fighting British shoulder to shoulder with Nana Saheb. But afdter Nana Saheb’s escape with his Chief Associate Azimullah Khan, it became difficult for Liyaqat Ali to stay on in Kanpur , therefore from Kanpur he went to Farrukhabad and from Farrukhabad he went to Lucknow and joined Maulvi Ahmadullah Shah and commanded the army against the British. He was present in the famous Chinhat Battle against the British and from there he followed the Maulvi Ahmadullah in Muhammadi (Khiri) where he was part of the interim government they had formed. After the martyrdom of Ahmadullah Shah he went ahead and fought bravely to get his friend Nana Rao freed from the men of Nawab of Rampur. From there he consorted Nana rao to Nepal and from there he directly went to Delhi.It is reported that he had met and joined with Begum Hazrat Mahal and went upto Nepal but did not like to remain in hiding.

At Delhi he had reportedly met Bahadur Shah Zafar and went to Jama Masjid where he gave a fiery speech against the British. However Before the fall of Delhi, discerning the imminent danger he got himself underground. He managed to hide at different places. He was reportedly in North West Frontier in 1866.An officer Parson posted at Allahabad had written a letter on 24.2.1872 to the collector of Peshawar with a photo to identify Maulvi Liyaqat Ali. The Original letter & photograph is still preserved in the Archives at Peshawar. This is the original and only photograph present as of today.

Before getting into the detail about the further activities of Maulvi Sahib we can have a look at his character and the reason he did not succeed in Allahabad.

After Effect

As some of you would know that in 1834, Allahabad had been declared the seat of the Government of Agra Province and a High Court was established. A year later both were relocated to Agra but the immediate after effect of the happenings of 1857 was that the British truncated the Delhi region of the state, merging it with Punjab, and created the North Western Provinces in 1858 and made Allahabad the capital of the new province, where it remained for the next twenty years.

His Character

All the writers are unanimous that Maulvi Liyaqat Ali was a pious, God-fearing man of a very strong moral character. He was held in high esteem in all the sections of society. From the lower ranks till the Taluqdars , everyone heard him with respect and carried out his orders with love. The British who have not left a single stone unturned failed to find a single hole in his unblemished life and had to agree that the Faqeer Maulvi of Allahabad was a man of sanctity and was highly respected by all.

“He is a man of extra-ordinary respect and decoration by his coreligionists of Allahabad is evident from the vast crowd of sympathizing Mohemmadans who assembled round this court house and on the 18^th instantly when the case was first called up for trial.

After assuming the leadership of the masses Maulvi Sahib faced many problems, the most urgent of them being the unity and consensus among rebels. After the outbreak when he reached Allahabad he tried to control the mob that had gone out of his control by that time. The looters had gone berserk but due to his efforts within hours the order was established in Allahabad.

One section held that no scholar of Islam has any right to give call for Jihad and the other took the arm against the British as a political war and not the religious war. He had to try hard convincing from masses to classes to join the struggle.

He took oath from all that no innocent would be touched. No animal, grain, grocery, provision would be looted or taken free of cost. No child or women would be touched. The war would also be against the British only and no personal accounts would be settled. The Anarchy, the confusion and the trouble that came in the wake of rebellion were controlled by him in a highly diplomatic manner by Maulvi Sahib.

His character can be gauged from the episode of Amelia Horne which is given later in this article. See below. Ultimately this girl became instrumental in finding way to avoid hanging of Maulvi Sahib.

1) Lack of Capable military genius and Commanders. We know that almost all of his men were untrained soldiers who had no parallel to the disciplined and strained regular British Army.

2) Lack of resources as required. He had no arms & ammunition as compared to the British Garrison.

3) Most of the powerful local chiefs & feudal lords with a few exceptions, kept aloof & did not support the movement with a hope to get huge rewards. A lot of powerful Trans Jamuna and Ganga Talluqdars & Zamindars used their clout aganst his cause which was a severe blow to his plans.

4) Lack of sound character by the sepoys and locals, Some of the sepoys slipped away to their homes after the initial stage, some of them harassed the common man , even plundered and lost the sympathy of the civil population. Most of the area in Allahabad had already come under the sway of the rebels yet it was felt as if there was no coordination among various leaders despite the best efforts of Liyaqat Ali.

Hindu Muslim Unity – The most outstanding feature of uprising at Allahabad was the unity and unison of Hindu & Muslim masses. It is noteworthy that both Hindus and Muslims came out in his support whole heartedly; especially the Pragwal Brahmins were the leaders from the city side. The Pandas and Brahmans exhorted the visitors and common man to dismantle every remaining British authority. The pragwal brahmans of Allahabad were most notable in the conflagration and influenced the hindu population to support them.

Keene writes that the Pragwal Brahmans spread over the villages, abusing their supposed sanctity and their personal influence to mislead the simple credulous villagers; and the Maulvi flaunted his green banner. When authority recovered the upper hand these tracts were entirely deserted, and great difficulty and delay were experienced before the operations of peace could be renewed there.

Babu Pragwal of Kydganj, Sheo Bakhsh, Sita Ram, Shiv Ratan, Bihari Lal , Raghunath Singh, Bishunath Singh, Salamat Ali, Agha Jan, Debi Bux, Qazi Mohsin Ali Khan, Beni Prasad, Brij Mohan, Gauhar Singh,Mata Din, Sheopal, Lallu Kat, Ranjeet Singh, GurBaksh Patwari, Ghulam Ali & Nabi Bux of Fatehpur Bichhua, Imam Bux of Village Shadiabad all rose in rebellion and supported the cause.( Mutiny Basta No.4)

The Peasants took a leading part in the revolutionary ware of 1857 in Allahabad as perhaps they never had done in any political agitation before. ( Damodar Savarkar , Indian War of Independence, P.179)

The rapidity with which the revolt progressed, the vast area which it spread proves that it enjoyed strong mass support. Those who sided with the British had to face obloquy and often social ostracism for the time being.

The decisive evidence of the national character of the uprising is the presence of communal harmony it struck. The British tired their best to tide over the crisis with the well used policy of divide et impera. Sir Henry Lawrence wrote to Lord Canning (May 1, 1857) I shall watch for the differences of the feelings between the two communities “.

The Emperor of Delhi and Nawabs of Bareli announced that no more cows should be killed in the land. On the other hand Nana Sahib and others declared his complete allegiance to the Emperor. The flag he unfurled at Kanpur was the crescent flat (as also his ancestral one). In all his correspondence including his letters to Maharaja Jung Bahadur of Nepal, Nan Sahib used the Islamic Hijri Era. His principal advisor was Azimullah Khan. Hindus & Muslims fought together. Out of the 272 Taluqdars of Oudh ( Awadh ) only 7 stood with the British during the Uprising.

Safety of Christians

He strictly forbade killings of native Christians and indiscriminate killing of anyone in the city. He personally went to the dwellings of Christians and made sure that they were not attacked. The christians of the city never forgot him and always had good to say about Maulvi Sahib.

Outstanding Organizer

Maulvi Sahib was an outstanding organizer. He was an effective speaker and an able commander. It was his impassioned preaching that enabled Allahabad and environs set file at the first spark of the Mutiny.Alike in peace and war, the Maulvi showed himself dauntless and daring leader of men.

Maulvi worked so hard that Charles Bill observed "the freedom of country became so great that very judges and munsifs joined the secret society - History of the Indian Mutiny vol 1 p.268.

Maulvi Liyaqat Ali’s area of operation was spread over up to Kanpur, Rohelkhand and Oudh. Maulana Liyaqat Ali was arrested and transported to Andaman & NIkobar Islands not for crime but for espousing patriotism. Thousands of his followers sacrificed their lives properties not for any personal gain but for the Nation India. The present generation hardly knows about their great deeds for the nation.

In history there is no complete reversal and no exact devolution. A mass movement has never a simple trajectory. Its course is changed with its momentum. So huge, so cataclysmic a movement could not escape the impressions and impulses of the common man but alas ………

Rewards for Traitors & British Agents

The traitors who helped British find out and kill the Indian Revolutionaries were rewarded enormously and today they are the richest people in Allahabad but nobody knows where is the family of Maulvi Liyaqat Ali and what happened to them after that ?

Rajas of Manda, Bara & Daiya were loyal throughout the movement and had been so till today.

Pyare Mohan Munsif, Tahsildar Sirajuddin, Syed Ali Khan Deputy Collector, Sadat Ali Tahsildar Khairagarh, were rewarded with rupees and villages.

Ali Suza who was Tahsildar of Chail and Maulvi Ali Sarwar got a reward of Five hundred rupees who acted as British Spies.

Negupal Tahsildar of Kada , Gopinath Tahsildar of Phulpur were rewarded by Governal General.

Rao Panch Bal Singh Tehsildar Khairagah was given the title of Raja and Rupees 3000.

Lal Singh Taluqdar of Bara was made Raja and rupees 5000 as reward.

Nanak Chand was given land in Phulpur and 10000 as reward.

Ram Prasad Mahajan of Daraganj supplied Rasad to the British in fort, was awreded 4000 and a village.

Maulvi Hafiz Rahmatullah who gave a fatwa against the uprising got a village in Kara and rupees 2000.

Sri Narain thanedar of Muratganj got a reward of 3000 rupees, one house and a sword.

Ganga Ram Thanedar of Soraon got 6 gardens one house and a sword. ( Allahabad Mutiny Basta no. 40 File no. 6)

Maulvi Sahib in Gujarat

He went underground and went towards Gujarat, first at Baroda and thereafter arrived at Navsari near Surat and eventually he chose for his abode a mound at Lajpur and settled there introducing himself as Maulvi Hakim Abdul Kareem and started practicing medicine and soon acquired reputation as a famous Hakeem Abdul Karim . Hundreds of people became his followers there and in the disguise of Hakeem he exhorted and encouraged his followers against the British hegemony. Lajpur is a town in the district of Surat, located approximately 12 miles south of the city of Surat. The town has a large Muslim population and had always been the home of Ulama.

A scholar from Gujarat confirms and gives a more authentic report about his settlement.

Maulvi Liyaqat Ali Alahabadi escaped and moving at different places in disguise arrived at Navasari in south Gujarat in about the year 1861-62. Then he stayed at Lajpur near Sacnin for some time and finally settled at Sachin. The nawab of Sachin respected him, treated him well and helped him build a house there.

The Shaping of Modern Gujarat Plurality, Hindutva and Beyond

page 96

By Acyuta Yājñika Suchitra Sheth

Book :Gujarat in 1857

Ramanlal Kakalbhai Dharaiya

Gujarat University, 1970 - Gujarat (India)

Page 138

Therefore he actually lived in Sachin , which was a princely state belonging to the Surat Agency, former Khandesh Agency, of the Bombay Presidency during the era of the British Raj. Its capital was in Sachin, the southernmost town of present-day Surat district of Gujarat State. Nawab Abdul Karim Mohammad Yakut Khan II (b. 1802 - d. 1868) was the reigning Nawab who was very impressed with the personality of Hakeem Abdul Karim aka Maulvi Liyaqat Ali and he was the one who became his actual support by keeping him under his patronage. However after his death , the estate was succeeded by his son Ibrahim Mohammad Yakut Khan II (b. 1833 - d. 1873) , he seemed to have supported him initially but he was alarmed at the increasing influence of Maulvi Sahib and advised by some “Faithful” servant of the British that if he did not report the matter , then the Intelligence would eventually sniff and would endanger his entire estate as well. Therefore he was the one who actually started creating problems for Maulvi Liyaqat Ali.

The Capture of Maulvi Liyaqat Ali

The Maulvi Sahib got wind of the plan and he skipped away from Lajpur and reached Baroda and stayed there for some time. Thereafter he shifted to Bombay where he stayed with Mr.Baqir Ali, a well known businessman of Bombay. He lived in Bombay conducting lectures on religious issues regularly when oneday two amongst the audiences recognized him who he originally was, went straight to Poona and send messages to the the Governor who immediately telegraphed to Sir Frank Henry Souter, commissioner of Police Bombay to apprehend the suspected preacher in Bombay.Mr Souter was absent in Bombay when the telegraph arrived. Mr. Edginton managed to get orders from government to arrest Maulvi Abdul Kareem which were received moments before he was about to board a train from Byculla railway station. Even after capture then there was no proof to show that he was indeed the same Liyaqat Ali, the ally of Nana Sahib. The task of proving this was given to Mir Abdul Ali. He got two native gentlemen sent down from Allahabad to Surat to speak to the prisoner and verify his identity and the moment they saw him , they recognized him as Maulvi Liyaqat Ali of Allahabad, the governor of Allahabad in the rebellion .This was 7th July 1871. The Inspector Mir Abdul Ali who actually caught him was rewarded enormously and was promoted, made a Khan Bahadur alongwith other rewards. Some other reports suggest that he was leaving for Bombay from where he intended to go for Hajj when he was apprehended.

NEWS OF HIS CAPTURE IN NEW YORK TIMES

New York Times , 1872 , News abouat Liyaqat Ali

Another Book detailing his capture at Byculla Railway station.

The Mutiny of 1857 By Saul David - Page 374

In his recent book Mr.AP Bhatnagar has wrongly stated that Maulvi Liyaqat was apprehended from Bombay VT Station.

His capture resulted in a near riot. His capture was such a big news that it was reported in the times London, and the New York Times and the Sydney Morning Herald. The Maulvi Sahib was brought to Allahabad for the trial via Jabalpore.

Writer Adam claimed the Liyaqat Ali escaped and managed to elude capture for more than 14 years, he suggests that he did not sit back , he was working towards the goal of Indian cause. it is alleged that he travelled to Baghdad and Muscat outwitting British detection by changing his name and appearance, When he was arrested in 1871 the police found concealed documents written in script code. There were plans to overthrow the British government alongside 2000 Rupees in a gold ingot hidden in the crystal tip of a bamboo stick in his possession.

Charles Hopes, the then collector of Surat stated that Maulvi Liyaqat Ali was travelling around sine 1857 using alias Maulvi Abdul Kareem protected by Nawabs of Sachin and others. He had a great reputation throughout the surrounding country as a holyman and Hakeem and evidently possesses great authority. He added that sine rebellion he had been living a life of respectable Muslim while secretly preaching about seditious activities.

Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Author :BR Tamta

Page 18

Arrest & Sentence

Liyaqat Ali spend a year in Jail awaiting Trial and on 18 July 1872 , he was brought before the Allahabad sessions court. The courts described him as a man of 45 years of age, a man proud of his looks and was happy when he was photographed.

After the charge was read of him he pleaded guilty. He pleaded that he had played an important role in the restoration of order and protection of govt properties, telegraph wires and livestock as well as the lives of Europeans and Indian Christians all of which under rebel attack. He went on to claim that he had fled only because he had been greatly distressed at his motives being misunderstood by the govt. Finally he added that he was a man of humble origin and he had not used the revolt to reclaim past privileges and he had -not acted out of a desire for personal gain. The govt pleader Mr. Dillon surmised, He was simply chosen for his religious influence, he was told if he did not do so he would incur the displeasure of King.

Dillon went on to speak as to how a young man Liyaqat ali had joined the East India Company army. Though religiously inclined as a youth, he applied for and was issued with , a discharge , returned home, gave up his property and live the pure life of a mendicant. His fame for sanctity spread far & wide not only among his own co-religionists but also among Hindus. As a result, he was asked to lead the rebellion in Allahabad, but had prevented widespread plunder and protected Europeans and native Christians. Had he not done so, not a single soul who fell his hands in 1957 could ever possible have escaped alive from the murderous intentions of the populace of Allahabad.(The Pioneer 22 July 1872, Nehru memorial , New Delhi )

He further claimed to have saved the lives of several ladies and gentleman at Allahabad. He had dressed even one of them in native clothes and passed her off as his sister.

These were the sisters, Sabina White, Bridget Bonde, Amelia Bennett, played a pivotal role in his trial. This chapter of his life was purposely omitted by the historians of England and what to say about our Indian copycats, the mere idea of a rebel having acted as a protector of Europeans is somewhat incompatible with they wanted to spread about him. Liyaqat Ali sated that after fleeing Allahabad he went to Cawnpore via Fatehpur. His testimony is as under

“My people brought me a European woman, I do not know her name, I do not recollect how she was dressed, When she was first brought to me , I told my people to dress her in Hindustani Clothes, I took care of her in a garden. I kept her with me till the nana was vanquished, then I took her with me towards, Fatehgarh, I managed to save the woman whom I had been passing off as my wife and ran off with her. I saw there was danger for me so i sent her to Allahabad with a follower of mine when I reached Lucknow I heard she had reached the house of her relative Mr. Florest. I never saw the man again whom I sent with her, then I became a Faqeer and went to the Nawab of Sachin”.

Amelia Bennett Horne

Amelia with her mother as a child

Amelia pictured in 1870

The woman who actually turned the entire course of the proceedings and which he referred to was Amelia Bennett, who in a dramatic twist appeared in Liyaqat Ali's defense. Amelia described that she was 33 years of age , daughter of Captain Horne , how she had got into a boat in Kanpur when the a group of Europeans left the entrenchment in the belief that they were to be shipped upriver, but were fired upon as they boarded boats in Sati Chaura Ghat. As shots began a sawar named Ismail Khan had plucked her out of the water and taken her to Liyaqat Ali’s house. She went on to say, The Maulvi asked me if I would like to be a Muslim or forfeit my life, I said I was willing to die. I don’t think he was serious in taking my life, they treated me kindly. Then he took me to Bithoor and then to Fatehgarh and from there to Lucknow at a relative’s house. He categorically stated that no insult was ever offered to me throughout her journey.

Now let me tell you something about this lady.

Amelia Anne Horne was born in Calcutta on 9 January 1839. Her father Frederick Horne was a mariner who died when she was young and her mother Emma remarried a few years later. In 1856 the family left Calcutta for Lucknow moving to Cawnpore. The family was of past rich, having first language French but she also knew English and Hindustani.

Initially they British did not reveal her story but later on some pulp fiction guys tried to titillate those readers and coloured her story as if she was mistreated and blemished with a stigma that lasted with the poor lady for the rest of her life.

According to Judge A R Pollock, large crowds of sympathetic Muslims, would gather at the court to get a glimpse of the Maulvi. Around 5000 persons gathered daily with unprecedented scenes of anxiety to see and hear how the things were going with him. One day someone rumoured that maulvi Sahib has been freed and the entire city ran towards the courts to get a glimpse of him that created a near riot in the city.

Nawab Abdul Samad in his personal diary wrote that he would not forget the day in his life, the frenzy and madness of the raging mob when he saw them running towards the Court at Allahabad to see & meet Maulvi Sahib as it was rumoured that he had been freed. See the excerpts below

English Rule and Native Opinion in India

James Routledge Page 70- 80

“ The court allows that the prisoner is not shown to have taken any active part in the perpetration of the gross cruelties of murders of Europeans but at the same time whilst the rebellion lasted at Allahabad and Cawnpore, devoted to the rebel cause and he has now been brought to trial not by any act of submission or his own but he is being captured by the Police of Bombay whilst living under another name.

“ The Prisoner Liyaqat Ali having confessed to the charge that he being a person owing allegiance to the British Government was a leader in revolt and rebelled and waged war against the Queen and the government of the East India Company in the Month of June or there about in the year 1857 at Allahabad. The Court finds that he is a guilty of an offence punishable under section 1 Act XI of 1857 and directs the said Liyaqat Ali shall be transported for life.

After the evidence and statements of Ms.Sabina White, Mrs. Bridget Bonde and Amelia Bennett, on 24 July 1872, Liyaqat Ali was sentenced to be transported to the penal colony in the Andaman islands. At the time there were about 8000 convicts there including the survivors of 1857-8. If we go by the typical Urdu penal code , the sentence was HABS-I-DAWAAM BA UBOOR DARYA-i-SHOR in the common parlance, Saza-i-Kala Pani

(Judgement in the court, Govt Vs Liakat Ali signed by AR Pollock , sessions Judge, 24 July 1872, in FSUP vol IV, pp.643 , Some papers related to this were found in Badaun Collectorate Mutiny Basta )

After he was sentenced, he asked the judge to let him visit his village. He was allowed and he came to Mahgaon, went inside the mosque prayed two Rakahs of Nafl and met the relatives present there and sat in the closed Horse Wagon, bid a final farewell and went away. Maulvi Abdul Subhan Sahib of Malak Mahgaon was one of the persons who saw him at that point and narrated this at the beginning of this century to the old timers at Mahgaon.

It is important to note that since 1857 till 1871, he spend 14 years out of Allahabad and mostly in Lajpur, Surat. It is reported from the old timers that he even came to visit his mother at Mahgaon in 1869 and went to visit his cousin at Asrawe and that tells about his valour, courage and unprecedented managing capabilities.

Liyaqat Ali died was finally transported in October 1872 and he lived there for 20 years. He died on 17 May 1892 and was buried in South Point, Off the coast at Corbyn’s Cove on the outskirts of Port Blair

Two of his daughter’s sons Abu Ahmad and Kabeer Ahmed were sent to meet him at Maulvi Sahib’s request where they lived with him till 1892.

I am sure Maulvi Sahib would not complain as in the following urdu couplet.

Pa’e-faatiha koyi aaye kyun

koyi chaar phool chadaye kyun

Koyi aake shama kalaye kyun

main woh be-kasi ka mazaar hoon !!

However the fact is that the grave is in good condition and taken care of by the locals very well.

Grave of Maulvi Liyaqat Ali, South Point, Off Coast, Port Blair.

One of his co-inmates was Sher Ali Khan who killed Lord Mayo in Andaman when the latter visited the place after which no British General visited the place. Lord Mayo is the one who gave thename to the famous Mayo Hall in Allahabad.

Capt. W.B. Birch a British Officer who was stationed at Port Blair in 1872 in an informal interview with Colonel Cadell had revealed a lot of first hand information about Maulvi Liyaqat Ali when he was an inmate there.

“Sir, Liakat and I came to Port Blair at about the same time, in 1872, shortly after the assassination of Lord Mayo”, “He was one of the last of the mutineers to be caught, and one of the wiliest and most dangerous. But there’s an element of romance in his story, which makes it different from that of the others.“There was not a shred of evidence to arrest him as no one came forward to identify him as the same Maulvi against who a warrant was pending since 1858. Meanwhile intelligence was received that he was in Bombay and about to leave the city for an unknown destination. Assistant Commissioner of Bombay Police MrEdgington managed to get orders from government to arrest Kareem which were received moments before he was about to board a train for Central India from Byculla railway station.

“At the time of arrest Liakat had with him a strange looking bamboo stick, with a crystal knob. When the knob was unscrewed it revealed a hollow space which contained gold ingots. The documents in his possession were in code. Mir Abdul Ali deciphered them, revealing a secret plan to overthrow the British.

Another Myth

Some writers have mentioned that he is lying near the famous Aalim Scholar, Poet and linguist Maulana Fazal-i-Haq Khairabadi with whom Maulvi Liyaqat Ali had a beautiful time but the historical fact is that Maulana Fazl-i-Haq had died 11 years before Maulvi Liyaqat Ali reached the place.

Family & Descendents

I undertook a thorough research on this subject and spent a good amount of time with a lot of old records to find out the details of his descendants and what I found is as follows.

Maulvi Liyaqat Ali married twice but he had no son. Thus there is no one from his direct lineal descendant however he had two daughters from two wives and the descendants of those two daughters are present. One family is in India and the other one in Pakistan.

His first marriage took place amongst the relatives with Meeran Bibi ,a girl from Village Basedhi. (a village in the proximity of Mahgaon on the river Ganges)

Hafiz Nazir Ahmad with Jawahar Lal Nehru in 1954

Old Well told to be the place of Maulvi Sahib's Madarsa

Qazi Zameer Ahmad and Qazi Haseen Ahmad few years back.

He had a daughter from this first marriage named Hajira Bibi. This Hajirah Bibi was married to One Qazi Abdul Azeez of Seondha (or Sewndha a village in Pargana Chail on the banks of river Yamuna). Now this Qazi Abdul Azeez had four sons namely, Qazi Ayub Ahmad, Abu Ahmad, Wali Ahmad and Kabir Ahmad Sahiban. Actually it was Qazi Abdul Azeez, the son-in-law of Maulvi Sahib who shifted from Seondha to Mahgaon to succeed him in the last century and his grandsons are living in Mahgaon and Allahabad today.

2^nd Marriage

The Maulvi Sahib married secondly in Surat and again he had a daughter from this marriage whose name was Ummat’Ullah Bibi. This Ummatullah Bibi was married to Jb. Ameer Hasan of Mahgaon. Now Ummatullah Bibi had two sons named Hafiz Nazir Ahmad & Ahmad Husain and two daughters namely Khatoon Bibi & Zaitoon Bibi. Now this Ahmad Husain died without an issue, whereas the sons of Hafiz Nazir Ahmad migrated to Pakistan in the 1960s and never came back and hence putting an end to their association with Mahgaon. It was Hafiz Nazir Ahmad who handed over the torn Kurta Pyjama of Maulvi Sahib to Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru for the Allahabad Archives.It carries a round metal token bearing no G439 on one face and GOFC on the reverse.

Hafiz Nazeer Ahmad Marhoom

Hafiz Nazir Ahmed had no issue from his first wife from Kath Gaon. He married again with a Burmese woman from whom he had 2 sons and 3 daughters. Zameer Ahmed Jafri (died last year) and Zaheer Ahmed Jafri was younger with three sisters Jameela ,Maimoona and Hafsa.

Zameer Ahmad Marhoom s/o Hafiz Nazeer Ahmad

Zameer Ahmed Jafri has three sons 1. Ahmed Jamal Jafri 2. Ahmed Kamal Jafri 3. Ahmed Nihal Jafri.Zaheer Ahmed Jafri has Aamir Zaheer Jafri ,Aasim Zaheer Jafri ,Aatif Zaheer Jafri and Ahmed Hassan. This family is in Pakistan. ( Courtesy Aatif Zahir , Karachi , Pakistan)

Zaheer Jafri

Recognition from Govt of India

After the independence of India, The govt of India tried to locate his descendents in Mahgaon. Since Maulvi Sahib had no son,his daughter’s children were recognized as his descendents and were issued pensions for Freedom Fighters. The eldest one was Hafiz Nazeer Ahmad who actually had handed over the Kurta , uniform and sword to Jawahar Lal Nehru which was enshrined in the Museum at Allahabad. Later on Hafiz Nazeer Ahmad’s two sons migrated to Pakistan while Qazi Abdul Azeez’s children became the only reminiscent and descendents in India. The following were issued pensions for the descendents of freedom fighters.

Hafiz Nazeer Ahmad – Grandson ( Daughter’s Son)
Qazi Abu Ahmad - Grandson (Daughter’s Son)
Shri Ayub Ahmad - Grandson ( Daughter’s Son)
Smt.Zaitoon Bibi - Grand daughter
Smt.Jannatun-Nisa Bibi - Widown of a Grandson
Ms.Jamila Bibi - Daughter of a Grandson
Smt.Umme Habiba - Widow of a Grandson
Ms.Rashida Khatoon - Daughter of a Grandson
Ms.Zahida Khatoon - Daughter of a Grandson
Mr.Maida Khatoon. -Daughter of a Grandson
Shri Syed Ahmad. - Son of a Grandson (Government of India Records )

Chanchal Bibi

Chanchal Bibi ki Masjid ( Now under reconstruction)

As mentioned earlier Maulvi Liyaqat Ali had an uncle named Shaikh Daim Ali who was employed in British Army posted at Jhansi.It is reported that he married a lady who was a close relative of Raja of Jhansi named Chanchal Bibi. After marriage this Chanchal Bibi came and settled in Mahgaon. She actually extended and built the mosque along the GT Road that was later known as Chanchal Bibi ki Masjid. Daim Ali & Chanchal Bibi had a daughter. The daughter Asaan Bibi d/o Daim Ali was married to Jb. Zainuddin of Manjh Khurd of the same village. Chanchal Bibi was buried in the precincts of the same mosque. This mosque is being resonctructed these days and her grave has also come under the extension getting overlaid and out of sight.

At last

At first sight it appears that men like Liyaqat Ali were flung up like constellation from the abyss of a dark night but such a view is mistaken. The revolt was a result of long preparation and careful organization. It is difficult to discover the parts and plans, to disentangle the contributions of different leaders, persons and communities today. How the struggle started and how discordant groups were brought together and enemies were harmonized, we have no means to know these things but there is reason to believe that Nana Sahib, Azimullah Khan, Bakht Khan, Maulvi Ahmadullah , Maulvi Liyaqat Ali played the leading part. Their tour just before the outbreak of the important stations of Northern Indian undoubtedly gave a fillip to the already enraged sections. It is a confirmed fact that the main network was quietly laid out by Nana Sahib & Azimullah Khan and they were the main architects. They actually started making secret preparations to liquidate the british power in the country. Azimullah Khan has recorded this fact in his diary which was in the possession of One Mr. Suraj Pratap Singh of Partabgarh who claimed to be one of the grand-sons of Nana Sahib. This diary was unpublished and its authenticity was accepted by Dr. Ishwari Prasad as well. ( See Nana Saheb Peshwa by CF Misra-P.146)

Tragedy

I don’t know why the name of Maulvi Liyaqat Ali was buried in the history books only and he was overshadowed with the other heroes as well.

The apathy of the scholars & historians is evident from the fact that they slept over the original records for the last 150 years. Dr. R. K. Misra Director of Allahabad Museum in his interview published in Times of India issue dated 27.4.2006, claimed to have dug out the said basta No: 43 file No: 37 but expressed his helplessness on the ground that the details are in Persian Language and in-spite of his best efforts he failed to get the same deciphered. In-spite of the above interview, no one from Allahabad took up the cause to research in detail on the subject.

Thousands of scholars came studied, researched and went away but how many of them took pain of travelling to Mahgaon and do a sincere effort to collect and revive the memory of the great son of the soil ?? We wrote about Delhi, Calcutta and even UK and USA but not about our own man ?

In the past decade, a local group of committed gentlemen from Chail formed a society and established a Degree College in the memory of the great man that is known today as "Maulvi Liyaqat Ali Degree College at Mahgaon. It has been recognised by Kanpur University and is catering to the needs of the students in that particular area. Chail Welfare society as it is known has a library in Kareli in the name of Maulvi Sahib for the aspiring students.

Maulvi Liyaqat Ali Degree College at Mahgaon,

The first sincere attempt to know the great man was done by one from his own village. Maulvi Abdul Bari Aasi” of Mahgaon firstly wrote the clear cut details of his early life and origin in an Urdu Magazine “Al Jamiat” in 1958.

The 1857 revolt, which had forged an unshakable unity amongst Hindus and Muslims alike, was an important milestone in our freedom struggle - providing hope and inspiration for future generations of freedom lovers. However, the aftermath of the 1857 revolt also brought about dramatic changes in colonial rule. After the defeat of the 1857 national revolt - the British embarked on a furious policy of "Divide and Rule", fomenting religious hatred as never before. Resorting to rumors and falsehoods, they deliberately recast Indian history in highly communal colors and practised pernicious communal politics to divide the Indian masses. That legacy continues to plague the sub-continent till today. However, if more people become aware of the colonial roots of this divisive communal gulf - it is possible that some of the damage done to Hindu-Muslim unity could be reversed. If Hindus and Muslims could rejoin and collaborate in the spirit of 1857, the sub-continent may yet be able to unshackle itself from it's colonial past.

But alas! In our history textbooks, particularly the ones by which our children are given their doses of history of India, we seldom come across the name of this great freedom fighter who won accolades from friends and foes alike, and even from the likes of V.D. Savarkar. Just a passing reference here, and an odd mention there is our entire textbooks offer on Maulvi Liyaqat Ali or Maulvi Ahmedullah Shah of Faizabad, while the contributions of a few others are blown out of proportion. Indeed, Maulvi Liyaqat is one of the unsung heroes of our first War of Independence that was fought 150 years from now.¨

I would conclude with this urdu couplet for Maulvi Sahib. ( Rahmatullahi Alaihi)

"Duniya mein bala se agar aaram na paya

Hum ne yahi paya ke bura nam na paya" !!

Was'salaam

Khalid Bin Umar

WRITE TO ME @

khalidkoraivi@yahoo.com

khalid.bin.umar@gmail.com

************************************************************************

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20. Thomson, Mowbray (Capt.), The Story of Cawnpore, Richard Bentley, London, 1859.

21. Trevelyan, Sir George Otto, Cawnpore, Indus, Delhi, (first edition 1865), reprint 2002.

22. Wilberforce, Reginald G, An Unrecorded Chapter of the Indian Mutiny, Being the PersonalReminiscences of Reginald G. WIlberforce, Late 52nd Infantry, Compiled from a Diary and Letters

23. Freedom struggle in Uttar Pradesh – Vol 1, 1857-59 , Publications beaurau, GOVT of UP, Lucknow

24. Eighteen Fifty-seven - by Surendra Nath Sen - India - 1958

25. The Gazetteer of Allahabad - Col CH Neville – 1911

26. Elementary Aspects of Peasant Insurgency in Colonial India by Ranajit Guha – 1999

27. The Great Indian Mutiny: A Dramatic Account of the Sepoy Rebellion - By Richard Collier

28. Region in Indian History - by Mahendra Pratap, Saiyid Zaheer Husain Jafri, Lucknow University

29. English Opinion & the Native Rule in India - James Routledge 1870-1920

30. The Annual register Edmund Burke Longmans, Green, 1873

31. Region in Indian history By Saiyid Zaheer Husain Jafri By - Anamika Publishers & Distributors, 2008

32. The Muslims of British India - Page 65 By Peter Hardy - 1972

33. Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency - Govt. Central Press, 1899

34. The heroes of Cellular Jail By Som Nath Aggarwal - Publication Bureau, Punjabi University, 1995

35. A history of the Sepoy war in India, 1857-58 , Volume 2 - Sir John William Kaye

36. Ulema in politics - Ishtiaq Husain Qureshi , Renaissance Pub. House, 1998

37. The Annual register of world events: a review of the year: Volume 114 Edmund Burke - 1873

38. Narrative of events in Allahabad in the Magistrate of Shahjahanpur , Villock HDPB

39. The Pioneer 27 July 1872.

40. The Indian Govt journal in 1976 published from Andaman & Nicobar carries his name, Published by Publications divisions, Govt of INida, Patiala House. New Delhi.

41. East India Kampani aur Baghi Ulama -

42. Ghadar ke Chand Ulama - Intezam Ullah Shahabi

43. Sarguzasht-i-Ayyam-i-Ghadar - 1936 - Inayat Husain Khan

44. Jang-i-Azaadi 1857 - Prof Mohammad Ayyub Qadri - Karachi 1976

45. Allahabad District Gazetteer - 1911

46. History of Indian Mutiny - TR Holmes

47. Sepoy War

48. HIstory of Indian Mutiny 1898 - TR Holmes

49. Narrativeof Events attending the outbreak - F Thompson - 1858

50. Bagh i Arif - Sufi Abdul Ahad Aarif Lajpur 1953 , Karachi

51. Amelia Anne Horne : Survivor of the Cawnpore Massacres and Unacknowledged Heroine of the Indian Mutiny , the Indianman 3,

52. The times, 11 August 1858 ( The first account of her captivity was sent to Governor General Lord Cannning in 1858 and published in The Times that year.

53. Liakat Ali (Alias Maulvie Abdool Karrim _ the ALlahabad Mutiny rebel of 1857 - Hope Papers , IOR,

54. The Pioneer 11 Sep 1871

55. The New York Times 31 Oct 1871

56. Freedom Struggle iN Uttar Pradesh , Source Material vol IV. ( PUblications Beaurau Lucknow 1957061) by SAA Rizvi & Moti Lal Bhargava

57. Muharba-i-Azeem ( 1889) - Kanhaiya Lal

58. Tareekh Baghawat i Hind - Mukund Lal

59. Indian War of Independence - Damodar Savarkar

60. First Freedom Struggle. UP Vo.4 P -169

61. Freedom Struggle UP vol 1 P. 343-344

62. Annals of the Indian Mutiny Printed by Sanders Cones & CO. 1858 Calcutta

63. Mutiney Basta, 212, Records Commissioner Office, Commissioners Bungalow, Allahabad

64. Elementary Aspects of Peasant Insurgency in Colonial India

65. by Ranajit Guha - History - 1999 - 361 pages

66. The Muslims of British India - Page 65 Peter Hardy - 1972 - 306 pages

**********************************************************************************************************

An Old page …….Allahabad City

2014-05-17T17:59:00.000+05:30

An Old bungalow near the Church in Civil Lines in 1866
Note the Entrance and encircling Verandahs for meeting the visitors

An old card showing the Allahabad Railway station in 1908

An Old page …….Allahabad City

Before 1858 ,the old city of Allahabad had only two or three roads, and from these went a labyrinth of narrow streets that went to different parts of Allahabad with some having gates closed in the night.

The British laid the railway line as the main strategic defense for the British Population cutting the city into two, creating a barrier between the Civil Lines to the north. The railway lines were laid out in 1858 immediately after the 1857 uprising.

The civil lines were built on the confiscated land. It was all Pargana Chail (sometimes referred to as Pargana Ba Haveli ) with 8 villages that comprise the entire Civil Lines of today.

The civil lines of today, is created out of those destroyed eight villages, owned and managed primarily by Muslim landlords. All the 8 villages were destroyed; population was hanged, shot or driven away. The remaining population ran away and the villages were remodeled & replaced with paved streets set out on a grid pattern and lined with trees. One of the old village was Rasoolpur populated by Mewatis , they were asked to choose another place in Allahabad and leave the original one. Eventually they moved towards north east and chose a place for their abode and named it “Rasoolpur” again to have the same name. Rasoolpur locality in Allahabad is the same displaced Rasoolpur.

The plots for bungalows were as large as 10 acres. The civil lines was only for the European society, Government offices, clubs, polo field , church etc and the social life revolved around visiting ganges, playing polo, clubs, sport events, drinking parties, all modeled in the upper class behavior with an European stamp on each of them.

Exactly north of the old city was laid out the cantonment on a regular grid pattern, reassuring the European population of their safety (especially from any disturbance from the Pargana of Chail, the epicenter of 1857 uprising)

Between these two, the Civil Lines & Cantonment, two buffer localities was deliberately adjusted:

(1) The Anglo Indian population Or Eurasians – settled near the railway station. The Anglo Indians were generally considered an embarrassment to the British but a place was created for them in the jobs in Railway so that their loyalty could be tested and trusted.

(2) The second settlement was that of Bengalis , who were found in all ‘up-country ‘ cities as their literacy gave them an advantage in the govt employment

All these places, Civil Lines, Cantonment, Railway Colony and Bengali Settlement were places of defined and limited interaction between races. Europeans lived in the areas intended from them only while the others had limited interaction.

A photograph of an old Bungalow next to the church taken in 1866 is shown above with another one showing the Railway Station n 1908.

Was'salaam

Khalid Bin Umar

Nantes, France

WRITE TO ME @

khalidkoraivi@yahoo.com

khalid.bin.umar@gmail.com

Barethi - Pargana Chail

2013-09-26T20:55:00.011+05:30

Road to Barethi

Turn towards Barethi

I got to see an Ekka

Another view of the road leading to Barethi

Came across this carrier .......

The Gateway of the House of Chaudhari Abdul Haq

Qabr of Chaudhari Baqar Marhoom

At the top floor of Chaudhari Abdul Haq

Small lake and the qabr of Chaudhari Baqar

House of Chaudhari Abdul Haq

Another view

the House of Chaudhari Abdul Haq from the second floor

There you see the Qabr of Chaudhari Muhammad Baqar

House of Chaudhari Abdul Haq

Another view inside the house

Another view

Makan Ladey Bhai

House of Ghulam Family

Lake in front of the house

another view of the lake

The other part of the Ghulam family's house

An old well

With Mr.Ghulam Irfani

Making notes With Mr.Ghulam Irfani

With Mr.Ghulam Irfani and others

another view over and above the lake

A view from the House Ghulam Dynasty

The house of the Ghulam family

View from the courtyard of the house of Ghulam Jeelani

With the youth of Ghulam family at Barethi

The residence of the Ghulam Family of Barethi

Lake in front of this house

The sculptured doorways from the mansion of Ghulam family

Original House of the Purwa family inside the village

Village

Purwa

WIth the Barthi youth club

Barethi as seen from across the lake

Another click from across the lake

You are approaching Barethi

A new construction ( Makan Munna Bhai )

Northern Part of Barethi ( House of Nasrul Huda etc)

another Lake here

Primary School in Barthi

Jama Masjid of Barethi from the Back

Inscription over the door-way of Jama Masjid

Main Gate of the Jama Mosque

Another small mosque

Goats in swing

A view of Banana Plantation

Here A denotes for Barethi

Barethi Kamalpur is a small Village in Pargana & Tehsil Chail in Kaushambi District of Uttar Pradesh State,India. It is located 25 kms towards South from District head quarters Manjhanpur

Name

The village we shall read about today is known as BARETHI. It is located in south of Pargana & Tehsil Chail in district Kaushambi today (formerly Allahabad). The name suggests that it should have been originally BADETHI as there are supposed to be a jungle of Banyan Trees where the village is situated today hence the BAD+ETHI. The other opinion which seems more close to the name is that the village was inhabited by Washermen community around the pond and that is because it got the name Barethi from the local word Baretha meaning washerman.

In the revenue records it is known as Barethi Kamalpur while there is another hamlet of this village called Kamalpur Barethi.

Now a days the government has renamed it as Barethi Amadpur (Ahmadpur) because it consists of three villages

. Barethi Kamalpur Main village
. Chak Ahmad Patti Purwa
.. Kamalpur Barethi Almost unpopulated hamlet, purwa of Barethi.

In 2001 the population of Barethi was :-

Male Population 518

Female Population 493

Total Population 1011

The numbers are certainly not true as on today. They must have been doubled during these years.

Origin

Barethi appears to have been a place of importance since the Zamindars of Sarai Aqil & Gaura placed their tents here 240-250 years ago. The landlords of this village are Shaikh of Siddiqi descent and upto this day , they hold considerable weight and have a decisive say in the matters of village.

History

Barethi Kamalpur and Kamalpur Barethi are two different villages. The village that we shall read about today is Barethi Kamalpur normally called Barethi only.

While going back into the history, we find that about 250 years ago , a Jurist named Qazi Khateebuddin was awarded a large no of villages as reward in Pargana Chail by the Mughal Government . In Allahabad the Qazi Shahr and other revenue officials used to stay at Dairah Shah Ajmal which today itself has become a Muhalla. Qazi Khateebuddin came from west , most probably from Kara / its environs and collected the farman from the Shahar Qazi or Nazim at Dairah Shah Ajmal and was asked to settle anywhere in the south of Pargana Chail where Kurmi and Gadariya castes abounded. Qazi Sahib took hold of the villages and appointed Ziledars and caretakers but did not shift to live inside Pargana Chail ( then called Pargana Ba Haveli). However his sons after his passing away moved from Kara and distributed amongst themselves villages as and when it was required and that distribution of villages later on formed a closed group of villages that was later known to be the Ath-Gawan ( Eight villages of Siddeeqi Shaikhs) descended form Qazi Khatibuddin. These 8 villages are :-

All the zamindars/siddeeqi Shaikhs of these 8 villages are Aulaad of Qazi Khateebuddin Siddiqi .

Qazi Khateebuddin’s son Ameen Miyan ( Muhammad Ameen) is the ancestor of the entire Siddiqis of Barethi & Sarai Aqil family. Ameen Miyan's son was Muhammad Panah who settled in Gaura Muhammadpur and his family lived there for at least 100 years. Afterwards Shah Muhammad Aqil s/o Qaim Muhammed shifted his base to Sarai Aqil and within a span of 10-15 years Baqar Miyan , his nephew shifted to Barethi and here starts the history of the shaikhs of Barethi.

As per the Shajra available at Audhan and Dairah Shah Ajmal , The family moved from Makkah to Misr ( Egypt ) and from Egypt they came to Delhi and from Delhi they came to Kara Manikpur and from Kara , they finally settled in the villages of Parana Chail.

Nasab

The zamindars of Barethi are Shaikh Siddeeqis descended from Hadhrat Abdul Rahman Bin Abu Bakr As Siddeeq (Radi Allahu Anhu . They have a common ancestor as of other ATH-GAWAN of Siddiqis in Chail.

It seems that the family had main three centres of Zamindari

The one at Audhan, it was the headquarters, the eldest son Jafar Miyan at Audhan
The second at Gaura.
The third at Biyur.

Qazi Khateebuddin’s son Ameen Miyan ( Muhammad Ameen) is the ancestor of the entire Siddiqis of Barethi & Sarai Aqil family. Ameen Miyan's son was Muhammad Panah who settled in Gaura Muhammadpur and his family lived there for at least 100 years. Afterwards Shah Muhammad Aqil s/o Qaim Muhammed shifted his base to Sarai Aqil and within a span of 10-15 years Baqar Miyan , his nephew shifted to Barethi and here starts the history of the shaikhs of Barethi.

Now in the coming centuries, from Gaura , three more villages came into being settled by Siddiqis.

Basawan Miyan went to Seondha
Aqil Miyan went to Sarai Akil
Baqar Miyan went to Barethi
Fazil Miyan went to Akbarpur after 1857

Sarai Aqil

Mosque inside the compound of Hariharnnath Singh

Myself in front of the historial mosque of Aqil MIyan

Inside the mosque at Sarai Aqil

Inside the house of Shri Hariharnath Singh

fields at Sarai Akil

House of Shri Hariharnath Singh at Sarai Akil

The Hujra of Shah M. Aqil Sahib inside the mosque

Sarai Aqil was registered as a Town when there were only five towns in the district in 1856.

Sarai Akil was one of earliest towns recognised in the district of Allahabad.It grew as an Inn-town after Aqil Sahib built a Serai there and in 1856 was made a Town Area from Pargana Chail and it shows the importance of the place 150 years ago. There was no place in chail as happening and trade-ful as Sarai Aqil at that time. There was/is a route that went to Banda which itself attracted hundreds of travelers, pilgrims to stay and shop at Sarai Aqil .Trading activity was brisk and there was always fight to get a place of sitting in the Bazar of Sarai. People as far as from Banda , Rewa , came to sell their goods in the markets of Sarai that held twice a week.The remnants of that Sarai can be seen today. Markets are still held twice a week.

This all came into being after the settlement of the family of Siddiqis of Chail when they got some 35 or more villages at the side of Purkhas , Sarai Akil etc whereas the remaining 15-20 villages were on the eastern side close to modern Barethi……Now Shaikh Muhammad Aqil who was a pious, practicing and devout Muslim left Gaura and constructed a large compound for his residence in Sarai Aqil to look after the estate properly, including a small mosque inside. He looked after his large estate with the help of his attendants and having not wed, he had no son of his own. His time passed in study, ibadat and strolling along his farming lands. He called his nephew (Bhatija) Chaudhary Muhammad Baqar (Baqir) to assist him in his task as well as to take on the responsibility after him because he wanted to go on Hajj.

Chaudhary Baqar Sahib went there but for one reason or another he could not accommodate himself with the atmosphere and thence he asked the permission of Aqil Miyan to take abode in a remote village Barethi near a pond. His uncle tried hard to persuade him not to leave him and instead sit at his place as he would inherit the entire Taluqa after him but Chaudhary Baqir Sahib had somehow developed an aversion to that place. He did not listen and came to the place which is now known as Barethi. He laid foundation of a house with a small mosque and settled here permanently. Thus Chaudhary Muhammad Baqar is the founder of Barethi.

The district gazetteer of Allahabad carries mention about Sarai Aqil as follows:

On the other hand , Shah Muhammad Aaqil had hard time controlling his urge to go Haramain Sharifaain. He sent for Chaudhary Baqar several times to come and see him but Baqar Sahib was not interested in Sarai Aqil. Therefore having had no option, Chaudhary Shah Muhammad Aqil sahib installed his attendant, A kurmi by caste to look after his entire his large estate and look after his house as well.

At the time of departure Aqil Sahib said to the him”This entire estate and my house , I have given in your hands , If I come back from Hajj then I will regain the control otherwise this is all yours. Live here peacefully and do not oppress the villagers “

FInally Shah Muhammad Aqil went for Hajj and as it happened that did not come back and thereafter the entire estate of Shah Muahammad Aqil went into the possession of the said Kurmi who became a de facto ruler and was known as the “Bina tilak ka Rajah “in his hey days. During the last century he was the largest non-muslim Zamindar in the Pargana of Chail. Even today the house of Shah Aqil is under his gracious possession and he has maintained the small mosque of Shah Muhammad Aqil in such a clean , maintained state that when I saw the place , I could not believe that a non-muslim could be so devout and true to his words. Not to say about the person who got the property from , it is 9t or 10t generation of that guy and all these years through , they vigorously maintained the sanctity ,purity of the place and kept it as if it is in the hands of Shah Aqil.

Every day it is dusted, cleaned , perfumed and maintained like the Namazis are about to come …….When I entered the mosque , I found small flowers , a lamp alighted inside and it was spick & span like no other building I saw in Chail. I do not remember any cleaner and tidier mosque in entire Chail and adjacent to this mosque is the residence of Shri Harihar Nath Singh.

Shri Raghuraj Singh was the largest tax payer in Chail at the beginning of this century being the owner of entire Sarai Aqil. His descendents are still in possession of large part of that estate , Shri Hariharnath Singh and Shri Arjun Singh were from the same family. Taluka of Basohar was with this family which originally belonged to Shah Muhammad Aqil. Villages names such as Darha Taluka Basuhar and Kura Taluka Basuhar are still carrying the names of the Taluka.

Hats off to these people who have shown the world without any highlight or media glare that good word with good intention could be carried on

In this era of communal frenzy, this is an example of the composite culture that existed 200 years ago , -particularly at the level of masses. It also speaks of the influence of piety and character on the part of Shah Muhammad Aqil Sahib that his words have been kept intact after his demise more than 200 years ago. It is a unique example of the Ganga Jamuni Tehzeeb , the result of the composite culture, the respect and adulaiton of Saint Shah Muhammad Aqil in which he is still held in the eyes of the family…………..It is interesting that whenever this family found any trader from Barethi has come at Sarai Akil , no tax was levied on him out of the respect for the family of Shah Muhammad Aqil ( RA).

It is unique instance in a country where spreading canard of lies, hate and stereotypes have become a norm while those preaching peaceful coexistence and unity in diversity are getting marginalized.We should not forget that the history of peaceful co existence among Hindus and Muslims far exceeds those of conflict in the country.

On the contrary look at our ignorance and apathy that today very few know the name of Shah Muhammad Aqil , nobody remembers him, and even the people at Barethi did not know where is the Qabr of Aqil Sahib and what is their relation to this man ? The people at Barethi told me that Aqil Sahib’s Qabr is at Barethi while the fact is that Shah Muhammad Aqil did not return from Hajj and his house and mosque is maintained in such a fine condition that some non-muslims visit the mosque to get blessings even today and the people at Barethi thought it was a Qabr of Aqil Sahib.

The entire area owned by Shah Muhammad Aqil was named after him as Sarai Aqil.

Barethi Part

Now the other part of Taluka which was located near Barethi came into the possession of Chaudhari Baqar who had laid foundation of the village. His family and descendants settled on a high mound near the pond which was later known as Chaudhrana in Barethi. They were the originators and held in entirety the whole village as well as the other villages in their part of the estate. They multiplied quickly and that gave rise to their exodus to other villages where they found better prospects after their marital connections in those villages.

Qazi Khateebuddin’s son Ameen Miyan ( Muhammad Ameen) is the ancestor of the entire Siddiqis of Barethi & Sarai Aqil family. Ameen Miyan's son was Muhammad Panah who settled in Gaura Muhammadpur and his family lived there for at least 100 years. Afterwards Shah Muhammad Aqil s/o Qaim Muhammed shifted his base to Sarai Aqil and within a span of 10-15 years Baqar Miyan , his nephew shifted to Barethi and here starts the history of the shaikhs of Barethi.

Families

There are three distinct zamindar families (Gharana) in the village as follows:-

1. Chaudharis

2. Ghulam Family - Migrants from Audhan

3. Family at Purwa ( Bagh Waley) _ Non Chaudharis of Barethi

Except the Ghulam family of Audhan , all others are from the same tree and stem of Barethi Siddiqis.

The Chaudharis

The chaudharis of Barethi are the originator of this village who are descended from Chaudhari Muhammad Baqar. As explained above, the family originally settled in Muhammadpur Gaura and then shifted to Sarai Aqil and finally to Barethi.

Qazi Khateebuddin’s son Ameen Miyan ( Muhammad Ameen) is the ancestor of the entire Siddiqis of Barethi & Sarai Aqil family.

The family of Chaudharis have five or six main branches

The family of Meer Miyan of Barethi that went to Pawan.
The family of Chaudhari Kallu , that went to Ludhaur
The family of Chaudhray Raj Mian – went without a son,inherited by family of Audhan ghulam Jilani.
Chaudhari Abdul Ghani -Represented by now Chaudhary Abdul Haq and his descendants
The family of Chaudhari Kamaluddin. Represented by Nafees Ahmad Lade Sb
Family of other Chaudharies who are lesser known , at Chaudhra

Family of Chaudhari Abdul Haq

Chaudhari Abdul Haq Marhoom of Barethi

In the 12 Generation of Ameen Miyan Came Meeran Bakhsh who had two sons, Hurmat Ali and Abdul Ghani. Hurmat Ali had a daughter whose husband was Mohammad SIddiq inspector of Mahgaon and his sons are Abdul Mueed, Abdul Haleem , Abdul Rahman, Swaleh Sahiban of Mahgaon.Abdul Ghani had Abdul Haq who rose on to become the celebrated Chaudhary Abdul Haq of Barethi whose family is one of the most famous families amongst the Zamindars of Chail today

Chaudhari Abdul Haq was born in an atmosphere of scarcity and adversity, whatever meager lands ( reportedly only 15 Bighas) his father had , he had already bequeathed it against some cash and the family was under severe financial crisis. But this Child Abdul Haq since the age of 13 tried hard to recover the lost pride and restore the place his family once enjoyed. He even worked in Allahabad as an apprentice and later on took job as an office actuary with Dakhkhini Din of Peepalgaon. At his office he acquired specific and particular knowledge of Zamindari revenues and learnt how to purchase the shares of the indebted zamindars of Chail. He worked hard and after accumulating wealth, he purchased shares in Kamalpur Barethi and thereafter he started a flourishing trade of getting loans and purchasing shares and then repaying it through the proceeds of others. Within a span of 20 years he became a man & force to reckon with in the Chail Fraternity which earlier did not consider him noteworthy. He purchased shares in Hashimpur Kinar, Jawaharganj, Gaura, Barethi, Rasoolpur, Katra, Sursaini etc …….Eventually he replaced the Ghulam Family's supremacy and became the biggest land holder of Barethi and ever since his family has held the top slot so far. Even today the largest single Chak (120 Bighas) in Chail belongs to the same family.

He was an highly efficient manager and frugal master. He did not spend a single penny without a purpose. His effeciency was even hired (without pay ) by the Landlords of Niwan when their estate was in bad shape and under debts, he took over the reins and appointed Niyaz Husain of Bisauna as the manager of Niwan estates and it is hard to believe but he turn the tides within a span of two years and the estate which was encumbered with debts came out clearly scoring and earning profits for the owners. His bonding with Nawab Isa of Niwan was very strong and upon Nawab Sb's advice he built a house in close proximity of his Kothi at Chowk.

He contested elections for the local district boards, Panchayat and other elections and came out victorious each time. The most famous one was the 1942 election when he defeated the veteran as Shaikh Tajammul Husain of Purkhas who considered him as his nephew. He became a famous name during the pre-partition era when the big 4s of Chail held their head high. He had a knack of making connections and with the help of this quality he moved in the society with the top notch Zamindars of the entire Allahabad region and this gave him an edge over others in Chail.

This receipt of Madarsa Saulatiya Makkah 70 years ago has an historical value.( Irrespective of Amount paid)

He was the first person in Chail who managed to have a pucca road to Barethi village in 1926. This was the first ever road constructed for any remote village in Chail.He built large housing complex at Chowk,Allahabad in 1938 side by side a house in Barethi. Both the houses are still very much serving the purpose.

He lived a luxurious and playful life initially but during the last quarter of his life , he turned towards religion and made contacts with pious and saintly figures, took part in the construction of several madaris in Allahabad and abroad. He lived in Allahabad but did not go to Bartehi for 20 years or so and died in 1962.

Descendents

Eldest son, Chaudhari Annu Marhoom

Issan Chaudhary in Youth

Masood Chaudhari Now

Masood Chaudhari ( Ye Qissa hai jabka ki Atish Jawan tha)

Chaudhari Shakeel Ahmad

Chaudhary Abdul Haq three sons, Anwar ul Haq ( Annu Chaudhari “Band Button”) , Ehsan ul Haq ( Chhangey) , Asrar ul Haq ( Issan) who migrated to Pak.

Chaudhari Anwar ul Haq had a son named Masood Ahmad who lives in Barethi and whose sons & daughters have broken the confines of un-education and un-enlightenment attributed with the village and are on the path of educative progress today.

Ch. Mahmood Ahmad

Chaudhary Ehsan ul Haq Urf Chhangey had two sons , Chaudhari Shakeel Ahmad and Fazeel Ahmad.Chaudhary Shakeel is arguably one of more well known figures in Chail. He has been in Barethi since his birth and he spends his time looking after the property and in socializing with the people.

Chaudhary Asrar-ul-Haq Issan who migrated to Pak had a son name Mahmood Ahmad there.

Today Chaudhari Shakeel and Chaudhari Masood live in the original house built by Chaudhary Abdul Haq and enjoy being the the largest land-owner in the village as well.The positive part is that the present generation of this family has broken the confines of un-education and un-enlightenment attributed with the village and are on the path of educative progress today. Ma Sha Allah

Marriages

This family had the recent relations mostly in Qazi Rasoolpur & Mahgaon.

Family of Chaudhari Kamaluddin

The other prominent Chaudhari family is descended from Chaudhari Kamaluddin. During the years 1900-1930 , the only family of Chaudharis that held weight and wielded power was the family of Chaudhary Sharfuddin who had a son Chaudhari Kamaluddin. They were prominent land-owners and by their effective management had restored a lot of ancestral lands and at the time of Settlement in 1878 ,the village was named after him as KAMALPUR BARETHI.

Chaudhary Kamaluddin had two sons RIyazuddin and Imaduddin ( died at Bhopal).

Riyazuddin had three sons, Jamal Ahmad , Iqbal Ahmad and Maqbool Ahmad. Now Jamal Ahmad had Nafees Ahmad (Ladey), Saeed and Muhammad Asif. Iqbal Ahmad had Shameem Ahmad, Naseem and kaleem, Naeem Ahmad, while Maqbool Ahmad had Afzal Ahmad , Wisal Ahmad and Fuzail Ahmad who live in Durg (MP).

Imaduddin’ had anwaruddin and his grand sons are in Pakistan as well like Muhammad Islam s/o Nanhe , Mohammad Hasan, Mahmood Hasan (Pak) etc.

Marriages

This family of Chaudhari Kamaluddin has maintained the sanctity of bloodline and secured this earnestly. They married with great care earlier and yet continue the trend.

Family of Meeran Bakhsh Urf Meer Miyan – Migrated first to Akbarpur ( near Kasenda ) and then to Pawan. Renowned Wrestler and a icon of 1857 Nemat Ashraf was from the same family of Akbarpur who lived mostly at Pawan with his uncles.

At Pawan Meer Miyan’s family was represented by Deputy Habeebullah , Deputy Mansoob Ullah and Mahboobullah , Hifzullah of Pawan and today Khalid Saeedullah is from the same family of Barethi. ( See Pawan)

Other families of Chaudharana :

Ibadullah whose sons were Ansarullah whose sons Aftab Alam , Naseer Alam , Bashir Alam and brothers are in Pak.

This Bashir Alam was Pradhan of the village for 10 years and is known as Munna Jangi.

Abdul Samad whose sons were Sagheer Ahmad Jailor and Aijaz Ahmad

Abdul Ahad whose sons Mohammad Siddiq and Mohammad Shafi, Muhammad Faiyyaz , Riyaz and Wasi Sahiban Muahmmad Shafi had a son name Mauli Kabeer Ahmad ( Kabban ) who was the sole scholar of religious sciences as well as Indian History. He passed away last year without an issue. Nisar Ahmad had Iltifaat Ahmad, Qamar-uz-Zaman & Mohammad Mustafa. Faiyyaz had Anees Ahmad and Azeez Ahmad. Riyaz Ahmad had Raees Ahmad and Nisar Ahmad. Wasi Ahmad had Naseem Waseem & Riyaz

Hafeezuddin had Aulad Ahmad and Jakkan , Now Aulad Ahmad has Khalid & Rashid Abdullah. Jakkan had Haroon and Muhammad Sabir.

Zamindari

Barethi in its origin was a large zamindari and was part of the taluka that was held by Shah Aqil , This taluka was later date created with the name of Basuhar. Part of the Taluka Basuhar went into the hands of the owners /successors of Sarai Aqil . The other part was with a family of Chaudharies in Barethi. Therefore Barethi had a great name amongst the Zamindars of Chail. In the following I would summarize the biggest landowner

Era Princiapal Landholder of Barethi

1790- 1830 Chaudhary Muhammad Baqar

1830-1860 Raj Miyan

1860-1870 Shahid Miyan

1870-1890 Shaikh Nusrat Ali of Audhan (Succeded Shahid MIyan)

1890-1920 Ghulam Jeelani

1920-1930 Ghulam Yazdani , Ghulam Rabbani and Chaudhari Kamaluddin (Shared )

1930-1952 Chaudhary Abdul Haq – Chaudhary Anwar ul Haq etc…

Here we can see that the village was originally founded by the Chaudharies who must have been the sole proprietors which later on got divided into various shares and eventually from Shahid Miyan it went to Nusrat Ali of Audhan who came to inherit his Khalu’s property and thence his family held the entire taluka till the end of Zamindari.

The Ghulam Family

The Old Gateway of the Nusrat Ali (Ghulam Family)

Facade of the building now only in picture

The doorways half-buried in the ground

The Tomb of Nusrat Ali of Audhan

The Residence of Ghulam Family at Barethi

Lake in front of the house

The Tomb from other side

The Ghulam Dynasty or the Ghulam Family of Barethi

The founder of Ghulam family is Sheikh Nusrat Ali who after getting the share of property from Shahid Miyan moved from Audhan and settled in Barethi .As we know that Audhan belongs to the same family tree of Shuyukh Siddiqis descended from Shaikh Khateebuddin.

It is learnt that Shahid Miyan Chaudhari was the Taluqdar of Barethi at the time of 1857 upheavel but he had no son. When he grew old , the question arose of inheritance, he did not want the entire estate to go into the hands of his paternal kinsmen (i.e Chaudharies ) and he instead called his sister in law’s son Nusrat Ali From Audhan. Nusrat Ali of Audhan was a highly ambitious , capable person with excellent managerial qualities. He not only took care of the inherited estate , he made further purchases in the form of shares of several villages like Chandrasen, Ludhaur, Dulapur, Jaraini, Bhitura, Newada, Alampur ,etc etc which catapulted him into the league of the biggest four Taluqdars of Pargana Chail.

The Big fours ( Big4s) of Pargana Chail in 1857

1. Bamhrauli Taluka Ibrahimpur
2. Bisauna Taluka Adampur
3. Behka Taluka Ahmadpur
4. Barethi Taluka Basuhar

Shaikh Nusrat Ali was much respected and was a man of genial nature. His prominence was further enhanced when he married his sisters and daughters into the four leading families of Chail as mentioned above and for the next 50 + years , they did never marry outside these four or the closest relatives of these four. For generosity, munificence and boundless good nature, very few contemporary zamindars were equal to him. He had no vice in his character but complacency, thriftlessness and extravagance exhibited in the government and management.

BUT

Alas ! This prominence and supremacy could not be continued owing to the habit of extravagance. His son was moderate but his grandson Ghulam Yazdani stood idle and spent heavily on ceremonies, marriages, dances & music so extravagantly that became deeply involved in debt, and by 1870 one-half of the villages had passed into the hands of the money lenders. He did not heed and still increased the debt by protracted litigation with other pattidar.

Thereafter, around 1912 their area under zamindari declined further; as they were unable to meet their revenue demands, whether due to the excess of the demand or to their own extravagance or inefficiency, the government auctioned their estate in 1915.

Give me liberty to say that the weakness of character of the owners ruined the fortune of Barethi and their downfall, which lies principally in their obsessive love for pomp and extravagance, classical music and the extravagance with which they consummated this passion took them to dooms.

Today their present generation has nothing as compared to their ancestors except the stories of the yesteryears……..

Han dikha de ai tasavvur pir wo subh o sham tu !

Laut picchhe ki taraf ai gardish-i-Ayyam Tu !

Here is the shajra of descendents of Nusrat Ali of Audhan nee Barethi

A page from Khewat showing Mohal Shaikh Ghulam Rabbani

Mohammad Siddiq had Maqsoodullah and Matloob Ullah

Ghulam Rahmani – No Issue

Ghulam Haqqani - had Ghulam Mannai and Ghulam Yazdan II i- Now Ghulam Mannai had Farogh Ahmad who have Waseem Ahmad, Muiz-ur-Rahman, Waheed and Hidayat-ur-Rahman - While Ghulam Yazdani II had Mabood Ahmad , Maqsood Ahmad, Mahfooz Ahmad & Mashooq Ahmad, Gulam Ammani and Nafees ur Rahman. Mabood Ahmad has two daughters Faria & Maria.

Ghulam Samdani - No Issue

Ghulam Sultani - had Ghulam Furqani who had two sons, Fazl-ur-Rahman and Iqbal-ur-Rahman , now Fazlurrahman has Hafeez-ur-Rahman and Zia-ur-Rahman while Iqbal has Abdul Rahman. Ghulam Sultani Sahib was an influential person who held the office of Pradhan of the village for more than two decades.. Fazlur Rahman marhoom was a famous personality with a royal bearing , popularly known as Fajju Zamindar.

Ghulam Wahdani - had a son Ghulam Hamdani and then Ghulam Hamdani had four sons, Ghulam Usmani, Ghulam Jeelani, Ghulam Hannani (Pak), Ghulam Irfani. Now Ghulam Usmani has Asim , Ghulam Jeelani have Shahid, Afzal & Nusrat , Ghulam Hannai has Kashif & Shoaib, Ghulam Irfani has five sons, Mohammad Atif, Nasir, Zaki, Yasir & Bilal Irfani.

Note : There were two Ghulam Yazdanis in this family , the earlier was a spendthrift who sqandered away almost the entire estate while the later one just opposite , Ghulam Yazdani II who was the father of Mabood Ahmad etc , was a sedate, sympathetic , unflurred and genial person who look after the entire clan as his own children.

Ghulam Hamdani Marhoom

Iqbal ul Rahman and Farogh Ahmad

Fazlur Rahman Urf Fajju Zamindar Marhoom

Hifz ur Rahman

Marriages

Since the family in its hey days were one of the leading landholders , they contracted marriages with their counterparts only namely with Bisauna, Bamhrauli, Mindara , makhaupur etc ......

Maulana Shah Ghulam Wahdani Alias Shahid Miyan– Barethi

The Ghulam Family produced a sage of his time and a luminary amongst the gnostics of the era. I mean Shah Ghulam Wahdani , son of Ghulam Rabbani who went to Ganj Muradabad and Lucknow to learn Islamic sciences and came back as a accomplished Aalim and Da’ayi. He started advising people to live a life according to the Shariah. A sign of his piety and god-fearing status is that ever since he returned from lucknow , he did not live in his father’s house nor did he take any food there because he thought that the proceeds and income from Zamindari has certain things that makes the entire income ill-gotten or improper.

He lived in the mosque and did his prayers peacefully there. The sound of his Zikr ( Recitation ) could be heard as far as the village TILGODI. People from that village came to check if someday they could not hear to his divine voice full of Allaah’s Zikr.

In the later part of his life , he took to travelling for Tableegh and did not stay at Barethi. During one of his sojourns he was staying at Kachi Dargah, Patna and suddenly died there. Hearing of his death the Ulama of Kachi Dargah reached the place and laid him to rest at Chhati Shareef at the banks of River Ganges , near Kachi Dargah at Patna. Mawlana Waiz-ul-Haq was the main care taker of Kachi Dargah then.

May Allaah shower his immense blessings upon him !

Muneerpur /Chak Ahmad Patti / Purwa family

This is another important family which did not enjoy Zamindari status because they did not have an estate as compared to their village kinsmen.Hence this was the first family that took jobs outside , rushed to have education and eventually many of them had to step out of the village to eke out a living. Though at a later date they had purchased several shares in the village as well as in Village Rehi apart from their old hereditary part at Chak Ahmad Patti and Munirpur and Rehi. They lived with their kinsmen inside the village but shifted their base at the beginning of this century and today they are found in all three sides of the village.

This is the original house of the Purwa Family located inside the village

Bagh

Purwa ( Chak Ahmad Patti)

Purwa / Bagh

Another viw

Around 50-60 years ago the family shifted its base from inside the village to an open place near the large orchard making known themselves as Bagh Wale. They are also descended from Shaikh Muhammad Ameen, the common ancestor of Barethi.

Their near ancestor is Shaikh Tajuddin who had a son named Fazl Imam miyan . Now Fazl-i-Imam had one son Shaikh Munir-ud-din who fathered four sons, Wali Muhammad, Sajjad Husain, Nazeer Ahmad, Wakeel Ahmad. Munirpur is a nearby hamlet who is named after this Muniruddin Miyan.

Annu Khule Button ( Jb.Anwar ul Haq)

Now Wali Muhammad had Jawad Husain (4 daughters only), Altaf Husain(Lawalad) & Lutfullah who had Anwar-ul-Haq and now Anwar-ul-Haq had Zamir-ul-Haq (Ahmad Miyan) & Jafar-ul-Haq alias Mohammad Miyan , Zamir ul Haq is father of Muhamad Hashim Urf Munna and Muhammad Asif while Jafar-ul-Haq had Faizi.

This Anwar ul Haq II of Purwa was called Annu Khule Button while Anwar ul Haq from Chaudharana was called Annu Band Button. This Annu of Purwa emerged as a powerful person after the abolition of Zamindari and in post-zamindari era he was indeed a person of power to reckon with. His son Zamir ul Haq was also an influential person and his Son Munna Bhai has also been an important person of Barethi as on today. He has built a fine house in Barethi and this family still lives in the village

Sajjad Husain had four sons, Iqbal Ahmad, Sarfaraz Husain, Umrao Husain and Muhammad Ahmad. Here again , Iqbal Ahmad had Raees Ahmad residing at Bamhrauli and Idris Ahmad (Dularan) at Kanpur while Sarfaraz Husain had Mahmood Ahmad and Naseem Ahmad living at Barethi , Umrao Husain had five sons namely Janab Mansoor Ahmad (Sukkhan) Lawyer at London whose son Adnan Mansoor is a scientist in LA in United States, Farogh Ahmad who served at GM of Olympic Airlines at London whose son Wasif Farogh is at London, Farooq Ahmad Alias Niraley , Mansoob Ahmad (Pyare) are at Kareli & Mahfooz Ahmad is associated with Jamia Millia at Delhi. At last Muhammad Ahmad who fathered Mabood Ahmad, Mashooq Ahmad , Aafaq Ahmad and Nehal Ahmad ( Daily Pradhan).

Nirale Baba

Nehal Ahmad Urf Daily Pradhan served as pradhan of Bartehi for 10 continuous years and is quite well known .

Jb. Nehal Ahmad ( Dialy Pradhan)

Nazeer Ahmad had Qadeer Ahmad who had Azeez-ur-Rahman Urf Lalli who migrated to Audhan in his maternals. His son is Anees Ahmad at Katahula.

Wakeel Ahmad had Er.Kafeel Ahmad (UP Irrigation) who fathered four sons , Aqeel Ahmad, Jameel Ahmad (Pakistan), Jaleel Ahmad & Khaleel Ahmad.

There is a collateral branch of this family represented by Noor-ul-Huda,Shams-ul-Huda, Misbah-ul-Huda, Nasm-ul-Huda, Najam-ul-Huda etc

From the other branch of this same family was Daan Miyan whose descendents was Yaqoob Ahmad and Yaqoob Ahmad had Maulvi Ilyas Ahmad and Shafeeq Ahmad . Maulvi Ilyas Sahib was a teacher whose sons were Shabbir Ahmad (Lucknow) , Zameer Ahmad , Akhlaq Ahmad jameel Ahmad etc in Pakistan while Shafeeq Ahmad settled in Malaak, Mahgaon before migrating to Pakistan , his sons are Mr.Razi Ahmed and Mr. Mubeen Ahmed.

Migrations

Inward

Family of Nusrat Ali of Audhan came to inherit the property and his descendetns known as the Ghulam Dynasty or Ghulam Khandan is still very much there and their details are in the following paras.

Outward

Chaudhari kallu from the Chaudharana migrated to Ludhaur , a hamlet nearby with original name as Muhiuddinpur Chandrasen.

Meeran Miyan of Barethi (from Chaudharis branch) migrated to Akbarpur first and then to Pawan and settled there. The famous Deputy Habibullah and Deputy mansoobullah are from the same family.

Ludhaur

Ludhaur - Makan Jailor Sahib

Fine Lake encircling the village

House

Buffalo & Woman - both at work

Masjid at Ludhaur

Goats at Ludhaur

Family of Chaudhari kallu – migrated to Ludhaur

Chaudhary Kallu during 1860-1870 married twice , one the marriages being not at par of his status, was criticized severely to the extent that the children of his first marriage asked from him their share and separated from their father , left Barethi and settled in a village Ludhaur or Ladhaur. The name of this village is Muhiuddinpur Chandrasen known as Ludhaur.

Chaudhari Kallu's two sons actually form the part of the Ludhar Siddiqis

One was Ikramuddin Siddiqui famous as Shaikh Jee and the other was Jalaluddin Siddiqi

Shaikh Jee had four sons out of two marriages. Eldest was Maqbool Ahmad and then was Iqbal Ahmad, Jabbar Ahmad and Afzal Ahmad ( Jailor ) Now Maqbool had Mahmood Ahmad who has also expired. Then was Iqbal Ahmad who sons are Matloob Ahmad, Mansoob , Nabi Ahmad and Rashid Ahmad mostly at Lucknow. Jabbar Ahmad shifted to Shahdol ( MP ) and his sons are Saeed Akhtar (syed Bhai) , Hafiz Owais Akhtar and Waseem Akhtar. Now Afzal Ahmad Jailor who was arguably the most famous of the Ludhaurian guys had fours sons , Mahfooz , Ayyub , Maqsood and Tariq Ahmad, only the last one is presently living at Mundera.

The Other brother Jalaluddin Siddiqui had five sons namely , Mahboob Ahmad, Asrar , Abrar , Maashooq and Maabood Ahmad.

This is all what Ludhaur has made a name for .

Epilogue

Barethi was as famous village as it is today but the times and circumstances have changed. Yesterday Barethi was known to be a pure Zamindari village, the testimony to its fact is that the guys of Barethi did not join services or took up employment till very late. Even today this is the village which has the least count in employment index . Zamindari and the hues of the Zamindari were so strong that it resulted in severe neglect of modern Education. This is not the story of a family or two , the entire village was enjoying the fuits of ignorance and darkness of mind throughout the century. I don’t think there was a single graduate in Barethi till partition. Even after partition , there are people on tips of our fingers who got modern education and in my opinion this was the only drawback that Barethi suffered from so far.

But

Despite this lack of so-called modern education, the people of Barethi had lesser vices than their other kinsmen in the Pargana of Chail. There was never and even now no practice of gambling and no habit of drinking found in the fraternity. There was no series or chain or skirmishes and killings known or reported from Barethi. Stray incidents of petty skirmishes are ignorable but With NO GAMBLING , NO DRINKING and NO KILLING , Barethi has to be put in the first pedestal in Pargana Chail as no other village with so much of influential landlords could put a check on these major vices in their village. This is something that there is no rival of Barethi in other settlements of Chail. As they say that villagers have insight which civilized people lack and Barethi is an example of the same.

Secondly , the village has still maintained its old world charm. There is a Raunaq inside the village, you still feel you are in a village of the textbooks and you don’t fin desolate or forlorn houses, Crumbling walls or broken doors here, almost all the houses are intact and are open to receive you. To me this is most populous (zamindar) , lively and Ba-raunaq village in Chail because the migrations were few and the village was not left unattended. The lowest no of migrations were from Barethi.

Banana Plantation has flourished and gave heavy fruitful returns to the cultivators in Barethi and today the economy of a good chunk of the landowners depend on the Banana Crop.

Further It has not transformed into a urban or semi-urban township in terms of human relations & connections. The charms of nature around the village justifies the remark of poet Cowper that “God made the country and man made the town. There is an ancient pond in the middle of the village and that gives a splendid look from anywhere you peep in. I am reminded of a poem

The ancient pond

Frog jumps in

Plop!

The Zamindars have gradually lost their estates but have not lost their grip over the village. They are still held in awe and have maintained the prestige of their houses and this is again unmatched with any other village in Chail.

Though I am not sure how long would it be able to hold its originality as the signs of modernity have started coming up.

The important observation that I would like to share with our brothers at Barethi is that the more I wander so much here and there, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance.It could destroy a company ... a village ... a home. If we cannot change the inevitable but still we can change our attitude... ! You have the talent and are competent enough to turn the tide, just have a look at our attitude coupled with a enlightened mind, you can create a history. Or might rewrite it again. Learn a lesson from the past as the Qu'raan says"

Fa'tabiroo Ya Ulil Absaar” (So take heed, O you who have insight!)

Leave

With these lines I have come to time of taking leave and hopefully this is going to be a long leave as I am moving out of country , leaving these beautiful places , the land of my forefathers behind for some greater cause. Let’s pray that I & You keep our ties intact with our roots and nourish them for the posterity.

Let me depart wit the words of a poet :

Aankhain khuli rahengi toh manzar bhi ayenge

Zinda hai dil to aur sitamgar bhi ayenge !!!

Pehchaan lo tamaam faqeeron ke khadd-o-khaal

Kuchh log shab ko bhes badal kar bhi ayenge

Gehri khamosh jheel ke paani ko yun na chedh

Chheente udey to teri qaba par bhi ayenge

Khud ko chhupa na sheesha garon ki dukaan mein

Sheeshe chamak rahe hain to pathar bhi ayenge

Ai shehryaar dasht se fursat nahi — magar!!

Nikle safar pe hum to tere ghar bhi ayenge

WRITE TO ME @

khalidkoraivi@yahoo.com

khalid.bin.umar@gmail.com

Was’salaam

Khalid Bin Umar

New Delhi

Usmani Family of Hakeems - Allahabad

2013-05-23T11:44:00.000+05:30

The Patriarch - Hakeem Ahmad Husain Allahabadi

An Old Brochure of Unani Dawakhana, Allahabad

State Unani Medical College & Hospital , Allahabad

The Inside Building Class-rooms

The residence of Usmanis , Sabzi Mandi, Allahabad

Hakim Hammad Sb explaining to Hakeem Abdul Hameed (Hamdard

An Old file photo of 1950s , Hakeem Ahmad Usmani & Hammad Sb.

A view of the Unani Medical College from Inside

1957 - Hakim Hammad Usmani delivering a speech

Hakeem Hammad Usmani as a Prinicipal of College in late 60s

Hammad Usmani (Ye Qissa hai jab ka...)

Coverpage of Tarjuma Ibn Khaldun 1924 Edition

Siyar-i-Muhammadi (1930 ) Unani Dawakhan Press

1899 Edition of Tarjuma Ibn Khaldun Part II

With Dr.Saad & Yasmanil Usmani

Shajra of the Usmani family of Unani Physicians

MEN OF MORALS & MEDICINE

Usmani Hukama ( Hakims) of Kudapur ( Saiyid Sarawan) – Pargana Chail

This post is dedicated to the Men of Morals & medicine who originated from Kudapur -Pargana Chail in Allahabad and left an everlasting mark of their work in the field of Unani Medicine with their aim to serve the human race.

Kudapur-(Saiyid Sarawan)

Saiyid Sarawan is a famous village of Pargana Chail in Allahabad. It has an extended inhabitation in the form of near-by hamlet across the railway line named Kudapur (Sometimes spelt Kundapur). Kudapur or Kundapur as it is famous in Chail is an accidental village. It is still part of Saiyid Sarawan and has not got an independent village status so far. The Old timers tell us that when the railway tracks were being laid during 1857-1859, the detritus was dumped on another side of the village that made the village a bit upward,asymmetrical and disproportionate. The families who came in the way of tracks had to look for another place and finally they shifted towards the orchards side inhabiting a new place , the people would call that settlement as KUDAPUR (Where Trash or waste is thrown)

Men of Morals !

200 years ago when Subah of Allahabad was under the Nawab of Lucknow , a Barat (Marriage Procession) was passing through Kudapur and it was the month of May or June , the sun was fiery and the Baratis were finding it difficult to bear with the blazing heat. There was no well or water-body around. The Baratis were weary , tired and badly needed help. At this time a gentlemen from the Zamindars of Kudapur noticed the Barat and realized their problem. He asked the baratis to make a halt at his house , entertained them in the large hall of his house with the Sharbat made of homemade sugar (Khandsari), arranged cots for the Baratis to rest and allowed them to go ahead only when the “Hammering Sun” had withered a bit.

After a week or so, a summon was served in Kudapur asking the same Gentleman to be present at the Court of Nawab of Awadh at Lucknow. Perplexed and confounded, he did not know what crime he had committed that he had been called at the Court at Lucknow. Grudgingly he went to Lucknow and was surprised to find that the Barat he entertained some time ago was of the son of Noble at the Awadh Court and the noble had recommended to the Nawab about the hospitality of the gentleman at Kudapur. Eventually he was awarded with clothes & medals and was given lands over and above his zamindari as a reward. This gentleman was the patriarch whose descendants are the Usmani Hakims of Allahabad. Today we shall read about the family and its members in detail.

1857 and its aftermath

The Zamindars of Saiyid Sarawan were the ardent supporters of Maulvi Liyaqat Ali of Mahgaon. They were his biggest supporters in 1857 and consequently were one of the biggest losers in the aftermath. One of the grandparents of Hakeem Badruddin of Kudapur also took part in the struggle but was arrested and hanged on the Imli Tree which fell down in 1945. This tree was located near Khuldabad Lohati where a water tank was made for the animals in the memory of Queen Victoria. The dead body of the brave man hung for weeks and fell down only when it got decomposed.

During the same chaos, a young British boy who was the son of an revenue official lost his family in Allahabad and was found wandering near Chail when Hakim Ghulam Makhdoom of Kudapur noticed him and brought him to Kudapur. This Hakim Sahib had no issue of him so he loved the boy and looked after him like his child and used to sleep with him like his son. The young child had the problem of epileptic fits. After some time when the uprising subsided, the boy was searched and reward was announced for his recovery by the British, Hakim Sahib thought of going to City to hand over the child but as fearful of the revengeful acts by the British, therefore he sent the boy along with one of his servants. This servant took the English boy and no sooner did he reach Daniyalpur (a village near Saiyid Sarawan), the boy got fits and the poor ignorant servant thought that the boy is feigning and playing an act, he slapped him twice and the poor boy wept bitterly. Afterwards they continued their journey walking till Manauri and from there they took a bullock cart.

When they reached the Court in Allahabad. The boy related the entire story but at the end he did not forget to tell the court that the man who brought him here had slapped him twice .The Officer was furious and he issued arrest-warrant for Hakim Ghulam Makhdoom on the plea that whey he had not personally come to hand over the child + Why he was slapped by the “wretched “ slave ?

Hakim Sahib appeared at the court and gave his answers but the court was not satisfied and ordered to attach all his property but at the continued insistence of the young child that Hakim Sahib was very kind to him only 24 bighas of land was left for the sustenance of his family.

After this seizure (Zabti), the entire family came under severe financial crisis and all the male members were unable to decide what to do since they were ancestral zamindars, they did not know any skill or any craft which they could take up as a job. Only Hakim Badruddin from the family had some formal education so he got a job at the office of Octroi located at the old Kanpur road. Hakim Badruddin had two sons, Munshi Hamid Husain & Ahmad Husain. This Ahmad Husain rose on to the become one of the pioneers of Unani Hikmat in India and his family & descendents followed his path so successfully that the Usmani Khandan of Allahabad is today known throughout the Unani world for his services and sacrifices for the practice.

In 1859 when the Allahabad-Kanpur railway line was about to be declared open, a child was born to Hakeem Badruddin who proved himself to be a child prodigy and finished his formal religious education by 19 and under severely unfavourable circumstances , he studied medicine, literature, history,fathered a family and founded a school that in the later years became a Leading Name in the history of Unani Medicine and his family had the distinction of carrying, uninterruptedly the cherished healing tradition of Unani System medicine for more than a century. I am talking about Allama Hakim Ahmad Husain Allahabadi and his descendents, the Usmani Hakims of Allahabad.

Allama Hakeem Ahmad Husain ( 1859-1933)

Allama Hakeem Ahmad Husain, the patriarch of the Usmani Hakeem of Allahabad was born around 1859 in Saiyid Sarawan. Ahmad Husain was son of Hakim Badruddin of Saiyid Sarawan (later on Kundapur) initially he studied at Madarsa Arabia Islamia at Allahabad managed by Maulana Hakim Sufi Ahmad Husain Farooqi Allahabadi but Sufi Ahmad Husain at that time used to travel a lot and thus finding it difficult to finish his studies here , Ahmad Husain decided to leave Allahabad and pursue studies out of the town . Hence he left his house in just one pair of clothes on body and went to Kanpur to acquire the traditional religious sciences at the feet of Maulana Ahmad Hasan Kanpuri. After completion in Kanpur he went to lucknow to learn Hikmat and tried to enroll himself under the tutelage of Tabib-i-Shahi Hakeem Haidar Hasan but Hakeem Sahib, owing to the young age of Ahmad Husain, refused to accept him as a student But Ahmad Husain was determined and did not lose hope. He used to sit outside the room where hakeem Haidar would teach his students. When Hakeem Haidar taught his students, Ahmad Husain made notes sitting outside the room memorized his points.

As for lodging, he lived in a mosque or another as he had no money at that time and no relative to visit. He would go to the River Gomti for a bath. Wearing a Kurta, he washed his loin-cloth (lungi) and when it dried he wore the lungi ,then he washed his kurta. He managed his food through a great difficulty by taking help of the offerings in the Masjid and made his roti on the lamps in the mosque. One day when Hakim Haidar Hasan asked a difficult question, none of his students could answer the one. Suddenly Ahmad Husain Sb came out from the sides of the door and asked permission to answer. Amazed at his appearance Hakim Sahib allowed, he gave the correct answer and won the heart of Hakim Haidar Hasan. He instantly took him under his tutelage and started teaching him with great love and care.

It is worth mentioning that while Ahmad Husain was wandering in Kanpur and then Lucknow to acquire religious sciences and medicine, his family had no idea about his whereabouts, they had thought that he is no more now as there was no news of him for years…………

Upon completion (Faraghat), Hakim Ahmad Husain started practice at Lucknow but upon the advice of elders, he left Lucknow and went to Calcutta. Here he opened his Matab at Zakariya Street, near the Nakhuda Majid and his proficiency earned him money & fame. By now he was getting nostalgic and missed his parents in Saiyid Sarawan. Finally after a gap of 9 years, when he came to meet his parents in Saiyid Sarawan (Which by then had become Kudapur). His parents & other relatives refused to recognize him.They thought that some imposter is trying to dupe them by feigning to be their “dead” Ahmad Husain. When he explained to him the entire map of the old Makan in Saiyid Sarawan with details of boundaries and kitchen and when the family got satisfied after interrogating other details form him only then he was called inside the house and he could meet his mother ,that must have been an emotional reunion of mother & son indeed. Hereafter he opened his clinic in City of Allahabad and started his full fledged practice here.

Allama Hakeem Ahmad Husain Usmani was married firstly in PeepalGaon (village in Chail). He had one daughter out of this wedlock but both the mother & daughter expired one after another.

He married secondly to the daughter of Shaikh Musleh-ud-Din, of Makhaupur (village in Chail). From her, he had two sons and daughters as would you know later in the article

Let us have a brief look at the history of Unani Tibb

Tibb-i-Unani

‘Tibb’ means medicine in Arabic while ‘Unani’ means Greek (from Greece) hence Unani Tibb refers to the treatment system that originated in Greece but was further developed by the Arab & Persian doctors. Tibb-i-Unani is based on the Greek concept of humours in which the mixture of humours contributes to an individual’s temperament. The hakim, or doctor, keeps the individual’s temperament balanced harmoniously with the environment & advises changes in lifestyle, diet and exercise. It shares materia medica ideas with Ayurveda. Unani practitioners not only cured bodily diseases but also acted as an ethical instructor.

The Muslim occupation in the sub-continent brought this system in India.The Kings at Delhi were great patrons of Unani system of medicine. Many eminent physicians from Persia and Central Asia came to India to find a safe haven from the wars and strife devastating their homelands. The first Unani physician (Hakim) who came to India was from Afghanistan (Herat). His name was Hakim Ziyauddin Abul Rafey Hirwi’ who sought service at the Court of Khusrau Malik, the Ghaznawi ruler, at Lahore in (1160-1186) CE. The Tibb flourished under the patronage of Sultans of Delhi and later by the Mughal Rulers and then by the provincial Nawabs and feudal lords of their times.

However under British rule, all forms of healing except conventional allopathic medicine were discouraged. But Unani Medicine survived, mainly due to its popularity with the masses, and the safe, gentle yet effective nature of its treatments.

[P Pormann and E Savage-Smith, Medieval Islamic medicine (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2007]

Secondly because of the sustained and regular efforts of few visionary and gifted persons of the last century that Unani Medicine could see the days of 21st century. It is an historical fact that three prominent families in India took up cudgels to re-establish this ancient system of medicine. The Scholars have categorically highlighted the contribution of THREE families in India who are credited for the survival, revival and resurgence of Unani in our days. These families are:-

1. Sharifi Family of Delhi _ Hakeem Ajmal Khan

2. Azizi Family of Lucknow _ Hakeem Abdul Azeez

3. Usmani Family of Allahabad_ Hakeem Ahmad Husain.

Today we shall take a look at the origin and evolution of the Usmani Hukama in Allahabad.

Here are few excerpts from books that acknowledge the contribution of Allama Hakeem Ahmad Husain.

Title : A history of medicine: with special reference to the Orient

Author : Sohan Lal Bhatia

Publisher :Dr. B. C. Roy National Award Fund, Medical Council of India, 1977

Title :Uttar Pradesh district gazetteers

Author : Govt of Uttar Pradesh (India)

Published :1968

Title :Geography of Health: A Treatise on Geography of Life and Death in India

Author :R.P. Misra

Publisher :Concept Publishing Company, 2007

Unani Medical College

Keeping in view the hardships one had to go through to learn Hikmat coupled with the British animosity towards indigenous systems of treatment, Allama Hakim Ahmad Husain felt increasingly concerned for the future of Unani System .He intensified his work to promote the Hikmat with the commitment to open a School for the students of Tibb and with this concern he founded a Unani School in the lanes of Allahabd in 1904; this was one of the few first formal Unani medical schools to impart education of Unani Medicine in India

In 1904 when he opened this school it was named as “Al Kullyat ul Tibbiyah’ ( Madarsa Tibbiyah )and started it at a very small scale at his residence in Mohalla Sabzi Mandi Allahabad. When the no of students increased and it required a larger space, the School was shifted to Dariabad and it kept doing well there for many years. In these early years, his fellow Hakims who worked along with him were Hakeem Shifa-ul-Samad, Hakeem Qambar Ali, Hakeem Khaleeluddin etc by his side.

In 1914 this school was shifted to a rented apartment in Sabzi Mandi.

In the later years the school was visited by a host of eminent persons of that time and all of them praised Hakim Sahib for taking the initiative at is own expense & pain. The people who visited the school included Venkatraman Singh Maharaja of Reewa, Dr. MA Ansari (President Congress), Masih-ul-Mulk Ajmal Khan, Dr. Mufti Mohammad Sadiq , Dr. Ganganath Jha,etc

In 1927, a recognition committee headed by Justice Gokaran Nath Misra on behalf of Govt of India recommended its affiliation with the Indian Board of Medicine UP. Therefore the school was registered as “Unani Medical School, Allahabad “with Indian Board for Medicine , United Provinces.

In 1931 , Hakim Sahib shifted the school to a rented bigger place in Himmat Ganj and handed over the management of the school to a society. Thereafter on 30 Sept, 1931, a large orchard was purchased and the entire amount was paid by Hakeem Sahib from his pocket and thus Unani Medical School got his own building and premises thereon.

Unani Medical College- A chronology

1931 - A land was purchased by Allama Hakim Ahmad Husain , the founder of the college @ 8000 and in 1932 –Construction started and three rooms were raised. Bait ul Iqan – 1935 - Bait ul Tabie’yan – 1939 – a new building (Dissection Hall) was added by the two brothers from their own pocket which was named as Bait ul Tabiyan after the memory of their mother who died in 1938.

In 1942, Hon’ble Sir Syed Wazeer Hasan and Mr. Philips , Chairman , Board of Indian Medicine paid a visit and inspected the entire system of the school and based on their observations , the school was recognized as Unani Medical College, Allahabad.

1942 – Bait ul Safwan – was constructed for Physiology and pathology laboratories after the name of Hakeem Safwan Usmani.

1950 – Hakeem Ahmad Husain Republic Day Memorial Hospital – For practical training of the students and further research purposes, the need of a hospital was feld badly. Again the two brothers took the first step and got a draft made for the collage with 200 beds and estimated about 10 Lakhs in 1949.Finally the foundation stone of the hospital was laid by the minister , dep’t of health, UP , Mr. Chandrabhan Gupta on 26 Jan 1950 which was the first republic day of the independent nation additionally Mr. CB Gupta contributed 20,000 on behalf of the govt of UP for the hospital.

Hakeem Hammad Usmani on the occasion

The foundation Stone

16 Feb 1957, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur MInister of Health, Central Govt.paid a visit to the Hospital on the occasion of Golden jubilee of the College.

The Plaque of Opening ceremony of the hospital

Rajkumari Amrit Kaur with Hakeem Ahmad Husain

The first floor and the new ward of this hospital was inaugurated by Prabhu Narain Singh, minister of Health , UP on 31 Oct 1976.

This must be noted that till then the entire hospital & College was being run by the Usmani family on their own. Besides that these two brothers bore the entire expenses for the hostel, expansions , purchase of further lands etc as well…….

Few earliest Graduates of Unani Medical College

Hakeem Abdul Salam (Manikpur), Hakim Abdul Jabbar Khan (Sahasram), Hakeem ZHakeem Abdul Haleem( Makkah), Hakeem Shamshad Ali Khan(South Africa), Hakeem Kabeer Ali Khan, Hakeem Zubair Ali Khan ( Rangoon),Hakeem Ghulam Hasnain, Hakeem Ghulam Murtuza.

Death

Even in these humble beginnings, the goals of Allama Hakim Ahmad Husain were lofty; easing the suffering of the sick with healing herbs. Perhaps the strain of long hours and hard work cut off Allama Hakeem Ahmad Husain’s life in its prime; with the support of his sons, Hakeem Ahmad Usmani & Hakeem Muhammad Usmani, not only he kept the institution in existence but also expanded it. When the Unani Medical School was in at the stage of infancy , the constructions were in full swing and Hakeem Sahib was needed everywhere for his valuable advice and guidance , the providence had a different plan and that came into being in the form of the passing away of the Hakeem Sahib.

Sadly Allama Hakeem Maulvi Ahmad Husain (d.1933) did not live long enough to see the flowering of his dream into the multidimensional college that it was to become in the competent hands of his illustrious son- Hakeem Ahmad Usmani.Allama Hakeem Ahmad Husain virtually gave a new life to Unani Tibb at a time when it had stagnated beyond belief. Today Unani Medical College with a wide portfolio is amongst the leading medical institutes in India.

After spending an eventful, successful life Allama Hakim Ahmad Husain Allahabadi passed away on 3^rd Shawwal, 30 January 1933 and was laid to rest inside the premises of Unani Medical College. A very meaningful urdu couplet is engraved on the eastern side of his grave.

Hai ye Laraib Fatiha ka Maqaam

Madfan-i-Baghban-i-Gulshan-Tibb

At the time of his death he held the following offices :-

President of Anjuman tibbiya Allahabad
Member ,Association Anjuman Tibbiya UP, Lucknow
Trustee, Ayurvedic & Unani Tibbi College, Delhi
Member , Central Standing Committee, All India Vedic & Unani Medical College, Delhi

A road in Sabzi Mandi, Allahabad was named and called Hakeem Ahmad Husain Road.

Hakim Usmani as an author

Allama Hakim Ahmad Husain Sahib was not only a Hakim but he was an Aalim of repute and among his multifold contributions to the field of literature were the 14 volumes of Tareekh Ibn Khaldun that he translated into Urdu in 1899 and to this date it is the only authentic version in the language. For his contribution, he won recognition throughout the literary world.Prior to this he had penned the life history of Salahuddin Yusuf and Seerat Noor-ud-Din Zangi in 1897,Jang’ha-i-Saleebi that proved him to be a prolific author of Islamic History.

Old View of Unani Dawakhana

Old Catalogue of Unani Dawakhana

Unani Dawakhana

Allama Hakim Ahmad Husain established the Unani Dawakhana in 1912 at Subzi Mandi after his clientale increased manifold inlcuding the royal families seeking appointments, that disturbed the students at his clinic as well . Hindustani Dawakhana was started as a small Unani clinic in one of the by lanes of the Allahabad, Unani Dawakhana soon became synonymous with integrity and high quality in the field of relatively inexpensive Unani medicines. Thousands of patients got benefitted from the remedy provided from this dispensary. Members of the then princely states constituted a considerable chunk amongst his regular patients.

Firstly Allama Hakeem Ahmad Husain himself sat in the Dawakhana thereafter his son Shifa-ul-Mulk Hakeem Ahmad Usmani who attracted patients no less than his father during his lifetime and thereafter Hakeem Hamd & Hakeem Humaid Usmani regularly sat there and kept the tradition alive. As of today one franchised practitioner is running the Dawakhana. You cannot visulaize the grandeur and hustle bustle of the Unani Dawakhana from what you see it today.

You can guage the popularity and reliability that the Dawakahan and its medicines were advertised in journals like the “ The Modern Science “ I was going through some old files in the library at Delhi when I found the following advertisement in its issue of 1920.

Unani Dawakana Press

For the dissemination of oriental sciences, Allama Hakim Ahmad Husain Usmani established a press in 1912 which nitially published his own books viz. Tareekh Ibn Khaldun since it had gone into several editions by then and was constantly in demand. In the later years Unani Dawakhan Press published a lot of literary and historical books which were well received. Few of the famous publications are :-

Jaan-i-Wafa by Saiyid Masood Hasan Rizwi “Adeeb”
Aa’ina-i-Tasawwuf
Tareekh Adab al Arab – translated by Dr. Ghayur Zubaid Ahmad published in 1926.
Mathnavi-i-Shahr-i-Ashoob by Hakim Abdul Hameed was also printed here.

Karnama

A socio-literary magazine called “ Karnama “ was also ublished from the same press….It carried the progress report of the Medical College along with medical and literary articles.Karnama was edited by Masroor Qanauji, Safwan Usmani, Syed Abul Aliyy’Bahr’ Allahabadi, Munshi Balroop, Munshi Abdul Ghafoor Khan at different periods of time. The Magazine published from 1920 through 1960.

Shifa-ul-Mulk Hakim Ahmad Usmani

Shifa-ul-Mulk Hakeem Ahmad Usmani

Hakim Ahmad Husain was succeeded very capably by his two sons Hakim Ahmad Usmani And Hakeem Safwan Usmani. While Hakeem Ahmad Sahib assumed the post of secretary, Hakeem Safwan served as the principal of the Unan icollege. However the later years showed that Shif-ul-Mulk Hakeem Ahmad Usmani was the Meer-i-Karwan of this period.

Shifa ul Mulk Hakeem Ahmad Usmani

Hakeem Ahmad Usmani was born on 21 July 1896 at Makhaupur , a village in Pargana Chail, his nanihal. His initial education started at home under his father’s guidance. Later on he was admitted to Madarsa Ahya-ul-Uloom where he completed his Dars Nizami in 1909. He did his matriculation from Govt High School Allahabad in 1912. He later on did his graduation from Ewing Christian College in 1914. Thereafter he was enrolled in KGMC Lucknow but took part in the freedom movement and had to leave the college midway. He had already been taught by his father in the Unani Tibb and after returning from Lucknow he made Unani Medicine his prime concern. As he grew up, Hakeem Ahmad Usmani assumed all responsibilities. After helping in his younger brother's upbringing and education, his father included him in running the institution. Now both brothers Hakeem Ahmad Husain and Hakim Muhammad Usmani transformed a small school into a Medical College dedicated to the nation's health and education.

After the partition of the country, the scenario changed drastically and fresh challenges had come up + plus the lack of local support posed challenges to him, but his dedication stiffened his resolve to overcome all difficulties. Using the talents with which he had been gifted, Hakim Ahmad Usmani raised Unani School from rented rooms and some rented furniture to the level of an Full fledged Medical College. His life was dedicated for the development of health, education, and similar nation building and philanthropic fields.

The setting up a modern laboratory and subjecting the various drugs to laboratory tests brought the college on modern scientific lines for the first time.As a result not only did Unani College become a premier Medical School with a totally indigenous base, but it also emerged as mission committed to the service the society at large.

An Old Photograph with introduction

He started his own practice in 1916 and was highly successful in his profession. He was offered the post of prinicipal of Govt Tibbiya College,Patna and had offers from Nizam Govt , Hyderabad as well but he did not accept those offers just for the sake of his father’s dream and the fact is if his father was the founder , then he was the real architect of this institution which was solely funded and managed by the Usmani family.

Hakeem Ahmad Usmani took extensive tour throughout the country, tirelessly worked for the development and recognition of the institution, worded unrelentingly for the promotion & protection of Unani Tibb and the practitioners of Unani medicine. Everywhere in the country, he was held high in esteem. His profound knowledge on Unani-pathy and the Application of medicine gave him envious growth and at one time was the most sought after Hakeem of his time. In recognition of his services, The British Government decided to honour him. Lord Linlithgow (1936-43), the Governor-General and Viceroy of India conferred upon him the title “Shifa-ul-Mulk” in 1941. It was a strange fact that Hakim Sahib’s ancestors were punished and charged with sedition in 1857 while his grandson was awarded by the British Government after 90 years.

He was the vice-president of Board of Indian Medicine, UP and was associated with numerous organizations like All India Tibbi Conference, All India Ayurvedic & Unani Tibbi Congress, Ayurvedic & Tibb Academy , Jamiat-ul-Atibba , UP , Central Council of Indian Medicine etc etc…

He was a avid reader of books. Wrote wonderful articles for different journals, “FROG IN THE WELL” and “AVICENNA IN THE ATOMIC AGE” are two specimen of his depth of knowledge and command over the subject.

Excerpt form “Avicenna in atomic age” by Shifa-ul-Mulk Hakeem Ahmad Usmani

When he had stabilized the Unani College well and it was going at the top, he had a great impulse and yearning of performing Hajj. Materializing the plan he proceeded for Haj in year 1962. On 24 May 1962, Shifa-ul-Mulk Ahmad Usmani fell down while hitting stones at SATANS (Shaitan) in Minah on 14th May 1962.He was shifted with head injuries to a hospital in MAKKAH the next day, but breathed his last on 25th May 1962, fulfilling his desire to remain there ,according to 22 Zil-Hijj 1381 AH and was laid to rest in Jannatul M’aala , Makkah Muazzamah. May Allah shower his blessings upon him Aameen !

He left behind the widow, a daughter and two sons, Hakeem Hammad Usmani & Hakeem Hamdan Usmani to carry forward the legacy.

I reproduce below a letter of Pt.Jawaharlal Nehru addressed to his daughter Indira Gandhi , both former Prime-ministers of India with a mention of the late Hakeem Usmani.

Title Two Alone

Authors Sonia Gandhi, Sonia ( Ed.)

Editor Sonia Gandhi

Publisher Penguin Books India, 2004

Letter of Jawahar Lal Nehru to Indira Gandhi

Disciples

Hakeem Mohammd Ilyas Azami(Kot,Azamgarh),Hakeem SM Hanifa(Ceylon),Hakeem Muhammad Saleem (Orissa), Hakeem Abdul Nafey ( Bulandshahr), Hakeem Syed Muhammad Noor(Muzaffarpur),Hakeem Mazhar Subhan (Gorakhpur), Hakeem Abdul Razzaq Kashish Siddiqi(Karachi),Hakim Anwar( Nasik), Hakim Muhammad Abdullah Nadvi, Hakim Fayyaz Husain Husaini(Ghazipur),Hakeem Aale Hasan Masroor Qanauji(Kanauji) (Karachi),Hakeem Tayyab(Lucknow), Hakeem Abdul Raheem (Srinagar), Hakeem Muhammad Saeed( Banaras), Shah Muhammad Akhtar Sahib Partabgarhi (Pak),are few of the disciples of Shifa ul Mulk Hakeem Ahmad Usmani.

Hakeem Muhammad Safwan Usmani

Mention must be made of Hakeem Safwan Sahib, the genious of Usmani family who rose to shine for relatively a smaller period and left its marks on the horizon for long to reckon. Hakeem Safwan Usmani was born in 1902 at Kudapur (Saiyid Sarawan) Allahabad. After initial education at home, he was taken under the guidance by his father Hakeem Ahmad Husain who taught him medicine along with other religious sciences. He graduated from Unani Medical School as Mahir-i-Tibb wal Jarahat and started his own clinic. He was a genius in all respects of discipline. While his elder brother Hakeem Ahmad Usmani took on the responsibility of Unani Medical School, Hakeem Safwan Sahib was interested in producing medicines and hence took care of Unani Dawakana alongwith the Unani Dawakhana Press where his father’s books were published originally. After two years of continuous ailment, Hakeem Safwan Usmani expired on 16, sept 1952 , leaving his elder brother alone to bear the huge responsibilities of the Unani College and its expansion.

Hakeem Hammad Usmani (1928-2000)

The next towering figure of this golden chain and probably the last Samurai was Hakeem Hammad Usmani who was the son of Hakeem Ahmad Usmani. He was born on 20 April 1928 at Subzi Mandi, Allahabad. After initial studies (learned Persian from Hakeem Shifa-us-Samad of Yahyapur) he completed Muatamid-ut-Tibb-Wal-Jarahat (MUMS) from Unani Medical College in 1945. Later on he went to Bengal and enrolled himself at the Bankura Sammilani Medical College ,Bankura (West Bengal) to learn modern medicine (Allopath). Later on got transferred to the Dacca Medical School (now a College) where he read for a four year course for Licentiate in Medical Faculty (LMF) in Allopathy. Consequently he got well versed in both the traditional and modern medical sciences and was picked up and appointed as the 2nd Doctor in the department of Jails in Dacca.

In Allahabad, his father was not happy at his being busy far from where he was badly needed and his being getting inclined towards Allopath. After a few exchange of letters, Hammad Usmani realized his father’s dreams and came back to Allahabad in 1950 to work whole heartedly for the cause of Unani Tibb and its expansion along with his father. After the death of his uncle in 1952, he was permanently appointed as the Principal of the Unani Medical College, Allahabad, a post which he held till his retirement in 1988. He also served as an Honorary Project Officer in the Clinical Research Unit (Unani) at Allahabad till 1992. He had been the Dean, Faculty of Ayurvedic & Unani Medicine, Kanpur University, Kanpur. He served on the Scientific Advisory Committee of CCRUM of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of India, was a member of Unani Pharmacopeia Committee of G.O.I. New Delhi and associated with various Govt. & Non-Govt. organizations working for Unani & Ayurvedic Medicine in India.

He was a physician of exemplary excellence, His fame as the Nabbaz and Tabeeb travelled far & wide and was once the personal Unani Physician to the Governor of U.P. the (Late) Mohd. Usman Arif and was considered one of the most proficient & prominent Hakeem of our times. You may argue but for me he was the last samurai of the Unani Tibb in India….

Scholar

Hakim Hammad Usmani was not only a proficient Hakeem but he was also an eminent scholar of Unani system of medicine. His books are part of the curriculum all over India and are considered as classics in the Unani pharmacopeia. They have gone into several editions and are regularly looked for :-

Tibb-ul-Qanoon
Ilm-i-Sumoom
Kitab-ul-Jarahat (2 Parts )

He was regularly listed in the Prominent Whos Whos of India, was a veteran Rotarian of Allahabad and was the Trustee of Muslim Boarding House (MBH)) from 1964 to 2000

Title India : Who's who

Contributor: India News and Feature Alliance

Publisher :INFA Publications, 2004.

Illustrated Biographical Notes on Men & Women of Achievements & Distinctions in India
Authors :Kanhya Lal Gupta, Ravi Bhushan, Anurag Gupta
Publisher Tradesman & Men India, 1975

He was a strict disciplinarian, a man of principles, was an strict administrator .He tirelessly worked for the consolidation of the Unani College till it was taken over by the UP Govt,was regularly consulted by the Central & State Government on issues related to the indigenous systems of medicine, was on board on various committees by the government, Sat in his clinic regularly ,listened to the problems of the patients. A veteran ROTARIAN ,looked after the affairs of Muslim Boarding House and that too ……not one or two years……..

Ye Nisf Sadi ka qissa hai

Do Char baras ki Bat nahi !

Dr. Hammad Usmani, died on 30 Dec, 2000 at Allahabad leaving his eldest son Dr. Saad Usmani to look after what he had put his life for. IN his death, Allahabad lost one of the most respected of its citizens who was held in esteem by every section of Society and was hope to thousands of hopeless.

Rahmatullahi Alaihi

Central Council of Research in Unani Medicine (CCRUM) recognized his efforts by publishing a special issue in a journal Jahan-i Tibb on his life and contribution and named it as "Hammad. Usmani Number,

Disciples – Amongst his disciples are Hakim Syed Mehdi Hasan ( Ajmer ), Hakim Ata-ur-Rahman Jafri( Allahabad),Hakim KA Shafqat Azmi (CCRUM, Delhi), Hakim Abu Bakr ( Malegaon), Hakim Shams-ul-Afaq Siddiqi (Delhi),Hakim Syed Fariduddin Zaidi (Pune),Hakim Anis-ur-Rahman (Burhanpur), Hakim Fariduddin, Hakim Uzair ,Hakim Abdul Salam(Lucknow) , Hakim Ram Krishna Arora ( Allahabad), Hakim Saad Usmani ( Son),Hakim Shakeel Azmi (Ghosi),Hakim Ahmad Yasin (Delhi) are few from the long list of his pupils……..

Mat Sahl Hame Jano Phirta hai falak Barson

Tab Khaak ke parde se insaan nikalte hain ! !

(Dr(Prof)Saad Usmani – The last Hope!

Eldest son of Hakim Hammad is (Prof) Dr. Saad Usmani who is himself a Unani Physician and retired in 2011 as the Principal of the State Unani Medical College Allahabad. Dr. Saad, a scion of Usmani family, is now 'serving' people with Unani medicine with same pride and dedication, what his ancestors have been doing for the generations ago. He is a profound scholar and has to his credit at least two dozen research papers on various topics and has attended at least six international conferences on Unani medicine. He is frequently invited to the Doordarshan and Akashvani as well. He is the president of the Rotary Club of Allahabad currently.

Title National Seminar on Research Methodology in Unani Medicine: 3-4 April 1995

Author Alt̤āf Aḥmad Āʻẓamī

Contributor Jamia Hamdard (New Delhi, India). Dept. of History of Medicine and Science

Publisher Department of History of Medicine and Science, Hamdard University, 1998

He has also been honoured by Central Council of Research in Unani Medicine (CCRUM) and Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM) for his outstanding work in Unani medicine. Dr Saad Usmani is also actively involved with various literary, social and cultural organizations.

In the photo on right Dr.Saad is seen felicitating Mr.Vikas Swaroop IFS, at present Counsul General of India at Osaka, Japan. Mr.Vikas Swaroop was being honoured for his novel Q & A, on which the film Slum Dog Millionaire has been made. This felicitation program was organised by Rotary International Alld. when Dr.Saad Usmani was its Secretary.

Yasmanil Usmani - Dr.Saad’s younger Brother Yasmanil is into the manufacturing of herbal & unani medicines and has set up a factory at his ancestral place in Kudapur named as HERBODRUGS & PHARMACEUTICALS PVT LTD.

Yasmaneel Usmani

Other prominent members of Usmani Family

At one point of time, the entire generation of this family was involved in practicing Unani Tibb. Mentioned should be made of Hakeem Humaid Usmani, Hakeem Hamd Usmani and Hakeem Hamdun Usmani (The sons of Illustrious Hakeem Muhammad Safwan Usmani).

Hakeem Humaid Usmani (10.5.1932 - 07.05.2012)was a versatile genius. He was adept in Canvass Painting, was a keen horse rider, member of Allahabad Gymkhana Club, regular tennis player, was a music lover, learned Sitar at an advanced age, wrote short stories in Hindi and on the top of all was a qualified Hakeem. However his mercurial temperament did not allow him to stick to one and kept him moving and he was a symbol of the saying. The show must go on……

Hakeem Hamdun Usmani, (1937-1992) - apart from being a qualified Hakeem, he lived a life of a socialite more than a Tabeeb. He was a well known poet who published majorly in “Shabkhoon” Allahabad edited by SR Farooqi. His collection of poems was published in 1997 under the title “Iqra”. Two of his couplets are quoted here:-

Is Akelepan mein Akhir koi to Damsaaz ho

Toot ai Taar-i-Nafas too hi keh kuchh aawaz ho ! (Written on his epitaph)

Jal Gaye Soz-i-DurooN se keh NishaN tak na rahe

Barf ki Tarah pighaltey to Samandar hotey !

Hakeem Hamd Usmani (10.07.1934 - 08.06.1992)– practiced medicine and was a teacher of Physiology in Unani College who died during his service.

Hakeem Hamdan Usmani

Hakeem Hamdan Usmani (01.07.1935 - 30.07.2004)– a qualified Hakeem, he did not or very little practice and when the govt took over the Unani College , he was RMO at the hospital but was absorbed as the medical officer in government service.

AT LAST

let me share with you in brief that the family which founded,raised, supported and funded the entire college from their own funds and contributed so much for the common man has endured a lot in the process, intimidation, attempts on life, legal cases, oppositions, feud, animosity of their own people, apathy of the government etc etc but they stood their ground, exhausted their funds & blood to sustain and raise the Unani Medical College to further heights……In turn when the government took over the hospital in 1982, incredibly no compensation was paid or no recognition of the family was acknowledged. Today the family has almost lost its ties with the brain-child of Hakeem Ahmad Husain Allahabadi which their generations nourished with their blood & wealth.It is a towering tree now in the hands of others.

However If you ask Allama Hakeem Ahmad Husain , the founder ,who is lying in eternal sleep inside the premises, he must be happy that the sapling he planted has borne fruits and thousands and thousands are having a rest under its shade. If he gets a chance, he would say” The greatness comes not when things go always good for you. But the greatness comes when you're really tested, when you take some knocks, some disappointments, when sadness comes.What we do for ourselves dies with us but still what we do or contribute for others remains and is immortal.”

Only the men with morals , with discipline could do, achieve and contribute in such a big way in life.

The life of these great men call upon you and me and us to try our luck as well ! What do we have to say ? Are we ready to extend our hand......

Do we have something that we could share with our brothers in humanity ?

Do we have anything to be handed over to the present generation to take care of ?

May Allaah SWT have mercy on all of them ! Aameen

I leave you here...With these inspiring lines of Allama Muhammad Iqbal (d.1938),

If a mountain of grief collapsed upon the Ottomans, then why lament?

For the dawn arises from the blood of a hundred thousand stars.

More difficult than the conquest of the world is the task of seeing the world;

When the heart is reduced to blood, only then does the eye of the heart receive its sight.

For a thousand years the narcissus has been lamenting its blindness;

With great difficulty the one with true vision is born in the garden.

Was’salaam

Khalid Bin Umar

New Delhi

Was’salaam

Khalid Bin Umar

New Delhi

WRITE TO ME @

khalidkoraivi@yahoo.com

khalid.bin.umar@gmail.com

Fake Shajra by Mr.Afroz Ahmad

2013-04-24T10:59:00.000+05:30

Shajra of Lakdi Gaon (Chail Khas) prepared by Mr. Afroz Ahmad , Karachi

Assalamu’ Alaikum

Dear Friends !

You are accustomed to read historical accounts of the villages in Chail and pieces on Allahabad at this place butr today I am drawing your attention towards a phenomenon named Mr.Afroz Ahmad in Karachi.

Mr. Afroz Ahmad, as I have come to know, has been collecting & publishing Shajras of several villages of Pargana Chail from time to time. I had a chance to view and review one of the shajra he made for the village Lakdi Gaon ( Chail Khas) and I wanted to share with you the crazy discrepancies & fatal errors in the Shajra that had disturbed me.

About Mr. Afroz Ahmad

Mr. Afroz Ahmad is a son of Janab Anees Ahmad Marhoom of Badagaon (Purbahan) and his Nanihal is also in Badagaon. His maternal uncle was Janab Mushtaq Ahmad Sahib of Mahal
(Badagaon) also from Purbahan. Now have a look at the signature below which he normally attaches at the end of each of the Shajra that he has printed so far.

I dont know for reasons best known to him only , he introduces himself in all his shajras as

"Saiyid Afroz Ahmad FCA,FCMA, DAIB,
Maulood Fee Bazar ka Bagh, Kashia, Chail , Zila Kaushambi -UP- Al-Hind
Haal Muqeem Karachi Sindh“ Pakistan

Which reads as
Saiyid Afroz Amad FCA,FCMA, DAIB ,
born at Bazar ka Bagh,Kashia,Chail , District Kaushambi -UP- India
At present residing at Karachi, SIndh , Pakistan

Isn't this intriguing ?

How would it look if while writing this article I introduce myself as

" Khalid Bin Umar MA.,B.Ed.M.B.A-
Maulood Fee Bagh-i-Babur, Subah & Shahar Kabul
Mulk Afghanistan "

Isn't it ridiculous

Firstly It does not tell which place do I originally belong to ,who my father /grand-father are ? Which family do I belong to ? Naturally my birthplace does not define me .My own people won't be able to connect with me.

Secondly it seems that I am trying to throw dust in your eyes so that you do not see the something that is real or that is actual (reality )?

Thirdly it appears to be a deliberate effort to effect an wrong impression and dupe the people that he belongs to Kashia whereas the fact is that he is from Badagaon (Purabahan) family and not from the Bukhari Sadat of Kashia.

Now I leave upto you to judge why doesn't he mention his Dadihal and confuses all with the mention of Kashia ?

Now coming back to his Shajra of Chail which I saw just recently.

Shajra of Chail

The Shajra before me has been made by Mr.Afroz Ahmad in 2010 starts with the heading as follows:

“Nasab Nama Siddiqin Sakinan Lakdi-Gaon ( Chail) Zila Kaushmabi

It is apparently the shajra of Shaikh Siddiqis of village Chail Khas which is popularly known as Lakdi Gaon.

First of all this word” SIDDIQIN” is not the appropriate word for the descendants of Hadhrat Abu Bakr Siddieeq Radi Allahu Anhu. SIDDIQIN is a term to denote a status of a mystic and a personage in Islamic Tasawwuf and nowhere it is used for the Shaikh Siddiqis who are descended from Hadhrat Abu Bakr Siddeeq Radi Allahu Anhu. Never in the Islamic history was this term “Siddiqin used for the Shajra Purposes. The right Persian term for the Shajra purposes is Shuyukh-Siddeeqi or simply Siddiqis of Chail.

This shajra gives the names of the descendents of Marhoomeen Jan Miyan, Arkan Miyan, Subahdar Major Shaikh Raheem Bakhsh of Chail and to this extent it is fine.

BUT

This Shajra shows the name of Mushir ul Haq, Sana ul Haq Falak of Pawan to be a part of the family of Jan Miyan and Arkan MIyan which is not only wrong but a blatant lie and fatal error.

Shajra of Chail Mixed wit Shajra of Pawan

Please find the name of Sana-ul-Haq “Falak” of Pawan in this Shajra. Can anyone explain to me how come his name is entered in the Shajra of Chail ( Lakdi Gaon). Were Sana-ul-Haq marhoom’s ancestors from Lakdi Gaon (Chail) ?. It is an accepted fact that the Qazian ( Haq Family ) of Pawan is the original family of Pawan & Husainpur. They have not migrated from somewhere else rather they are the original residents and descendents of Qazi Naseeruddin of Pawan.

Thereafter I found the name of Masroor-ul-Haq & Mushir-ul-Haq of Pawan in the same Shajra. It is again a blatant line / a sin of changing the fathers of a family that these people are unlawfully entered into the Chail Gaon Shajra while everyone knows these Mushir-ul-Haq & Masroor ul Haq are from Pawan ?

The Siddiqis of Chail ( Lakdi Gaon have different ancestor while the Siddiqis of Pawan & Husainpur have different ancestor. They can never be clubbed together in a Single Shajra.

If for a second ,we suppose , that the Haq family of Pawan has migrated from Chail , then where are the names of other Haq family members , like Ansar-ul-Haq, Rizwan-un-Haq , Faizan-ul-Haq, matloob-ul Haq who are very much there in Pawan & Allahabad and are very much part of the same family of Pawan.

If this is a complete Shajra of Chail then where are the names of Chhote Miyan , Hakeem Anees Ahmad & Dabeer Ahmad Sahiban of Chail Khas who were from the original Siddiqui family of Chail (Lakdi Gaon)……….Why there name does not appear in the shajra?

This shajra will go down for hundreds of years and people will think that I am descended from Farman Ali Siddiqi of Chail village while as a matter of fact his forefathers have been changed by Afroz Ahmad of Badagaon.

If you watch closely he has copied few names of Audhan Shajra and pasted it in the Shajra of Lakdi Gaon hence making it uptill Hadhrat Abu Bakr Siddiq (RA). It seems that When he makes a Shajra and finds some names/generatiosn to be missing , he does not stop, he fills in the gaps with assumed and false names and thus creates a complete Shajra.

What kind of service is this ?

Is this the way to prepare a Shajra ?

Is this not a SIN to insert fake Names ?

Is it not a SIN to change someone's forefathers ?

Does this kind of lackadaisical approach could ever make a reliable Shajra ?

If one cannot or has not the means to enquire, verify and update a Shajra then what is the hurry or compulsion to prepare and publish a Shajra so rapidly ? Is there any Shara'i compulsion or an Government orders to have a Shajra by hook or by crook ?

People are happy to find their names printed in it whereas they do not realize that their fore-fathers have got changed. They do not take pain to check the entire tree or the line that goes up because they themselves have no knowledge about their own line of succession. Taking benefit of this ignorance Afroz Sahib is churning out Shajras after Shajras without it being verified or cross-checked by the original residents of that village.

Someone told me that a lot of names are missing in his Shajra made for Audhan as well.

His other Pawan Shajra is also having wrong names or incomplete off-shoots therein.

Having said this I would not say that all of the entries in his Shajra are wrong, some of the names/branches shown are indeed correct but to create a complete family tree , he adds names out of his supposition or from any other Shajras which makes the Shajra wrong.In any case , after his edits & updates , the shajra becomes completely unreliable and wrong.

As in the Shajra above the names before FARMAN ALI SIDDIQI are almost fictitious and assumed names are filled in to complete it till Hadhrat Siddiq (RA) .There is no document about Chail Khas where the names from Hadhrat Abu Bakr Siddiqi (RA) till Farman Ali Siddiqui are duly recorded. Sincey they are reputed to be an off-shoot of Behka then the name of Shah Habeeb-ullah must be there , it is also missing.

I would call this an “Adjusted Shajra” and not an original Shajra written 100 or 200 years ago.

Since I have not seen all of his Shajra-jaat, I cannot claim that all are incorrect , but one thing is sure , if he makes or updates Shajra like the one discussed above then believe me that none of his Shajras could be taken for granted.

CIRCLE of 12 VILLAGES in the SHAJRAS

Afroz Sahib prints a Circle on the left side of each Shajra that he makes for Siddiqis .In side the circle the names of 12 villages are written. He writes it as “Aaqab Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq Qura'a 12 Fee Chail” Translation ( Hazrat Abu Bakr siddiq ki Aulad Chail ke 12 villages mein hai ) Now read out the names of Siddiqi Villages.

1) Umarpur Niwan -

2) Muhiuddinpur -

3) Chail (Lakdi Gaon) -

4) Nizampur Puraini

5) Hasanpur Ujheni

6) Umarchhe Kuri

7) Barethi

8) Katahula

9) Rasoolabad Koilaha

10) Pawan & Husainpur

11) Behka

12) Audhan

You would notice how disorderly, incomplete & unconnected these names are. Now let us find out the facts:-

Muhiuddinpur - There is no Siddiqi in Muhiuddinpur village.

Ujheni Khalsa - Ujhehni was a basti of Sadat (syed) and few Siddiqis were

indeed there who shifted to Godam.

Nizampur Puraini – there is no siddiqi , was never a Siddiqi in Puraini

Umarchhe - Umarchha was never a Zamindari , shurafa village in the Chail

Fraternity. I don’t know how come he added Umarchha in this

list and it seems that he had some relation in this village.

Why there are only 12 villages inside the circle?

Are there no more villages of Siddiqis origin in Chail ?

What about the authentic SIDDIQI villages of Chail which are known as ATH-GAWAN ?

( Eight villages of Siddiqis).

He has completely ignored the following villages in that circle

Makhaupur,
Rasoolpur Beur(Biyur)
Seondha
Kathgaon
Akbarpur ( Now defunct)

In place of the above-mentioned pure Siddiqi villages, he has inserted the names of villages like Umarchha, Koilaha, Katahula . The history of these three villages are so obscure that even the residents could not tell you which branch of Siddiqis they belong to , or who was their foremost ancestor ?

Can anyone let me know 10 persons from Umarchha who are from the Siddiqi Shajra and are related in the Chail Fraternity? Can Afroz Sahib show the Shajra of Siddiqis of Umarchha ? How these villages are related to Chail, Pawan & other villages are mentioned in his Shajra.

If I have some relations in Mau Aima, should I add Mau Aimma into the Shajra of Siddiqis of Chail just to include them in our Shajra. Is this the correct way of preparing shajra ?

Simply because I am related to some siddiqui in London , should London be included in the list of Siddiqis of Chail ?

There are more than 50 villages in Chail and you may find one or two Siddiqis in almost 35 villages (be it original or migrated ) ?

Does that mean that I should include all those villages as Siddiqi Villages because one or two Siddiqi families are living there ?

The fact is Only those villages which were originated or founded by the Siddiqi Buzurg could be termed as Siddiqi village.

It seems that his entire concept of Shajras in Chail is wrong

These kind of actions are grave Sins, if you do not find the complete Shajra , leave it as it is and publish it as it is , you have no right to add fictitious names to create a Shajra. There is no compulsion from the government or the Shariah to make a Shajra , be it fake.

Reliability

If he could change the forefathers of people like Mushir ul Haq , Sana ul Haq Sahiban Marhoom then I would never suggest anyone to rely on the Shajras prepared by Afroz Ahmad Sahib of Karachi.

Unless & until you cross-check each & every name in the Shajra with someone from the original family of that village you should not rely on the computerized Shajra being churned out every month by Afroz Sahib. Now he is going to publish a book named “ Ashraf-i-Chail” with these shajras.

In a Hadeeth The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:

“Whoever claims to belong to anyone other than his father… on him will be the curse of Allaah and the angels and all the people.” (Reported by Ibn Maajah, 2599; Saheeh al-Jaami’, 6104).

Here Afroz Sahib is inserting names and changing fathers of a lot of people just to complete his book.

This action is also a major sin comprised of two major sins, lying in order to make a Fake Shajra and changing the names of forefathers to belong to someone other than one's father. This will become an Azaab-i-Jaariya instead of Sawab-i-Jaariya.

I had tried to prevent myself from posting such a negative post here but I had no choice to make it public because it would be a sin on my part to hide that is something highly objectionable, dishonesty and SIN which would effect an entire generation and will go long for centuries and people will quote this FAKE Shajra for hundreds of years.

Moreover It is painful to write about someone who is older than my father or to malign someone who is a buzurg of mine but the fact is that sooner or later someone has to take the responsibility and this kind of Shajra Making Profession must be checked and curtailed.

My intention is certainly not to malign Janab Afroz Sahib but the fact is that despite my e-mails to him about the aforesaid discrepancies , he did not pay any attention to them.

Since this matter is not related to a single person rather it involves the entire Pargana Chail , I had no choice but to make it public and warn the people to be watchful and vigilant about the Shajras that are being prepared by Mr. Afroz Ahmad.

I remember one of the Hindi Saying to conclude this write up.

Kahin kee eent , kahin ka Roda

Bhanmati Ne kunba Joda

Was'salaam

Khalid Bin Umar

Khusro Bagh - Allahabad

2013-03-21T18:36:00.000+05:30

When you enter the main walk-way

Here I am inside the Bagh

From an Angle , the tomb of Khusro

Tombs of Sultan un Nisa and far one is Khusro'

The right one is Prince Khusro's tomb

Would you locate me in the picture ?

The Persian verses inside the Doorway

Over the gate of Sultan un Nisa ( Nisar's ) tomb

The decaying paintings floral designs.....

The beautiful designs inside the dome

Architectural delight

Beautifully carved Spout

Delightful

Water systems

Seem to have loved the spout too much .....

In all buildings Word "ALLAH is written twice on each Mihrab

Khusro's tomb

The door leading to the inner Chamber

Trees

Beautiful blossoms and ME

Again

Fretwork

The Painting is gone here

All the three main mausolems in Line....First one is Khusro

Man Bai ( Shah Begum's Tomb )

Tambolan Bibi' Tomb

ASI Board

Inside Chamber of Nisar

Khusro Bagh - Pargana Chail - Allahabad

During my recent visit to Allahabad, I had a chance to visit and re-look at the tombs inside the famous Khusro Bagh, located almost at the centre of the city of Allahabad. While visiting these tombs, I was reminded of its historical past and the gory stories that are associated with the life & death of Prince Khusro and that prompted me to share it with you.

Khusro bagh is located actually in Mohalla Khuldabad adjacent to the Sarai in Pargana Chail Allahabad (Now Tehsil sadar in Allahabad)

First let’s have a look at the Khuldabad Sarai.

Khuldabad

Khuldabad Muhalla owes its name to the large Sarai reportedly constructed in 1587(997 Hijri). This grand Sarai a & garden was named as Khuld + Aabaad ( Paradise Inhabited). The Khuldabad Sarai was a large enclosure with heavy gateways at either end and on the west is an inscription to the effect that it was built by Jahangir. It is situated to the west of Chowk , the Grand Trunk road passes through this large masonry Serai (Sarai) which was so large that it covered 17 Acres of land. The Sarai was known as Sarai Khuldabad. There were ( and still are ) small tenement houses/chambers for the travelers to stay on all the four sides of the serai. There were four Gateways, out of them the one at North was the biggest and the grandest of all. On the western gate there is a Persian inscription that gives the information about the constructor. The inscription on the gates states Aqa Reza as the main architect of this grand edifice and he is the same artist who designed the Khusro Bagh Garden & Mausoleum as well. Aqa Reza was a an artist , architect of Jahangir era.

بفرمان شھنشاہ جہانگیر

کہ زیبد ملکش از مہ تا بہ ماہی
بنا شد این سرائے آسماں قدر

By the Order of Emperor Jahangir, whose kingdom extends from the sky to the nadir , this lofty and sky-high Sarai has been built.

Archaeological Survey of India confirms its construction on 997 Hijri 1587 but without any reference.Its grand gateway (phatak) towards Khusro Bagh is no more now and the other one as well is crumbling.

A quick recap

Khuldabad Gateway - Constructed in AH 997 – AD 1587

Khusro Bagh Gateway – Constructed in AH 1010- AD 1601

Shah Begum's death - Died in AH 1012 – AD 1604

Khusro's death - Died in AH 1022 - AD 1615

Khusro Bagh GateAs seen by Daniel Thomas (1749-1840 )

Khusro Bagh

Khusro Bagh is a beautiful walled garden located in the heart of the city just a stone’s throw away from the railway station. It is surrounded by high walls on all four sides, with the southern gate being the grandest of all. It is about 60 feet high and resembles the main gateway of the Allahabad Fort. It has at its centre the tomb of Khusro, the eldest son of Jahangir and hence it is famous as Khusro Bagh.

This lofty and handsome gate ,situated to the north of the Khuldabad Sarai,bears an Persian inscription ascribing its construction to Jahangir and the architect is mentioned as Aqa Reza. This garden is a typical Mughal garden enclosure, entered through a 18 m high archway and houses the large, handsome tomb of Khusro , his mother , sister and a tomb famous as Tambolan Bibi's tomb.The tombs are inside the large garden and hence obviously surrounded by lush green patches. The tombs itself are built from red sandstone, which is ornately carved and tastefully decorated with marble carvings.

If we look at the attached picture made in early 18th Century showing the main Gate of Khusro Bagh, we can see that the world has changed around the gate. This picture was made by Dainel Thomas , an English Traveller.

This is no doubt that the gate at Khusro bagh one of the few imposing gates of the Mughal Articheture second only to the Fatehpur Sikri’s Buland Darwaza and Mandu’s Alamgiri Gate. Several European and british travelers are full of praise for the nice structure. Its walls were built by Jehangir and as we learn from history that Jahangir used this place as a resort while he stayed in Allahabad during 1599 AD to 1605 AD. Later, the resort was named as Khusro Bagh after Prince Khusro, when his eldest son was buried here. The main gate, the surrounding gardens, and the three-tier tomb of Sultan Begum, who died in 1604, has been attributed to Aqa Reza, Jahangir’s principal court artist and architect.

بحکم حضرت شہنشاہی خلافت پناہی ظلل الہی نورالدین محمّد جہانگیر بادشاہ غازی

بہ اہتمام مرید با اخلاص آقا رضا مسور

این بنانے عالی صورت اتمام یافت

It states that by the order of Jahangir his dear artist Aqa Raza (Reza) completed its construction. This gives the year 1010 Hijri ( 1601 AD).

Khusru Bagh, Allahabad, photographed in 1870s. (British Library)

There were two step wells ( Bawli) on the south and east of the bagh. The Eastern Bawli was first included in the water-works and later on fully dumped & covered.

Who actually laid out and conceived this bagh is not clear from the books of history but the historians are unanimous that it is contemporary of Akbar's fort at Allahabad and we know well that construction of Akbar’s fort started in 1575. A report says that the remnant of the building material of the fort was used to raise the boundary walls of this garden by the order of Jahangir and it was frequented by the Mughal Royals regularly is evident from the books of history.

Akbar himself had been reported to visited this Bagh in (Tabaqat-i-Akbari).

Prince Daniyal also used to come here to refresh and take a rest here when he was governor of Allahabad. ( Munkhatib ul Lubab by Khafi Khan P141. Vol1).

Jahangar too was a regular visitor and used it as a pleasure garden after his extensive hunting expeditions. (Distt Gazeetter PP 169). Jahangir lived in Allahabad for a long period and was in love with this garden. When his step-mother (Queen mother Saleema Sultan Begum) came here to bring Jahangir back to Agra , he welcomed his mother at the same place in Khusro Bagh. ( Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri)

There was another prince Mirza Jahangir (1791-1821) s/o Akbar Shah II who fired a shot on Mr.Archibald Seton (1758-1818) in 1809 who was working in the office of the President at the Court of Akbar Shah II and for this offence, he was exiled to live in Allahabad. He died in Allahabad at the age of 31 on 18 July 1821. He was buried outside Khusro's grave but later on at the request of his Aged parents, his remains were transferred to delhi and was re-buried at the Dargah of Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia (RA). ( Rambles and Recollections of an Indian Official By William Sleeman)

Jahangir with Khusro & Khurram ( Happier Times)

Prince Khusro

Now I would tell you the sad story of a gloomy and fateful life of Prince Khusro Mirza who lies buried in Khusro bagh.

The history of Mughals is full of fratricidal events and bloody succession wars smeared with blood as if it was a necessary prelude to succession a rite de passage for a prince to become a king emperor But, in my eyes, the most pathetic case, second to the tragic end of Dara Shikoh, was that of ,Sultan Khusro Mirza

Sultan Khusro Mirza (August 16, 1587 – January 26, 1622) was the eldest son of Emperor Jahangir with his first wife Man Bai and thus he was the eldest grand-son of Akbar. He was born in Lahore on August 16, 1587. His mother committed suicide on May 16, 1604 by consuming opium at Allahabad. Distraught over Jahangir (Salim’s) indulgence in wine and opium, Akbar had considered the unlikely option of entrusting the amiable Khusru with his throne. And when Prince Salim revolted and started holding court in Allahabad in 1599, Khusru was driven into an incongruous conflict with his father to be Akbar's successor.

Khusro was believed to be a pious man compared to his debauched father. Chroniclers have mentioned that Khusro was a popular prince , a gentleman of a very lovely presence and fine carriage, loved by the masses that he was Amor et deliciae . He was a man who constrained himself to one wife only, although he had few marital connections during his life under considerations from his father but he kept his love alight and lived with his first wife throughout his life till his death.

Thus he was a favourite with his grand-father Akbar, who perhaps wanted to make him the successor but unfortunately he came into unfortunate conflict with his father Jahangir and rebelled against his father in the first year of the latter's reign, but was defeated and captured. His supporters made another conspiracy after a short time , and this having been detected , he was , kept in confinement for the rest of his life. He died in Asirgarh near Burhanpur in 1622, and in all probabliity murdered by brother Shah Jahan to clear the way for his sucession to the throne. He had two sons, Dawar Bakhsh Urf Bulaqi and Garshasp, who both were put to death at Shah jahan's instance when he acceded to the throne. ( Amal-i-salih )

Rebellion

Emboldend by his popularity and acceptability and pushed by the clique around him who aspired to throne him on imperial seat he left the capital Agra with barely 350 followers. On the evening of April 6, 1606 he escaped from semi-confinement in Agra, under the pretext of visiting his Dada's grave at Sikandra, while he made his way to Punjab gathering troops with the help of Mirza Hasan.

At Mathura, he was joined by Husain Beg Badakhshani. At Panipat, the Dewan of Lahore, who was proceeding to the capital with the revenues of his province, was allured by the belligerent prince. Threats, persuasion and promise of high office induced him to defect to the prince’s camp. He handed over to the prince, the revenues of Lahore, which amounted to one lakh rupees. The prince conferred upon him the title of Malik Anwar and made him his wazir.

Jahangir Writes in his Tuzuk " Khusru , influenced by the petulance and pride which accompany youth, by his want of experience and prudence, and by the encouragement of evil companions, got some absurd notions into his head. They never thought that Government cannot be managed by men of limited intellect. The vain dreams of Khusru and his foolish companions could end in nothing bust despair and disgrace. (TuzuK i Jahangiri )

An alarm was raised and pursuit began, the struggle of Khusru ended within 3 weeks, the Governor of Lahore did not open the gates for the rebel prince who later on was captured trying to Cross the river Chenab.

At Tarantaran, Punjab Sikh Guru Arjun Dev gave his blessings. Khusro marched towards Lahore. Khusro failed to lure the fauzdar of Lahore into submission and the defenders repulsed all assaults.Enraged Jahangir decided to personally take the field and entered Punjab with a large force..The Prince, however, was determined to offer resistance to his father, Suddenly, one of his commanders caught hold of the reins of his horse and marched it backwards, a few paces. Before Khusro realized what was happening, his soldiers thought that their leader was withdrawing and ran in different directions.eventually he was captured.

On the 3rd of Muharram, 1015(May 1607), Khusru was brought before his father Jahangir in Lahore. Every noble who helped Khusro was impaled or hanged on the trees along the road. But what made the matter worse was that in the aftermath some of Khusro’s remaining followers contrived a assassination plot for emperor Jahangir but young Shah Jahan got wind of that conspiray and alerted his father. The conspirators were captured and put to death mericiellsy .

The rebels were severely dealt, Commander Husain Beg Badakhshani and Abdur Rahim, the Dewan of Lahore, were stripped of all their clothes and were dressed in freshly peeled skins; one, in the skin of a cow, and the other in that of an ass.

The next day they were paraded on asses through the streets of the city. Having survived this ordeal they were brought to the pleasure-house of the Emperor.Husain Ali Beg couldn’t take more and fell on the ground and his head chopped off was displayed on the main gate of the Lahore fort. His body was cut into four pieces and displayed, tied to sticks, in the four important places of the city.

Hapless Khusro was imprisoned and taken to Agra but the fate had something dreadful for him waiting there.The Intikhab i Jahangir Shahi gives the following account

His Majesty ordered Prince Khusro to be deprived of his sight.

When the wire was put in his eyes, such pain was inflicted on him that was beyong all expression. Later on when he was brought to Agra, Paternal love revived again. The most experienced Physicians were ordered to take measures to heal the eyes of the prince. One of Persian Hakim Sadra took responsibility and within six months, Prince Khusro recovered his original vision in one of his eyes but the other remained defective. He was presented to His Majesty, who showered great favous on the Hakim and honoured him with the title of Masih-uz-Zaman (Elliot & Dowson , History )

Although he partially recovered his sight, but not his liberty. He was destined to become a pawn in the polticial game, and he was not the gay and pleasant Khusro of olden days; he remained dejected and spoke to none. He was always in melancholy and took no interest in anything, notwithstanding his father’s kindness.

At the instance of ladies of the Harem ,Jahangir got relented towards Khsuro and allowed him some liberty to move and attend the durbar in 1613 but the conspirators inside the court contrived again. Shah Jahan was the favourite of Nur Jahan then. They conspired to transfer the prisoner Khusro to Asaf Khan's custody who was the father-in-law of Shahjahan and thereafter to Shah Jahan.

In 1620, he was entrusted to the care of Khurram, the second son of Jehangir, well known to history as Shah Jahan. Khurram, at that time, was asked to go to Deccan to quell a rebellion. According to the Portuguese version, he insisted upon entrusting Khusro to himself, as a condition of his taking the Deccan command and as feared in 1622 Jahangir received a report from Shah Jahan that Khusru died of a Colic in Burhanpur.

De Laet gives the following acount of this strange Colic "

Shah Jahan,in Burhanpore, was guardian to his brother Khusro; He contrived a plan to get rid of his brother without incurring the suspicion of having murdered him. He took his Khan-i-Khanan into confidence and went into hunting expedition. His slave Raza who was assigned the task to commit the murder, knocked at the dead of the night upon the door of Prince Khusru's bedroom, pretending that he and his companions have come with the Kings letters and robes to set him free. The prince did not believe the story and refused to open the door. He is told to be reading Quran when Reza came knocking at his door. Finally Seeing that Sultan would not open the door, Raza ordered it to be unhinged. They did so and entered the room. The Prince Khusro stood up and groped for a sword or a knife to kill the attacker but found only a water-pitcher. He threw but there was six-seven other wicked men who threw him on the ground and sat on his chest. Although he tried to make a noise and with his hands and feet but no one heard him…One of them took a chord and put him around his nect, tightened it till he was dead. Then they lifted his body and laid it on the bed as if he had died naturally.

(Joannes DeLaet, The Empire of the Great Mogol, Bombay, 1928)

When Shah Jahan returned to the city , he sent letters to his father Jahangir announcing his brothers death. ( Hoyland and Banerjee pp.198-99). Many contemporary writers believe that Khurram engineered the murder of his brother in order to make his succession easy. That Jahangir was seriously ill at the time, reinforces this suspicion.

His body was buried in Burhanpur hastily in May 1622. At Jahangirs desire he was Dis-interred and carried to Agra in June 1622 from where it was taken to Allahabad, to be buried by the side of his mother's tomb in Khuldabad ( Now known as Khusru Bagh). In agra the common man took great respect and thronged at his grave. Worshipped him as a shaheed. Then he was shifted to Allahabad ( De Imperio Magni Mogolis by De Laet)

”By the command of his father, whose wrath seems to have been allayed in the awful presence of death, his remains were conveyed to Allahabad, where they were interred by the side of his mother, in the garden near Khuldabad. The walled garden known as Khusro Bagh, still stands in its melancholy grandeur to remind the visitor of those unhappy events which led to the tragic end of the Prince, who has been rightly described as the most interesting and pathetic figure in Indian history.” (Ishwari Prasad).

Prof.Sarkar describes that Aurangzeb, in one of his letters to Shah Jahan during his captivity, reminds him of his murder of Khusru.

Khurram better known as Shah Jahan the second son of Jahangir was not comfortable of having a rival claimant to the throne a year as he was wary of the growing sypathy between NurJahan and the ill-fated Prince Khusro's family as she might support him for the throne , also the health of Emperor Jahangir was failing rapidly. Therefore he took no time and committed the gravest of crime a brother could do to a brother.

Its pertinent to note that Jahangir himself had rebelled against his mighty father Akbar but he was fortunate enough to be let off, Khusro who was guilty of lesser degree was not that fortunate of having a fatherly generosity that Akbar showed for Saleem.

V.A Smith says" his father shadowy though it be, is one of the most interesting and pathetic in Indian history".

Sons of Khusro

The bloody story of fatricide is not over here. One chapter more to it......Khusro had two sons, one of his sons Dawar Bakhsh Alias bulaqi was placed on the throne for a very short time when Jahangir died in Bhimbar. But it was a plot by Asaf Khan to stop others from claiming the throne as his son-in-law Shah Jahan was away in Deccan. Dawar Baksh was made a sacrifical lamb and the Khutba was read in Dawar Bakhsh's name in Bhimbar. ( Badshah Nama Elliot and dowson VII pp.5-6). As soon as Shahjahan arrived in Lahore to ascend the throne. All the young ones and possible claimants of the Mughal dynasty were mercilessly put to death.

Inayat Khan writes in Shahjahan Nama "

On royal Command, The emperors brother Shaharyar, and nephews ,Dawar Bakhsh( son of Khusru) and Gurshahsp alongwith Danyal's sons Tahmuras and Hushang were put to death on February 2, 1628 four days after the Khutba was read in the name of Shah Jahan in Lahore. It was the same Killer Raza Ghulam Bahadur who killed his father Khusro six years ago. the sordid details are a pain to read when we know that Raza butchered five princes in the royal bathing suite to which Asaf Khan had the only key. It tells of the role of Asaf Khan in the gruesome story. When the Prnice Dawar Saw Raza coming , he commented Raza has not come, its our Qaza that has come. Raza straightaway cut their throats and carried their heads as a trophy to his master in Agra when he was playing chess with his brother in Agra.

Marhoom Dil bhi kya tha , Kya hasratein thin us mein
Ab tak kuchh uski batein meri zuban per hain !!!!!!!!!!!

Wife of Khusro

It would be unjust if I do not make mention of the chaste, loyal and devoted wife of Khusro who followed his husband from the time of marriage till her tragic murder. The lady did not approve of living outside the Cell or prision and lived in Prison his entire married life. She bore him at least two children a son and a daughter..

Noor Jahan tried her best to lure Khusro to marry her daughter and in turn she woudl intervene for her release and reinstate his powers , but Khusro chose to live with this faithful lady till his death.

The height of his love towards his husband is that She insisted and tried to prevail upon his husband to marry Noor Jahan;s daughter " You please marry Nur Jahan's daughter , this way you will be released and will be able to live a life of pleasure , I will live like a maid under your benevolence , My lord. My only is to see you set free and live a life of ease " But Khusro was adamant and the rest of the story has been told earlier.

My salute to this lady whose name is not recorded but was the daughter of Mirza Azeez Kokaltash. The noble of Jahangir's court.

Jis per ab tak naaz karti hain khawateen-i-Watan
Ek Aisi hi amanat khaak ki khilwat Mein Hain !

Buildings inside the Garden ( Khusro Bagh)

There are four sandstone mausoleums inside this Walled garden being exquisite example of Mughal architecture. From the east they belong to Khusro, his sister Sultan-un-Nisa, and his mother Shah Begum while the fourth building is famous as Tambolan Bibi’s but which is without a tomb and sans any inscription. In short there are 4 tombs

1. Prince Khusro Mirza – Buried

2. Sultan-un-Nisa - Empty (She was not buried here)

3. Shah Begum - Buried

4. Tambolan Bibi - Empty, no epitaph.

Now we take a look at each of the tombs one by one.

Man Bai ( Shah Begum’s tomb )

The first one who got buried here was the mother of Khusro and the first wife of Jahangir. At the age of 15 Salim (Jahangir )got married to Man Bai , dauther of Bhagwan Dass of Amber ( Modern Jaipur). The marriage took place on 13, Feb 1585.

A daughter was born 26 April 1586 and was named Sultan-un-Nisa. Although she lived upto 60 years of age (d.1646), she played no part in the politics in Mughal history. The second child Khusro was born on 6 August 1587.Man Bibi was later given the title of Shah Begum.

Distressed by the discord between her husband Jahangir and son Khusru, she committed suicide in 1604 by taking overdose of opium. Her tomb was designed in 1606 by Aqa Reza and is a three storied terrace plinth without a main mound, like tombs in Fatehpur Sikri. The tomb however has a large chhatri that surmounts the plinth and the persian inscriptions that adorn her tomb were carved out by Mir Abdullah Mushkin Qalam, Jahangir's greatest calligrapher.The tiered structure of Akbar's tomb at Sikandra shows some influence of the Shah Begam's tomb in Khusro Bagh.

The grave is at the center and it is surrounded by double galleries which is again a part of amazing work of the architecture of that period. Shah Begum died in 1012 Hijri (as per the epitah) 1604 when Jahangir was out for hunting. He was much grieved when he came back and found her beloved first wife dead due to the discord between her son and husband. He mourned her death for long.

Sultan-un-Nisa Begum

Next to the Begums on the east side is the tomb of Khusru's sister, Sultan-un-Nisa who was never buried here. I don’t know why she is wrongly mentioned and named as Nisar Begum outside the tomb although there is no reference or any clue of such name in history of Jahangir. However it is true that this mausoleum was built on her instructions in 1624-25 as she wished to be buried near her mother and brother. Her mausoleum is however empty and it does not contain her tomb within it. She died in Agra and was buried near her grand-father Akbar.She was the first issue of Jahangir and Shan Begum and she was born in 1586 AD and the real sister of Sultan Khusro.

Interior of Sister's tomb

Interior of Sultan-un-Nisa's Tomb

For a sheer architectural pleasure, this is the most elaborate of the three tombs. It lies on an elevated platform and is adorned with panels depicting the arch motif. The ceilings beneath are elaborately painted with stars in concentric circles. The central room has on its walls floral decorations depicting Persian cypresses, flowers and plants. The grave built inside is just symbolic.. However, the plaster is peeling off at a few spots of the arched ceilings and is in need of immediate repair.

Khusro’s tomb

The tomb of Khusru, is the first of the three tombs in Khusro Bagh from the east. The tomb has fretwork windows and the Temporary tomb of mirza Jahangir lies near his own. Khusru's tomb was completed in 1622. The burial chamber is underground and the decoration is plaster work painted with birds, flowers and Persian inscription.

These tombs are built with red sandstone, brought from Chunar and Shankergarh areas. The interior of the tomb has been richly embellished with Mughal paintings. There are inscriptions in Persian on the walls. There are two smaller graves in the tomb one of which on the left belongs to Khusro's son Dawar Baksh. The other one on the right is a dummy structure.

One is left dumbfounded after looking at the art and engineering displayed in making the tombs.The drainage system is so meticulously built that the central fountain was linked to the main water source from which the water gushed out.

There are 12 couplets in Persian written inside the main dome , out of which two ashar indicate the year of death of Khusro.

Tambolan Begum’s tomb

In the centre of the garden is the fourth epitaph called Tambolan Begum’s tomb is without anyone buried here. It was used by English as residence but was restored at the orders of Lord Curzon when he visited the Bagh in 1903. The officer evacuated it and got a new one at some other place in the city. There is no sign of a tomb inside, with no inscription that leaves us to make guesses in dark. ( Gazetteer-Allahabad PP 206.)

1857 Uprising ( Revolt )

During the Revolt of 1857 Khusru Bagh became the headquarters of the sepoys under Maulvi Liyaqat Ali , a pious leader of Mahgaon, Pargana Chail, who took charge as the Governor of liberated Allahabad. This way Khusro Bagh was once again centre of attraction at the end of the Mughal Rule when Maulvi Liaqat unfurled the green flag in support of the Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar and accompanied by Ram Chandra another leader of Patriotic forces , established the head quarters of their interim government at Khusro Bagh and started to convene his court in the Bagh Sultan Khusro. He delivered a sermon daily in the morning. Daily an assault was lanuched by his men at the Fort in Allahabad.Unfortunately his rule could not live long the uprising was swiftly put down and Khusro Bagh was retaken by the British in two weeks.

Since it is a full fledged garden with a thriving nursery , you may get a glimpse of some of the older trees and shrubs that you don't come across generally.

Trees inside

Today

The tombs are intact but they are unkempt and not kept as it should have been. There were students, studying under the palm trees and some were having an afternoon nap , with some loafers looking for corners.

This legendary place with great historical importance has dwindled into some kind of a backyard-local-park, misused by anti-social elements, which has greatly diminished the significance of famous Allahabadi red guava. Khusro Bagh happens to be, the only cultivation centre for rare and famous guavas.

I met a young man here who had some very interesting tales about Khusro Bagh, for example, in the night a lot of giant snakes are to be seen there. Some have long hairs. He told that the snakes there are very old and they could be seen in the late night till the early hours.

He showed me a coin that he found here when some tree fell down and he got some of the coins as shown below.

Coin found in Khusro Bagh

There were also some people who told me and tried their best to confuse Khusru with the Sufi great Amir Khusro.

I am equally surprised at the mistake by the celebrated British Researcher CA Bayly who locates Amir Khusro’s tomb in Allahabad. It is a serious omission for a scholar who spent his time and did his primary research in Allahabad (Rulers , Townsmen and Bazaar , CA Bayly PP 129)

While standing at the tomb of Khusro , my heart ached and was filled with emotions that cannot be translated. What a life of sadness and full of tortures ? What a life that only Khusro knows and of Course Allaah knows best ! He only knows what happend and how did it happen but at least there is something that makes my heart bleed .............

Jab tak dar-o-Diwar ki dunia mein bana hai

Afsana rahega meri shoreedah Sari ka !

Was’salaam

Khalid Bin Umar

New Delhi

WRITE TO ME

khalid.bin.umar@gmail.com

Niwan - Pargana Chail

2013-01-21T15:22:00.012+05:30

Mosque at Neewan

Neewan Now

Upon entering the village

View of the stream (Ganges ) from the Kothi

Kothi in Allahabad

The Subway in Niwan directly to Ganga

Crumbling & Desolate

Carved Slab with Chronogram 1318 Hijri

View from the top

Inside view of the Hall

Garhi

Morning view ....Animals towards Ganga

Outward view of the Terrace

Hell Broke Loose !

Another view of Hall

Wooden Roof of the hall

Chandeliers in the hall

Carvings

Carved Stone

abandoned doorways !

Staircase

Another Ganges view

Kothi from the outside

Hall from Above

Sham bhi thi duwan dhuwan

the main-gate of the complex

Bagh Pukhta ( Ancestral Graveyard)

Mazar of Peer Mahmood Shaheed RA)

Dr. Aijaz at the gate of Cemetry 10 years back & today a buffalo was tied

With Anees Fatima (The present occupant at Niwan)

With Sibghatullah & Saifullah

Shaikh M. Abbas in Calcutta

Printed Postcard in the name of Shaikh Abbas

With Zain, Azeem and Nabeel

Inside the ancestral graveyard ........

Neewan ( Niwan)

Location

Umarpur Niwan as it is known in the revenue records is a large village lying along the Ganges very close to the cantonment and military farms in the City of Allahabad. Today Niwan falls under the Kaurihar block in Tehsil Sadar of Allahabad whereas it has always been in Pargana & Tehsil Chail in the past.The village is located on the west bout 5 KM / 3 miles away from the head-quarters of Main City.

Nearby places are Abu bakarpur , Manoharpur, Kandhaipur, Sulaim Sarai , ,Dhoomanganj etc etc

It was the largest village in Pargana Chail in terms of Population as per the 1951 census. It had 7362 persons in total with Non-Scheduled Classes at 3952 persons.

District Gazetteer of Allahabad (1911) says

Originally the Zamindars of Niwan owned the lands as far as from the boundaries of Sarai Salem including Meera Patti till the Kachhar of Ganges. In between all the hamlets, Purwas were under the ownership of zamindars of Niwan. Like Yadavpur, Ramman ka Purwa, Saraiyyan, Bhola ka Purwa, Taad Bagiya, Abubakarpur , Pritam Nagar, Jayantipuram , etc etc .

Book ;The Imperial Gazetteer of India,

Author: Sir William Wilson Hunter,Gazetteers of British India, 1833-1962

Publisher Trübner & co., 1887

In the north-west, close to Niwan Village, there is a large lake kncwn as Niwan Tal artificially made by damming the mouth of a long ravine at its outlet into the Ganga. In the southwest, an extensive area is utilised as a military dairy farm. Originally there was a Macpherson Park and the Lake was also named after him. Later on Nehru Park was established.

Macpherson Lake which was once the prime attraction of the city has over a period of time got filled with weeds and polluted water, owing to flow of untreated sludge as also drainage water into it, which further gets discharged into the Ganges.

It is noteworthy that a considerable part of the present cantonment was also owned by Niwan Zamindars which was acquired for the cantt after the 1857 uprising.

Title : The local roots of Indian politics: Allahabad, 1880-1920

Author :Christopher Alan Bayly

Publisher : Clarendon Press, 1975

Name

The name of the village is Umarpur Neewan. It is reported that when the Zamindars took over the village around 300 years ago, they founded four hamlets around and named it after the four Khulafa of Islam. The four villages were:-

Abu Bakrpur – inhabited

Umarpur - inhabited, famous as Neewan

Usmanpur - included in the farms

Alipur - included in the military farms.

Niwan has also been spoken as Nimah among the locals.

History

Niwan is indeed an old village and it was inhabited by the Ray/Thakurs who lived there under the local kings. The head-quarter was on the top of the hill on the east of the village which is still known as Garhi. People have found earthen wares, brass-wares and sometimes the old coins around the Garhi whenever they had a digging or when the slopes open in the rainy season. A coin of Alaudddin Khilji found here was with a family in Neewan.

Around 300 years ago, Peer Mahmood Shaheed (also known as Isma’il) came here from Behka and took over the village after an armed skirmish with the villagers and the local magnates. The slain locals were interred in a place that was known as Gar-Gaj while the triumphant ones buried their Shuhada in Ganj Shihidan known as Takiya. This place serves as the cemetery of the Zamindars of Niwan to this day.

Here you find the enclosure of the graves including the mazar of Peer Mahmud Shaheed inside with other graves of his descendents.

During the 1857 uprising, after the British regained the control, the people ran for their life here and there and in the course since Niwan was closer to the city , the village was filled with people of all caste creed and religion from the city of Allahabad when they were chased, brutally tortured or murdered by the british for their “supposed share” in the “Revolt”….Even British platoons came here to capture the “Culprits several times. This time people from Niwan too migrated to elsewhere inside the countryside. The Zamindars and their familes took shelter in Asrawe & Bisauna etc and they lived there for six months, after the British proclamation of promising unconditional pardon, people returned to their houses in Niwan. That was a difficult period indeed. See excerpt below.

Title Rulers, Townsmen and Bazaars: North Indian Society in the Age of British Expansion, 1770-1870

Author C. A. Bayly

Nasab

The entire lot of the erstwhile zamindars of Neewan is Shaikh of Siddiqi branch. They share their Shajrah-i-Nasb with the Shaikhs of Behka.

You would have read about Shaikh Habeeb-ullaah Siddiqi of Behka who had few sons. One of his grand sons was Shaikh Mahmood Urf Ismail Sahib who left Behka and settled in Niwan and who should be rightly called the forefather of the Shaikhs of Neewan.

Familes

Niwan was owned ,distributed & divided equally into three thoks by the elders of the Shaikh Siddiqis as Thok Muhammad Amin, Thok Muhammad Panah and Thok Muhammad Gahiya. Now let us see who all came form these thoks.

There was a family of Pathans as well who was last represented by Aladad Khan s/o Kallu Khan who had some shares in Zamindari by way of Purchases.

Thok Mohammad Ameen

Mah Miyan was supposedly the first person when Thoks were established and he was followed by Jan Muahmmad ( Jam Ali ) and Jamiyyat Ali :-

The descendents of Jam Ali are Yar Muhammad who had three sons namely Shaikh Muhammad , Ali Muhammad and Maulana Shah Abdul Haq,

Jb.Manzar-ul-Islam Adv with his son Ahmad Saeed

From Shaikh Muhammad are Mohammad Baqar, Ataullah, Who had Anwarullah, Ashfaqullah and Absarullah (X). Ashfaqullah had Samiullah and Ahmadullah (pak) , Samiullah had Wasiullah Advocate & Hakeem Matiullah ||Anwarullah ( pak) have Zakaullah, Nabiullah, Shafiullah.

From Ali Muhammad are Abdul Razzaq , Abdul Jaleel, Abdul Azeez and Abdullah. From Abdul Razzaq came Abdul Khaliq who migrated to Neem Sarai and his son was Safat Alam who is the father of Kafeel Ahmad (Phillu Wakeel) at Neem Sarai. || Abdul Jaleel had Ahmad Saeed who had Hafiz Muhammad Ahmad who was the father of Manzar-ul-Islam (Advocate) and Zameer-ul-Islam ||| Abdul Azeez migrated to Mahgaon and his son was Abdul Hai and then his sons were Abrar & Anzar who has Zafar Ahmad. | From Abdullah came Kareemullah and then Aleemullah who too migrated to Mahgaon and his sons are Mahfooz Ahmad, Mamoon Ahmad (Pak) & Haroon.

The above-mentioned Jamiat Ali had his son Turab Ali migrated to Abubakarpur and his descendents are still living in Abubakarpur. Details will follow.

Late Wasiullah Advocate

Thok Mohammad Panah

Mohammad Panah had Ghulam Ali and then Dayanat Ali who had Amanat Ali Urf Miyan Jan, Karamat Ali Urf Kammu ,Arshad Ali Urf Manna - Then Amanat had Ali Jan , Kammu had Sifat Ali who had Gulzar Mohammad & Mohammad Moosa who was the father of M.Khalid Niwani , the famous professor in Economics at Allahabad. Arshad Ali had Muslehuddin, Fatehuddin, Hakimuddin. The family of Gulzar Mohammad and his sons Shameem & Naseem , Aijaz migrated in 1947. Muslehuddin had Aleemuddin while Fatehuddin had Zafaruddin who have M.Shoaib and Asif.

The family of Muhammad Ashraf who had Nemat ashraf and Mahboob Ashraf etc are also from Niwan

There were other familes in Thok Panah that are not recorded properly (i)because they went without any male issue like , Meer Ali who had Taigh Ali and Shamsher ali and Khizr Ali who had only one daughter. (ii) they migrated without any trace , like the families of Jawwad, Mohammad Raza, Manna etc etc.

A branch of the descendants of Subhani Miyan shifted and settled in Allahabad while another branch went to Kanpur.

In Thok Muhammad Panah, Subhani Miyan had two sons Dard Ali and Shujaat Ali. Dard Ali had three sons named Danish Ali, Sabit Ali and Riayat Ali whereas Shujaat Ali married outside the community and had Akbar Ali and Ali Bakhsh. (In some records Subhani Miyan or his father is mentioned as Damri Miyan).

Jb. Mukhtar Ahmad

Now Danish Ali had Ramzan Ali, Muhammad Hasan and Muhammad Husain while Sabit Ali had Tajuddin and Karam Ashraf, Riayat Ali Had Muharram Ali who had only two daughters. Again, Ramzan Ali had no issue while Muhammad Hasan had two sons named Abdul Rahman, Abdul Wahab with two daughters, Muhammad Husain had four sons Noor ul Haq, Sifat ul Haq, Riyaz ul Haq and Fayyaz ul Haq. Now hereafter Noor ul Haq had Muhammad Ahmad who had Shameem, Anees and Raees who migrated after the partition, three sons. Sifat ul Haq and Riyaz ul Haq died young without any issue.

House at Daira Shah Ajmal

Fayyazul Haq had Mukhtar Ahmad and Inam-ul-Haq, thereafter Mukhtar Ahmad had Aziz Ahmad, Fakhrul Islam, Mohammad Yamin, Mashooq Ahmad, Maqsood Ahmad, and four daughters. Thence Aziz Ahmad had Rashid Aziz and Qamar Aziz; Now Rashid have Bushra, Insha and Razeena. Fakhr-ul-Islam had Zia- ul- Islam, Noor- ul- Islam and Shuja- ul-Islam; Mohammad Yamin had Ariz Mukhtar & Danish Mukhtar, Naza and Farha; Mashooq Ahmad had no issue while Maqsood Ahmad have Gulrez, Naved and Zaid - Zia ul Islam have two daughters Shohra and Ashra while Noorul have Areesha and Areeba Islam – the other Branch of Inam- ul-Haq had Haseen Ahmad, Wazeer Ahmad, Ehsan ul Haq, Inayat Husain, Nazeer-ul-Haq and Zafar Ahmad. The family of Fayyaz ul Haq had shifted to Allahabad at Daira Shah Ajmal around 1920 as he was employed at the High Court.

From the line of Karam Ashraf came Nemat Ashraf, Nazeer Ashraf and Habeeb Ashraf. Tajuddin had Yaqoob Ashraf, Nafees Ashraf, Aziz Ashraf and Wali Ashraf. Again, Nemat Ashraf had Mushtaq Ahmad, Asrar Ahmad, Muhammad Islam and two daughters. Nazeer Ashraf had Manzoor Ashraf, Mahboob Ashraf and Fazal Ashraf. Habeeb Ashraf had Mahmood Ashraf and a daughter.

Jb. Mohammad Yamin

Thok Mohammad Gahiya

This Thok was imitated with Mohammad Gahya who married outside the Biradari and went out of the records. Similarly the family of Lal Muhammad who had Ehsanullah & Ikramullah also have no records whatsoever.

The third one was Tikey Miyan who had Khoobullah then Murad Ali who had Meer Ali & Ghulam Ali. All of them went without any male heir but started adoption as the means to protect the property and name and this created the unique combine of Mamu-Bhanja that became the biggest aristocratic family of Pargana Chail in the years to come.

Ghulam Ali’s sister was married in Bansa-Baghara to Ramzan Ali , his son was Shaikh Abdul Samad who was adopted by Ghulam Ali to Inherit his entire business & Zamindari in Allahabad. Now Abdul Samad married and had sons who died without any living ssue and thus Abdul Samad had no choice but to adopt his sisters son , Sayyid Muhammad Isa ( Nawab Isa ) who was the son of Meer Hatim Husain of Asrawe kalan.

Now Nawab Isa had Sayyid Liyaqat Urf Liqqan , Prof.Sayyid Muhammad Ahsan (No Issue), Mohammad Hashim ( No Issue ), Dr.Mohammad Aijaz (P.hD Chemistry, USA) & Dr.Mohammad Ikram ( Pak).

Prof SM Ahsan was a professor of English in Osmania University Hyderabad and he had settled there permanently. After the death of Nawab Isa, he became the the co owner of inhereted assets and managing trusttee . He left all his share to Syed M. Hashim and returned to Hyderabad. There were intra family litigations as well.

Dr.SM Aijaz did his P.hd from Arkansas University and is settled in US. His son Dr.Asim Aijaz is a specialist medical practitioner there.

Dr. SM Ikram after doin B.Sc from Allahabad in 1952 went on to complete his MBBS from KGMC (Lucknow ) and later on migrated to Pakistan. His son SM Amir is a pediatrician in US.

Nawab Isa had two brothers as well namely Sayyid Umar and Sayyid Ibrahim (No male heir).

Sayyid Umar had 3 sons – Sayyid Farooq ,Sayyid Zafar and Sayyid Usman(No Issue).Farooq had Sayyid Muhammad Salman Urf Pasha whose wife Anees Fatima is the present occupant at Kothi, Neewan while Sayyid Zafar was the father of Sayyid Muhammad Ashyam who is the present occupant at Kothi,Allahabad.

Migrations

To Neem Sarai

Abdul Khaliq s/o hafiz Abdul Razzaq migrated to Neem Sarai . Today this family is known for Kafeel Ahmad (Phillu Wakeel) who has Asif Kafeel.

To Mahgaon

Abdul Hai & Abdul Salam sons of Hafiz Abdul Aziz of Niwan migrated to Mahgaon in their in-laws , Abdul Hai had Anzar and Abrar Ahmad. Anzar Ahmad has Zafar Ahmad who migrated to Pak. This family initially was engaged in and established a Madarsa Azizia in Mahgaon which was fairly successful and was a govt aided madarsa and had two buildings in Mahgaon but it is history now. Hakeem Abdul Salam was a qualified Hakeem and he practicsed in Amethi (Rai Bareli) for some time. He erected a mosque there that is known as Hakim Ji ki Masjid in Amethi.

Shaikh Aleemullah of Niwan migrated to Mahgaon since his father in law Hakim Abdul Salam had also migrated to Mahgaon.He was an enlightened & God Fearing person. His sons are Haroon Ahmad (Died Young) ,Mahfooz Ahmad and Mamoon Ahmad (Pak) in Mahgaon. Mahfooz Ahmad is the present care-taker of the Main Mosque at Mahgaon.

From Asrawe Kalan

Similarly the sons of Meer Hatim Husain of Asrawe Kalan inherited and shifted to Neewan and virtually became the masters of the village. Nawab Isa and his brothers Sayyid Umar and Ibrahim are already discussed above under Thok Muhammad Gahiya.

Zamindari

The village was under the sole proprietorship of the Zamindars of Neewan since but in 1841 an interesting chapter was added, when Khuda Bakhsh Buchad(Butcher), resident of Meerut, purchased the entire village at the cost of 865 Rupees in 1214 Hijri ( A.D). Then he deputed a cruel Gumastha to collect the Lagan. The Gumashta and the general treatment from Buchad was so harsh and cruel that all the zamindars now repented having sold their entire share. Luckily after a small fight , the matter went into court and from there went into federal court at Calcutta and the almost the entire village was returned to the Zamindars except the family of Shaikh Ghulam Ali.

During the British period after the permanent settlement ,the village was returned and shown to be entirely owned (16 annas ) by the Shaikhs of Niwan. They divided the lands equally into three thoks:-

Thok Mohammad Panah
Thok Mohammad Ameen
Thok Mohammad Gahiya

1 With the passage of time , Thok Panah and Ameen started selling the lands to the zamindars of Thok Gahiya and gradually they became the most powerful of Zamindars in Neewan. I will discuss the names & families in detai.

At the time of abolition of Zamindari in 1952, each thok had 2 Annas & 8 pie share left while the family of Nawab Isa had 8.5 annas in Niwan.

There is least doubt that during the last century from 1880 – 1952, the Biggest Zamindar in Pargana Chail was Shaikh Abdul Samad of Neewan and His nephew Sayyid Muhammad Isa (Nawab Isa) continued to be the biggest revenue payer till the end of the Zamindari in Chail.

Gazetteer of Allahabad (1911) says :

People of Niwan

Shaikh Ghulam Ali & Karim Bux

Shaikh Ghulam Ali was the patriarch who laid the foundation of the business along with his nephew Karim Bux in Calcutta that grew in his life time so much as he was counted amongst the business tycoons in Calcutta at the end of the 18^th Century. His story is a perfect example of “Rags-to-Riches” as he lived in Niwan without any job but when he moved to Calcutta to earn a living , the entire village was sold to the Buchad including his share. And later on after a prolonged legal battle when the village was restored to the original Zamindars , he was absent and unaware of the legal proceedings ,could not get his share back. Thus he was ridiculed and was once reportedly spurned out from the mosque in Niwan for being without a Zameen.Humiliated at the hands of his local kinsmen , he went to Calcutta in the Mid 1860s and picked up a job in a local leather factory but this time he was a changed man. He was an ambitious Ghulam Ali this time, he did not forget the humiliation and also that his paternal lands have been taken away from him. He vowed that he would not return to Niwan unless he has land in the village and till then he had no right to live in Neewan as he had no farming / lands there.

Ghulam Ali toiled night & day and became a supervisor with the local tannery who was owned by a British. next he became the manager of the production Unit and then the In-charge of the entire unit. Things are not very clear today but within a span of 10 years Ghulam Ali converted himself into being an owner of his own leather producing factory. He further ventured into the snake, crocodile leather which took him into leaps & bounds and his export grew miraculously. Soon he returned to Neewan and found the existing zamindars in heavy debts, desperately looking for a buyer to purchase their shares and from 1870 started the buying spree , the first two villages that he bought was Sallahpur & Tiwara. Nobody in Pargana Chail had the courage to buy these two villages in 1870 but he bought it full in Cash and from that day started the buying spree of this family that went on till 1930s carried on by his successors…… Ghulam Ali constructed a Mosque at Neewan and another at Kolhu Tola ,Calcutta, purchased a dozen of Buildings, erected a large mansion to live in Calcutta. He spent lacs of rupees in throwing lavish parties which were held twice a year to the elite of Calcutta and hundreds of people aspired to be invited to his Dawats.

In short Ghulam Ali reached an enviable stage in a very short span of time and vindicated his love for Neewan by purchasing /increasing his shares in Pargana Chail.

He died in 1871 in Calcutta and was buried in Bagh Pukhta, Niwan , which was erected in his memory by his nephew( Sister’s son) Shaikh Abdul Samad who succeded him by adoption.

Later on a boundary was erected with beautiful trees were grown in rows with a room & porch, a well to enjoy the weather as well. This is known as Pukhta Bagh in Niwan.

His nephew ( brother’s son)was Karim Bakhsh who actually lived in Calcutta for 30 years and died in 1898 at Allahabad. He also helped him in his business and Karim Baksh too had an separate business established in Calcutta which dealt in snake & crocodile leather that was exported to Europe

Ghulam Ali

Abdul Samad (Sister’s son from Baghara)

Nawab Isa (Sister’s son; s/o Hatim Husain of Asrawe Kalan).

Nawab Hashim ( s/o Nawab Isa ,No Issue)

Muhammad Hashim (Nawab ) in 1950

Shaikh Abdul Samad

Shaikh Abdul Samad was the son of Shaikh Ramzan Ali of Bansa Baghara (a village on the banks of Ganges that was devastated in 1857 and a nearby place was replaced as Baghara). He was adopted by Shaikh Ghulam Ali as a child and used to live in Niwan. He inherited his maternal Uncle’s property in his teens but his youth did not deter him from learning and going ahead with his ambitions. He acquired vast practical knowledge about Zamindari and started purchasing shares & villages since 1870s unilaterally till his death in 1914. He was the one who actually He had such an authoritative say and enjoyed such an enviable position amongst the Zamindars of Allahabad that very few could surpass him at that time. From two villages he increased the no. of shares in at least 50 villages in his life.

He was a disciplined person and he managed the Tannery at Calcutta with Zamindari in 30/40 villages at Allahabad simultaneously with equal efficiency. He was a hard task-master but with a tender heart. He was a philanthropist and donated large sums to the charitable causes throughout his life. From AMU to the Orphanage in Allahabad, he did not stop from contributing towards the community issues….

He was unfortunate in terms of having father three sons out of which none could survive or leave a male heir. He had three sons Muhammad Abbas ( Pictured above ), Muhammad Ilyas and M. Fayyaz. All of them got married had children but none could survive. This tragedy had a major impact in the later years on the life of Shaikh Abdul Samad. The Great zamindar of Niwan whose diktat ran over the people and their lives, was suddenly reduced to a man living in a big, crumbling zamindari house , silent.

He was dejected, disappointed and disillusioned with the material life but the could not entirely detach himself as there was no one to take care of the large empire he had gathered from Calcutta to Allahabad. Thus he dedicated himself to religious activities and entrusted all his estate in Waqf in 1907 and passed away in 1914 leaving his adopted nephew Sayyid Muhammad Isa as mutawalli /in charge of all that he had by that time.

A random list of his holdings in Chail only (out of Chail are not included.) in 1911. He had added a lot more villages after and the record of which is not available with me.

Akbarpur Sallahpur - Entire
Ismailpur –
Kotwa
Hashimpur Chhabilepur
Tiwara - Entire
Payagpur
Mirpur
Qadirpur Newada
Shaikh Sarwa
Umarpur Niwan
Gopalpur
Ghauspur
Umarchha
Muhiuddipur Ghaus
Koriya
Noorpur
Gauhani
Tikri
Chak Payagpur
Pawan -
Medwara
Jaraini
Lalapur

Purchased / Constructed /Managed the following by the end of 1910

He had few houses at Hammam, few in Sarai Gadhi and other few buildings in Nakhas Kohna and Chowk. Further he owned large leather factory apart from about a dozen other buildings in Calcutta. He had to take care of a lot of mosques in Allahabad apart from the ones at Niwan and at Kolhu Tola , Calcutta.

He was the one who actually helped the Madarsa Subhania at Sarai Gadhi to establish and funded the madarsa entirely for a number of years. Apart from this he contributed towards the cause of Aligarh Universtiy, the Orphanage in Allahabad and the Madarsa at Makkah al Mukarramah quite substantially.

And a host of other establishment and institutions that is no use to enumerate all here.

Nawab Sayyid Muhammad Isa of Niwan

Nawab Sayyid Muhammad Isa

Sayyid Muhammad Isa was the son of Meer Hatim Husain of Asrawe Kalan. He was adopted by his maternal uncle Shaikh Abdul Samad to succeed and take care of his business and zamindari at Calcutta & Allahabad respectively. He was an educated person and ardent supporter for the national causes , too keen interest in national issues and helped a lot of movements financially. He was made a 1^st Class honorary Magistrate and was awarded the title of Khan Bahadur by the Govt of British India. He died in 1941 was survived by his four sons………Sayyid Muhamad Liaqat, Ahsan, Aijaz & Dr.Ikram. He is mentioned in Bayly's "Local Roots of Indian Politics as well as in the " The City in South Asia as follows:-

Title The City in South Asia: pre-modern and modern

Author Kenneth Ballhatchet

Publisher Curzon Press, 1980

Waqf Haji Sheikh Karim Bux

Sheikh Karim Bux was the nephew of Shaikh Ghulam Ali who executed a waqf Ind’Allah (i.e., in the name of Allah) on September 8, 1886 of his share of properties, valued at Rs. 1,03,150 which included zamindari property and houses specified and bounded, the mutawallis were required to make expenses on objects set out in the second schedule to the deed. Headwise details are as under:

I am reproducing herein below the Will for the Waqf of Shaikh Karim Bux of Niwan that tells of the concerns , way of thinking of the people in the past.By the way Shaikh Karim Bux was a common man and his will tells give us an idea of the mind-set of the people of that generation.

Quantum of expenditure1

Expenses relating to mosque and musafir-khana, appertaining to the mosque situate in village Umarpur Niwan, Pargana Chail, together with expenses over the visitors to the mosque, other necessary expenses such as arrangements for water and farah, etc., repairs to the mosque and musafir khana, and if any of them falls, its reconstruction
Pay and subsistence for the teacher for the education of the children and others and any one desirous of education.
Seven Dogas of cotton to be made and distributed to the poor in winter
Annual Maulood Sharif to be organized
For persons staying in Mecca per details given therein.
Expenses on occasion of Id for the poor, etc
Pay and subsistence for Hafiz Quran at the mosque in the village, Niwan, for leading prayers for five times a day. Calling Azan five times and giving education to children desirous of reading Quran
Repairs to the grave of Hazi Sheikh Ghulam Ali, decreased
For the funeral expenses
According to the need

Maulana Shah Abdul Haq Muhajir Makki (Rahmatullahi Alaihi)

The brightest gem that Niwan produced is in the personality of Shaikh-al-Dalayil Mawlana Shah Abdul Haq Muhajir Makki Rahmatullahi Alayhi.

We seem to have inherited genes of not acknowledging the greatness of others, especially the persons of knowledge. In this case as well we do not even know , leave aside cherishing the memory of the excepted few who excelled in in any department related to ilm o Fazl .I believe there are less than 1% of Chailis who could even tell the name of such a scholar of high standing that Niwan should be proud of…………I am talking about Maulana Shah Abdul Haq Muhajir Makki.

Maulana Shah Abdul Haq Sahib was the son of Shah Muhammad of Niwan of Thok Muhammad Ameen. His father did different business at different times at different places. During one of his pursuits at Rasda (then in Gorakhpur) he married a lady there and from this marriage he had a son named Mawlana Shah Abdul Haq.

Shah Abdul Haq was born in Niwan in 1253 AH/1836 AD. After initial studies at Allahabad he was sent to study at the feet of Ulama-i-Firangi mahal, especially Mawlana Turab Ali Lakhnawi (D.1281 AH). Thereafer he proceeded to Delhi for further education , there he learnt hadeeth from Shaikh Qutub-ud-Din Muhaddis Dehalvi (RA)and from other Ulama as well.

He had already taken a Bai’yat’ at the hands of Shah Abdullah Gorakhpuri (RA) in Naqshbandia Tariqa and in 1283 AH he migrated to Hijaz ,performed Hajj and got benefitted with the company of Shaikh Abdul Ghani Muhaddis Dehalvi when he lived with him in Madinah al Munawarrah for 4 years.

Finally he settled at Makkah al Mukarramah permanently and for about half a century he delivered Dars / Lectures on Tafseer, Hadees and Tasawwuf in which Ulama and Mashaikh from all over the world used to be present and learnt from him the knowledge of Quran & Hadees. Haji Imdadullah Mahajir Makki (RA) was also a friend of him.

People especially took permission of Dalail al Khairat from him and this way he was known all over as Shaikh ul Dalail Makki. Amongst the notable who took Ijazat of Dalail from him was Maulana Ahmad Raza Khan of Bareilly as well who went to see Shah Abdul Haq during his second Hajj.

He wrote few books as well. He wrote Siraj us Salikin as a translation of Minhaj ul Abideen of Imam Ghazali and spent 30 years to write an Arabic commentary on Tafseer Madarik al Tanzeel of Abdullah Nasfi which has been published in seven volumes entitled as Al Akleel Alaa Madarik al Tanzeel wa Haqaiq al Taweel. He was also the reviewer of Dawlat al Makkiyyah. There are few more notes/books written by him like Taleeqat al Durrul Mukhtar. ‘Al-Durr al-Munazzam fi Mawlid al-Nabiy al-A`zam’ about celbrating Maulid.

Maulana Shah Abul Khair Abdullah Dehalvi and Mawlana Abdul Awwal Jaunpuri , Shaikh Abdullah Ibn Muhammad Al Ghazi , Sayyid Muhammad Abdul Hayy Katani are reported to be few of his most famous disciples.

He passed away on 19, Shawwal, 1333 AH /1915 AD in Makkah and was laid to rest in Jannatul Ma’ala. Rahmatullahi Alaihi in Makkah. He did not marry and hence no issue went on. His brothers’ progenies are found in Pargana Chail.

Today

Today the strong past on Niwan is attacking its present and the future seems to have been lost in the quagmire.

Only two families from the original stock are living in Neewan today. The family of Janab Manzar ul Islam lives in Allahabad and similarly the family of Late Wasiullah Sb Advoctate is also in the city. A family is in Neem Sarai another in Mahgaon……..and that’s all.

The family of Khalid Niwani is at Kareli and their original branches have migrated way back in the 50s.By the time I sat down to write about Niwan ,Nadeem , the son of Professor Khalid has also expired.

Ironically one of the well-known Niwanis of Allahabad i.e Faseeh Niwani , the ex-corporator is infact not a Niwani . His grand-father was from Chail Khas and he settled in his nanihal at Niwan.

Neewanis are few and difficult to count but their historical grandeur and awe of their erstwhile zamindari still resounds and echoes are to be heard………..

I am grateful to Janab Manzar-ul-Islam Sahib Advocate and Mr.Sibghatullah S/o Late Wasiullah Sahib Advocate for their help and guidance that made the journey and quest memorable. Janab Manzarul Islam was initially employed in Railways which he left in 1961 to practice independently as a lawyer. He is profoundly attached to his native place and tries to collect, recollect the memories related to the village. Similarly he is too much enthusiastic about Mawlana Shah Abdul Haq and intends to collect his books as well.

Seat of Power

Niwan has really something to do with Power and corridors of power. Once the biggest zamindar of the land lived in Niwan , he ruled like any other zamindar. After the Zamindari abolition Late Dharamveer (Cong) who was a Union minister belonged to Raman Ka purwa , a hamlet of Niwan, two of his sons are still part of the power corrider today, MLA from Soraon Satyaveer is his son while his brother & senior SP leader Shailendra Kumar is a two times MP from Chail parliamentary seat.

Apart from This Kesri Nath Tripathi a Seniro BJP leader is also from Niwan Village. Today Puja Pal MLA who represents the Allahabad West constituency is also from Niwan.

Thus we see that Niwan and Power go hand in hand……..

Mahal ( Kothi at Niwan)

The mansion in Niwan , now known as Mahal , was constructed by Shaikh Abdul Samad on the occasion of the marriage of Shaikh Muhammad Abbas, his eldest son in 1899 right on the banks of River Ganges and it is by all means one of most exquisite & ravishing place I have seen so far in any village found on the banks of a river.

There is a popular but very SAD legend associated with the construction of this building that when the foundation of this building was laid down on the banks, (the sandy banks and the soil collected by Ganges ) it could not withstand or survive even for a day and thus the construction could not take off at all for a month.They tried to lay the foundation but it was swayed or found crumbled the next morning. They toiled hard for the foundation throughout the day and it was found to be washed away the next morning.

Disturbed with the continous failure, some Sooth-sayers or astrologists suggested the builder to offer a Neenv Bali( Foundation Sacrifice) in the human form and the stories say that a young boy was sacrificed/buried at the foundation place of this building and after that the Foundation not only withstood or was found intact after the Bali but the construction started as well and the building got ready in a span of one and half year.

I do not know whether it is true or not and I would say in Persian Darogh Bar Gardan-i-Raavi ( The Truth of falsehood of the story rests on the narrator, I am not answerable for the truth in it ).

Ravaged by the vagaries of time, the haveli still echoes the past with remnant traces of grandeur and aristocracy.

This building was later known as Kothi and was indeed a massive structure inside an enclosure having large courtyards, forts like ramparts, Chaubara, Main Hall, Places for darban, Masjid , it seems that master craftsmen from Rajasthan were commissioned for the buildings because I found some signs of intricately carved wooden doors, quaint Jharokhaas , and the beautifully ornate carvings on the walls are still partly visible.

The Exquisite designs are in the miidle of the lower half of the wall, and an intricately carved central wooden beam supports the ceiling of the central hall. The old majestic lifestyle showcases even today in the architecture of the Kothi which was built to look distinct and fascinating than any other buildings.

The wooden beams on a wall here and some broken windows and arches there remind the old timers of a beautiful place with the river in the background , Its a dream location indeed. The stairs around the main entrance used to be the way up to the first floor and then the terrace, which had a grand view of the Ganges. The well-appointed guard rooms to the gate too is just a memory, now.

Beautifully carved mirrors and a dozen of magnificent chandeliers adorn the hall of the haveli. According to people, the haveli glowed and sparkled like gold in the evenings when all these lamps and chandeliers were lit in all its massive rooms spread over such a huge area.

The Building would have continued to be an object of aspiration even today but Alas , for the carelessness and the intricate internal feud have marred everything there.

There is a subway from inside the building that goes directly to the Ganges. Today the building has more snakes and Jinns than human being. The silence was so perfect that assumingly the faint hiss of a snake would sound like a shriek.

There was a large Ghadiyal (Gong) that was struck to announce the time 24 hours for almost half a century which is now ruined. Its sound was heard far and wide outside the village.

Shaikh Abdul Samad was unfortunate in terms of having fathered three sons but his line got dead. None of his sons could survive or leave a male heir for the succession. He had three sons namely Muhammad Abbas (Pictured above), Muhammad Ilyas and M. Fayyaz. All of them got married not once but twice but had no children except a grand-daughter which lived for few years before her infant death.

The local people relate when her only grand-daughter died it was the only day when people saw tears in his eyes and he wept bitterly leaning against a pillar inside the Mahal. Broken, Shattered, dis-illusioned Shaikh Abdul Samad bequeathed all his estate into a WAQF and anointed his Bhanja Mohammad Isa as the Mutawali and successor.

The Great zamindar of Niwan whose diktat ran over the people and their lives, was suddenly reduced to a man living in a big, crumbling zamindari house, silent and lost.

Conclusion

It was an extremely misty and hazy morning when I reached Niwan. When I stood at the open terrace towards the Ganges, I could spot the farmers going towards their lands, Buffaloes and Cows on their job, Far aside like a painters art, the river Ganga flowed towards Allahabad. I feel ecstatic to see green fields, baby goats, the nimble breeze and most of all the burnt-red earth.

How beautiful it would have been to offer prayers here and sit in silence, reading Quraan and meditating the world and hereafter, pondering over the Ayats ( evidences) both within our self (anfas) and in the horizons (Afaq).How enchanting it would have been to contemplate on the microcosm & macrocosms the Ayah……but Ah ! We are far away from these spiritual & mental exercises……………

Today the Mahal is a ghostly place, I am sure there are more serpents and jinns that human beings….the walls are crumbling and The major part of the massive complex is in a monumental state of neglect.The present occupants are low on funds and are disturbed by the internal strife & feud.

I am sure that this historical building may deteriorate or even cease to exist, if no concerted attempt is made for its maintenance and protection soon.

People were telling me that here was the Ghadiyal , here stood two mace-bearers (Chobdar), two darbans, and here was the Tam Tam, Bagghi , Jhad Fanoos, Ghoda, Gadi, Naukar, Chakar, Munshi, Karinda , Gumashta, Safa , Turra, Daon & Pech………..But I had least interest in listening to these Tamashas……..Truly it was a Tamasha. Na who Tamasha raha , na tamashayi Rahe !

Kya ab bhi wo waqt nahi aaya ki hosh ke Nakhun len ?

And history isn’t just stories without proof. There is physical evidence as well.

Quran says:

” Surely you pass by their ruins by day and by night. Will you not use your common sense? (135-138; Surah Al-Saffaat)

Yet with all the history God recites to us, it’s still clear that it will only be heeded by those who believe those who are seeking God.

People asked me there why are you doing all this? How could I say that:

Dhoondh Ujde Hue Logon Mein Wafaa Ke Moti..!
Ye Khazane Tujhe Mumkin Hai Kharaabon Me Milein..!!

But I found living here in the Kothi three young chaps Zain , Azeem and Nabeel (sons of Muhsanat Ahmad Urf Chand Bhai of Rohi , Damad of Anees Begum and Pasha Nawab) who are the rays of hope……..Lets see what turns out to be………otherwise some 100 years from now, if there happen to be another freak like me , he will tell you how did all they fare and will connect you and tell you the next episodes of the great epic of Niwan…………The show will go on………..

Till then its Assalamu’alaikum from the desk of Khalid Bin Umar.

May Allaah swt bless you , me and everyone of us with true Guidance.

Ujde hue logon se GurezaN na hua kar ! !

Halaat ki Qabron ke ye Katbe bhi parha kar !

Kya Janiye kyon tez hawa soch soch mein gum hai
Khwabida parindon ko darakhton se Uda kar !

Her waqt ka Hansna tujhe Barbad na kar de

Tanhai ke lamhon mein Kabhi ro bhi liya kar !

Woh Aaj bhi sadiyon ki Musafat pe Khara hai

Dhoonda tha Jise Waqt ki Deewar Gira kar !

WRITE TO ME @

khalid.umar@in.ey.com

khalid.bin.umar@gmail.com

Was’salaam

Khalid Bin Umar

New Delhi

******************************************

Abubakarpur ( known as Babakkar-pur)

Turab Ali of Neewan was employed somewhere in South ( Deccan). It happened once that upon his return from Deccan he was not entertained/treated propely by his sisters-in-law. Having felt insulted he left the house and went to Abubakarpur which was a Mazra of Niwan and constructed a house there.For sometime he managed to live without a family but later on at the suggestion of some people he married in Khuldabad which was obviously out of Biradari and that became a big issue then 100 years ago. Outraged as he was already, he eventually cut-off all ties from Niwan and took Abubakarpur as his permanent abode and ever since his descendents are living here.

Abubakarpur inside

Abubakarpur2

Abubakarpur3

The Mosque in Abubakarpur

The residence of M.Fazal Sb

Turab Ali migrated to Abubakrpur between 1860 -1880. Turab Ali had three sons, Afzal Ali, Fazal Ali and Amanullah and these three are the forefathers of the present occupants of Abubakarpur.

Afzal Ali had Safdar Ali , Hyder Ali and Ataullah. Safdar Ali had Nawab Husain Urf Jigna , Ehsanullah, Amanat Husain, Ibrahim Husain and Anwar Ali. Ataullah had Qudratullah who had Basharatullah (Khetai). Hyder Ali had Samiullah & Faizanullah.

Fazal Ali had Inayatullah who had Tajammul Husain who is the father of Muhammad Fazal, Ex Governor of Maharastra & Mahmood Fazal. From the same family came Anwarul Islam Urf Bedi as well.

Amanullah had Ali Husain who had two sons Amirullah Urf Jhau Miyan and Ikramullah Urf Suddan Miyan.Ikramullah’s son are Khalilullah and Zamirullah. Khalilullah (82) is still there.

Abubakrpur was the actual belt of Guavas that made Allahabad famous all over the world. Later on the urbanization took a heavy toll and the entire Guava belt disappeared from earth and silk belt was introduced. It is very difficult to find Guava Farms in Abubakarpur now.

Mr. M.Fazal (Ex- Governor Maharastra & Goa)

Today Abubakarpur is proud of having produced Mohammad Fazal (born July 2, 1922) who had a distinguished career both in the private and public sector industries before the Centre picked him to nominate as Governor. He read for his degree at University of Allahabad and later he had his post-graduate education at the London School of Economics and in Political Science from University of London.

In 1977, he was appointed the Secretary of Industrial Development, Government of India, served Planning Commission as its senior-most member from April 1980 till his resignation in January 1985. Thereafter, Mr. Fazal was the founding chairperson of Hughes & Hughes Chem Ltd.From April 1980 to January 1985. He was a Member of National Defence Advisory Board of the Government of India from December 1998 to November 1999 and then took over as Governor of State of Goa on November 26, 1999 and finally became Governor of Maharashtra from October 10, 2002 to December 5, 2004.When I visited Abubakarpur, he was quite unwell and hence we couldn’t have a meet!

Was’salaam

Khalid Bin Umar

New Delhi

WRITE TO ME @

khalidkoraivi@yahoo.com

khalid.bin.umar@gmail.com

Salam !

2013-01-09T11:33:00.004+05:30

Assalamu’ Alaikum !

Dear All !

It is heartening to see that you guys are so much interested in the history of the villages of Pargana Chail and thank for the overwhelming response this site has received in a short span of time. All thanks to Almighty Allah.

Today I am not into history, I am talking of the present scenario and would like to draw your attention to something serious with the submissions that I am going make in the following:-

As some of you may know I have been criss-crossing Pargana Chail for the last two years in order to collect historical information with regards to the origin and the progeny of the original settlers in & around Pargana & Tehsil Chail. During the course of my frequent, regular visits in and out of the area I have noticed certain things that I would like you to know and pay attention to it and take corrective measures:-

1.Extensive selling of Lands in Chail

2.Lack of ilm-i-Deen and the spirit of Deen in Chaili Community.

3.Lack of Guidance for the ,aspirant & promising youth for higher education

I will elaborate these three points and ask your inputs as to how you would like it to be dealt with and how you want to be a part of this drive. This does not involve too much of money, society, membership etc etc. It needs your time. If you are sincerely concerned you will spend your time & resources to do the job.

1.Extensive selling of Lands in Chail

Pargana Chail is a geographical entity. It comprises and is made up of land surrounded by its boundary. Our ancestors struggled hard to maintain, retain and sustain the lands they had won or received from their forefathers. These lands make Chail what it is known for. Our forefathers fought tooth & nail to safeguard these lands and even went to the extent of going into litigation against their own brothers and family just to retain their share of land……..For the last many hundreds of years land has been the primary source of not only the sustenance but also the source of the honour and dignity of Chailis in and around Allahabad. Peasants would regard you and hold you in esteem only because you had lands. It is these lands through which our older generation survived , they Lived off the lands virtually………. Zamindars were because of Zameen ……….but today we the people of Chail are disposing, selling their century’s old land, hard earned and hard saved land just for nothing.

While I appreciate there are times when there is no way but one is forced to dispense with the lands in order to have something more important in life than the lands but this should not become a habit, a practice and a fashion. Today it has become a fashion to dispose the lands just for nothing substantial, concrete and much better in exchange……………..In the past 20 years the ex-zamindars of chail have lost almost 60% of their ancestral lands which were with them for the last hundreds of years……….for which they were known throughout the district and even in the entire eastern UP. The servants of the Zamindars have become masters of the region……….and the masters are still intoxicated with the bug of 150 year old Zamindari status ?

Why the other communities are not selling their lands ? Why is Chamrauti, Pasiyan and Ahiraan more vibrant, more vivacious, more colourful , Pur-Raunaq than ours in all the bigger villgaes ? Why is that our ancestral houses are in ruins and the other parts of village shining ? Why all the Aafat have befallen on the poor zamindars that it has to sell his lands, leave the village and stay in a rented house in the city of Allahabad ? Why the servants and protégés are not only well established but also increasing their part year by year ? Have we ever given a thought to it ?

Today our community has got money , political power/access and the also the required social clout then why our INFLUENCE , our SAY, our LANDs, OUR VILLAGE, our DEEN, our EEMAN, our TAQWA , our CHARACTER , is not improving or getting better day by day ? ?

Why we cannot purchase a Bigha or Four Biswa of land in and around our villages. Why can’t we increase and make addition of our fathers’ share ? How come our countrymen who were our servants then have managed to make properties in leaps and Bounds ? ?

With the economic boom in the go , our brothers in Gulf and abroad well off , Kaushambi getting hotter day by day , don’t you think it will be a wise decision to retain and maintain our lands for the future ………….. Even we cannot increase our lands , we can still maintain what we have inherited………..

Can we stop this ? Can we have an awareness drive within the younger as well as among the older generation not to sell their hard –earned & meticulously saved lands in vain ? Can we message them to please increase your share and purchase few more lands there ? The peasant and the locals respect you only because of your lands.

2. Our Deeni Inhitaat -

During the course of my visits I found gradual but perpetual annihilation of our erstwhile, Deeni Spirit, ilm-i-Deen and the Jazba that encouraged our ancestors to sacrifice their lives and lands for the sake of Deen and Deeni Sha’air………………………..I agree that we apparently seem to have become very Deendar , utterance of Insha Allah , Masha Allah is too much prevalent to be ignored, The charcha of Quran & Hadeeth is also way too much than required but at the ground level, these do not translate into actions…the correct understanding and the basics of Deen are ZERO…Peity and Character building have almost gone from our lives. Let me be a bit bitter and without being bitter I won’t be of any help to you , not being to myself rather…….

“Pargana Chail mein Deen Sirf Zabaan per hai “. this is a statement from a very senior citizen and Aalim, Daayi and observer in Allahabad…………..This Zawal ( downfall ) started after 1960s and it is at the peak now …………Indeed exceptions are there but I am not here for excepted few………Some people are highly knowledgeable , very punctual and practicing Muslims but the general scenario is quite gloomy.

In a no. of villages there are found only one , two , at the most three Muqtadis only at the time of prayers……..I will avoid taking names of the villages. Believe me some Masajid have no one at the time of Fajr , an old man is hired and paid to go and open the door of mosque , call Azan and offer the two Rakahs himself without waiting for someone……..This is not hearsay this I what I have seen with my own eyes and confirmed the fact with the elders of the village………………Majority of the youngsters in village do not know how to offer Salat al Janazah , they try to conceal themselves from the scene when the Salatul Janazah is getting ready……….leave aside the information about Fard , Sunnat or Mustahabb.…

A number of villages have mosques locked with no IMAM , NO Mudarris whatsoever ? I found a young man of our own community grappling with these issues, singularly spending his own money in financing the Imam in at least 6/7 villages , he personally funded several Madaaris /Masajid and Aspiring Huffaz ? Unfortunately you are not aware of that guy but he is an example and I wish myself and you following his pursuit……

In some very notable villages I have found Ancestral Graveyards being used, littered and mortified by swine. I have photographs which I have never posted on my webpage WIRASAT that shown pigs wallowing on the graves of our ancestors ? Where have we gone ? What are we doing ? Can we do something ?

If you wish to know the Deeni Halat of a Qaum , just go through their Mosques , Graveyards, Eid Gaahs and their social institutions ……….

Do you think we will grow and make progress with worlds of fortune at our feet with this kind of lassitude and slackness in Eeman and Deen ? In my opinion the lack of Eeman and the resultant absence of Taqwa has played havoc with our rank and file and eaten up all our luster and fairness. Allaah swt is NO relative of ours. Are we waiting for the punishment to come and decimate us completely ?

3 -Lack of Guidance

There are a lot of young people in the villages who do not know what to do and how to go ahead with regards to their educational pursuit ?

Can we identify those young men and guide them with our experience ? There are some who have got education but have not reached a satisfactory place ? Could we help them out over phone and guide them for a jump ?

All this is possible only when we reconnect and revivie our connection with our ancestral villages ? Reading history will not help us otherwise the day is not far when Chail will also become history without its characteristics and original traits ?

What do you say when Our houses are getting ruined , graves of elders getting weltered , lands being sold , Deen at the lips, The primary target of life is to get married at Shagun Palace or some castle at Kareli? All money and might thrown in the marriage just to show what you are NOT ?

What do you say when a certain percentage of the community sells its ancestral lands, mortgages family property, pawns jewellery and force family members to put up a grand show at LAGAN PALACE or MAGAN Palace ? Should I agree with one of our elders who says “ Jhooti Shaan has actually become the eeman of Chaili Biradari “

What would you say when 90% of the youth does not know how to read Urdu, Arabic at all ? No connection with original texts of Islam and scanty or no knowledge of the basics of Islamic Creed ?

With these demerits I am sure ,we are not going to gain a respectable place either in the eyes of our Lord Allah swt or in the eyes of our countrymen, kinsmen and fellow men……………

WHAT WE CAN DO :- (Abruptly summarized)

Reconnect and revisit visit your villages and make it a point to visit it at regular intervals.
Meet the young ones there , encourage them to continue education ,ask them their needs,
Identify the talented ones , the promising ones , help me get to the correct place of coaching and guidance.
Arrange coaching for the poorer students in Allahabad, Mundera, Sulem Sarai, Bamhrauli with the help of our brothers who are already in the field in this group. Keep a track of their progress.
Visit your ancestral places, spend some time there, if ruined , construct at least a room for your stay there. Meet the elders and the friends of your fathers, grandfathers.
Visit the village mosques; look for something that you could extend your help to. Try to establish a maktab ( if it does not exist) and arrange for an Aalim.
Try to arrange for a weekly , fortnightly , monthly get together in a village or a common place amongst a cluster of near-by villages where a visitor Aalim , Maulvi, Mufti could recite, explain, answer the queries and teach the basics of Namaz and roza and Masail related to this. The Sabaq taught may be checked in the next discourse.
This will not require Crore of Rupees , it just requires you to visit your place and maintain the contacts on regular basis and the things will come to you spontaneously………………
At last we may find and then found a group of willing individuals without forming a society or anything who will assist each other with time and resources as and when needed….informal but punctual……..Where there is a will there is a way…

Three major points

Maintaining and increasing our presence in Villages in the form of lands and person.
Drive for education and guidance for higher education
Push for Ilm-i-Deen with emphasis on practicing good morals, leading to nobility..

All this can only happen when we have True Jazba and when we are with true intention then we are ready to spend our TIME & MONEY to reconnect with our roots.

It is a request with sound, anguish in the form of scream from a brother whose heart bleeds to see the pathetic and pitiful condition of our community in Pargana Chail. I being part of this large Chaili Biradari have the right to fight with you just for you only and that includes me as well.

Imam Bukhari and Muslim reported that the Prophet Mohammad (P.B.U.H.) said, "all of you are heads of a group and all of you are responsible for your groups; the ruler is the head of state and he is responsible for his people, the man is head of his family and responsible for his family, the woman is the head in her husband's house and she is responsible for the house. In short all of you are heads and responsible for your groups".

Please convey this message to all & sundry and your practical inputs are welcome for the three points as to how to implement It without going into prostitution of words !

It is very much possible that our words of mouth and a small amount of time spent might bring a silent change in the people we love there. Even if 10% of minds have a 10% change , we would have done something at least ?

Jazak Allah for your patience !

Was’salaam

Khalid Bin Umar

New Delhi

An Inspiring Grannie !

2012-12-06T12:03:00.001+05:30

Assalaamu' alaikum !

I would like to share with you a recent experience of coming across an old lady during a marriage whose lifestyle was not only inspiring but also surprising. I had to stay in the village for a night on the occasion of this marriage.

Let me tell you that I am an early riser and normally get up around 5 AM for the prayers etc.. In the same way I got up around 5 AM and looked for my way to the wash-place where I could perform my Wuzu. I could gauge with the spilled water there that there was someone before me as well who too had done wuzu.

There was still some time to go for Fajr and I performed few Nafl and waited for the Fajr time. I noticed someone moving in the Verandah on the Opposite direction ? Then I said my Fajr prayers and thought it wise to go out for a walk in the serene, pure and healthy surroundings of the village and enjoy the milieu before the sunrise. I went past the verandah and tried to open the Iron Gate when I heard a feeble, faint voice of a lady " Ko Aaye" . I answered form there only that I was going out for a walk. I saw an old lady sitting on her Ja' Namaz with her Tasbeeh . She nodded her head and then I opened the door.

I returned at 6 AM after the stroll and found the lady sitting in the same position on the Ja'Namaaz with her Tasbeeh. I noticed that most of the guests were sleeping except few young mothers who got awake for their babies.......Then I did another Wuzu for the Tilawat etc and spent sometime in Tilawat etc......At 6.45 I again went to the Verandah and saw the lady performing Namaz on the same Ja'Namaz. I waited for her till she got free and then I approached here and introduced myserlf and tried to struck a chord with her to start some converstation. This is how our conversation went by :-

Khalid : Ye aap Tahajjud Parh rahi thin ?

Lady : Han

Khalid : Ye aap kab se parh rahi hain

Lady : Hamka Yad nahi , magar 60/70 baras to hoin ge huehain

Khalid : To Aapki Umr kya hai ?

Lady : Ka ?

Khalid : Aaap ki Umr ?

Lady : Ek Kam Sau

Khalid : Yani 99 Saal, Masha Allah

Lady : Hoon !

Khalid : Aap kitne baje uthin thin ?

Lady : Suraj Nikre se dui ghanta Pahile uthit hi

Khalid : To Aap ne Tahajuud ke bad kya kya parha

Lady : Pahile Tahajjud padhit hi, Phir Tilawat ,Astaghfar ke dui tasbeeh oker bad
Fajar ke Namaaj aur phir, Pahila Kalma, teesar Kalma , Darood Shareef aur
Ehi Tarah aur bhi kuchh parhit rahit hai

Khalid : Lekin aap ko abhi abhi fariqh hui hain

Lady : Han , Ishraaq tak intezaar karit hi , phir ab Ishraaq ke bad Chai waghairah ki
adat hai , Osey pahile nahin

Khalid : Ma Sha Allah , Apki Umr aur Ye Mujahida , Sardi mein uthna WuZu Karna aur 3
Ghanta kam az kam ibadat mein masroof rahkar tab kuchh khana peena

Lady : Sab hui jaat hai, Allahe Karawat hain , hamar kaa Hai ?

Khalid : Beshak , Hamare liye bhi dua kar dijiyega ek bar zaroor.

Lady : Ham dua kar deeha hai pahilen,

Khalid : Kya ?

Lady : Hum tumka pahilen dekh lia raha , hum dua kar chuken , ..............Achha
Aisa hai ab , ee dekha ki kauno chai wai mili ke nahin

Khalid : Acchha akhri baat ye ki aapke walid sahab ka kya nam tha

Lady : Ain ul Yaqeen

Khalid : Achha

Luckily I found her daughter to be bringing morning tea etc and then I took leave from her and forgot to ask her name.

I want to ask whether this inspires us , if yes, then what stops us from maintainig a more meaningful life than hers ?

What is that eats up all of our time good for nothing , neither good for his world Nor for hereafter ?

Stealthily I clicked a snap of hers and would like you to recognize her and make dua that people like her live long and May Allaah swt accept ourselves as well for HIS work and for HIMSELF.

To tell you more she is a daughter of Nazarganj and was married in Koh-khiraj. Does anyone know her name ?

Was'saaalam
Khalid Bin Umar
New Delhi

After posting at Facebook , this entry received so many comments as follows, it also helped us know her name as Shakira Bibi.

Bashir Ahmad v lie no where. v r way below the ground. i know that i can never b lyk her but in sha Allah wuld defiitely try to offer namaaz on tym. Thank you so much for such an inspirational post. The least it would do is goose bumps on evry reader's body

Yesterday at 11:45am via mobile · Like · 8
Nusrat Khalid Wadood ALLAHTALA hum sab ko nake hidayet de ............. Ameen

23 hours ago · Like · 1
Bahjat Salman @Khalid , inspiring ,, u have done a great job ,, dis wud certainly inspire many others ,, pls dua for me ,,

23 hours ago via mobile · Like · 3
Shams Usmani speechless and ashamed. Ya Allah guide us to the straight path, of those upon whom you bestowed your grace. Ameen

18 hours ago · Edited · Like · 4
Mohammad Shariq Zubair Aameen...khalid bhai mai inka name to nahi jaanta hu lekin mai shayad inse mila hu ye Aftab Ahmad, Mashook Ahmad ki walda hai Aur Rehan bhai ki saas hai. Mai sahi hu ya ghalat pls. Bata de.

21 hours ago via mobile · Edited · Like · 1
Shams Usmani Ye post mere dimaag mein jami hui hai, main soch raha hun isi tarah Allah tallah ke banaye huye tamaam makhlooq Allah tallah ko, din raat glorify karte hain, parinde, ped-paudhe, tarah-tarah ke jaanwar. yahi ek kaam hai jo hamara Allah hamse talab kart...See More

21 hours ago · Like · 5
Bahjat Salman @shams ,, great thots

21 hours ago via mobile · Like
Rabia Basri She is Sakkan Dadi , she is my father's khala.Her elder son Aftab Ahmad is my phupha.If I am not wrong u were attending Ajmal's marriage.She is mother in law of Rehan ph upha.

21 hours ago via mobile · Like · 3
Khalid Bin Umar That's right !

20 hours ago · Like
Arif Mohd WALEKUM AS SALAAM

20 hours ago · Like
Aman Fatma She is my grandmother ( my dad's mom ) her name is Shakira bibi.

17 hours ago via mobile · Like · 3
Khalid Bin Umar Thank you Aman , I am sure u already take very good care of her and attract het duas

17 hours ago via mobile · Like · 1
Shahid Abrar Siddiqui Mashalah say hamari mothers and grand mothers in majority of PG are and were like this and specially in villages afsoos yeh hai k hum unhi ki oulaad hain or hum nay un say yeh sub seekhnay k bajaye internet mobile media pay time kharab karna seekh liya...See More

16 hours ago via mobile · Unlike · 5
Nasar Jafri Aftab bhai Kokhraj wale jo Home guard Department me Company Commandent the unki Amma hai.

15 hours ago · Like
Umair Usmani mai inse mil chuka hun ye mere dost arif urf sonu ki dadi hain

14 hours ago · Edited · Like
Kafeel Ahmad Umair Usmani bhai ye unki daadi hai...

14 hours ago · Like · 1
Aquib Zafar kya ye roomi bhai ki ammi h???(kokhraj)

12 hours ago · Like
Muneeb Ahmad mashallah ......inspirational .....allah hume aur hamare sare momin bhai bahno ko nek rahste pe chalne ki taofeek ata farmaye...aameen

2 hours ago · Edited · Like
Aqueela Syed well documented! brings back memories of our grand mothers...May allah bless them!!

20 minutes ago · Like
Khalid Bin Umar I am going to put it on the website Wirasat -pargana Chail as it is indeed an important chapter from Chaili Heritage.

Peepal Gaon - Pargana Chail

2012-09-17T11:07:00.005+05:30

Primary School at PeepalGaon

Green Fields at Peepal Gaon

Another View of Greenery

Cloudy Sky in Peepal Gaon

Another Scenic View in the village

Spectacular Snap !

Secondary School at Peepal Gaon

Fields

Houses

Inside view

New Constructions

The Kothi of Dakhkhini Deen as seen from the road

Kothi of Dakkhini Deen

Outhouse of Dakkhini Deen

People in the fields.

The enclosure of maulvi Siddiq Sahib's Mazar

The crop of Grewia Asiatica (Falsa ) in PeepalGaon

Ruins and remnants of Zamindars

The House of Meer Syed Hidayat Husain

The Small Imambada

Inside the village ( Nazir Manzil in background)

Chauraha

I.I.I.T Gate

Nazeer Manzil ( 1936 )

Backside of Nazeer Manzil

Inside Nazeer Manzil

Outside Nazeer Manzil

Mosque from Inside

Extension of Mosque

Another View inside the Mosque

The Out-house / Nautch Ghar of Dakkhini Deen

Road going towards Katahula

Pond

A fallen Tree

In conversation with Achhey Bhai ( Waheed-ud-Din)

An Old Photograph of a Makan in the village

Name & Origin

SHAHA is the name of village in revenue records that is known as Peepalgaon. Shaha Urf Peepal Gaon has been a reputed village of Pargana Chail in Allahabad. It is located just few kms away to the north-west of the present Allahabad.

Today it falls under the in Kaurihar Block in Allahabad District. The village is just about 8 kms away from the district headquarters of Allahabad and is at a distance of 177 km from the provincial capital Lucknow.

The near-by villages are Jhalwa , Bhaderpur, Katahula Ghauspur , Asrawe Kalan, Jalalpur Ghosi, Bajaha, Shahpur and since Pipalgaon has been covered under the ADA Scheme. It is now neighbor to several urban colonies like Kalindipuram, Arya Nagar, IIIT Colony, Dev Prayag Colony etc.

The population of this village in 1951 was 2066 while in 2001 it rose to 5858 whereas in the 2011 census it is recorded to be 6958 persons.

Apart from being a prinicpal Zamindari village , the location of the village was at the intersection of several roads that lead to a large no of remote villages of the Pargana. Due to this importance the British installed a police outpost here about 120 years ago.

District gazetteer of Allahabad , 1911 Page 220

Origin

It is reported that hundreds of years ago there was a horrifying forest in & around this area that was full of antelopes, deer and other wild animals. Nearby flew the river Sasur Khaderi and in its ravines lived the criminals and bandits.

It is further reported that Jahangir, who lived in Allahabad for years as a Prince, frequently resorted to this area which can broadly be marked from Madaripur till Katahula and Rahimabad for leisure and hunting purposes. Jungles were cut and halts were made for the prince and his team of hunters. The area of Pipal Gaon was full of Peepal Trees and it was dreadful to travel even during day time. There was a single way ( Kachcha Raasta ) that went past Peepal Gaon to the interior villages e.g. Ghosi , makanpur , katahula etc.

After the jungles were cut and the area was made available for farming. This area came under the ownership of Chaudharis of Bamhrauli about 300 years ago. Thereafter the village Peepalgaon went in to the ownership of a son-in-law of the Chaudhari family that we do not know as to which village that (Son-in-Law) belonged to. However the family owned entire village and was famous as the Chaudharis.

Thereafter around 1775-1810 AD a branch of the Hashmi family of Bamhrauli migrated to Peepalgaon to look after the property that were remote and difficult to look after from Bamhrauli. This family’s entrance to this village marks the emergence of Peepalgaon as an icon amongst the Chail Zamindar fraternity.

Family

There were two original families and two migrant families that resided in Peepalgaon 100 years ago.

The first family was of Chaudharis (origin unclear to us today but certainly from the Ashraaf class) who lived here for the past 100 years then and were fairly well-placed. Apart from huge shares in Peepal Gaon they had large shares in Bajaha, Bheeti, and Silna etc villages. By and By this family went into dooms. Extravagance, chaotic life style , unruly behavior lead them to such ignominy that today they are now entirely forgotten however a few members of this family are still in Allahabad. Chaudhary Muhammad Shareef was the famous Zamindar of this family in the last century. The Last representative of this family is Chaudhari Mohammad Haneef who had Tufail Ahmad Tuffan and Anwar Ahmad living in Allahabad.

The Second family that came later but gradually became the owner and master of the village was a branch of Hashmi family of Bamhrauli. I shall discuss about this family in detail as follows.

Migrant families

A family from the Jafaris of Puraini and another family of Rizwis of Bisauna had two houses each at the beginning of last century.

Zamindari

As mentioned earlier ,between 1800-1850 the village was almost entirely owned by the Chaudharis & Hashmis collectively. After 1850 the Hashmi family took a lead and purchased a lot of shares from the Chaudharis superseding them as the major Land-owning family. However there came an interesting turn in the history of this village when a person named Dakkhini Deen gradually started gobbling the shares of the Zamindars and miraculously around 1910 he boasted of having owned almost 70% of Peepalgaon. 8 Annas of Zamindari was with him while the remaining 4 Anna share was with the famiy of Janab Nazeer-ud-Din Marhoom and the in remaining 2 Annas was the entire village. Moreover out of these two annas , some anna and pie were mortgaged to Dakkhni Deen. We may say that Peepalgaon in a broader sense had gone into the hands of Dakkhini Deen by the end of 1920.

The situation remained as it was till the abolition of Zamindari in 1952. Though the village does not come under Zamindari today yet the majority of lands around PeepalGaon are still with the family of Dakkhini Deen.

Followed by the confiscation of lands against mortgage and Dakhkhini Deen asserting more pressure into the erstwhile Zamindars , there erupted a unceasing series of litigation between Dakkhni and the minor shareholders to retrieve their remaining source of sustenance . some of those suits that started in 1880 lasted as late as 1950.

Besides, there were a number of untoward skirmishes between Dakkhini Deen and the surviving Zamindars of Peepalgaon. In one of the most unfortunate incident in 1911 , on the day of Juma, the estate manager (the father of Dr. Naeem of Seondha) lost his life while he was trying to pacify and control the mob outside the house of Janab Nazeeruddin.His death aggravated the situation to the last possible point where only the do or die options could be available. In this scenario, almost all the families of peepalgaon either started shifting their base to Allahabad or they gradually shifted to their maternal or in-laws……save the family of Jb.Nazeer-ud-din.

Only the family of Janab Nazeer-ud-Din could manage to hold ground and maintain their property at Peepal Gaon. Nazeeruddin Sahib was an enlightened , far-sighed retired soldier who was fortunate enough to have other source of income for he had sharing in some civil contracts in Burma done after the 1st World War and with the help of those proceeds he not only vigorously maintained his Zamindari in PeepalGaon, but he made further purchases in the form of Zamindari of villages Matpur, Mahmoodpur and Sultanpur etc,all these villages are near Manauri. These villages were in the possession of his descendents till the abolition of Zamindari. There is no doubt that he had fairly large zamindari as compared to his kinsmen in the village and in general Pargana Chail. This was the only family that could not be cowed down by Dakkhini Deen and held its head high against all the odds.

Dakkhini Deen

The most important and illustrious figure of the last century from Peepal Gaon arguably was Dakkhini Deen, a teli by profession. He was born in Nauwapur,a village near Chail Khas around 1870, his father Alopi Din was a traditional Bania. When Dakkhini grew up , he made for himself some ambitious plans. The first plan was to leave the village and he chose Peepal Gaon as he had some relatives in the village. Soon he started two oil pressers here plus one Grit Grinder. Gitti Peesna ( Grindng of Grit/Road Metal ) was a job done by the Oil Pressers those days. Soon he installed some Kolhu(Oil Presser) and worked hard to earn and made an enviable savings. Then he started his lending business , which in turn proved too lucky for him as he would get the property written down to him in lieu of the unpaid loan and thus by and by he took control of Half of the village. When his designs and ambitions became clear and evident , it was already too late and he had virtually taken control of the village. Thereafter began the strife, petty skirmishes and hooliganism that were followed by litigation and soon the zamindars felt that a lot of water has already passed down the bridge and they have lost the battle.

Not only in PeepalGaon , Dakkhini Deen then started a flourishing business of purchasing shares of Zamindari throughout Pargana Chail and then disposing them off on a high scale. Within a span of thirty years he was undoubtedly the richest lender and businessman of Tehsil Chail. There is hardly a village in Pargana Chail where Dakkhni Deen had no share. Even today I have seen in revenue records in severl villages where an entire Patti or Mohal is named after him. Patti Dakkhni Deen and Mohal Dakkhni Deen are very common to see in Chail Revenue records.

Dakkhini Deen was at its peak between the years 1905-1935. This is a fact that he had garnered zamindari shares in 52 villages of Pargana chail and still the records of those villages are with the family unlike most of our Chaili families who claim to have owned 52 villages but virtually they have nothing to substantiate their claim. Dakhkhni Deen passed away in 1939 and was survived by three sons.

Sharda Prasad
Bindeshwari Prasad
Kali Prasad

Whle the descendents of the latter two are mostly living abroad. The sons of Sharda Prasad are in Allahabad. Sharda Prasad’s son Rajendar Nath Alias Rajan still lives in the huge Mansion at Peepalgaon. I spoke to the great-grand son of Dakkhini Deen, Mr.Alok Gupta who promised me to provide more details and the old photographs from the old repository in the days to come and I hope to include the details in my proposed book on the history of Pargana Chail. In sha Allaah.

While you would appreciate that he was crafty and shrewd in his dealings, what made his plans easy was the carelessness, lassitude and slackness and the typical feudal sloppiness and non-performance of the zamindars of Chail. I would even take a liberty to say that it was the negligence and profligacy of the Zamindars that made him the uncrowned king of the land. Below are some excerpts from Indian Law reports that prove the litigations he was involved in.

Book: The Indian Law Reports:. Allahabad series, Volume 16

Authors High Court of Judicature, India. Privy Council. Judicial Committee, India

Publisher Superintendent, Print. and Stationery, Uttar Pradesh, 1913

Page 268

Page 1105

Hashmi Family at PeepalGaon

As mentioned earlier , Peepal Gaon was home to a concentrated branch of Hashmi Family of Bamhrauli. They migrated to Peepal Gaon close to the end of 18th Century around 1770-1800.The first person who migrated to Peepal Gaon was Shaikh Muhammad Zaki ,Now look at the shajra above and read one by one the names and you will know about their descendents.Those who are X marked, went without an issue.

Descendants

From Fazal Rab are Ahmad Rab, Muhd Rab, Hamid Rab , Mahmood Rab, Abid Rab, Mahboob Rab

From Abdul Rab are Faseeh Ahmad ( At Naini) and Rafi Ahmad. Faseeh Ahmad had Masood , Matloob, Mansoob , Masroor and Masroof Ahmad. Masood Ahmad have Shagufta , Faisal and Fazal ,Matloob Ahmad have Shabistan , Sharib & Saqib , Mansoob Ahmad have Amreen and Moiz Mansoob , Late Masroor have Naureen and Shahreen while Late Masroof died young.

Late Faseeh Ahmad Sahib

From Fariduddin came Hadeeq-un-Nisa, his only child.

From Abdul Ghani were two daughters Raffi and Massi.

From Makhdoom Bakhsh are Abdul Ahad (No Issue) and Abdul Wahid.Abdul Wahid Had abdul Qayyum and Abdul Hayy. Abdul Qayyum had Abdul Ghaffar while Abdul Hayy had Nur ul Hasan and Anwar-ul-Haq. Now Nur ul Hasan had Sadiq-un-Nisa and Khaleeq-un-Nisa and Anwar ul Haq had Mazhar-ul-Haq (Pakistan) , Dunna Bibi ( Narvar ) and Nafeesa Bibi ( Mahgaon ).

From Ilaahi Bakhsh are Mohammad Raza and Shaikh Muhammad.. Mohammad Raza had Ehsan ul Haq and Mahmood ul Haq (No Issue). Ehsan ul Haq had two daughters Mehr-un-nisa (pak) and Zaib-un-nisa (Lucknow).

From Shaikh Muhammad came Wazeer Ahmad who had Wasi Ahmad (Advocate ) Wasi Ahmad had Razi Ahmad ( Nae Sahab) at Nakhas Kohna, Allahabad.

From Khuda Bakhsh came Muiz-ud-din who had Sharfuddin and Qamar-ud-din. Qamaruddin had Waheed-ud-din Urf Achhey Bhai at Allahabad and Ahmad Javed. While Sharfuddin had Zameeruddin who have Khalid Zameer ( Sharjah ) and two daughters.

From Muhiuddin came Ehtisham-ud-Din, Rafi-ud-din (1st wife) and Burhanuddin (2nd Wife). Ehtishamuddin migrated to Neem Sarai (See the details in the following header Neem Sarai)

Akhlaq Ahmad Hashmi & M. Shamoon Hashmi at Nazeer Manzil

Nazeer Manzil few years ago ........

Janab Rafiuddin had Salahuddin who had Jb.Muhi-ud-din in Pakistan. Burhan-ud-Din had Haseenuddin and he had Rasheeduddin and Azeezuddin. Then Rasheed-ud-Din has Mohammad Ali Rashid in UK.

Taqi Miyan Marhoom with his brothers !

From Karimuddin came Nazeer-ud-din and Mohammad Yusuf. Then Nazeer-ud-din had Mohammad Isa (Died Young), Mohammad Moosa Hashmi (Taqi Miyan), Akhlaq Ahmad Hashmi and Nooruddin Hashmi (died 05 Jun 2015) in USA along with 4 daughters.

Now Mohammad Moosa Urf Taqi Miyan who stayed in India fathered Rashid Javed Hashmi (kareli) , Mohammad Arshad Javed Hashmi, Shabie Hashmi and Mohammad Shamoon Hashmi.(all abroad )

Mohammad Yusuf S/o Karimuddin had only two daughters Sabirah & Abidah Bibi.

Nooruddin Hashmi superannuated as Dy.Chief Enigineer of Pakistan Shipyard and now lives in USA with his children Shahid Javed Hashmi ,Tariq,Sajid, Asim and Arif Hashmi. Akhlaq Ahmad Hashmi was employed with the foreign services and now lives in USA with his children Javed, Asif & Naseem Hashmi.

From Nizamuddin s/o Mohammad Shafi came – Fazal-ud-din who had Nihal-ud-din and Shafi-ud-din………This Shafi-ud-din Urf Naib Ji migrated to Mahgaon in his in-laws. From Ghayas-ud-Din came Saeed-udin who had shafiuddin.

From Ikram uddin came Munir-ud-din who had Zafar-ud-din.

From Imam-ud-Din came Mohammad Zaki,Mohammad Ameen and Mohammad Maseeh who migrated to Basedhi around 1890-95. (Details in the header Migration)

People

Deputy Ehsan-ul-Haq of Peepalgaon was Deputy Director of Education posted at Burma.

Nafeesa Bibi at Kareli D/o
Anwar-ul-Haq Marhoom

Janab Nazeer-ud-din was a immensely popular Zamindar of Peepalgaon known throughout the Pargana Chail.He was initially employed with the Army andretired after the first world-war and thereafter engrossed himself in looking after his Zamindari. During the world war he had travelled immensely in Europe and Africa and gained a lot of first hand information about the difference of lives and importance of education. He was a well read person and his stress on modern education was a direct result of his insight gained through his travels. He was fairly large zamindar as he owned three or four entire village alongwith one fourth of PeepalGaon yet he was a genial and God-fearing person.Apart from his large clan he did took care of the entire village in the time of need. He passed away in 1945 at the ripe age of 89.

Anwar ul Haq Marhoom with his son Mazhar ul Haq in 1925

Janab Anwar-ul-Haq was an officer in the Postal department based at Burma.His son Mazhar ul Haq rose on to become a Squadron Leader in the Air force.

Faseeh Ahmad superannuaated sa Jail Head at Naini Central Jail who had a reputation for being an honest officer , he supervised the construction of Mosque in Naini Jail .family still lives in Naini.

Wasi Ahmad at Nakhas Kohna was a succesful and famed lawyer.

Janab Hamid Rab who migrated in 1947 rose on to become a Commodore in Pakistan Navy. He served for once as the ADC to the President of that country. He retired in 1980. He is mentioned in the autobiography of Admiral Iftikhar Sirohey as follows:-

Lt I.F. Quadir and Hamid Rab were midshipmen and cadets training officers respectively. They seemed to be doing it collectively. We were told at the conclusion of our training as cadets that 2 or 3 midshipmen would be on a small and double ...(Truth never retires: an autobiography of Admiral Iftikhar Ahmed Sirohey-1995)

Marriages

As described above, the Zamindars of Peepal Gaon belong to Hashmi clan of Bamhrauli being in the direct line of Makhdom Shah Ismail Multani (RA) of Bamhrauli and thus considered to be a highly regarded Aali-Nasab clan of Pargana Chail. PeepalGaon had the best of reputation that few amongst Shurafa-i-Chail could have enjoyed. Similarly they took great care in contracting marriages and thus their initial marital connections were only with few selected places like Ujihni, Jhunsi , Kakra , Saiyid Sarawan and Naraur. Later on they struck marital alliances with the other leading families in Chail for example in Alamchand, Neem Sarai, Chail, Neewan ,Basedhi ,Mahgaon, etc …...

Migration from PeepalGaon

As mentioned earlier after the emergence of Dakhkhini Deen as the major land-owner, few members of Hashmi family lost almost everything there in village. If one had no farming land in village then the survival was extremely difficult in those days 100 years ago. Thus when a family lost almost land in the village to Dakhkhini Deen and it was agonizing for them to find that the villagers and their Praja have or would have disowned them. They looked for other options. A family migrated to Basedhi and another to Mahgaon. One more family had migrated earlier to Neem Sarai but that was on account of personal reasons.

Basedhi

Hence the sons of Imam-ud-din , Mohammad Zaki, Ameen and Shafi migrated to their Nanihal at Basedhi. There they purchased some lands and merging it with the maternal share , they got off to a new start.

Mohammad Zaki had Bahauddin ,Qubool-ud-Din and Rahimuddin. Baha-ud-Din had Masood-ul-Haq and two daughters Ishrat-un-Nisa(Kashia) and other at (Pawan) - Then Now Masood-ul-Haq had Mansoor-ul-Haq who have Shariq , Saqib , Tariq.___While Qubool-ud-Din had Mukhtar Ahmad (Raja Miyan) at Husainpur and Chhote Miyan., Mohd Zahid , Ahmad Mukhtar----Now Rahimuddin had Shameem Ahmad , Shoaib Ahmad Soney (At Malaak-Mahgaon )and Shamshad Ahmad Ladey.

Mohammad Amin had Mohammad Mubeen, Mateen and Haseen. Mohammad Mubeen had Muhammad Raees (Pakistan) and Muhammad Mueen (Kallu Ziledar),while Muhammad Mateen had three daughters. Mohammad Haseen had Dularey (Bade Gaon) and Mohammad Rashid.

Mohammad Maseeh had Mohammad Umar, Muhammad Qamar and Mohammad Usman.= Now Mohammad Qamar had no issue while Umar had daughters only and Mohammad Usman had Rasool Ahmad,Afsaar Ahmad, Akhatrun and Maryam Bibi.

Mahgaon

Shafi Ud Din Naib Ji S/o Fazal-ud-Din of Peepal Gaon got married to Ruwab-un-Nisa D/o Kamal-ud-Din in Dakkhin Thok Mahgaon and on this share he decided to settle in his in-laws.

From Shafi-ud-din came Sami-ud-din Darogha, Azeez-ud-Din ( Ajjan Miyan at Bahraich), Haseeb-ud-din, Sagheeruddin and Iqbal-ud-Din(X).Jb.Samiuddin had Zain-ud-Din, Nizam-ud-din (Dularey in London) and Misbah-ud-din(Anas) and.Now Zain-ud-din have Asad, Nasir, Farrukh, Asim and Qasim Zain. Janab Sagheeruddin had Ahmad Sagheer Urf Shahid sb.Marhoom.

Ahmad Sagheer Urf Shahid Sb. Marhoom

Misbahuddin have Waris Misbah. Nizamuddin Urf Dularey (now Marhoom) in London has 3 daughters. Azeez-ud-Din s/o Shafi-ud-din settled at bahraich and he had Ahmad, Anwar, Sarwar, Ishrat and Nusrat Aziz. Haseeb-uddin s/o Shafiuddin has Aish-ud-din. Azeezuddin Sahib has made a good fortune in transport business in Bahraich and is quite well known there.

Neem Sarai

Neem Sarai House Today

Neem Sarai in 60s'

Bachchoo Miyan of Neem Sarai

Shaikh Ehtishamuddin of Peepalgaon had no son with the problem that he had fathered few children but none could survive in Peepalgaon. Discomfited and disappointed too much, he was advised to leave the place if he wants his progeny to survive. He gave this piece of advice a serious thought and consulted with his sister who was married in Neem Sarai. The next step he took was that he disposed his property in Peepal Gaon and purchased lands in Neem Sarai, constructed a house and settled permanently there. This was in the year 1885. Barkat un Nisa , wife of Ehtishamuddin built at Mosque as well in Neem Sarai on the road that goes to Begum Sarai. Surprisingly at the fag end of the life, he was bestowed with two sons. Qubool-ud-Din Urf Bachchoo Miyan and Iqbal Ud Din. This Bachchoo Miyan came out to be a Haafiz-i-Quraan and was a very popular social figure of Neem Sarai. His name appears in Mirat-i-Jalali as well.He passed away in 1958.

Suez Akram Alias Jadoo

Mohammad Akram Sb

These two brothers are the originator of the Hashmis of Neem Sarai. As told, Ehtishamuddin had Qubool-ud-Din and Iqbal Ud-din. Now Hafiz Qubool-ud-Din Urf Bachchoo Miyan at Neem Sarai fathered Shafeeq-un-Nisa (PeepalGaon ), Mohammad Akram ,Mohammad Azam, Mohammad Muazaam, Aslam , Akhtar un Nisa (Godam) and Afsar un Nisa (Basedhi).Iqbal Uddin had only one daughter Ahmadi Bibi (pak).

Muhammad Akram Sb ( Neem Sarai )

Of all the sons of QuboolUddin Sahib, only Mohammad Akram stayed in India who is still in possession of his ancestral house and lands in Neem Sarai. He superannuated as the Director, Ministry of Industries, Govt of India. Today he shuttles and divides his time between Neem Sarai and his Delhi accommodation. His son Suez Akram Alias Jadoo is well known in the Tourism Sector as a Tour Guide based at New Delhi. He has ventured into hospitality segment also by developing a small eco-friendly “Tented resort” adjoining Tadoba National Park, Distt. Chadrapur, Maharashtra, for wild-lifers and serious nature lovers known as “SERAI TIGER.

Migration to Peepalgaon

Jafris of Puraini in Peepal Gaon

The village Nizampur Puraini had an old association with the village Peepalgaon. In 1770, a family of Mahgaon that had already settled in Puraini had to migrate to Peepalgaon to take care of the inherited property from their maternals.

Two brothers Faseeh-uz-Zaman Urf Ghissu Miyan and Ameer Zaman inherited the entire property of their Nana at Peepalgaon and to look after the same they had to move to Peepalgaon. As per the records the elder brother Faseeh uz Zaman shifted to peepalgaon around 1770. His sons continued to live in Peepalgaon till 1856 when after the death of a cousin , Muhammad Sadiq of Puraini famly went back to his paternal place at Puraini and thereafter in 1900 his nephew Muhammad Ashiq too left the village winding up the residence of Puraini family from Peepalgaon. In today’s perspective ,this line of Muhammad Ashiq and Sadiq is represented by the family of Janab Lutfur Rahman Jafri Marhoom and his clan settled in Puraini. This family is originally from Manjh KalaN of Mahgaon but had shifted to Puraini in 1760. They lived in Peepalgaon from 1770 to 1900 with one branch or another and then finally went back to Puraini.

Bisauna Connection (Migrants )

A family from Bisauna migrated to PeepalGaon when they got some property from the Chaudharis of Peepalgaon.Mir Akbar Ali of Bisauna was married into the Chaudharis of Peepalgaon , he and his sons migrated to PeepalGaon in the last decade of 19th century around 1885-1890.From PeepalGaon a family of Meer Ansar migrated to his in-laws at Alamchand while other Meer Zawar Husain migrated to Manauri.

Another family of Bisauna came & settled here.One Janab Sadre Alam of Bisauna inherited some property from his maternals and settled in Peepal Gaon. He had a son Janab Haidar Hashmi who migrated to Pakistan. Hamid & Sajid are his sons.Manzar Hashmi Alias Sajid in Karachi/Canada represents the same family. They are not from the Hashmis of Peepal Gaon , they are originally from Bisauna and have taken the Hashmi Surname for themselves.

Today

As discussed earlier, it was Allaah’s grace that the family of Jb.Nazeer-ud-Din upheld the dignity of the zamindars of Peepalgaon. It was the only family that wielded considerable authority in the village. Neither did they leave the village nor did they sell their share. Rather they consolidated their position by purchasing shares in different other villages.

Janab Mohammad Moosa Hashmi Alias Taqi Miyan of Peepalgaon was the son of Jb. Nazeeruddin who is known throughout the Pargana of Chail and wherever one talks of Peepalgaon today, one person is always in the background definitely and that is Taqi Miyan Marhoom. Today his name and village are considered to be synonymous. Born in 1918 ,Taqi Miyan was initially employed with the then GIPR (Indian Railways) stationed at Far-east at Asansol when the riots broke out in the event of partition of the country. He returned to his hometown and thereafter he did not leave the city till his last breath. His house built by his father still stands in the middle of the village looking(Or Over-looking) at all the passers-by while all the passers-by look at the house as the last remnant and Yaadgar of Hashmis of Peepalgaon, the fact is this house named “Nazeer Manzil”(built in 1936) and a mosque in front of the house is all that reminds us of the erstwhile Hashmi Zamindars of Peepalgaon.

The exodus of Zamindars from Peepal Gaon started during 1910-1930 when they found it stifling to survive when they saw Dakkhnini Deen penetrating in the village surreptitiously. This started when two families left for Basedhi, thereafter another shifted to Mahgaon and during the 30s and 40s , the educated and employed ones made their houses in the city of Allahabad. They kept visiting their village off and on but when the older generation passed away , their sons & Grand-sons could not keep the ties as it should have been owing to the heterogeneous conditions , lack of relatives and like minded families in the neighborhood, migration of crowd form other villages with different cultural and social set up.

There was left the house of Taqi Miyan and three families more but unfortunately when I visited peepalGaon in Sep 2012, only the house of Taqi Miyan is standing whereas the others have disposed their lands completely. The day is not far when Peepalgaon will be a full fledged urban locality with no sign of their erstwhile owner and masters of the place. Rahe Naam Allaah ka !

Mention should be made here of another family that has maintained its accommodation in Peepalgaon. This is the house of Meer Hidayat Husain and family who originally belong to Bisauna and have maintained their house to this day.

Conclusion

When I visited Peepal Gaon earlier this month , it was hardly looking like a village although in the back drop one could very easily surmise that the fields and farms are beckoning you. Yet peepalgaon has transformed a lot. It is now a part of urban Allahabad and will change its face once again within a few years. With the city rapidly developing into a metro, it is expanding beyond its original boundary and residential areas are sprouting along its fringes. However, the expansion of the city is coming at the cost of greenery.

I could notice the concrete jungle that has come up inside the village making the map of village quite difficult to figure out but three landmarks are proudly standing guiding the new-comers like me. The Nazeer Manzil, The Mosque and the large housing complex of Dakkhini Deen ( Kothi ). These three have not changed but the surroundings have transformed.

Another noticeable thing was the absence of Peepal tree. Let’s look at the popular couplet:-

Khayaal aata hai aksar dhuup meN baahar nikalte hii

ham apne gaaoN meN pipal kaa saaya chhoR aaye haiN

As famed ,I could not find even few Peepal Trees inside the village rather I noticed a number of Palm Trees in and outside the village. These Tar trees are conspicuous from very far. Interestingly my colleague informed me that in the recent past people as far as from Allahabad used to come to Peepal Gaon to have Palm Toddy in the early morning. It was amusing to learn that PeepalGaon had been famous for Toddy drink as well and that Palm and toddy drink of peepalgaon were quite popular in Allahabad.

If I go back into history there was a village named Peepal Gaon full of Peepal Trees with 15-20 concentrated houses where lived the Zamindars of the village. They ruled the village and its environs. Several villages were under their sway. Then there came a turn. An ambitious Dakkhni Deen sneaked into the village and gradually won the hearts of Zamindars ,started lending money and then came the fall, one by one he started taking over the shares and the losers began to leave the village. One after another houses started getting desolate. Only the strong ones sustained. Thereafter came the partition of the country and few more people left and finally the last jolt in the form of Zamindari Abolition broke the back. Everyone had to look out for other means of living ………and today there is no Dakkhini Deen who famously said that I will spread and fill the road from Peepalgaon to Allahabad with silver and gold coins but none of my men should get convicted ……… and there are no Zamindar who in the past stayed back and fought with the hard times valiantly……….

Today the migrants from Allahabad and Kaushambi have populated the village and the story of human civilization and migration goes on.……….These are the ways Allaah swt shows us everything is transitory and every Nemat is a test……nothing sustains and nothing remains……….we go empty handed in the same way as we open our eyes without anything in hand…………

Are we ready to learn a lesson from these instances………Are our eyes and mind open to pick up some clues from these stories……….Perhaps not ………!!!

The countryside (Or inside ) of village is quite green and beautiful but it is normally hidden from the visitors or Passers-by, You need to trek further into the village to come out into a lush green open area that is spectacularly awesome. I visited the village this month (Sep 12 ) when it was cloudy and about to rain……

Spectacular view close to Sun Set

It was humid and sultry and when I was about to return the sun-set was near but I saw some women still working in the fields weeding and clearing the grass and there were no men around and I was reminded of an old English saying “ A man's work is from sun to sun but a woman's work is never done”. I appreciated their hard work and went further to reach the Qabr of Maulvi Siddiq Ahmad Sahib (Rahmatullahi Alaihi). Now something about Maulvi Sahib.

Maulvi Siddiq Sahib (RA)

Maulvi Siddiq Sahib’s real name was Mukhtar Ahmad and originally he belonged to Behka. His Nanihal was in Saiyid Sarawan and his nana Maulvi Bakhshish Ali was a great Aalim and was amongst the swaliheen of his time.His nana had no son hence he adopted his daughter’s son (Siddiq Sahib) and asked him to stay in Saiyid Sarawan. He took great care in his education and training. Upon attaining majority Maulvi Siddiq Sahib went to Ganj Muradabad and learned Islamic sciences along with Hadees and even took Baiy’at at the Hands of Maulvi Abdul Kareem Ganj Muradabadi and became a mystic. In the later years he got so much engrossed in the love and manifestations of Allaah Swt that he became heedless of the murky worldly affairs.

The Qabr of Maulvi Siddiq Sahib (RA)

One day he was roaming around Umri and Bamhrauli in the scorching month of summers when he caught severe sun-stroke. He somehow managed to reach Peepal Gaon which was his Susral and lay down unconscious in a field after writing his name on the ground with a stick. The villagers noticed a man lying in under the sun with a name written in Urdu by his side. They called the zamindars and soon it was noticed that it was Maulvi Siddiq Sahib who had passed away by then.

He was laid down to rest in Peepal Goan and his grave is marked by an enclosure to the west of Peepal Gaon.

It is reported by several reliable persons that after he was shrouded and took out for Namaz-i-Janazah , suddenly a low cloud surfaced up and that provided a much needed shade to the crowd and then it rained a bit and remained there on the sky until Maulvi Siddiq was laid to rest and his Qabr was properly laid out......... He was considered among the Swaliheen of his time.

IIIT

IIIT , Jhalwa, Allahabad

In 1999 in the neighbourhood of Peepalgaon , The Indian Institute of Information Technology Allahabad (IIIT-A) was established by the Govt of India.The beautiful 100 acre campus, situated at Deoghat, Jhalwa, designed meticulously on the Penrose Geometry pattern, is a fully residential one, with all its faculty, staff and students housed in different pockets. It’s been constantly ranked among the Top 10 Engineering Institutes of India. The most important fact to be considered is that IIIT-A is the youngest institute to be included in India Today's top 10 ranking. It was established just 13 years ago in 1999. It is a matter of fact that IIIT-A has one of the best placements in India as many of the leading companies of the world visit the campus for placements.

Conclusion

Many years ago as a teenager while I was visiting Allahabad during summers , I had a chance to see Taqi Miyan, the last figurehead of Peepal Gaon, we both were in the mosque to offer Zuhr.I came to know that Taqi Miyan was also there .After the Namaz I approached him briskly and after exchanging salam, I asked him about the history of his village and the elders (Oh Yes ! even then I was crazy enough to get into the history of villages)…….

We chatted for a few minutes standing on the road, he told me a few things and a few names and before departing he said "Sab chale gaye ab koi nahin hai , Assalamu’Alaikum and then walked off to his home.I remember that I stood there in silence and saw the tall man walking slowly away from me and soon he disappeared from my view.Today while standing outside Nazeer Manzil , I was reminded of him and I know that he is no more now……….and a day will come when everything and everyone will be no more.......How delusive and shoddy the life is ? I asked myself ..Where these people have gone ? Could we ever see them again.

********************************

Abhi Kya Kahen abhi kya Sunein

Yunhi Khwahishon ke Fishar Mein

Kabhi Be-Sabab, Kabhi Be Khayal
Kahan Kaun kis se Bichhad Gaya
Kisey Kis ne Kaise Ganwa Diya ?

….

Kabhi Phir Milenge to Poochhna

I would take your leave today in the words of Taqi Miyan ( May Allaah have his mery on him) in the same way

Sab Chale Gaye , Ab Koi Nahin Hai

Assaalamu’ Alaikum !

Have we taken a heed from the examples of human settlement and dislocations? Or we just read it like a story or fiction? Has not the time come when we realize what is more important to us and what is best to be avoided? When the time would come where we turn our faces and hearts towards the creator and not the creatures!

khud hum ik nafas hiley bhi kahan,

usko dhoondhen to vo miley bhi kahan !

Ab ta’ammul na kar dil-e-khud kaam,

rooth le, phir ye silsile bhi kahan !

Khema khema guzaar le yeh shab,

Subah Dam, ye qaafile bhi kahan !

Aao, aapas men kuch gile kar len,

warna yoon hai ki phir gile bhi kahan

Was’salaam

Khalid Bin Umar

New Delhi

WRITE TO ME @

khalidkoraivi@yahoo.com

khalid.bin.umar@gmail.com

BadaGaon - Pargana Chail ( Baragaon)

2012-06-13T13:07:00.002+05:30

On the way to Badagaon

The first view upon entering the village

The road inside Bada Gaon

Guys playing cricket !

"Mahal " the house of Dunne Miyan & brothers

Inside Village

BadaGaon

Houses of Chaudharis in Bada Gaon

Chaudhari Ansar Ahmad /Raees Ahmad mansion in front of Masjid

The oldest mosque in the Village

Look at the Old Wooden Door of the mosque

A Madrasa in Bada Gaon

Another view inside the village

Govt.Primary School in the village

Please read the MENU of daily meals in the School

lo...you see the Eid Gaah of BadaGaon

The Gate of the Eid Gaah

A closer view of The Eid Gaah

The famed "Khinni Bagh" , children throwing stones for Khinni

The dying Khinni Tree

With Ehsan Ahmad beside the Eid Gaah in sweltering heat

Here lie in eternal sleep Nazar Muhammad and his family

The Locked Door ?????

Pata nahi Kaise Kaise log yahan rah ke chale gaye !

Dr.Hasan Ahmad in Bada Gaon

Thanks a ton Nadeem Hasan !

Bada Gaon - Pargana Chail (With Nazarganj & Rasoolpur Qazi )

Location

Patti Parvezabad is the name of the revenue mauza that is known as Bada Gaon in Pargana Chail District Kaushambi (Formerly Allahabad).

Patti Parvezabad falls under the block Mooratganj in District Kaushambi. It is located at a distance of 10.3 km from its District HQ Kaushambi.

Nearby Villages are Rasulpur Badlai (1.1 km), Malak Nagar (2.1 km), Birauli (2.3 km), Jalalpur Boriya (2.4 km), Pansaur (2.8 km)

The latest update has its population of about 5436 persons living in around 883 households.

Patti Parvezabad comprises the entire village of Bada Gaon including its Muhalla Nazarganj and Mazra’a Asadullahganj both.

I have attached a pictorial map depicting the route supposing you are coming through GT Road via Mahgaon to Bada Gaon……. Here it is …….

I visited Bada Gaon and Nazarganj twice and both of these visits had a difference of few months. A cycle of crops had went by and new one was being harvested .During these visits I found it so soothing to indulge in the pure joy of relaxation and retreat to the cuddling arms of nature. Taking delight in the varying hues of the golden farming, the azure pond, the evergreen flora, the yellow fields, the earthen red mitti but at the same time these visits are eye-openers to the fact that India’s economic growth has so far largely failed to trickle down to the poorest members of the population. While Delhi and other Indian megacities have been visibly transformed in recent years, overall rates of poverty and malnourishment have remained stubbornly high in the rural areas of India.

History

Badagaon is one of the eight villages dominantly populated by Bukhari Naqvi Syeds of Pargrana Chail.

Please refer to my earlier posts wherein I had mentioned in detail about the arrival of Qazi Husam-ud-din Bukhari of Parsakhi at the time of Firoz Shah Tughlaq and how he defeated the rebellious chieftains in Parsakhi and Koh-Khiraj and also about the villages he received in reward from Firoz Tughlaq , how he divided it amongst his eight sons.

In that distribution, his son Sayyid Muhammad Urf Bhure Miyan )received Bada Gaon as his share. He pitched his tent there and started living in Badagaon. It is difficult to visualize today how Sayyid Muhammad Sahib would have come here alongwith a small family with no friend or relative around 600 years ago.

When the first family came here to settle, the foremost requirement that must have came up was of a mosque therefore an old structure was modified to be used as a mosque in the eastern part of the village and that is today the Badi Masjid in Badagaon. Similarly for the need of Eid Prayers an Eid-Gaah was built on the western outskirts of the village. This Eid Gaah served as the main Eid Gaah for at least 8-10 villages in the environs till very recently.

We learn from Mirat'al Jalali that he had a son named Sayyid Naseerudin and two grandsons Sayyid Usman and Sayyid Yusuf. This Sayyid Yusuf is the ancestor of the entire stock of Sadat Bukhari originating from Badagaon & its muhalla Nazarganj. While Sayyid Usman moved to Kashia to take over his Uncle’s seat there.

The village is known throughout the district as Bada Gaon. It has an equally important Muhalla known as Nazarganj. Nazarganj is sometimes remembered for the strict adherence to their self-imposed rules about contraction of marriage and the resultant superfluous superiority complex about Nasab with which some of the families of Nazarganj have been suffering for a long time.

As for the revenue name of the village Patti Parvezabad, I went through all the paperwork available and noticed that there was no person with this name even not in any of the Shajra(s) then I went back into the history of Allahabad District and dared to take a liberty and assume that the village got this name during the Mughal regime in 17^th Century AD considering the fact that Sultan Parvez (1590-1626) ,a brother of Emperor Shah Jahan served the Subah of Allahabad as its provincial governor for a very short time in the 17^th century and it is not improbable that the village borrowed its name from him due to numerous reasons unclear to us today. My hunch is that either he or some other Mughal authority conferred upon a person of Badagaon the title of Chaudhari and the entire village was named as Patti Parvezabad. It should be noted that there was no Nazarganj at that point of time. This is also a reason that the entire nazarganj and few families in Badagaon are referred to as Chaudharis while the other ones do not use the title. Mirat’al Jalali reports that Parvezabad was named & founded by Qazi Muhammad Yusuf.

Families in Bada Gaon

Geneoligcally the Zamindars of Bada Gaon are Bukhari Sayyids of Naqvi Branch descended from Qazi Husam-ud-din Hasan Bukhari Kohi throgh his son Saiyid Muhammad Alias Bhure Miyan who came to Parsakhi in 1484 AD. Now look at the chart above. You would notice that in the later generation of Bhure Miyan Came Qazi Muhammad Yusuf who had two sons. One was Abdul Sattar and other one was Shahab-ud-Din. From Abdul Sattar is the entire Chaudhari clan of BadaGaon & Nazarganj because one of the member of this branch was conferred the title of Chaudhari during the Mughal period. Therefore a lot of people from Badagaon & Nazarganj are called Chaudharis. As for Shahab’ud’din, there has been a serious dispute and several views have been floating since long.

The first version is from the Chaudharis (Sadat Bukharis recorded in Mirat al Jalali) who say that Shahabuddin had no son and his line did not continue. Those who are residing in Badegaon (Purbahan) are not Bukhari Naqvi Sayyids rather they should be sheikh as our elders have not confirmed any other branch in Badegaon.They certainly have no proof in the form of any original / old written document or Shajra.

The other version is from a large clan living in Badegaon ( including Purbahan) that Saiyid Shahabuddin did have two sons, Saiyid Rahmatullah Urf Badle Miyan and Saiyid Ashrafullah Urf Ashraf Miyan and that they all are descended from Saiyid Shahabuddin through these two sons.

We do not exactly know when this dispute arose but it came to the fore during the last century vehemently when the Nazarganj & Badagaon guys started asserting emphatically that the people residing in the east of the village (Called Purbahan) are not from their Shajra and are not Bukhari Naqvi Sayyids and thus not equal to their Nasab (and Nasbi Status ). When Saiyid Khaleel Ahmad Mendarvi came to collect the Shajra for his valuable book Mirat al Jalali , He too was confused with the claim of the non-chaudharis and the disapproval of the Chaudharis. He has recorded the same in his book as follows:-

In response to this confusion Saiyid Hakeemuddin from the non-Chaudhari group published a complete Shajra in 1908 refuting the claims of the Chaudharis. This Saiyid Hakeemuddin was a practical Sufi with the name Ikramullah Shah Khalili Chishti Safavi and was a mureed from the Safipur (Unnao) Khanqah, his Shajrah shows that there indeed exist the other branch since centuries. Now in order to verify and check which version is correct we need to look into the facts carefully. Now as a third party observer I have to say as follows:

1. Both the families, the Chaudharis and the Non-Chaudharis are living in Badagaon since several centuries. Both of them accept this fact for each other. This means none of the two is a migrant family. It is well known that only Saiyyid Muhammad Urf Bhure Miyan was the first person to enter and settle in the village and only his progeny has been controlling and owning the village so far.......

2. If we check the Zamindari records, we find that the Non-Chaudharis havd owned almost equal and sometimes larger zamindari/shares than the Chaudharis.

3. The rest of the Pargana Chail and their elders accept and accord the Non-Chaudharis the same status as they do for the Chaudharis. The entire Chail Zamindar fraternity have been marrying ceaselessly among the Non-Chaudharis & Chaudharis both without any discrimination.

4. This dispute is more vocal within the village boundaries only whereas outside , in the rest of Chail nobody makes any distinction between the two factions. The Chail Biradari recognises both the clans with the same respect and equal status.

5. I saw the name of Badley Miyan in the Shajra of Hakeemuddin Sahib and this also confirms that they are here for long because there is a nearby village Badleypur that was founded and owned by the same family almost entirely. This also authenticates their Shajra.There is nearby village called Barrakatpur that was founded by Saiyid Barkat Ali from the same non-chaudhari family after his name. This also confirms that they were land-owners of some weight and status and are an established zamindar clan since long.

6. There is no answer to the question as to if the Purbahan or the Non-Chaudharis are not from the same Shajra then who are they and where did they come from???????? No one could provide me a convincing answer to this question either in oral or in the form of something written.

7. A legend says that once a headman of the non-chaudharis was confronted with a Buzurg with a condition that if he does a specific feat it was okay otherwise he should accept that he was a sheikh. The fable goes on to say that the Buzurg failed to accomplish the task and thus was termed as Shaikh for the rest of his life………so did his descendents but the fact remained that he was a Saiyid. Could this be a reason for a clan to term the one as Sheikhs ?

8. A fact which is not noticed generally is that in all the EIGHT villages populated by Bukhari Sadaat in Chail , no outsider family could enter, settle or make a place for themselves from the time of inception of the village. Few families have settled in Bukhari villages but those are just 100-150 years old and are well known as migrants.

9. The Purbahan guys do have a Shajra linking to Qazi Naseeruding with his son Shahabuddin.

10. There is no doubt that there are some families in Badagaon (in purbahan ) who have lost their crediblity owing to incongruous or unfitting marriages they contracted for the last 150-100 years and because of that they are not considered AT PAR in terms of Taharat-i-Nasab.

11. If a person marries outside the AT PAR familes , he does not go out of the Shajrah , he just contaminates his Nasab but not does not change his lineage. If your brother marries in a low-standing family outside the biradari then he does not go out of your shajra. He is still your brother. Marriages don't make your brother an ousider.

Keeping in view these facts , there is no reason to reject the view that whatever population is found in Bada Gaon known as the Zamindar Clan , be it chaudharis or non-chaudharis are from a same stem. It may be the contemporary rivalry or any other unknown reason that has been playing games with them for so long. Therefore it is the right time that we put our records straight ,accept the truths and reconcile ourselves with the facts otherwise it will destroy the unity, knowledge, character and the remnant of guts like it has ruined many families in several other places.

To conclude I can only say Wallahu Aalam Bis’Sawaab ! ( Only Allah swt knows the truth).

Families

From the above it is clear that there are two major familes. Both claim to be Bukhari Saiyids but one are called Chaudharis while the other are non-chaudharis.

The entire Nazarganj Muhalla along with families based at Masjid per in BadaGaon are Sadat Bukharis known as Chaudharis duly recorded in Mirat’al Jalali by Saiyid Khaleel Ahmad Mendarvi in 1918.

The Non-Chaudharis live in Bada Gaon only. For example some in Mohalla Uncha and some in Purbahan etc are populated by non-Chaudharis. They also insist on being a Saiyid Bukhari descended from the Brother of Abdul Sattar. There is a family at Mahal as well.

Chaudharis

In the Muhalla Masjid at Bada Gaon , lived the descendents of Saiyid Abdul Hai (as mentioned above in the chart) . From Abdul hai -> Hidayatullah->Husamuddin->Ghualm Makhdoom->Jan Bakhsh . From Jan Bakhsh are the following families who are in Bada Gaon and abroad that represent the Chaudharis of Bada Gaon

The descendents of Saiyid Abdul Hai In Bada Gaon

Mukhtar Ahmad whose sons are Ansar Ahmad and Izhar Ahmad, From Ansar Ahmad are Raees, Azeez and Zameer Ahmad.
Chaudhary Nafees Ahmad and Khaleeq Ahmad , Ch. Nafees had Ahmed Syed , Akhtar Nafees ( Farhat) , Rasheed Ahmed ( Sarwat ), Faseeh Ahmed while Ch. Khaleeq had Farooq Ahmad, Mashooq & Usman Ahmad.
Mukhtar Ahmad whose sons are Anees Ahmad, Niyaz & Maqbool.
Muhammad Akbar whose sons are Mohammad Owais, Mohammad Zafar and M. Zaid etc.
Muhammad Jameel whose sons are Muhammad Shakeel & M.Aqeel.

The descendents of Saiyid Muhammad Swalih in Bada Gaon

Sana ul Haq and Muin ul Haq , Faizan ul Haq & Aijaz Ahmad s/o Faiyaz ul Haq Sahiban
Asrar Ahmad, Abrar Ahmad, Ahmad Mustafa , Faizan’ul’Haq, Jalaluddin Haidar , Muizuddin Sb family
Iqbal Husain and Maqbool Husain ,Azeezul Haq, Hisamul Haq
Ausaf Ahmad, Shoaib Ahmad sons of Akbar Husain.
Ths sons of Salamuddin.

Non Chaudharis in Bada Gaon ( Purbahan )

As informed earlier the Non-Chaudharis claim to be descended from Shahabuddin who had a famous son called Ibadullah Urf badle Miyan who founded the village Badleypur. From Ibadullah came Mohammad Zahid then Mohammad Aabid then Ali Uddin then Muhammad Ali and then Muhammad Aashiq who had two sons. Nasir Ali and Muhammad Ali Urf Bhoj Miyan.From these are descended the entire Non-Chaudharis or the Purbahan.

I.Nasir Ali had Saad Ali and Saad Ali had five sons whose line have went on

1.Ghulam nabi, 2.Muzaffar Ali, 3.Imam Ali, 4.Ashraf Ali,5.Khairat Ali

1-From the line of Ghulam Nabi came Ghulam Abbas, Jameeluddin, Aulia Bakhsh. From Ghulam Abbas came Mohd Ishaq,M.Ilyas and Mohd Arab ,Ishaq had Mushtaq and Akhlaq Ahmad whose descendents are in Pak Shoaib Ahmad, Mumtaz Ahmad Ansar Ahmad, Idris and Owais Ahmad. From Jameeluddin came Hakeemuddin, Imaduddin, Naeemuddin, Ruknuddin. From hakeemuddin are Azeemudin and then Aijazuddin (GM, PSO), Azeezuddin (Dir PSM) and Muizuddin. From Imaduddin are Sami Uddin and Zafaruddin. Samiuddin had Saifuddin, Ziauddin and Salahuddin while Zafaruddin had Maqsood Ahmad, Mahfooz Ahmad Urf Muslim, Maktoob Ahmad, Rasheed Ahmad Rassan Bukhari in Pak and Mansoob Ahmad Dunne . Dunne have Zafar Ahmad Urf Hashmi and Masroor Ahmad in Allahabad.

From Naeemuddin cam Abi Ahmad and Nabi Ahmad, Abi Ahmad had Hamid & Mahmood.Now in turn Nabi Ahmed had Ausaf Ahmed (Chief Engineer),Dr.Tausif Ahmed,Naseem Ahmed,Aftab Ahmed and Suroor Ahmed and Abi Ahmed had Mahmood Abi and Hamid Abi.Professor Dr. Talat is daughter of Nabi Ahmed.

Dr.Tauseef Hashmi

From Ruknuddin came Wali Ahmad and then Iftikhar Ahmad and then Iftikhar had Ishtiyaq, Iqtidar, Mushtaq, Waqar and Ammar Ahmad.

2.From the line of Muzaffar Ali - Muzaffar Ali had Qamaruddin (Lawalad) and Fakhruddin and now Fakhruddin had Maqbool Ahmad Achchan , Abu Ahmad, Muslehuddin whose descendents are both in India & Pak such as Aijaz Ahmad , Mukhtar Ahmad and Masroor Ahmad s/o Maqbool Ahmad Achchan. Ishtiyaq Ahmad s/o Abu Ahmad whose son is Khurram & Muazzam Ishtiyaq. Shahid Aijaz , Malik Aijaz and Qaisar Aijaz in Badegaon are sons of Aijaz Ahmad. While Mukhtar Ahmad son of Aijaz Ahmad have Waris, Asif , Tariq and Khalid Mukhtar. Muslehuddin had Imitaz Ahmad. Maqbool Ahmad had Masroor & Mansoor.

3. From the line of Imam Ali were Muhammad Ali and then Siddiq Ahmad, Ishtiyaq Ahmad, Shabbir ali etc. Siddiq had Aqeel, Adeel , fazeel etc while Shabbir Had Haseen , mubeen and Mateen Ahmad.

4.From the line of Ashraf Ali were Qasim Ali then Lutf Ahmad and Azeemullah. Today Saleem Ullah , Ehsan Ullah are from this line.

Irfan Ahmad Shera in Bharwari

5.From the line of Khairat Ali had Imdad Ali he had Abdul Ghafoor and Abdul Ghani. Then came Afzal , Iqbal, Fazal, Maqbool Ahmad s/o Muh. Yusuf s/o Abdul Ghani. Today Irfan Ahmad shera , Zafar ul Isalm , Absar , Nisar and Nihal s/o Iqbal + Owais, Nafees and Bilal s/o Fazal , Mansoor & mansood s/o Maqbool Ahmad represent this family. Maqbool Ahmad Urf Bachchan Baba is reputed to be a Majzoob who was a disciple of Nange Shah Baba of Kanpur. Bachchan Baba's mazar is at Bharwari.

II.Bhoj Miyan had 1.Ameer Ali, Ibadullah, Badruzzaman, Shamsher Ali. Only Ameer Ali’s line went on he had Nazeer ali, Wajid Ali and Barkat Ali.

From Ameer Ali’s line came 1.Barkat Ali, 2.Wajid Ali, 3.Mangroo Miyan , 4.Nazeer Ali.

1.From Barkat Ali are Mahmood Ahmad s/o Ansar Ahmad,

2.From Wajid Ali came Mohsin Ali and then Wakeel Uddin & Ali Ahmad.From Wakeel uddin came Mashooq Ahmad, Ameer Ahmad, Haji Shabbir Ahmad, Laeeq Ahmad, Khaleeq, Matloob, Aqeeq and Shafeeq Ahmad. Haji Shabbir had Nafees Ahmad.Shafeeq had Raees Ahmad, Tufail Ahmad, Er.Mansoob Ahmad. Ameer Ahmad had Dr. Hasan Ahmad & Zafar Ameer. Laeeq had Zubair Ahmad & uzair Ahmad. Aqeeq Ahmad had Rashid Jawed who is a teacher; Khaleeq Ahmad had Mohd Swaleh while Matloob Ahmad have Sajid, Shahid, Asif etc.

From Ali Ahmad’s line are Anees Ahmad and Qubool Ahmad , Qubool had Ammar, Zurar, Iqtidar , Waqar etc while Anees Ahmad had Qawi Ahmad and Afroz Ahmad.

3.From Nazeer Ali came Paighambar Baksh and then Abdul Rahman and Abdul Sattar, From Abdul Rahman came Abdul Jabbar then Abdul Quddoos. From Abdul Sattar came Sagheer Ahmad and Abdul Mannan. From Sagheer Ahmad are Fazal , Aafaq, Farooq, Suhali & Sohaib Ahmad while Abdul Mannan had Zafar ul Islam, Fakhrul Islam and Noor islam.

Buildings

Mahal & Family of Mahal

There are more masonry houses in Badagaon in comparison with Nazarganj and most of them are in good condition. The residence complexes of Chaudhari Nafees and Khaleeq are in fine condition. Also in Purbahan there are a lot of newly constructed houses looking fine but the most striking structure in BadeGaon is the one at the entrance of the village.

When you enter the village Bada Gaon, on the left is a housing complex with a huge gateway called Mahal. This was originally built by Inspector Ishaq Ahmad in 1909 (1327 Hijri) whose sons wee Mushtaq Ahmad and Akhlaq Ahmad. The descendants of both migrated to Pak as mentioned above. Therefore the house was handed over to a branch of the same family namely the family of Zafaruddin Sahib. Zafaruddin was the paternal cousin as well as the brother-in-law of Mushtaq & Ekhlaq Sb. Zafaruddin was married secondly to the daughter of Syed Hashmat Ali of Kashia (Father of Raunaq Ali & Sifat Ahmad) and from him came Mansoob Ahmad Alias Dunne (Police), Rasheed Ahmad Urf Rassan Bukhari in Pak, Mahfooz Ahmad Urf Muslim( in Dehradun) , Maktoob Ahmad and Maqsood Ahmad. Today a son of Mansoob Ahmad namely Zafar Ahmad Urf Hashmi lives on singularly in the large house. Fakhar Ahmad in Kuwait represents the same family.

Eid Gaah

On the western outskirts of the village is located the Eid-Gaah. It was originally built at the time Saiyid Muhammad Urf Bhure Miyan 600 years ago but in 1934 it was reconstructed with the help of the villagers.

In front of the gate of Eid Gaah , we could see three or four masonry graves built three / four hundred years ago and these are the graves of Nazar Muhammad and Faiz Muhammad Sahiban.

Khinni Bagh

There are four trees of Khinni (Manilkara Hexandra) undoubtedly hundreds of year old on the north eastern part of Eid Gaah.One very interesting fact about this area is that in the olden times all the Baraat (marriage Party) used to be welcomed here and even the nikah would take place under the Khinni Tree for a long time. Upon enquiry it transpires that the space around the Khinni tree was plain and vast besides it gave a very good view near the Eidgaah. So the custom went on for long till as late as 1950 when it was treated as the main Janwas and place for Nikah.

Persons

Chaudhary Nafees Marhoom

In Badagaon the most famous person of the last century was Chaudhary Nafees Ahmad. He was actively involved in politics throughout his life. First he was associated with Muslim League in pre-partition era but after the partition he changed his heart and aligned himself with Muzaffar Hasan Marhoom ( Ex. Minister ) of Yayhapur to work for Congress. He had a clout and influence that no-one could generate so far in Bada Gaon. Photograph Attached.

Haji Shabbir Ahmad Marhoom

Haji Shabbir Ahmad - Haji Shabbir Ahmad s/o Janab Wakeeluddin was one of the most well known persons of Bada Gaon during the last century. He had served the UP Police as Sub-Inspector and after the partition of the country, he was elected the Pradhan of the village un-opposed. The remarkable feature about his tenure is he remained the Pradhan of the village form 1948 to 1988 which is something quite surprising , keeping in view the local + regional politics of the province. It also tells of the demeanor and attitude of the gentlemen and the recognition and popularity he acquired among his fellow villagers.He is reputedly the first Haji of Badagaon in this century as he is reported to have performed Haj in the year1953. His son Nafees Ahmad migrated to Pak and his sons Ehsaan, Akhtar and Asad are still there.Haji Sahib passed away in 1992.His Photograph is on the left. (Courtesy : Nazia Safi)

Professor (Late) Anwar Siddiqui was an famous Urdu writer and English scholar, who, under the guidance of late Dr Zakir Husain and Prof Abid Husain, rendered valuable services to Jamia Millia Islamia,. He was head of the department of English and also Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Languages in Jamia Millia and retired in 1997. He had also undertaken critical and research work on the poetry of Faani Badayuni.He died in Allahabad on 21 April 2005. He belonged to Bada Gaon.

Dr.Zafar Khursheed a lecturer in the Dept of Commerce in the University of Allahabad,is also from Bada Gaon.

Zamindari

Badegaon people had large zamindari 150 years ago and had the title of Chaudhari from the Mughal Government. However after the 1857 debacle, they lost almost entire zamindari except few shares that plus the ones they could purchase in the later period.

For example the largest zamindari during the last from 1880-1950 were with the families of Imaduddin ( the family of Dunne Miyan) and Wakeeluddin ( The family of Shafeeq Ahmad, Ameer Ahmad etc )who had shares in Badlepur, Barkatpur, Barahmeem Bagh, Siriyawan, Balihiyawan, Naugira , Bhikampur etc apart from share in the village.The other major landholder was the family of Chaudhari Nafees Ahmad son of Aulia Bakhsh who had large shares Badagaon and several other villages around.

Migration in Bada Gaon

A family of Mahgaon is settled in Badagaon – Janab Mohammad Yaqub son of Ghulam Jeelani of Nalapar Mahgaon migrated to look after his maternal property. He built a house and settled in Bade Gaon. His sons Mohammad Muhyi (Laade) Mohammad Wahi (Gorey) in Bhopal are quite well known.

The family of Hakeem Iqbal came from Mahgaon to look after their maternal property. His sons are are Jameel Alam , Tauqeer Alam, Tanveer Alam etc in Bada Gaon.

The family of Janab Wazeeruddin is also from Mahgaon – from him are Islam Nabi, Irfan Nabi etc

Off-Shoots of Bada Gaon
The most important chapter of migration from Badagaon is the case of Rasoolpur Qazi , a village who is a branch of Bada Gaon Chaudharis ( Masjid Per ). I have written it in detail in the following pages.On a recent note ,a family of Afzal Ahmad of Bada Gaon had settled in Mahgaon whose son is Qamar Ahmad in Allahabad.

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Nazarganj

The Pond in Nazar Ganj

Children catching fish in the pond

The mazar of Qazi Muhammad Yusuf & family overlooking the Pond

Another enclosure for graves outside the village

Broken Mazar

Nazar Ganj

Saeed Ahmad Jailor's House

Saeed Ahmad's magnificent house in Nazarganj

Another view

Houses in Nazarganj

The forlorn Baithaka ( now goats tread here)

Inside view of Ehsan Bhai's house (Nazarganj)

Hens & Ducks beside the pond looking for .........

A view of The pond in Nazarganj

Nazarganj view

Locate the 2 kids in this pic

Nazarganj near the Masjid

the inscription of Mosque 1332 Hijri ( 100 years ago)

Mosque in Nazarganj

With Mahmood Ahmad & Ehsan Bhai

Another view of Mosque in Nazarganj

Time to depart !

In Nazarganj ( In Rapt attention )

In Nazarganj with Akhtar Saeed, Ehsan Bhai and others

Nazarganj is a muhalla of the village BadaGaon, it also comes under the revenue name Patti Parvezabad. It was founded by Janab Nazar Muhammad, 14th in descent from Qazi Naseerudin. He founded the a new muhalla, shifted few houses from south to the side of the pond and named it Nazarganj after himself. The work-force of all trades was inhabited there and few people indicate that Nazar Muhammad Sahib’s house was the one which was Mr.Aqeel Ahmad owned in recent past.

If we go back to history we find that Qazi Mohammad Yusuf, the grand-son of Qazi Naseeruddin Urf Bhure Miyan got a large pond dug for the want of water for the daily use as well as for the irrigation purpose in the village. When the pond was dug, large amount of the clay & mud got dumped and it formed a kind of hill from all the four sides and was known as Bheeta. When Qazi Yusuf left this world, he was laid down to rest on the western mound of the same pond and that place came to be known as “Qazi Yusuf ka Dher”, a few of his descendents are buried there alongwith Qazi Yusuf Sahib Rah.

The people of nazarganj were known to be quite lively, zesty, effervescent people in the past but during the last century they have lost the vivacity due to heave loss in the form of people leaving the place in the wake of r Partition of county coupled with abolition of Zamindari in 1952. Very few could compete in the racing life and the rest of them fell back relying on the ancestral lands. Today when I visited Nazarganj I found only few houses really inhabited while most of them are in the City of Allahabad or abroad. I was warmly welcomed by Mahmood Ahmad Sahib, Akhtar Saeed Sahib, Rasheed Ahmad Sahib. Ehsaan Ahmad Sahib etc and they all owe thanks from me.

The Bukhari Sadat in Nazarganj

The descendents of Nazar Muhammad s/o Jaan-i-Alam

Rafiullah and his sons Khaleeq Ahmad and Raees Ahmad ,Khaleeq have Rasheed Ahmad while Raees had Saleem and Naseem Ahmad
Abdul Wahhab and his sons Tajammul hUsain , Muzzammil Husain and M.Athar. Muzzamil had Iftekhar Husain who had Aafaq and Rafeeq who have Ishtiyaq Ahmad as sons. while M. Athar had Niyaz Ahmad and he had two sons Ehsaan Ahmad and Mahmood Ahmad.
Abdul Rasheed had Muslehuddin who had Misbahuddin and Abdul Salam
Mohammad Ishaq who had Ain-ul-Yaqeen who had ameeruddin who had Ziauddin and Ahmaduddin
Abdul Razzaq hwo had Abdul Ghani and M.Faiz ,Abdul Ghani had Junaid Alam & Mansoor Alam while Muhammad Faiz had Fazal-ur-Rahman who had Mujeeb , Qubool and Altafurrahman.
Meeran Bakhsh had Faiyaz Ahmad and Siddeeq Ahmad, Faiyaz had Rasool Ahmad and he had Maqbool Ahmad at Bajaha. Siddeeq Ahmad had Nisar and Niyaz Ahmad, Nisar had imtiyaz Ahmad while Niyaz had Masood and Kamal Ahmad, Jamal ,Afzal , Iqbal etc…..
Chaudhary Asghar Ali had one son Fakhruddin who had no son. The editor of the revised Mirat al Jalali had made a major mistake by adding the names of Kuresar family as Fakhruddin’s descdendents who are their maternals place (Nanihal) in Nazarganj. Shall give details below.
Ikramuddin had Mohammad Arab, Ruknuddin,Hameedudin. M.Arab had Hakeem Tameezuddin who had Zaheeruddin, Muinuddin, Haroon etc….Qamar-ul-islam and Shams-ul-Islam are grand sons of Arab Sahib. Ruknuddin had Sami’uddin who had Qayamuddin and Saeed Ahmad.Hamiduddin had Wasi Ahmad and Raees Ahmad. Wasi Ahmad had Iqbal Ahmad.
Shahabudddin had Wakeel Ahmad,Mukhtar Ahmad and Husamuddin. Wakeel Ahmad had Faiyaz, Basheer and Afzal Ahmad, Mukhtar Ahmad had Matloob Ahmad who had Mashkoor & Mahfooz. Husamuddin had Abrar & Maqbool Ahmad & Anwaar Ahmad. Abrar had Iqbal Ahmad, Maqbool have Ekhlaq and Afzaal Ahmad while Anwaar had Rizwan Ahmad.

The descendents of Faiz Muhammad s/o Jaan-i-Alam

Saiyid Abdul Rab Inspector and his sons, Haseeb Ahmad, Nafees Ahmad (London), Lateef Ahmad and Saeed Ahmad ( Retd. Suptdt of Jails UP
Basheer Ahmad and his son Tameez Ahmad and his sons Mujeeb , Mahboob and Altaf Ahmad
Wazeer Ahmad and his sons , Wasi Ahmad, Manzoor Ahmad and Riyaz Ahmad and their sons.Manzoor had Asfaque, Shakeel, Maroof and Shameem.while Wasi Ahmad had Maqbool Ahmad, Riyaz Ahmad had owais ahmad and Junaid Ahmad
Shabbir Ahmad and his sons, Haseen and Anees Ahmad
Zameer Ahmad and his sons, Azeez, Naseem, Mujeeb and Zaheer Ahmad.
Ameer Ahmad and his son Chaudhary Shafee Ahmad and his sons Safwan and Zakwan Ahmad.
Qutubuddin and his sons,Abdul Qadeer, Mazhar Husain, Abdul Hakeem and Abdul Muheet,AbdulQadeer had Habeeb and Waheed (Habeeb Ahmad have Jawaid,Qamar,zafar,azher,mazher ) while, Mazhar Husain had M.Ameen then Aal-i-Nabi and he had Shafeeq and Khushnood. Abdul Hakeem had Tufail Ahmad and he had Khwaja Ahmad, Khizr Muhammad, Maqsood Ahmad, Abdul Muheet had Ansar, Anwaar and Lateef Ahmad.
Abdul Qayyum and his son Muhiuddin and his sons, Abrar & Sarfaraz Ahmad.

A Brahmin connection !

Nazar Muhammad Sahib seems to be an interestingly dynamic person. Apart from founding a new locality, he contracted a marriage into a Brahmin family of Jaleelpur (a village nearby). The girl’s name was Rambuli Bibi. Besides the loads of grains as gift for marriage, the Brahman gave him 56 beegha of land as Jahez to Nazar Muhammad. Till very recently the descendents of Nazar Muahmmad owned and enjoyed the proceeds from the lands in Jaleelpur. Unfortunately the Brahmin lady had no issue and reportedly at the death-bed she took a promise from Nazar Muhammad to ask all his children from the other wife to commemorate her by calling themselves as Brahmanzada (descendents of Brahman). The editor of Mirat al Jalali exhorts the Saiyids of Nazarganj not to forget the promise of Nazar Muhammad Sahib. ( See Mirat al Jalali P.95 Editor Aftaab Ahmad Bukhari, Karachi)

Mosque

The mosque in Bada Gaon was the only mosque in the entire village and thus served as the Jama’ Masjid for the population of Badagaon & Nazarganj both. People used to go to Badagaon for regular Salat as well as for the Juma Salat but in 1332 AH (1914 AD) Abdul Raoof Sahib of Nazarganj built a mosque in Nazarganj facilitating the people of Nazarganj to offer the regular Salat there but for Juma Salat Nazarganj guys still used to visit the Badegaon mosque.It was around 1940-41 that the elders of Nazarganj decided that the village fulfills the condition laid down by the Shariah for a village to have a Jam’aa Masjid and therefore Juma started in Nazarganj thereon.

Buildings

In Nazarganj the most outstanding building is built by Sayyid Abdul Rab Kotwal whose son was Sayyid Saeed Ahmad Jailor which has 29 windows and 32 doors and is really a sturdy structure. There are other beautiful mud houses that remind us of the yesteryears and make us nostalgic.........

Persons - Nazarganj

Abdul Rab son of Syed Rahamuddin was a Kotwal in the British period and enormously famous figure of Nazarganj who built a fine masonry house with 38 windows and 40 doors that stands in front of the mosque as it is. It was built with Gur,Urad, Moong mixed with mortar. His son was Saeed Ahmad Warsi a superintendent of jails and their sons are akhtar Saeed etc.

During the last century every house in Nazarganj had one or two Daroghas serving in UP Police for example Wazeer Ahmd, Abdul Qayyum, Mohammad Ilyas. Mohammad Siddeeq, Mohammad Fayyaz, Abdul Rab all served the police department as Inspectors or above.

Saiyid Saeed Ahmad was a Superintedent of Jails in UP Police.

Khursheed Ahmad Bukhari was a DSP, Junaid Ahmad was also a jailor, Abdul Latif was a Subadar.

Khursheed Ahmad from Nazarganj was one of the most versatile athletes of India, who excelled in three disciplines, javelin throw, decathlon and pole-vault, a very unusual combination ever.Khurshid Ahmed was a prodigal talent who won the national title for the javelin throw to begin his sports carreer and stood 2nd in the National Games in 1951 in pole vault.At the first Asian Games in Delhi (1951) he took part in decathlaon and surprised his critics by winning Bronze. Unfortunately we forgot him soon.

Hakeem Tameezuddin was a well known Hakeem of Nazarganj.

Dr Zakwan Ahmed (Born 1959) son of Chaudhary Shafi Ahmad of Nazarganj has achieved a distinguished positon with regards to the Agricultural research in India. Today he is serving as Director, Defence Agricultural Research Laboratory (DRDO) ,Pithoragarh.Dr Zakwan Ahmed did his M.Sc. (Agriculture) and Ph.D from GBPUA&T, Pantnagar (Uttranchal) and secured first position in University (Gurukul Kangri University, Haridwar) in Graduation. He is serving in Defence Research & Development Organisation since last 20 years. Dr Zakwan Ahmed contributed significantly toward varietal/ hybrid development in vegetables including infrastructure development during his tenure in DARL, Pithoragarh.

He had also contributed in establishment of Agriculture training centre of DARL at GRTU Raiwala in 1990 and successfully demonstrated agro-technology at RCI Hyderabad and provided arboriculture layout plan for ARC of DMRL, Hyderabad during his tenure in RCI Hyderabad. It is because of his persistent efforts that seabuckthorn herbal beverage and DRDO herbal tea could be inducted in high altitude special ration of army

Dr Ahmed, to his credit has 50 research papers in National and International journals, 06 chapters in books, 02 books and 07 technical bulletins. He has been awarded Laboratory Scientist of the year award 2004, Certificate of Honour of GOC, 14 Corps-2005, DRDO scientist of the year award –2006, Bioved scientist of the year award-2007 and he has also been honoured honorary Fellowship (FRSCS) of the Royal Society of Crop Science-2007. He visited China and presented research paper in the 2nd International Seabuckthorn Association Conference during 26-29th August 2005. At present he is actively engaged as a programme Director of DRDO-Army Biodiesel Programme

Kausar Siddiqui a famous Urdu Litterateur was born in Nazarganj on November 19, 1934 Education: BA, LLB. Retired as general manager, Civil Supplies Corporation, presently based at Bhopal. His biggest service to Urdu is that he is editing and publishing quarterly Karwan-e-Adab since 2001. He belongs to a different family settled in Qaziyan Muhalla of Nazarganj whose ancestors came here 150 years ago.

Books: Phool Ek Hi Chaman ke,Taj-ul-Masaajid Ki Kahani,Faseel-e-Shab,Saaz-e-Jaras,Nala-e-Jaras,Jeb-Mein-Pathhar,Mauj-e-Subu,Aag,E’triraf,Raushan Ayat,Haryali, Urdu Pujari,Dhaai Aakhar,Mauj-e-Gul.He has also visited London and Pakistan in connection with regards to Urdu literary activities. A student has been awarded PhD by Barkatullah University, Bhopal for research on him. He is one of the well know figures in Urdu Circle of Bhopal. He is the brother of Qaisar-ul-Jaffri and father of Rumi Jaffry, A down-to-earth person who has no air about his achievements.

Maulvi Akhtar Ahmad Marhoom was a famous Ba-amal Aalim of Nazarganj and he tool hailed from the same Qaziyan Muhalla of Nazarganj.

Qaisar ul Jafri

a famous poet of Urdu who was actively invlolved in the film industry in Bombay was not from Mahgaon rather belonged to the same Qaziyan family of Nazarganj. He was the son of Sagheer Ahmad and a brother of Kausar Siddiqui of Bhopal. Few of his ghazals are considered to be the most popular ghazals sung in our times. Few of his ghazals are as follows

1-tumhaare shahar kaa mausam ba.Daa suhaanaa lage

mai.n ek shaam churaa luuN agar buraa na lage

2-ham tere shahar mein aaye hain musaafir kii tarah

sirf ek baar mulaaqaat kaa mauqaa de de

3-diivaaron se mil kar ronaa achchhaa lagataa hai

ham bhii paagal ho jaayenge aisaa lagataa hai

Rumi Jaffri – He is the son of Kausar Siddiqi s/o Sagheer Ahmad of Qaziyan , Nazarganj presently based at Bhopal. He has to his credit at least 40 films as a screen writer, dialogue writer and director for a few. He is still in Mumbai pursuing his career vehemently.

Zamindari

In Nazarganaj all were zamindars but with scanty shares and the only one outstanding was Chaudhari Shafee Ahmad Urf Saffan who was the moderately big zamindar of Nazarganj.

Kuresar family In Nazarganj

150 years ago there was a gentleman named Chaudhari Asghar Ali in Nazarganj who had five daughters and a son Fakhruddin who died without an issue. One of the daughters of Asghar Ali was married to Tajammul Husain of Kuresar,(Across the Ganges )in Pargana Nawabganj. Her descendents migrated to Nazarganj to look after the property they inherited from their mother. From Kuresear came Fareeduddin and his son was Inspector Zameeruddin and his sons are Idris Ahmad, Aftab Ahmad in India, Hasnain and Sibtain in Pakistan. They are from Kuresar in Gangapar ( Across Ganges ) and not from Nazarganj.

Mistakes in Shajra

i. The editor of the revised Mirat’al Jalali Mr.Aftab Ahmad Bukhari had made a blunder by adding the names of Kuresar family to the son of Fakhruddin above mentioned and thus inserted this Kuresar family into the family of Nazarganj. I believe this is an inadvertent mistake and Allaah is All-forgiving.

ii. The names of the sons of Chaudhary Mohammad Raza (Beur) & their descendents are not updated & missing in the shajra.

Off-Shoots of Nazarganj

Sikandarpur Bajaha

Saiyid Habeeb Ahmad of Sikandarpur Bajaha In US

A branch of Nazarganj family was settled in Sikandarpur Bajaha, a village near Imamganj and Mahgaon on the GT Road. This family migrated to Pakistan after partition and today their descendents are found in Pak and US both. The last representative of this Bajaha family was Jb. Rasool Ahmad s/o Faiyyaz Ahmad of Nazarganj who was married in Mahgaon. His son Maqbool Ahmad was married into the Hashmi family of Neem Sarai.

The sons of Maqbool Ahmad of Bajaha are Habeeb Ahmad, Rasheed Ahmad and Mahboob Ahmad who are settled in Pakistan. Habib Ahmad has moved to US. His photograph is given here.

Rasoolpur Biyur/Beur

A family from the Chaudharis of Nazarganj had moved to Biyur 150 years ago to look after the property they inherited from their maternals. Chaudhari Dildar Husain of Beur had no son but a daughter who was married to Chaudhari Muhammad Raza of Nazarganj. Chaudhari Raza had to leave Nazarganj in order to look after the property of his in-laws and finally he settled in Beur. His descendents are still found in Beur and Pakistan. Chaudhari Muahammad Raza had four sons, Fazal Ahmad, Fazal Rab, Shakoor Ahmad and Ashfaq Ahmad.

Now Fazal Ahmad had two daughters without a son. Fazal Rab had Saeed Ahmad and Saeed Ahmad had Muhammad Ahmad who sons Parvez, Raghib and Rashid live in Beur today. Similary Shakoor Ahmad had Ghani Ahmad and Ansar Ahmad who sons Shoaib, Qasim, Ismail and Irshad are in Beur. Ashfaq Ahmad Had Iftikhar Ahmad & MAshooq Ahmad. Iftikhar’s are Aijaz, Anwar and Taufeeq while Ghani Ahmad and Mashooq Ahmad migrated to Pak.

Hamre Barabar Kauno Nahi Na !

I had heard about the overweening obsession of some families in Pargana Chail with respect to their Nasab and the climax or epitome of this fantasy is considered to be few families in Nazarganj. This obsession is typically uttered as Hamre barabar ke hain kaa ?? Hamre barabar kauno nahi na ? Please do not ask what do they mean by Barabar.

There is no doubt that the people of Nazarganj took great care in contracting marriages so that their blood-line remains intact un-adulterated. To that extent it was fine as one of the foundations of a healthy and civilized society is the requirement of well-bred people with sound character which stems from their being in the line of lawful and valid family origin.However by and by this too much of care converted into an obsession and then became a mania and today may be termed as a psychological problem. Anyone outside their own relations was/is looked down upon , laughed at in their gatherings and was/is a butt of supercilious point. This kind of attitude certainly stems from the utter lack of knowledge about the correct islamic stand on Kufw and ignorance from the real Mansha of Shariah about Nasab.

I don’t know how and when these people got infected with this un-islamic and Brahmanical tradition that no one was equal to them but I had an interesting affirmation of this obsession when on 8th April 2012, I was into a discussion with a gentlemen of Nazarganj in the city of Allahabad, when he told me categorically in front of two of my colleagues that Peepalgaon ke log sahih nahi hain, matlab inka nasab theek nahi hai, Rohi ke log bhi barabar ke nahi hain,han mahgaon mein kuchh hain magar zyadatar aise hi hain...........so on............My Companions were aghast to listen such words from an educated & elderly person but the fact is that this has become a psychological problem with these guys.

I had to interrupt him by saying that I do not want to discuss with him the origin and lineage of the Chaili families for I know it much better than him. I further said that " I know very well that you people are from Jannat and the rest of the Chailis are from Jahannum" but what I wanted to discuss with him was the history of the village Nazarganaj and not the lineage of others.

The same night I was flipping through the pages of “Aqwal Hadhrat Ali” when my eyes stuck upon one.

Jiska amal use piche hata de usey Hasab o Nasab Aage nahi badha sakta. ( Hadhrat Ali)

Your high lineage won’t help you when your actions have brought you down

Had we tried to save and protect our true Character and the Akhlaq-i-Muhammadi in our lives instead of saving our Nasab, we would have produced people with much better moral character than what we have today ? We lost all the original traits, character, ethics of our ancestors, we have even lost our physical beauty and built as well at the cost of maintaining our Nasab ?? Deen has gone but Nasab is intact ! Character has gone but Nasab is very much here. Akhlaq cannot be found but Nasab is found !

Does it hold any weight in the eyes of our Lord ? Or will it save us from the fire on the last day ?

But I won’t let you have a dark picture , the fact is that today generation of Bada Gaon & Nazraganj are striving hard to get out of the marsh and fly into the new horizon. I met few young chaps that seem to be of promising talent and will surely make a mark in the time to come. In sha Allah.

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Rasoolpur Qazi ( A branch of Bada Gaon)

Rasoolpur Qazi ( A Branch of Bada Gaon)

Banana Production was started by Mr.Zafar of Rasoolpur

Masjid of Rasoolpur Qazi

Beautiful Clean pond in Rasoolpur Qazi

The lush green fields !

Rasoolpur Qazi

Out of all the villages that the Chaudharis of Bada Gaon held in Zamindari , two villages were situated a bit off from the main village plus they had the advantage of being close to the Grand Trunk Road namely Makhdoompur Qazi & Rasoolpur Qazi. Around 200 years ago, a branch of the BadaGaon Syeds shifted to Rasoolpur Qazi in order to look after the zamindari more closely.

Syed Abul Hayi son of Syed Ghulam Alam shifted to Rasoolpur Qazi .He built a house and laid down the foundation of a mosque. Since then their descendants have developed it into a complete village with a good Standing. His descendants flourished there and built several houses and expanded their farming;Rasoolpur Qazi is mainly known to be in two parts one is the main village and other one is called Purwah which is inside the village. Syed Abdul Hayi had five sons , see the chart below

Nawab Hasan from the above chart had two sons Wasiullah and Safiullah and here onwards Wasiullah had Masihullah , Ziaullah, Moeezullah and Aneesullah - Now Masihullah had Syed M. Ayub and Syed Zafar Iqbal while Muizullah had Syed Yasin and Maulana M Farooq and Syed M Yamin & Syed Maroof___Syed Yasin had SM Ammar Raza and Shakeeb Raza. Syed Aneesullah had also two sons. Syed M Ayub have Syed M. Khalid & Syed M. Tariq ______________ Rajab Ali from above had Husain Bakhsh , Akbar Ali and Asghar Ali ( No Issue ) , Now Husain Bakhsh had Fakhruddin , Qamaruddin and Nizamuddin and Akbar Ali had Abdul Lateef and Abdullah___ Fakhruddin in turn have Kamaluddin, Husamuddin and Shihabuddin while Qamaruddin had Sakina bibi only and here Wasiuddin had Zafaruddin who had Noorullah, Mohammad Sufi , Shahid , Rizwan and Imran.

Abdul Lateef had three sons, Abdul Azeez , Hafiz Abdul Majeed and Abdul Shaheed. Now Abdul Azeez had Amanul Haq who had Abdul Qawi. Hafiz Abdul Majeed had Abdul Haqeeq , Abdul Shafeeq , Abdul Rafeeq and Abdul Waheed , Now Abdul Haqeeq had Raees Ahmad who had Nadeem and Waseem two sons, Abdul Shafeeq had Mohammad Firoz , Rashid and Mohammad Salman.___Now Firoz sahib have Adeeb Firoz and Rashid Sb have Ariz & Shariq while Syed M. Salman have Farman , Farzan and Mizan.

Abdul Rafeeq had Syed Mohammad Haroon , Mohammad Shoeb and Mohammad Zafar while Abdul Waheed had Zubair Ahmad ( Kanpur ) who has Farrukh Zubair Pasha. Now Haroon Sahib have Saqib & Sharib while Shoeb Sahib have Adnan , Faizan & Maaz. Syed Mohammad Zafar who expired recently have Rameez Zafar & Aaqib Zafar .

Aaqib s/o SM Zafar

From the other branch of Jan Bakhsh who had Buniyad Ali, Nawazish Ali and Hayat Ali , Buniyad Ali had Ali Bakhsh who had Ghafoorun Nisa. Nawazish Ali had Aulia Bakhsh who had Fazal Rab while Hayat Ali had four sons , Muizuddin, Ikramuddin, Sirajuddin and Basheeruddin. Again Muizuddin had Mazhar Husain who had Muhammad Taqi , while Ikramuddin had Mohammad Ilyas , Abdul Rauf and Mohammad Ilyas !

Zafar Ahmad (Extreme Right ) The Banana Master in Chail

In today's context Zubair Ahmad Sahib in Kanpur, Saiyid Haroon Sb in Allahabad, Saiyid Zafar Sahib in Rasoolpur from this family are well known throughout chail . Saiyid Zafar Ahmad is the person who initated the Banana Plantation and production in Tehsil Chail and is considered to be the pioneer in this field. He has been awarded by the State Government of UP for his outstanding contribution towards the Banana Cultivation. He was very kind to me and took me round the village which is two parts the main village and the Purwa. He took me to Saiyid Muhammad Swalih Noori Sahib of Minhajpur who is residing in Rasoolpur in his in-laws. He is a god-fearing pious person.

Few memories of SM Zafar of Rasoolpur Qazi
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At last

The night when I visited Nazarganj turned stormy close to Midnight. Wind-blown rain pattered noisily against my bedroom window, as I opened the cover and flipped the pages of a Book. I don’t know why but I started thinking that our life too is limited like the pages of this book and one day the last page would come? Have I ever given it a minute? There started a shower of questions that I was unable to respond.

I do not know when my final page will come but have I prepared to finish the book or not?

Have I really lived a life as desired by our Creator? Does my life has anything to offer for the posterity?

Did each page is carefully read or tread?

Should I turn the page on tomorrow? What new mystery and excitement will it unfold?

When the last page would come and what will happen after that?

I thought about myself to be a man with sight but no vision. I am no better than a beast, eat , drink and be merry and that’s all ? No vision at all and loads of false ego on our head!

Suddenly the window rattled against the winds and I came out of my delusion, I would finish my run today by quoting three of the sayings of our beloved Prophet Salla Allahu Alaihi Wasallam

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1-"Do you know what is better than charity and fasting and prayer? It is keeping peace and good relations between people, as quarrels and bad feelings destroy mankind."

2-"Conduct yourself in this world, as if you are here to stay forever; prepare for eternity as if you have to die tomorrow.", (Bukhari)

3-"The worldly comforts are not for me. I am like a traveller, who takes a rest under a tree in the shade and then goes on his way.(Muslims & Bukhari)
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Now listen to what Allama Iqbal Says :-

Was'salaam

Khalid Bin Umar

New Delhi

WRITE TO ME @

khalidkoraivi@yahoo.com

khalid.bin.umar@gmail.com

Muhiuddinpur - Pargana Chail

2012-04-12T14:14:00.003+05:30

When I Walked down the road leading towards Muhiuddinpur

I reached the other side of the village near the mosque

The Secondary School in the village

Jb Tameez Amad with Fuzail Sb

It gives a view of natural rustic look

Near the fields

The mosque built in 17th Century ( Aurangzeb Era)

Another view of the mosque

Inside the mosque

Janab Fuzail Ahmad , Tameez Ahmad etc

Across the pond

In the middle Abrar Ahmad , 93 years Grand Old Man with Farooq Ahmad right

Children reciting Qaida asked to have a snap !

The lane inside the village seems like a upmarket township

The residence of Dr. Suhail

The first view when you enter the village

The Sanad ( Certificate ) of Hakeem Shafi Ullah from Mazahir Uloom Saharanpur

The Diploma of Hakeem Shafi Ullah

Snacks waiting for me while Farooq sb listening to me !

Dr. Suhail Sb narrating an incident !

The original house of Hakeem Shafiullah Marhoom

Backside of the Mosque inside the village built in 1936

Dr. Suhail Sb

Try your luck your recognize !

Ready Wheat !

Renovated Mosque in 2013

House of Janab Ibbu Sahib Marhoom across the pond

The mosque in the village is being renovated.

M.Wasiullah Fuzail.

Muhiuddinpur

Muhiuddinpur Bhareta as it is known in the revenue records, is a village lying exactly between the Grand Trunk Road and the Delhi-Calcutta railway line at about 11.7 KMS away on the west from the district headquarters Allahabad.

The frenzy of recent state rulers to sport with the dimensions of the old districts has played havoc with the identification and relativity of a lot of villages as in the case of Muhiuddinpur. Today Mohiuddinpur falls under the Kaurihar block, Tehsil –Sadar- District Allahabad while it had always been part of Pargana & Tehsil Chail, District Allahabad.

The neighbouring villages are Shaikhpur, Mandar, Asrauli, Akbarpur Mirzapur , Sallahpur in the same Kaurihar block.It is noteworthy that Muhiuddinpur is a sister village of Shaikhpur and came into prominence at about the same time.

Name

As far as I know, there are seven villages having the name Muhiuddinpur in Tehsil Chail listed as follows:-

Muhiuddinpur - Near Newada
Mohiuddin Amrain - Near Chail

Mohiuddinpur Taluka Saiyid Sara – Near Ratgaha

Mohiuddinpur Chandrasen – Near Seondha

Mohiuddinpur Ghaus Uparhar – Near Ujhini & Kurai

Mohiuddinpur Ghaus Kachhar – Near Ujhini & Kurai - Unpopulated

Mohiuddinpur Bhareta - Near Shaikhpur

You will notice there is only one village with the name “Muhiuddinpur” only while the others have suffixes attached to them in order to distinguish them from others. Ours is Muhiuddinpur Bhareta.

Let’s discuss the toponymy of this village.

The name Muhiuddinpur is indeed an old one. According to a legend, the Mughal Emperor Muhiuddin Muhammad Aurang’zeb encamped here during one of his retreat from Allahabad to Delhi. Most probably it was the one when he came chasing here his brother Shuja and finally defeated him at Khajua. When Aurangzeb encamped here on the right side of GT road, the unpopulated area came into light and it was renamed as Muhi-uddin-pur after the Emperor’s name. The camp of Aurangzed did fructified in another way as the Mughal Army laid foundation of a small mosque which exists to this date and serves as the identification point to the armed forces even today.

The area where Aurangzed stopped for a halt was owned by the Chaudharis (Hashmi) family of Bamhrauli. Aurangzed asked for a meeting with the head of the Bamrauli family at the same time. After the death of Aurangzeb and a series of impotent rulers went by, the region came under the sway of the Shia rulers of Awadh.

Why it is called Bhareta ?

During the last quarter of 18th Century, around 1770-1790, this village was given by the Chaudharis to the Washer men community who served the family in their best of capacity. The washer men are alternatively known as Bhareta (Dhobi) even today and thus this Muhiuddinpur came to be known as Muhiuddinpur Bhareta (The Muhiuddinpur of Dhobis). Today it is even difficult for us to visualize the awe and grandeur of the life of Chaudharis as they had given an entire village to their Dhobis. Such was their generosity and it more tells about their wealth and great zamindari status.

The UP Gazetteer too confirms it location with the name of Bhareta.

Title : Uttar Pradesh District Gazetteers: Allahabad Gazetteer of India

Volume : 29 of Uttar Pradesh District Gazetteers, Uttar Pradesh (India)

Publisher:Government of Uttar Pradesh, 1968

Page 365

History

The history of the population of Zamindars in the village is relatively a recent one although the village contains in itself some very historical families.

Muhiuddinpur came into prominence when it was taken up as an abode by a migrant family of Hashmis of Bamrauli.

As mentioned in one of my earlier posts that during the first half the 18th Century a dispute arose between two branches of Hashmi family namely the Makhdoomzadgan and the Chaudharis. When it was not settled through legal battle, one of the makhdoomzada, Badi-uz-Zama’n left Bamhrauli in resentment and indignation and took a historical leap to land in Ibrahimpur Bamhrauli, a village that is now known as Shaikhpur. He had two sons, the eldest one stayed in Shaikhpur while the younger one Muharram Ali was employed in the British Army at Burma. During one of his sabbatical , he was not satisfied with the “take care” of his wife and children at Shaikhpur , he again took a giant step and built another house a few furlong away in Muhiuddinpur and thus Shaikhpur family was divided into two villages and thereafter both the branches are living there quite peacefully and amicably.

Families

Since its inception , there have been five different families living in the village:

1. Family of Chaudhari Kazim Ali of Bamhrauli – No one from this family lives in the village now.

2. Family of Muharram Ali Sahib- branch of Shaikhpur, the dominant family in the village .

3. Family of Syed Sirajul Hasan of Bisauna – His son migrated to Pak. No lineal in the village.

4. Family of Syed Kazim Husain Kajjan of Bisauna – this branch is still present here.

5. Family of Aijaz Ahmad Jafri of Mahgaon – this family is still there

6. Family of Shaikh Ubaidullah Sahib of Bamhrauli – this family is very much here.

Now I would describe about the origins of each family in brief :-

Chaudhari Kazim Ali & Family

The foremost family that came and settled here was the family of Chaudhari Kazim Ali of Bamhrauli. He was married in Mahgaon. His son was Chaudhari Baqar Ali and then his son was Abdul Rafeeq whose sons are in Kanpur but without any connection with their paternal dwelling.

Muharram Ali & Family

This is the major as well as the dominant family of the village.As mentioned earlier around 1860-1880, Muharram Ali of Shaikhpur shifted to Muhiuddinpur. This family is of Bamhrauli and Bamhrauli family in turn is descended from Makhdoom Shaikh Ismail Quraishi Al Hashmi of Multan who came to and settled in Bamhrauli 700 years ago. Several Bamhrauli off-shoots are found in PeepalGaon, Neem Sarai, Kurai etc villages.

I am producing below a concise genealogical table of this Muhiuddinpur branch of Hashmi family, followed by the names of the descendents of the persons mentioned in the table. This way you will be able to relate and revive your connections with Muhiuddinpur.

From M. Fasih are -Mohammad Wasi,Mohd Rafi, Moh. Sami, Moh. Shafi , Mohammad Razi;
From M. Amir are -Chaudhari Islam Ahmad, Ch.Ibne Ahmad (Ibbu), Zareef Ad, Ch Anees Ahmad & Zafar Ahmad, Chaudhary Aabad Ahmad

From Imtiyazuddin are –Zubair Ahmad, Mohammad Ahmad, Kabeer Ahmad

From Niyaz Ahmad – Nisar Ahmad, Habeeb Ahmad, Akhlaq Ahmad,Tameez & Abrar Ahmad.

From Anwarul Haq are - Zafar Alam , Saeed Alam and Junaid Alam(marhoom)

From Ansar Ahmad are – Tufail Ahmad, Mahboob Ahmad and Mahmood Ahmad.

From Abdul Azeez are – Mohammad Haroon,Abdul Sattaar , Mohammad Zaman

Rest of the names went without any issues and you could say that this is all Muhiddinpur is made up of. This is the major clan of Muhiuddinpur and virtually Muhiuddinpur is known for this family only.

Syed Sirajul Hasan Rizwi of Bisauna & Family

Syed Sirajul Hasan of Bisauna got married to the daughter of Chaudhari Kazim Ali and thus he came and settled in Muhiuddinpur. One of his sons Achchhan migrated to Pak without any connection with the village so far.

Syed Kazim Husain Rizwi & Family

Syed Kazim Husain of Bisauna was married into the family of the same Chaudhari family and his sons were Mohammad Hafeez and Sifat Husain and from Sifat Husian came Aal-i-Ahmad Marhoom, Irshad Ahmad, Iqbal Ahmad , Nehal Ahmad, Mushtaq Ahmad and Shahid Sifat while Mohammad Hafeez had Nafees, Ateeq, Laeeq and Anees Ahmad etc. This is a Rizwi family from Bisauna.

Aijaz Ahmad Jafri & Family

Aijaz Ahmad Jafri s/o Qadeer Ahmad Jafri of Mahgaon got married into the family of Kazim Husain Rizwi and later he migrated to his in-laws in Muhiuddinpur. His sons Iltifat Ahmad, Aasar Ahmad, Dr.Intezar etc are quite well known. This is a Jafri family from Mahgaon.

Shaikh Ubaidullaah & Family

One Shaikh Ubaidullah s/o Abdul Azeez who again belonged to the Hashmi family of Bamhrauli – came and settled here around 100 -105 years ago. Though he had some paternal share in the village but when his father had contracted a second marriage in Bamhrauli, finding himself a bit uncared for , he went to live with his paternal aunts at Husainpur and then after purchasing some land in Muhiuddinpur and merging with his paternal share in the village, he built a house and settled here. Shaikh Ubaidullah had two sons. Shafi'ullah and Nabi'ullah. Shafi'ullah stayed in India wihle Nabi Ullah migrated to Pakistan.

If I have to pick three eminent and well known during the last 100 years from Muhiuddinpur , I would select the following three figures who have made a mark with their life , hard work and character. I have tried to compress as much detail as I could in a paragraph for each of the three.

1-The foremost figure would be Maulana Haji Hafiz Qari Hakeem Shafi’ullaah Sahib Marhoom who was the most prominent resident of Muhiuddinpur during the past century. Hakeem Shafiullah Sahib was the son of Shaikh Ubaidullah of Bamhrauli.His father was the person who migrated and settled in Muhiuddinpur about 100-105 years ago .Hakeem Shafiullah was primarily a qualified Aalim from Mazahir-Uloom, Saharanpur (Deoband) but he was more known as Hakeem throughout his life. His Sanad shows him to have graduated from the Darsgaah in 1932 while his family tells his year of birth as 1916. To me it is rather improbable for a 16 year old to become an Aalim. The fact is that Hakeem Sahib was born around 1909 or 1910 and qualified as an Aalim at an age of 22 years. After returning home, he took admission in the Unani Medical College of Allahabad in 1940 and completed his BIMS in 1944, started his clinic in Sulem Sarai and later in Talab Tiwari which ran throughout his life. Apart form that he served the Unani College as an teacher also and retired from the service in 1978.He was known to be humble, down to earth, simple , god-fearing, soft-spoken and in-toto a nice specimen of human being with all the requisite qualities that an Aalim should be adorned of. The gentleman passed away in 2009 and left a void yet to be felt and filled. He is succeeded by his two sons. Dr. Muti'ullah Suhail and M. Wasi'ullah Fuzail.

Jamal Zafar ----Mr. Zafar Alam -- Iqbal Zafar

Mr. Zafar Alam with his sons in his Shoe Unit

One of the leading men that Muhiuddinpur produced is Mr. Zafar Alam, an exemplary entrepreneur and a self-made man. His story may enlighten and guide us about how to venture out in different horizons and create a niche for yourself in life. Mr. Zafar Alam is the son of Anwar-ul-Haq Marhoom who expired in 1943 when Zafar was a child. Against all the odds, his mother continued his education till he did his matriculation in 1950 and again he had to wait for three years to complete his intermediate in 1953 and later on finishing with MA. It was this year when he landed into Kanpur as a feeble, handsome youngman. Hid tried his luck in numerous trades until he found the trade of Tallow Manufacturing that gave him a sound standing to look out for further avenues. Within a span of less than 10 years he was able to hire one of the biggest tanneries in Kanpur for leather manufacturing in 1969. Though he could not sail through this tide yet he gained immense experience for his future dreams. Then he jumped into the manufacturing of Heavy-Duty Looms and was one of the five biggest licensed manufacturers in the country. Thereafter he headed towards Bombay to work with a refinery , came back to Kanpur after few years and finally in 1979 he established his own leather upper and Shoe manufacturing Unit in Kanpur as “Zafar Alam International”. Today it is one of the most trusted and reliant names in the leather world of Kanpur. He has a world wide export of leather products through out Europe ,Australia , Middle East and US. The world famous Clark Shoes has a tie-up with him that he produces in Kanpur. In the story of Mr.Zafar Alam , we have a lot of rich experiences and lessons to learn , if we pay attention to it. If you would like to have some more , do pay him a visit in Kanpur. He is capably succeeded by his two sons, Iqbal Zafar and Jamal Zafar who have taken the reins from their father to take the business to the next level.

Another exemplary figure of Muhiuddinpur is Dr. Mohammad Mutie’ullaah Suhail. He did his Matriculation in 1962,got married in 1964 while he was in his teens but thanks to his indomitable spirit that he did not relent and pursued his educational career with full fervour and did his FMBS in 1969 despite having children and raising a family. Still he did not stop , he did his MA (Urdu) while he was running his own clinic in Mahgaon. After that he enrolled for MA (Arabic) as a regular student and got through with flying colours. For us, the youth of the present generation, it leaves a lot to ponder and emulate. Dr. Suhail was married for 6 years had a few children yet he was a regular student of Allahabad University. From 1970 -80 he ran his medical practice in Manauri. Then again Allaah swt gave him a leap and he landed in Saudi Arabia and served in the Inidan Embassy as a senior interpreter for 28 years, superannuating in 2008. Do you think it is over now. No there is one more feather to his cap, that he is a Haafiz-i-Quraan ,a privilege which he got through in 1957. Excellent indeed! a very balanced and nice career he had ! Today he is associated with a charitable institution as a visiting Doctor in Kareli. His career and pursuits apart, he is a thorough gentleman and practicing Muslim and that has more weight in my eyes than any other thing… We need more of his kind always. He has a younger brother Mohammad Wasi'ullah Fuzail who is again a nice human being and more importantly a praciticing Muslim inclined towards Tazkia-i-Nafs and is associated with the leading Ulama of Allahabad city.

Zamindari

As for Zamindari , we should keep in mind that the ancestors of Shaikhpur & Muhiuddinpur left Bamhrauli at about 150-170 years ago and they were the last ones to leave Bamhrauli .The present Chaudharis of Bamhrauli , Shaikhpur & Mohiuddinpur family have had common ancestors and shared landed properties in villages around Bamhrauli and Shaikhpur for a fairly long period. Despite their large zamindari , they lost almost all due to the following reasons :-

1. Participation in 1857 uprising.

2. Internal Strife and excessive litigation

3. Repeated divisions on account of people leaving village and asking for share in other villages.

4. Forsaking their large share entirely without any remuneration around Bamhrauli while leaving for Shaikhpur.

5. Lastly the zamindari abolition broke them compeletly.

Hence when this family landed in Shaikhpur and settled in Muhiuddinpur they still had few shares in villages Asrauli, Muhiuddinpur, Ibrahimpur , Hatwa , Talab Tiwari , Bamrauli Airport but they had nothing consolidated and with the passage of time they disposed these shares too in tits and bits in order to sustain and retain their social ground, getting reduced to a status of a ordinary peasent or Kashtkar. It is no doubt that they once ruled the roost and were a part of large zamindar family at Bamhrauli.

Population

Muhiuddinpur is a village with a very small population. In 1952 it had total 536 persons in total whereas in 2001 the population was 1533 persons .Today it has only 14 populated houses of Muslim Gentry living in Muhiuddinpur whereas the total no of households of all categories are 265.

Change is good !

Since my maternal grandmother is from Shaikhpur I have got a lot of first hand observations about Muhiuddinpur from her and amongst them was a fact that Muhiuddinpur was a very simple village with just a few houses to be counted on tips of fingers. Today when I visited Muhiuddinpur, the world has changed , it now seems to be a semi-urban locality and will be better in the days to come. With the bounty of Allaah swt, the residents have not only retained their houses but converted them into good looking dwelling places. Today’s Muhiuddinpur is not what it used to be thirty years ago and this is a good sign. May Allaah make and purify our inner selves as good too as our outer ones ! Ameen . Since it is located very close to the GT road coupled with the rapid urbanization in the city going on , the day is not far when it would be one of most coveted and choicest of places in Pargana Chail. I am not wrong to say this since some of the residents of far fetched villages have purchased lands in Muhiuddinpur and others are contemplating to have a house here……….. Contrary to the villages I have visited so far , I could very proudly say that this is the first Aabad , ba-raunaq , Khush Aayind village I have seen……….

There are two mosques in the village , the older one a bit off the main village , builit in the 17^th Century and the other one inside the village built in 1936 by the residents. Both are undergoing renovation and restructuring…….that is good too……….or two !

Marriages

As mentioned earlier Muhiuddinpur is majorly a Hashmi village with roots in Bamhrauli. This family has always been considered to be an Aali Nasab clan of Allahabad. Their initial marital connections were with very few and selected villages in Chail for example , Kakra Pura, Ujhihni, Jhoonsi, Mindara,Naraur, Bisauna and that’s all. Later on they struck alliances with all the other leading families of Chail as in Ratgaha, Pawan,Husainpur,Mahgaon, Bade Gaon, Kath Gaon, etc etc for instance………. This family as well as other migrant families of Muhiuddinpur have always maintained their standards of marriages high and intact to this day.

Migration

Muhiuddinpur is a heaven for migrants, people have come from other villages to Muhiuddinpur but only one family is known to have shifted from Muhiuddinpur to Basedhi. A family of Mahmood Ahmad Sahib is residing in Basedhi to look after some property they inherited from their maternals.

At last

I was warmly welcomed and greatly helped by Dr. Suhail Sahib , Fuzail Sb and others and for that I am grateful to them always.

When I visited Muhiuddinpur last week, the wheat crop was ready to be reaped and thrashed , then it would be used to fill our belly. I thought wheat was lucky that it was useful and could be utilized and served thousands, lakhs and crores while I am a good for nothing guy . What is the use of ME ( Myself ) ?? Am I really useful, helpful , love-ful to others ? I am still entangled in the question......looking for an answer ?

Second thought as always was related to our connection with Allaah swt , Rasool Salla Allahu Alaihi Wasallam Qur'aan and Hadeeth. Whenever we were held high , we were always associated and connected with our Lord. Whenever we left Allaah swt behind , the world also threw us down...........

All those who are remembered today with love & respect were not men of wealth and affluence always, rather they were the men with knowledge and character both whom we adore and remember with tears in our eyes, yearning to find them again but alas , their shadows too could not be seen..........According to Meer Taqi Meer

Har koi is jahaa’n mei’n das roz,

Apni naubat bajaae jaata hai ! ! !

Have we ever thought that a day will come when the writer and the reader of this article will no more be in this world then WHY ? We will all be buried somewhere under........

Kis hasti-e-mauhoom pe naazaa’n hai tu ai yaar

Kuchh apne shab-o-roz ke hai tujhko khabar bhi !!!

Was'salaam

Khalid Bin Umar
New Delhi

Would love to hear your thoughts at khalidkoraivi@yahoo.com OR khalid.bin.umar@gmail.com

Behka - Pargana Chail

2012-02-27T13:50:00.005+05:30

This is the turn that leads to Behka

The first sight upon entering the village

Some more journey ahead

The old remnants of Taluqdari Era

Remnants of Taluqdari era

Forlorn , alone , sleeping !

Here starts the population

This goes inside the village

Under construction house of Khalid Sb

Jb Khalid Husain with Farrukh

Stairs lead to an old mosque

The Gateway

In the Courtyard

Designs have been white-washed

The inscription above

Dr.Abdullah

The IbadatGahh built 200 years ago by the father of Maulvi Siddiq

The front view

This is the inscription of 1217 Hijri

lying waste

The Mazar of Shah Habeeb-Ullaah Siddiqi

Enclosure of Shah Habeebullah Sahib

Is mod se aaage ...........

Behka Urf Pura Mufti

Bihka Urf Pura’Mufti is a village located just close to the Grand Trunk Road in Kaurihar Block of District of Allahabad. It had always been a part of Pargana & Tehsil Chail in District Allahabad before the formation of Distt Kaushambi.The distance from Allahabad to Behka is 17.6 kms. The Calcutta Delhi railway line passes about a mile to the south of the village in Manauri with a railway station thereon.

Pura Mufti is a hamlet of its main village Bihka beside the GT Road where a police station and post office is located and that gives it an edge over its prinicipal Bihka so much that today Bihka itself is known by the name of Pura Mufti. There used to be a Tahsil , Treasury,a small Jail Barrack for some time at Behka when the Tahsil was transferred here from Chail in 1857.

Near-by villages of Bihka are Manauri (1km), Madpur (1km), Akbarpur Sallahpur (1.9 km) Mardanpur (2.2 km), Kuswan (2.3 km)

The District Gazetteer of Allahabad (1911) mentions about Pura Mufti as follows:-

Name

The original spelling and pronunciation of the village is Bihka but it is commonly called Behka. We learn from some old documents that it was known as Pura-e-Mufti and Mufti ka pura till about 150 years ago. It also denotes that someone who was a scholar of Islamic Jurisprudence (Mufti) from the Bihka family must have been granted the village some time in the past. Our apathy towards our own history Tareekh can be guaged from the fact that today nobody remembers or knows about that grand Mufti.

That it was an place of some importance and was called Mufti ka Pura is confirmed from an old missionary journal published in USA in 1845 when the Presbyterian Missionaries came to India for their mission and had a discourse at Bihka on 8 Oct 1845. That excerpt is produced below:-

Book - Journal of Rev AE Freeman- Foreign missionary chronicle
Authors - Western Foreign Missionary Society, Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.
Published-1844

History

Behka has been a famous village and an important member of the Chail Zamindar Fraternity. The Zamindars of Behka were considered to be one of the premier families of Pargana Chail.

Going by the geneaology ,the Zamindars of Bihka claim to be Shaikh Siddiqi descended from one Shah Habeeb-ullah Siddiqi who is reported to be a direct lineal descendent of Khalifa-i-Awwal Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddeeq Radi Allahu Anhu. Further enquiry reveals that Shah Habeeb Sahib settled at Bihka during the period of Mughal Emperor Shahjahan (1627-1658 AD). As per the family legend he was called to Hindustan by the Mughal Emperor himself who bestowed upon him the land-grants after a request to settle in Allahabad.

The word Pura Mufti also connotes that it was a granted piece of land by an higher authority to some Scholar or Saint. Such villages that are gifted or granted often use epithets like muafi (rent free), mufti, inayat (charity) etc. Deh Mafi, Puramufti, Sarai Inayat etc. present such example.

Shaikhs of Behka

The family lore suggests that Shah Habeeb’ullah (Rahima’humullahu) came during the Mughal Era at the instance of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan or Jahangir . If we compare the period passed with the number of bygone generations this lore proves correct.I was made to see an incomplete document similar to a shajra of Behka wherein the scribe mentioned that Shah Habeeb'ullah came here from Suraini Surnam in Arab after gaining victories in Punjab and met Shah Karak at Kara. This statement is wrong on account of several historical discrepancies ,(i) since Shah Karak was a 13^th century figure and not of Mughal period (ii) there is no place in Arab with the name Surani Surnam (iii) the generations-count confirms that Shaikhs of Behka are here not more than 400 years at the most. Therefore anyone relying on this type of document will be mistaken in all his calculations leading him far from truth.

Another remarkable yet unfortunate reality about Behka is that despite their claims , they do not have a complete Shajra-i-Nasab of Shaikh Habeeb-ullah up till Hadhrat Siddiq-i-Akbar Razi Allahu anhu. There are few papers with names of the the descendants of Shaikh Habibullah but no complete, well chained and documented Shajra could be found as far as I could go about. If there is one, I would love to have it but so far there is none. Perhaps the original Shajra and other records have been lost or destroyed during the upheaval in the post 1857 era . However there is least doubt that they have always been well respected and regarded as Shaikhs of noble origin by the elders of the Pargana for centuries.

To summarise I can say that Shah Habeeb-ullaah settled in Behka during Shah Jahan’s reign and was given few villages for his sustenance. He had four sons.

1. Shah Mardan Ali – settled in Chail Khas (Village Mardanpur is named after him)
2. Shah Sultan Ali – Stayed in Behka
3. Shah Ismail Urf Mamhud Miyan – settled in Umarpur Neewan
4. Shah Naseeruddin Urf Badle Miyan -who founded and died in village TIKRI – No Issue

Shah Mardan Ali migrated to Chail Khas and settled there.He founded a village named Mardanpur.

Shah Mohammad Ismail Urf Mahmood Peer– migrated to Neewan and we shall discuss this when I write about Neewan .

Shah Naseer-ud-din settled at TIKRI , a village close to Behka, but he had no issue and thus that line dried.

Shah Sultan Ali stayed back in Behka and his descendants used to live and flourish in Behka. After a gap of six generations came Badar-i-Alam and Khan-i-Alam and these two are supposed to be in main progenitors of modern Behka.

In the line of Khan Alam – came Ziaullah Urf Bhika Miyan and from him are Faizan Ullah, Ehsan Ullah,Saadat Ali Barkat Ullah, Rahmatullah , Nemat Ullah, Ahmadullah, Hikmatullah, Ateequllah etc. and from this line came the famous Wali of his time Muhammad Siddeeq Sahib Rahmatullahi Alaihi.

In the line of Badar-i-Alam came Raham Ali and then Haidar Ali, Safdar Ali, Afzal Ali, Muhammad Naeem. A lot of their descendents went without an issue from this line yet we find the names of Muhammad Husain, Faizullah, Mohammad Hadi , Ataullah, Fazal Azeem.

After these men came Inayatullah, Maseehullah, Aneesullah & Moizullah (Sons of Fazal Azeem), Habeeb-Ullah Urf Mashooq'ullah Mohammad Fakhir, Muhammad Nasir, Iqbal Husain, Akhtar Husain, Saeed Ahmad, Hamid Husain, Khalid Husain etc Sahiban.

From Inayatullah came Mushtaqullah and then Naseerullah who had Imtiyaz & Niyaz Ullah who had, Mumtaz & Sarfarzullah Sahiban.

From Maseehullah are Mahmoodullah who has Masroorullah, Masood & Maqsoodullah woh had Mashhood, Manzoor & Mujeebullah

From Moizullah came Habeebullah Urf Mashooqullah who had Dr.Abdullah, Hamdullah and M. Javaid(in Pak) & Asadullah.

With Dr.Abdullah

From Aneesullah came Iftikharullah, Wasiullah, Wajihullah and Ishratullah.

Mohammad Mohsin had Iqbal Husain, Mohammad Ahsan, Maqbool Hasan, Rafeeq Ahmad, Raees Ahmad, Laeeq Ahmad.

From Iqbal husain came Mohammad Nooh, Subbooh, Nasooh.

From Akhtar Husain s/o Mohammad Ahsan came Hamid Husain, Khalid Husain, Rashid Husain and Zahid Husain.

Rafeeq Ahmad had Mahboob, Parvez Mahfooz etc while Raees Ahmad have Anees, Raees & Shafeeq Ahmad. Laeeq Ahmad had Mohammad Aslam.

Today only a few families are living in Behka namely, Jb Khalid Husain & Rashid Husain s/o Akhtar Husain, Ateeq Ahmad, Rizwan Ahmad s/o Saeed Ahmad. A family of Dr. Abdullah Sahib s/o Habeeb-ullah Urf Mashooq-ullah is also residing there.Dr. Abdullah is a qualified Unani Doctor.

In Allahabad live Wajeehullah advocate and his brothers Dr.Wasiullah etc to name a few.

Amongst the luminaries is the foremost Shah Habeebullah Sahib but unfortunately we have no authentic information left to us that could be passed on.

In the last century Mukhtar Ahmad Alias Maulvi Muhammad Siddeeq was a famous saint [Wali} of Pargana Chail who was a disciple of Maulvi Abdul Karim of Ganj Muradabad. He left Behka in 1915 to settle amongst his maternals at Saiyid Sarawan whereas he passed away at Peepal Gaon after having a severe sun-stroke. His grave is located in Peepal-Gaon.Various stories about his pious and miraculous life is still a part of our folk-lore.

Maulvi Sabit Ali - As told earlier nitally Behka had been a family of men of learning and a number to Ulama would have passed from the family but what to say about our apathy towards record-keeping and lack of interest in scripting history we don't have any information about those gentlemen but a short notice is recorded in Tazkirah-i-Ulama-i-Hind about Maulvi Sabit Ali of Behka who lived in the last century but so sorry to state that today nobody knows him in Behka……..such a sorry state of downfall of our heart and mind.See the excerpt from that book.

Maulvi Muhammad Iqbal and Maulvi Junaid ur Rahman were also from Behka.

Marriages

We do not have information about the initial marriages this family had but for the last two hundred years they primarily married into the other Aali Nasab but wealthy families of Chail. Primarily they married into the families of Chaudharis of Bamhrauli, Bisauna, Taludars of Asrawe Kalan, Sheikhs of Makhaupur & Chail Khas and Neewan as they were their own clan. Few marriages were contracted in Kashia, Pawan, Saiyid Sarawan and Mahgaon. They have maintained the standards of relation throughout the centuries.

Migration

As mentioned earlier a number of Shaikhs of Behka migrated to other villages at different periods of time and initiated a family that is now a large family group in that particular village.

Shah Mardan Ali’s branch is found in Chail Khas, the family of Ehsan Ahmad, Hakeem Anees Ahmad, and Dr. Yasin etc represent that branch.

Shah Mahmud Miyan’s branch is found in Neewan and his descendents are found in abundance in the city of Allahabad e.g Manzar ul Islam , Khalid Neewani etc represent that branch of family.

After the uprising in 1857 Shaikh Mohammad Husain and his brothers were charged with grave seditious activities ,and since his brothers were absconding , only Mohammad Husain was left in the village. He found no option but to leave Bihka to save his life & honour, therefore he migrated to his in laws in Chail. He had one son named Mohammad Yusuf and this Mohammad Yusuf had two sons namely Mohammad Fakhir & Mohammad Nasir. Mohammad Fakhir continued to live in Chail. His sons Mohammad Shakir and Naazir were well known. From these two are descended Junaid Ahmad, Fazeel Ahmad, Mohammad Amin, and Mohammad Faseeh Sahiban who are living in Chail today. His other son Mohammad Nasir left Chail and founded a new village named Muhammadpur which I have discussed in the following paragraphs.

One Faizan Ullah s/o Ghulam Ali migrated to Pawan in Bakhri where he was married and they are known as tehsildar khandan.

Another Chamru Miyan s/o Manu Miyan was married in Bakhri at Pawan and he settled there at 1850s. Mohammad Mateen was from this family. In today's context Ausaf Siddiqi (Usmani ) in Kuwait represents the same family.

In the recent past Mohammad Faseeh Alias Mohammad Arab migrated to his maternals at Kashia and settled there.

Shah Mohammad Siddeeq Rahmtaullahi settled in Saiyid Sarawan.

Mahmadpur (Near Puraini)

The latest but an important off-shoot of Behka family are the Siddiqis of Mahmadpur adjacent to village Puraini. In 1901 the above-mentioned Mohammad Nasir s/o Mohammad Yusuf left his brother at Chail and moved on to inhabit and establish a new village named Nasir-Ganj after himself. At a later date, he renamed it as Muhammadpur after his grand-father, now commonly known as Mahmadpur.

He constructed a big house, laid orchards and got some water bodies done. He fathered four sons namely Anwar Ahmad, Haseen Ahmad Advocate, Fazal Ahmad and Laeeq Ahmad. From these four came Ansar and Absar Ahmad bros, Haseen Ahmad had Nafees Ahmad Siddiqui, Nisar Ahmad, Waqar Ahmad, Noor Ahmad Siddiqi and Irfan Ahmad siddiqi while Fazal Ahmad had Habeeb Ahmad & Mahboob Ahmad , Laeeq Ahmad had Sibtain Ahmad and Ibn-i-Ahmad who represent the Mahmadpur family.

Habib Ahmad M.L.A , an icon in the post partition era of Muslim politics in Allahabad ,was from the same Mahmadpur family. Since no other zamindar family lived in Mahmadpur and nothing worthy of a note, Mahmadpur’s only claim to fame is being a home to this family.

Haseen Ahmad Advocate Marhoom

Shaikh Muhammad Nasir , the patriarch of Mahmadpur Puraini family

Few representatives of the Mahmadpur family

Freedom Struggle and Behka in 1857

As we all know that Maulvi Liyaqat Ali of Mahgaon planned an organized uprising against the British hegemony and his closest and biggest aides were the Bamhrauli and Behka family. Chaudhari Shahabuddin from Bamhrauli and Shaikh Hadi and Shaikh Faizullah from Behka supported him enormously to the extent that they ruined their worldly fortunes for this participation.

Unsung Heroes of 1857 Struggle and our ignorance

It is noticeable that when trouble started, the headquarters of Tehsil Chail was shifted to Pura Mufti for some time in 1857. On 7^th June 1857 Shaikh Hadi & Faizullah attacked and plundered the Tehsil along with the Treasury. It was a big blow to the already crumbling British control. The entire Pargana went out of the hands of local government. Naturally the British were furious to even listen to their names and they came down upon them heavily after they regained the control. See the excerpts below:-

Title Freedom struggle in Uttar Pradesh: Issue 1 of Series,

Author Uttar Pradesh (India). Information Dept

Publisher The Dept., 1957

While we know the name of Maulvi Liyaqat Ali a lot , we are not aware of his ardent and closest supporters who ruined their material fortune only for the cause of the freedom. Shaikh Hadi, Faizullah and M.Husain and family are one of those families who went into hiding after ther debacle and their estates confiscated. They came down from being a Taluqdar to a mere peasent status but today we dont even their names. Same is the sacrifices of other familes of other villages in Chail for examples the Chaudharies of Bamhrauli who were the biggest land holders in the region were reduced to being a petty zamindars...

Zamindari

It is noticeable that when the pious and learned were asked by the ruler to settle in a remote area ,they were granted rent-free villages for their sustenance and similarly we learn that the family of Shaikh Habibullah were given villages Meerpur, Tikri, Gopalpur, Fatehpur etc for their sustenance at that time. His family maintained their control over these villages till the Mughal Empire only.

When Aurangzeb died and the chaos erupted, The Nawab Wazir of Awadh became autonomous, the old system was revamped and Fatehpur and Behka were given to the family of Shah Abdul Latif of Daira at Yahyapur. This is confirmed form a farman preserved in the National Archives of India, the text is as follows:-

Book : National Register of Private Record-Issue 5

Publisher : National Archives of India, 1973

Page : 205

It was not long that the eminence of Bihka family caught the attention of the Awadh Rulers and their luck smiled back .Around 1790 or 1800, a Taluqa was created with the name of Ahmadpur Asrauli and it was given to a Shaikh of Behka.Thus by the end of 18^th Century , Behka transformed from a leading learning family to a leading proprietary family as Ahmadpur Asrauli ,the Taluka of 52 villages , was made over to Raham Ali who became a Taluqdar. Their fortunes rose and they became rich suddenly by a single stroke of luck.

Fifty years would have passed when Shaikh Hadi & Faizullah lead the charge during the plunder of Tahsil and Treasury of Chail and that cost the Taluqdar family heavily because when the British retook the district, they declared Shaikh Hadi and Faizullah and his brother Muhammad Husain as rebels and confiscated their part of Taluqa which was calculated to 29 villages and left the rest with the sons of Safdar Ali namely Khaleelullah and Shaikh Safi-ullah. Unfortunately these people could not maintain the Taluqa properly and with each passing year they had to sell their share owing to pressing needs and overpowering debts.

The situation was such at the beginning of 20^th Century that the family of Lala Sanwal Das Khanna had purchased the entire Taluqa of Ahmadpur Asrauli except a two and half annas of share.Lala Sanwal Das Khanna was a wealthy person of Allahabad in the last century.

In 1920 --14 Annas of share of the Taluqa was with Lala Sanwal Das while only two annas was with Shaikh Safiullah and family. Safi Ullah died child-less and that small part also passed on to his collateral branch.

This information gets confirmed from the Indian Journal of Economics as the details follow:

Name Indian journal of economics, Volume 4

Authors Indian Economic Association, University of Allahabad.

Publisher Department of economics and commerce, University of Allahabad, 1924

Page 209

There is no remarkable building worthy of a note in Behka yet there is a mosque which seems to have been a beautiful structure ,retaining a bit of the bygone style. It had a inscription on the front wall which could not be read due to the over-imposed painting & whitewashing but it vaguely reads that this house of Allaah was constructed in 1217 or 1211 AH by Shaikh Buniad Ali and that makes it almost 200 years old.

North of the village is the grave yard and here in an open enclosure lies Shah Habeeb-ullaah in eternal sleep. May Allaah swt shower his blessings upton him i

When I visited Behka, I found it a sleeping village with snores. I am afraid that still we do have that useless vanity that ruined us, that left us to nowhere. Our myopic view doesn’t allows us to come out of our shells. Indifference towards our history leaves us with no vision for the future. Serious neglect towards Deen and ilm-i-Deen have brought us at the deplorable stage where the so called deprived classes are living a better life than us.

Running away from Allah and running towards the deceitful material things leads us nowhere.

Our downfall is not due to Islam as some would have us believe but due to our own neglect of Islamic principles.

Behold ! In the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of night and day there are indeed Signs for men of understanding.

Men who celebrate the praises of Allah standing sitting and lying down on their sides and contemplate the (wonders of) creation in the heavens and the earth

“Our Lord! Not for nothing have You created (all) this! Glory to You!

Al-Qur’aan 3: 190-191

Khalid Bin Umar

New Delhi

Patti Narwar or Naraur

2012-02-04T13:19:00.003+05:30

The lush Greenery on the way

Ganges as seen from Naraur

View form the mosque

another view

Ganges flowing towards Basedhi and Kurai

The ups and downs of the hill are beautiful

Captivating

Here once stood the house of Hanfis.....

The present mosque inside the village

This was the oldest and the primary mosque of the village

Old mosque now dilapidated

This is the Eidgaah where the ignorants have engraved in Hindi "Gram Patti Narvar"

The broken half of the persian inscription on the wall of Mosque

The Grave of Shah Manjhan Ghauri

Other graves in the compound of Shah Manjhan's tomb

Tomb of Shah Manjhan Ghauri ( Rahmatullahi Alaihi)

Adjacent Masjid in the compound of Shah Manjhan's tomb

Area around the Compound of Shah Manjhan Ghauri

Tomb compound as seen from the ground

THe encircling area is full of Mazar

Mosque from the ground

Hakeem Mazhar Husain Sahib

Hakeem Sahib listening to me

Hakeem Sahib telling me about his family

Hakim Mazhar Husain's residence

View of Ganges from the mosque

The Qabr of Qazi Sirajuddin Urf Umar Sahib ( Rah)

This is Parau Miyan ka Purwa

Mr.Imtiaz Alam Hanfi

Old Manuscript giving the details about Shah Ghulam Ali Haqqani

A gunman friend from the neighbouring village
insisted that he should be photogrpahed

Patti Narwar or Naraur

Name & location.

Patti Narwar is an old village lying on the banks of River Ganges under the development block Mooratganj of Pargana Chail in District Kaushambi (Formerly Allahabad). It is commonly pronounced as Naraur and sometimes Naraul.

Patti Narwar is a mid-sized village with a population of about 3284 persons living in around 639 households as per the latest Census.

Nearby villages are Moorat Ganj , Adampur Nadir Ali , Amni’lokipur , Sumerpur, Ashokpur,, Alamchand. As in the case of all the river-side villages this village too has been bifurcated into two. Patti Narwar Uparhar is the actual inhabited village while the Kachhar is un-populated.

Narwar is beautifully perched on the top of a river-side hillock and gives us a fascinating view of the Ganges passing beside the village. When I visited Narvar I was a bit astonished at the landscapes as well as the panoramic views it presented. Marvellous indeed.

History

It is a small village that gained importance after it was taken as an abode by a branch of the Bukhari Naqvi Sayyids who settled here in the late 7th Century Hijri. We do not find any important historical event related with this village during the sultanate or mughal era.

As mentioned, the history of the settlement of zamindars of Narvar village is associated with the life and times of Qazi Husam-ud-Din Hasan Bukhari.

Through my earlier writings, you must be aware about Qazi Husam-ud-din who was sent by Firoz Shah Tughlaq to put down the rebellion of Bhars around Kara and how Qazi Sahib defeated the Bhar chiefs and settled in Parsakhi.

When Firoz Shah Tughlaq heard the news of the victory of Qazi Sahib, he was elated and gifted 22 villages as reward to Qazi Sahib for his sustenance and settlement in this area. Narna was indeed amongst those villages since we find that Qazi Sahib gave it to one of his sons Qazi Sayyid Siraj-ud-din Umar.

Bukhari Sadat

Qazi Sayyid Siraj-ud-Din Umar is the ancestor of the Bukhari Naqvi Sadaat of Narvar. We do not find any anecdote or other information about him except that he settled between the two villages of Naraur and Basedhi. When I visited Narvar I could trace his Qabr and offer Fatiha.

Siraj-ud-Din Umar had three sons while only two of them had further issues:-

1. Sayyid Abdul Qadir

2. Sayyid Muhammad – La’walad

3. Sayyid Kareem Dad

The Sadaat of Narvar or Naraur are descended from the two above.

The partition of the country and the subsequent migration played a havoc with the glory and glitter of Narvar. The village lost its best of people and that too not partially but entirely. Except few Shia families who gradually migrated to the City of Allahabad Narvar lost the entire Bukhari clan altogether. Today none from the original Bukhari family lives at Naraur. However there is an extended family of Naraur who are now settled at Parau Miyan ka Purwa, a hamlet situated at the outskirts of Narvar who have changed or transformed so much that I could not recognize them with their other brethren of the same clan. It confirms the notion that Sohbat plays more important role than Nasab in defining or refining a person.

Haqqani Sadat

About 120 years ago a Sayyid Family of Saiyid Sarawan , form the descendants of Sayyid Muhammad Haqqni Rahmatullaahi Alayhi , migrated and settled at Narvar to look after the property they inherited from their maternal.This family had a long tradition of Islamic learning and Tibb and it produced few leading Ulama and Hukama in the past century from Narvar. Today a lamp of this family is still residing there, keeping the tradition of ilm o Hikmat alive and it is the only former zamindar family that is still settled and based at Narvar Patti now .

This last yaadgar of the yesteryear is Janab Hakeem Mazhar Husain Sahib s/o Hakeem Izhar Husain Sahib who is a descendent of Shah Ghulam Ali Rah (ultimately of Sayyid Haqqani Rahmatullahi alaihi).He appears to be the last person of his family that has learned Hikmat and Ilm-i-Deen but unfortunately does not seem to have passed the baton on to the posterity.

Zamindari

Narvar had few big zamindars in the 18th Century AD but they lost heavily for their participation in the uprising with Maulvi Liyaqat Ali.Zamindari never came back to Narvar as it was before the 1857 uprising. However few pattis in villages Sailabi, bhojpur, Bajaha, Muhiuddinpur Ghaus, Fatehpur were held by the zamindars of Narvar till 1952.

Famous persons

To relate yourself with Naraur, please read the names here and trace your connection with the village:-

Mohammd Siddiq, Mohammad Umar, Mansoor Alam, Qubool Ahmad, Abdullah, Imdadullaah, Sham-ul-Haq, Afzal-ur-Rahman, Mohammad Isa, Masih-ud-din, Qamar-ud-din, Mohammad Basheer, Mohammad Ishaq , Laal Miyan, Kamaal Miyaan Sahibaan were the famous Sadaat from the Bukhari Khandan of Narvar and their descendents are found scattered in Indo-Pak.

A Shia family of the Bukhari descent have now shifted to Allahabad.Mr.Anwar Husain and Azadar Husain are from this family.

Hakeem Maulvi Mohammad Moosa was a famous Aalim-i-Ba’amal and an esteemed person of his time.

Sayyid Abdul Hakeem, Hakeem Izhar Husain , Shah Ghulam Ali were the scions of the Haqqani Sadat from Narvar.

Luminaries

Shah Manjhan Ghauri Rahmatullahi Alayhi

The sole historical monument in Narvar is the tomb of Hazrat Shah Manjhan Ghauri beside an old mosque. Shah Manjhan Ghauri was a saint and a man of great piety. He came to this village close to 8th Century Hijri and most probably from the western part such as Kara etc. His structure of his tomb is pre-Mughal which has been repaired from time to time. The location is atop a mound overlooking the beautiful Ganges flowing down peacefully. It is picturesque spot and I have been told that few wealthy Non-muslims of Allahabad and Benares had been frequent visitors to the tomb and a halting place was constructed by them for the visitors that has gone into ruins now. There is an Persian inscription inside the mosque which is unfortuantely not legible due to the neglect it was subjected to over the years. It was found stuck in the mud and is now fixed permanently on the northern wall. Had it been read, more information could be had about the year of death or the construction of the mosque? I found his name in Manba al Ansab with not much of a detail except that Shah Manjhan was a Siddiqui , a direct descendent of Khalifa-i-Awwal Hazrat Abu Bakr As Siddeeq Radhi Allahu Anhu and was a famous saint of his time. He moved to Narvar after finding the village quite peaceful and helpful in his Ibadat & Riyazat.

Sayyid Shah Ghulam Ali Haqqani – was a prominent Aalim of Hadeeth who flourished in the last century. He travelled to Delhi around 1810 and took his lessons of Hadeeth from Shah Abd-ul-Azeez Muhaddith Dehalvi (1745- 1823) in the late 18th Century. He was indeed a luminary of his time and was visited by the learned ones frequently. His mazar is inside the compound of Shah Manjhan Ghauri. He passed away in 1878 AD

In our times the most famous luminary from Naraur is undoubtedly the former Governor of State Bank of Pakistan Mr.Muhammad Imtiaz Alam Hanfi

Imtiaz Alam Hanfi was born on January 6, 1929 in Allahbad. He was the second of four brothers born to Mr.Sifaat Alam Hanfi, a railway employee, and Bibi Imtiaz-un-nissa He went to CAV High School in Allahbad and later went to Ewing Christian College Allahabad. At the time of partition his whole family migrated from India to Pakistan in November 1947. He did his masters in economics from Karachi in 1952 and joined the State Bank of Pakistan in 1952 as Class 1 Officer working there till 1981.In August 1988 he was appointed as the Governer of State Bank of Pakistan for the first time . He was the first governer to be appointed from within the bank. In December 1989 he resigned and joined a private group for a short time but again the government appointed him as the governer of the central bank in 1990.

First term (17-08-1988 TO 02-09-1989)

Second term (01-09-1990 TO 30-06-1993)

He was the first person to be appointed as governor of State Bank of Pakistan twice. He retired from there in 1993 and joined Faisal bank as an advisor, later the CEO of Faisal bank in 1994. In 1998, when he left for a retired life, the government asked him to head a commission for the transformation of the financial system between 2000 and 2002. Last year, the Commission, which came to be known as the Hanfi commission, comprising some 10 people from religious scholars to economists, accountants and bankers, presented their report on Islamic banking to the government

Currently, he is member of board of diretors of Bank al Habib. Mr Hanfi's son, Hamid Imtiaz Hanfi is working as a senior professional with the Oil & petroleum industry.

I have been told that Famous standup comedian - Mr.Faisal Masood from Karachi is also from Naraur.He is a talented comedian who has participated in the -The Great Indian Laughter Challenge and several other program mes.

When I visited Narvar it was raining cats & dogs and the view down the hill was incredible. Silence and serenity prevailed all around and I found myself in a solitary place that prompts for some metaphysical exercises. Indeed it had been a spiritually uplifting corner of the earth where the people who fought with their Nafs halted and strived hard to attain the proximity of Allaah.

The most disappointing feature is the indifference of our brothers towards Deen and ilm-i-Deen.Anything that earns us a few bucks is the primary goal of our life and except that the whole world is of no use to us. Tareekh, Tazkirah, Quraan , Hadeeth, ilm-ul-Ansaab have no value or worth in the eyes of the present generation and that makes us sorry ......sorry unto us.....sorry that we are unable to guide them ,train them, goad them for......here and hereafter.

As I happen to see more & more villages, naturally I tend to contemplate upon the fate of the bygone generations, I am getting more and more disillusioned with the transient fame & fortune we scramble from this world. It cries aloud that we indeed are wasting our time in hoarding money & houses , plots & flats by hook or by crook but alas...nothing will come to our rescue......nothing will help........

In the words of the elders of our Ummah ‘‘ The blessed age of youth is extremely valuable; adorn it with the pleasant hues of Allah’s remembrance.’’

***********************
Alas! What a great sorrow !
My peers drank the wines of love of Allaah and departed
They left the taverns empty and departed
Those who were radiant migrated towards the skies
And we, as shadows, were left behind on the earth
The courageous men sacrificed themselves for the King
Lowly ones such as us are enslaved in the clutches of souls
***********************

May Allaaah swt the Aleem and Hakeem kindle in ourselves the fire that is doused only by the ilm , Hikmat and of course Amal-i-Swalih. Aameen.

List of Villages - Zamindars of Chail

2012-01-18T14:21:00.005+05:30

List of Villages inhabited by the Zamindars of Pargana Chail in 1857

LIST A – OLDER SETTLEMENTS

1. Akbarpur - Original line extinct. Marriages stopped 50 years ago

2. Alamchand

3. Asrawe Kalan

4. Asrawe Khurd

5. Audhan

6. Begam Sarai - The lands were located in Ghayasuddinpur

7. Bharwari

8. Bamhrauli

9. Barethi

10. Basedhi

11. Bada Gaon

12. Bisauna

13. Behka

14. Beur

15. Chail Khas

16. Fatehpur - Marriages stopped 70 years ago.

17. Godam

18. Hashimpur Kinar - Migrated to Karari etc,

19. Janka - Migrated-Marriages stopped long ago.

20. Kashia

21. Katahula - Stray/Few marital alliances before 1850s .

22. Kath Gaon

23. Kurai - Migrated to Pakistan, Allahabad city etc

24. Kuswan - Family migrated to Kara, Fatehpur etc.

25. Mahgaon - Non Zamindari village – Zamindari rights were purchased by a few later.

26. Malak Muinuddin – Non Zamindari Village – Zamindari rights purchased later.

27. Makhaupur

28. Makhdoompur

29. Manauri

30. Mau Saraiyyan - The family dispersed in few villages of chail like sobhna, lokipur

31. Minhajpur

32. Muhammadpur Gaura - Main line got extinct others migrated to Barethi.

33. Muhiuddinpur Bhareta

34. Muhiuddinpur Kahariya - Shifted to Ratgaha.

35. Mustafabad - Shia family of Gardezi Sadat.

36. Narvar Patti

37. Neem Sarai

38. Neewan

39. Pawan

40. Peepal Gaon

41. Puraini Nizampur

42. Rohi

43. Rasulpur Qazi

44. Saiyid Sarawan

45. Seondha

46. Saidpur ( Madaripur)

47. Shaikhpur

48. Umri - devastated in 1857 etc.

49. Ujhihni

LIST B - LATTER SETTLEMENTS

The following Purwa / villages are later settlements which got inhabited between 1840 – 1870. e.g Kudapur is still not an independent village.

1. Kadlapur(Qadirpur)

2. Ratgaha

3. Lokipur

4. Kudapur ( Kundapur)

5. Abu Bakrpur

6. Ludhaur

7. Sobhna

8. Mahmadpur (Mohammadpur)

LIST C - INTEGRAL PART BUT ( OUT OF CHAIL)

(i) The following were out of Pargana Chail but were important members of the Chail Fraternity. All are primarily Sayyid settlements who frequently or infrequently married into the Chail families

1. Mendara - Pargana Nawabganj

2. Kokhraj - Pargana Kara

3. Koh Inam - Pargana Kara

3. Kakra-pura - Pargana Nawabganj
4. Kuresar - Pargana Nawabganj

(ii) The following are a muhalla of their principal villages,hence not taken as independent village.

1. Husainpur ( Pawan )

2. Nazarganj ( Badagaon)

(iii) Zamindari rights were not given to the residents of the following two villages. Later Zamindari rights were purchased by few residents of this village. Otherwise very influential villages of Pargana.

Mahgaon
Malak Muinuddin

LIST D - NON-ZAMINDARI VILLAGES

The following villages do NOT make it to any of the lists of the Zamindars of Chail or the premier club of the Chail fraternity yet some marital alliances did take place during the last century with these villages, the numbers of which multiplied with the passage of time, their name can not be omitted having their own reference value.

Boonda,
Kasenda,
Tiara
Umarchha,
Medwara,
Ghosi ,
Pansaur,
Koilaha. (a family had few shares of Zamindari)

OTHER VILLAGES

Maria Deeh did enjoy a Zamindari status for a short span of time when a family of Badaun got some zamindari there but now this familes lives in Allahabad City.

Charwa was a large Zamindari village near Saiyid Sarawan.

INFREQUENT & INVARIABLE MARRIAGES HAPPENED IN

Kara Distt - Allahabad ( Famous historial town with a lot of noble families)
Manikpur Distt - Partabgarh( Sister town of Kara across the Ganges)
Jhoosi Distt - Allahabad _ Jhusi Kuhna havelia - family of peer-zadgaan

The total no of villages in 1947 were 459 in Pargana of Chail.

Regards,

Khalid Bin Umar

Alamchand - Pargana Chail

2011-12-30T11:48:00.002+05:30

This vegetable crop made me stop on the way !

Came across a Tiraha , asked the way to Alamchand

This is the road towards Alamchand

As I entered , saw this lakhori Brick-walled House

Old Lady suspecting us to be a govt official followed us through

Pucca Makan

Lane

Maulvi Iqbal's Mansion !

Another view of this grand structure !

Two of the best structures stand jointly !

Raza Husain Sahib's Mansion

Inside the pillared doorway

Khan Bahadur Haji Sayyid Muhammad Raza Husain

Tere diye jalane wale Kahan gaye !

Lane

At least here is a boundary !

Loud Speaker & Board over the mosque parapet

Inside view of the mosque. Would you locate my laptop bag ?

Front view of the mosque

Inside the mosque

Out of Village now

Alamchand is an old village of Pargana Chail . Today it falls under the block -Mooratganj in district Kaushambi (formerly in Allahabad).

Location

It is a remote village lying on the north-west outskirts of Pargana Chail. Nearby Villages are Sikandarpur Bajaha (1.4 km),Adampur Nadir Ali (1.5 km),Lohra (2.6 km) ,Barai Salem (2.6 km) Balihawan Deh (2.9 km) and Narvar Patti.

Name & Origin

The real name of this village is Narna .The popular name is Alamchand. The name of the revenue Mauza is still Narna and its derivation is ascribed to a story related with Emperor Alamgir.

Initially it was a small village that gained importance after it was taken as an abode by a branch of the Bukhari Naqvi Sayyids who settled here in the late 7th Century Hijri. We do not find any important event related with this village in any of the annals from 7th century till 11the AH. However during the medieval period Alamchand gained an importance for being an important halting point on the Royal route from Delhi to Allahabad known as Sarai Narna.

Sarai' is a Persian word meaning ' Hostelry ' or Inn. During the Sultanate & Mughal era the halting places for caravans and travelers were known as Serai or Sarai. Since Narna was located exactly on the original GT Road, it might have developed gradually into an important halting place for the royal as well as the common caravans. No body could enter the City of Prayag / Ilahabas without halting at Alamchand. Since we don’t find any mention of a Sarai at Alamchand in history prior to 15th Century AD it boils downs that the village developed as Serai only during the late 16th century .

This sarai Narna must have been a huge and important place indeed as no important book of travelogues of the medieval history is without a mention about Alamchand. We find a short description of this Sarai in the book by Jewish Father Tieffenthaler.

Joseph Tieffenthaler was a Jesuit Father, born at Botzen about 1715.In 1743 he arrived in Goa, and lived in India travelling into northern part of India around 1750-1770. He mentions as follows :-

Ref:The mid-Gangetic region in the eighteenth century, some observations of Joseph Tieffenthaler by SN Sinha (1976)

The importance of Alamchand as a Sarai can be gauged from the fact that the archaeological survey of India got few coins of King Ferdinand of Spain from Alamchand. See the excerpt below.

Book :Title The journal of the Numismatic Society of India, Volumes 10-12

Published 1949

As mentioned earlier the name ALAMCHAND was given to it by Emperor Aurangzeb as I shall discuss it in the following paragraphs. Historically there is no doubt that Aurangzeb halted at Alamchand.

History

The history of the settlement of zamindars of Alamchand village is again associated with the life and times of Qazi Husam-ud-Din Hasan Bukhari.

Qazi Sayyid Meet moved to Narna and settled here. He had his son Sayyid Naseeruddin born here. He was a valiant and adventurous man. In jungles and ravines along the Ganges laid the strongholds of many bandits .He would take on the local brigands, encountered the Bhars and chased the vagrant boatmen groups who used to rob and commit burglaries around the village and even killed the people for nothing. Hence Qazi Meet had to lead a soldier’s life. Apart from keeping a posse of armed group he himself would live a combatant life. Furthermore he had to supply men to the royal forces as and when required for a battle as per the custom of that era. Hence the Sayyids of Narna were known to be a belligerent group who could live without food but not without a bout.

In the late 17th Century, this soldiery and militancy took an ugly shape when the Sayyids of Alamchand fought a battle with Sayyids of Badegaon for some pattidari* lands. This fight took place at Alamchand.The unfortunate result was so macabre that not a single male was left alive in Alamchand; all the male members were slain in the fight. Only the wife of one Sayyid Daud could run away with her single son in her lap. This child grew up amongst his maternal and was known as Sayyid Ilah’Diya. This Sayyid Ilah’Diya is the ancestor of the whole lot of Naqvi Sadaat of Alamchand.

Note *The pattidari land was one in which descendents of a common ancestor had divided the lands of their ancestral patrimony following genealogical principles where usually some lands such as orchards, tanks and some waste land were held in common.

After this ghastly incident Alamchand got deserted and not a single family of Zamindar could be found there or could dare to live there.When the local brigands and local chiefs found no one at Alamchand to check them , they rose and started creating disturbances in the environs again. The entire area simmered at the mercy of the robbers, bandits, criminals who prevailed scot free. The common man of the environs was too scared to make a counter against them.

Mirat al Jalali reports (though not confirmed by comtemporary historical record) that After the battle in 1659 against Prince Shuja , on his return from Allahabad to Delhi Emperor Aurangzeb halted at Alamchand and saw the pitiful condition of the desolated village of Narna. He was told about the fight that laid the village waste. He called for Sayyid Daud, the only survivor and successor of the Zamindar family of Alamchand. Sayyid Daud was called from his Nanihal, was resumed in his possessions and re-established as the zamindar of Narna and it was that time Alamgir changed the name of the village to Alamchand.

Battle of Sarai Alamchand

Another important historical event associated with the village is a battle of 1712.

On August 2, 1712 - a very important battle was fought near Alamchand wherein Sayyid Abdul Ghaffar advanced at the head of 3,000 men to bar the progress of, Abul Hasan Khan, a Sayyid of Bijapur, who was Sayyid Hassan Ali Khan Barha's Bakhshi. Abul Hasan Khan's was victorious and it confirmed the position of Sayyid Hassan Ali Khan Barha and made it clear that the Sayyid Brothers of Barha were allied against the Emperor for the new contender Prince Farrukh siyar.

William Irvine in his Later Mughals gives an account of the battle as follows:-

Stay of Emperor Shah Alam II at Alamchand

During his return journey - on 13th April 1771 the Emperor Shah Alam II advanced from Allahabad to Sarai Alam Chand where he halted for 19 days planning his march to Delhi and expecting to be joined by his Wazir Shuja-ud-Daulah.At the time of this above mentioned meeting with the Emperor at Sarai Alam Chand, Shuja gave the Emperor 10 lakh in cash, carriages, tents, some other articles. This meeting is recorded in almost all the chronicles of that era and Alamchand gained a enviable place in the annals of history.

Book : Fall of the Mughal Empire, Volume 2

Author : Sir Jadunath Sarkar -----Page 397

Book : Shuja ud Daulah

Author : Ashirbadi Lal Srivaastava

Historical references

In below I have compiled a few important historical references that I found in the old annals of history.

1) During the British era, Alamchand was also known throughout the empire for its huge indigo factory established by the British. One of its tank could still be seen in Alamchand. The Encylopaedia Britannica of 1902 mentions the following.

Book : The Encyclopaedia Britannica: latest edition.

Authors : Day Otis Kellogg, William Robertson Smith Publisher:Werner, 1902

2) The famous Mrs.Parlby has also mentioned her stay at Alamchand.She mentions about the Mahua fruit she saw at Alamchand.

Book :Begums,Thugs and Englishmen: The Journals of Fanny Parkes. - Page 70

Author :Fanny Parkes Parlby, (William Dalrymple)

March 27th- We quitted Allahabad , and drove the first stage to Alamchand, where we were kindly received by friends. At this place I first remarked the mowa (Mahua) tree (Bassia longifolia). The fruit was falling and the natives were collecting it to make bazaar srab (ardent spirits). The fruit, which is white, only falls during the daytime.

3)Jean-Baptiste Tavernier (1605 –1689) the famous French traveller and trader who is most known for his work known as “ Les Six Voyages de Jean-Baptiste Tavernier” (Six Voyages, 1676) too passed through Alamchand en route Allahabad. Here is the excerpt.

SELECTIONS FROM TRAVELS IN INDIA BY JEAN BAPTISTE TAVERNIER -BARON OF AUBONNE

Translated from the original French Edition of 1676.

Oxford University Press

London: Humphrey Milford, 1925

CHAPTER 8 -

The 6th [December] to Alamchand, 9 coss. About two leagues on this side of Alamchand, you meet the *Ganges*. Monsieur *Bernier*, Physician to the King, and a man named [[95]] Rachepot, who was with me, were surprised to see that this river, so much talked about, is not larger than the Seine in front of the Louvre, it being supposed that it equalled in width, at the least, the Danube below Belgrade. There is actually so little water between the months of March and June or July, when the rains commence, that boats are not able to ascend it. On arrival at the Ganges, we each drank a glass of wine which we mixed with water-- this caused us some internal disturbance; but our attendants who drank it alone were much more tormented than we were. The Dutch, who have a house on the banks of the Ganges, never drink the water of the river, except after it has been boiled; as for the native inhabitants, they have been accustomed to it from their youth; the Emperor even and all his court drink no other. You see every day a large number of camels which do nothing else but fetch water from the Ganges.

4)William Fordyce Mavor (1758–1837), compiler of educational works, in his famous “historical account of the most celebrated voyages “ has described the coniditon of Alamchand

Book :Historical account of the most celebrated voyages, travels – Vol 24

Author :William Fordyce Mavor

Publisher:Printed for E. Newbery, 1801

)5The famous Peter Mundy has also mentioned Alamchand ki Sarai in his marvelous Memoirs.

Peter Mundy (floruit 1600-1667) was an English travelle from Penryn in Cornwall.

Book :The travels of Peter Mundy in Europe and Asia, 1608-1667

Author :Peter Mundy

Sadaat-i-Naqvi of Alamchand

As mentioned earlier the erstwhile zamindars of Alamchand are descended from Sayyid Meet s/o Qazi Husam-ud-Din Hasan Bukhari who was a Naqvi Sayyid from the Bukhari family of Uchh.

If you recall the unfortunate fight and then Aurangzeb's effort to re-inhabitate the village. Sayyid Daud was called and re-installed at the village. This Sayyid Daud had a son named Sayyid Swaleh and Sayyid Swaleh had Sayyid Abdul Nabi and from this line is descended the entire lot of the Naqvi Sadat of Alamchand.

Mirat al Jalali produces an imperfect and incomplete genealogical table of the Naqvis of Alamchand ;still it has its reference value a lot for the generations to follow.

Famous Persons

During the period of Shah Alam II (1728–1806), Sayyid Muhammad Aashiq was a very famous zamindar & military general of Mughal era from Alamchand. He cleared the ravines along the Ganges and eliminated the criminal gangs and tumultuous boatmen from there. He took on Bhars and chased them out several times. Shah Alam Badshah who was at Allahabad at the time was very happy to hear about Sayyid Ashiq’s bravery and gave him a letter of Appreciation. The vindictive Bhars who were looking for an opportunity got eventually one when they struck him at night and killed Sayyid Ashiq. Emperor Shah Alam was quite upset when he heard about Sayyid Ashiq’s death. Later on he called his minor Son Sayyid Ghulam Haider and asked him to join the royal forces, got him trained and appointed in the army of Nawab of Murshidabad.

Thus Sayyid Ashiq moved from Alamchand and settled at Murshidabad in Bengal and served Nawab Kasim 'Ali Khan Bahadur, Nusrat Jang [Mir Muhammad Kasim], Nawab Nazim of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, (1760-1783) for several years.According to Mirat’al Kunain , the reason for a branch of Naqvis of Alamchand converting to Shia faith during the late 18th Century was this association of Sayyid Ashiq with Murshidabad and Nawab of Murshidabad.

Khan Bahadur Sayyid Muhammad Raza Husain - See photograph above !

An illustrious figure from Alamchand, Khan Bahadur Sayyid Muhammad Raza Husain was the son of Sayyid Ali Raza , descended from the same Sayyid Ashiq as mentioned above. He was born in 1849, initially took service in Police, later on posted as a Kotwal in Bareilly where he earned laurels for his remarkable judgment and equanimity in managing the crucial events. He was noted to be an outstanding man throughout his career as a police officer.The British Govt. awarded him the title of Khan Bahadur in 1901. After retirement form Police he was called by the Nawab of Rampur to work as a Collector in Rampur. He was a distinguished person of his era. He wrote a travelogue about his travels (Ziarat) of Hajj and visits at Iraq & Iran. In Allahabad he constructed Jannat Mahal in Hasan Manzil and a mansion in Alamchand as well. He was survived by his daughters without a son. A photograph of him is attached here.

Sayyid Ameer Husain was a well read litterateur from Alamchand in the 19th century.

Sayyid Mazhar Husain Naqvi, a DSP in UP Police was from the last lot of distinguished ones from Alamchand. Perhaps his name and fame is the singular reason for today’s generation to know about Alamchand. His son Wasif Naqvi is a forest officer in Maharashtra. His brothers were Muhammad Ahmad and Tufail Ahmad Naqvi.......but their home is now in ruins...

To relate and connect you to the last century of Alamchand I am putting here the names of some of the well known from the past century. Basheer Ahmad Mukhtar, Muhammad Hasan and his sons Muhammad Raza, Mustahsan and Ahsan Sahiban. Abdul Sattar, Ali Akbar , Naseer Ahmad, Ghayyur Ahmad, Ali Haidar, Manzoor Ali, Mohsin Ali were the well known persons from Alamchand. One Abul Hasan Sahib moved to Pakistan

Hakeem Muhammad Qasim and Maulvi Ameer Ahmad were also the learned ones from the village.

Sayyid Ali Amjaad ( Anjan Darogha) and his sons namely Sayyid Ali Zuhad Naqvi famously known as Shakeel Damar and Ali Irshad Naqvi known as Jameel are also from Alamchand. Sayyid Muhammad Rafi Naqvi Advocate is also from Alamchand.

When I visited Alamchand I found Mr.Jauhar Abbas Rizwi and Sayyid Abu Muhammad Sahiban who are originally from Bisauna VIA Peepalgaon. I learnt about Mr.Tanveer Aftab (Ausaf ) from the only Naqvi family of Ali Akbar Sahib still residing in Alamchand.

Today’s Alamchand is a mere shadow of its past. Barring one no Naqvi family is residing here whereas the more prominent inhabitants are the two Rizwi families of PeepalGaon who migrated to Alamchand 60-70 years ago.

These two families of Rizwis from Bisauna came and settled here from PeepalGaon in the middle of the last century, namely Meer Ata Husain and Meer Ansar Husain. Maulvi Iqbal Husain son of Meer Ansar was a well known figure of the past.

The original Naqvi Sadat have almost entirely forsaken the village. The paternal house of Deputy Mazhar is into ruins while the brick mansions of Sayyid Raza Husain and his kins are still standing well-maintained. A lot of families who live in Allahabad probably find it too far off OR do not get time to even visit their ancestral place ;whereas those who are based out of Allahabad have gone out of question at all. Such is the condition of a village which was one of the jewels in the crown of zamindars of Chail. The transition from the value based life to the commerce based life has played havoc with everything from makan to Makeen.

Alamchand is silent now. Today there is no royal hustle bustle or any preparation for a impending battle. It seemed to me that it is saying " I have had enough of blood-shed, fight and intrigues so far , no more please.. leave me alone now. I have already entertained a lot from Europe to Asia.I have lost guts to take on any more........please for god sake......leave me alone , I want to be at rest now.... and really it stands alone there .......resting , silent and solitary ......

When I got up to leave …..an old lady commented , Miyan ab yahan kya dhara hai, us waqt aatey jab Log Sachche Aur Makaan Kachche Hua Karte The !

I didn’t look back at the dilapidated houses while stepping in the car …….. A couplet came to my mind

Akele Ghar se poochti hai be-kasi

tere diye jalane wale kiya huwe

But Suddenly rose the AZAAN for Asr and I stepped out of the car and ran towards Masjid .......

Ye ek Sajdah jise too Giran Samajhta hai

Hazaar Sajdon se deta hai Aadmi ko Nijaat !

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Do you remember the initial lines of Surah Ar-Rum (7-9)

They know but the outer (things) in the life of this world: but of the End of things they are heedless.

Do they not reflect in their own minds?

Not but for just ends and for a term appointed, did Allah create the heavens and the earth, and all between them:

yet are there truly many among men who deny the meeting with their Lord (at the Resurrection)!

Do they not travel through the earth, and see what was the end of those before them?

**************************************************************************

Was'salaam

Khalid Bin Umar

New Delhi

WRITE TO ME @

khalid.umar@in.ey.com

khalid.bin.umar@gmail.com

Bisauna - Pargana Chail

2011-11-22T13:54:00.001+05:30

Road from Kareli to Bisauna - Raste hamwar nazar aatey hain

countryside

Primary School at Bisauna

Brimming River Yamuna

Another view of Yamuna river

Janab Naushad Rizwi & Aslam Bhai

Faisal Bhai

Houses & fields

The Mosque

Gateway of the Main Mosque (*Const 1865)

New Imambara

Across the fields

Professor Mujeeb Rizwi with Meera Rizwi at New Delhi

With Prof Mujeeb Rizwi.

Bisauna

Location

Bisauna is a famous Village of Pargana Chail in Allahabad.

Today we shall explore the origin and history of this village that now falls under Tehsil –Sadar of District Allahabad. Bisauna is 13.9 km away from the city headquarters Allahabad. It is located on the banks of River Yamuna ( Jamuna) and offers a spectacular view of the flowing stream. Here you can do some soul searching whilst watching the beautiful riverside.

Near By Villages are Birwal (1.2 km), Adampur Urf Madaripur(2.5 km) , Kanjasa Uparhar(3.7 km) , Asrawe Khurd (3.9 km) and Asrawe Kalan.

Name & Origin

The correct spelling of Bisauna is Bisauna’n with Noon Ghunna but it happens that words make their own way in the course of time.

Legend has it that Aswah and Baswah were two local chieftains after whom two of the villages were named as Asrawe and Bisauna.

According to the local tradition, these villages were controlled by the Sonbarsa Thakurs at one point of time and Raja of Reewa had the ownership rights in Bisauna and environs as it were the bordering villages of his Riyasat.

Some villagers point out to an old well that still has a Murti of Varah at the source of the stream gushing the water at the bottom of the well. This indicates that the inhabitants were worshippers of Vishnu incarnation in the form of Varah (Pig)

Other legend says that hundreds of years ago the river Jamuna flowed between Asrawe Kalan and Bisauna and as a mark of its course is left a large pool of water called the Taal. When dried up in summers it shows some signs of old inhabitation. Wallaahu Aa’lam.

Rizwis of Bisauna

The Rizwi Sadat of Bisauna, Asrawe Kalan and Saidpur have one common ancestor and all the zamindar families of these three villages are considered to be Rizwi Saiyids descended from one adventurer Saiyid Asas-ud-Deen Haidar Sabzawari.

As per the tradition one Saiyid Asas-ud-Din Haidar of Iran arrived at this place in Pargana Chail from Iran via Sakkhar ( Sindh-Pakistan).He liked the place on the banks of Jamuna and wanted to took up this place as his abode but he had to face stiff resistance from the local Raja Aswah and his brother Raja Baswah. Raja Aswah reportedly was in hold of the area around the village Tikri while his brother Raja Baswah was the husband of the Rani of Mainapur ( Mainapur is still there not very far from Bisauna). There are no reports as to how could Saiyid Asas get hold of the village, whether he came out victorious in a battle or the local Raja was astounded with his divine presence and surrendered to his demand. In any case he settled somewhere near Bisauna as there are no reports where did he stay at first.

Descendents

The son of Saiyid Asas namely Mohammad Naeem stayed on in Bisauna while two of his sons Muhammad Firoz went on to found and settle today are Saidpur (originally Saiyidpur). His second son Muhammad Aa’la continued to live with his father in Bisauna. Saidpur too is located three miles away on the banks of Jamuna. The sons of Khan-i-Alam continued to live in Bisauna while his brother Sadri=-i-Alam’s son Meer Riyayat Ali shifted to Asrawe Kalan as he got a big chunk of the property there to look after. Riyayat Ali’s son Meer Ali Bakhsh was the famous Taluqdar of 18^th century in Pargana Chail.

In the first half of 18^th Century a family migrated to Adampur (that is called Madaripur) as well. Three houses of that family is still present there. This Adampur + Bisauna collectively gave the name of a Taluka in 18^th century as TALUKA ADAMPUR BISAUNA.

Now we can sum up that four villages were populated by the descendents of Asas-ud-Deen Haidar Sahib as follows:-

Bisauna
Asrawe Kalan
Saidpur
Adampur ( Madaripur)

They have one common ancestor and all class themselves as Saiyid Rizwi.

If you look at the names mentioned in the table above, you will agree with me that these names are more likely to be Sunni Names contrary to the condition today that almost entire population of these villages are Shia therefore I would not be wrong if I say that their conversion to the Shia Faith took place quite later between 1750 – 1800 AD. There is high possibility that they converted to Shiaism after Awadh was taken over by Shia Nawabs starting with Burhan-ul-Mulk. Out of the same group ,one Sunni family always remained there in Bisauna till 1950.

Zamindari

Upton enquiry it transpires that during the reign of Nawabs of Awadh, a Taluka was created with a total of 52 villages under the name ADAMPUR BISAUNA. It held under its sway a lot of villages in Pargana quite haphazardly for the villages like Rasoolpur Beur in west and Kadlapur in the North-West came under the Taluka of Adampur Bisauna. Kadlapur as it is wrongly spelt and pronounced today has still got its original name as Qadirpur Taluqa Adampur Bisauna in the revenue records.

It unravels further that the zamindars of Bisauna could not hold for long their grip over the taluka and soon the major chunk of landlord ship passed on to their collateral branch at Asrawe Kalan. The zamindars of Asrawe Kalan maintained and managed the Taluka quite well for over 50 years till the taluka was dismantled by the British.We dont find any Talukdar's name from Bisauna rather the Zamindars of Asrawe had more reasons to enjoy the Taluqdari status.

During the 1857 uprising Bisauna and the zamindars of Bisauna were a great source of help to Maulvi Liyaqat Ali’s army in transporting the rasad to the Allahabad Fort through the river Jamuna as all other roadways were blocked.

Marriages

As you all know that Shia and Sunni families in Pargana Chail have been enjoying such an amiable and friendly relations over the centuries that had been enviable for a lot of other places in Awadh. As we know that our forefathers laid more stress on the purity of the blood than the wealth and Maslak (School of thought) of the family they married into. So is the case that we find marital alliances amongst all the noble blue blooded families in Pargana Chail with their Shia Brethren. These marriages continued until the mid of 20^th century when it came to a gradual halt after the Orthodox Shiaism of Lucknow grew exponentially so much so that it turned the attention of people away from the old age traditions of land towards the puritanical shia tenets of faith.

As far as I could examine, the zamindars of Bisauna accepted and gave their daughters to a very picked out selected families in Pargana Chail during the last 150 years. They while striking an alliance paid special attention not only to pure blood (Nasab) but they also looked at the material wealth and local standing of those families as well. Therefore give me liberty to say that no poor family of Pargana could dare to marry in Bisauna and Asrawe Kalan 100 years ago however Aali Nasab it might have been (barring a few exceptions).

I examined the shajras of various villages and found that Bisauna people married and accepted daughters almost entirely from the families like Chaudharis of Bamhrauli, the Chaudharis of Makhaupur and Zamindars of Barethi , Seondha, the Chaudharis of Rasoolpur Beur and the Zamindars of Peepalgaon. These are the few chosen families who not only were Aali Nasab but also affluent commanding a strong social influence 100-150 years ago. It is a unequalled example of the selection of Hasab + Nasab.

After 1940s when the era of shia-sunni marriages gradually came to an undeclared end, the people of Bisauna turned their head towards the pure Shia families outside chail e.g in Manjhanpur, Karari, Mahawan etc and even out of the district. As of today though no new marital relations are contracted between the Sunni & Shia families of Chail yet the friendly relations of the yesteryears are being carried on by the present generation with a very strong social bonding. Not only that the earlier marital connections are acknowledged but also respected and withheld strongly.

It is also noteworthy that zamindars of Bisauna always preferred to marry in the top Sunni families of Chail, despite the fact the some prominent original Shia families were not too far from them in Karari and Manjhanpur, this again alludes to their original affiliation with the Sunni Faith.

Migration

As always few families of Bisauna had migrated to other villages after getting a share from their in-laws / maternals in most of the cases.

For instance ,Mir Akbar Ali and his sons migrated to PeepalGaon in the last decade of 19^th century around 1885-1890.From PeepalGaon a family of Meer Ansar migrated to his in-laws at Alamchand while other Meer Zawar Husain migrated to Manauri. Kazim Husain Kajjan migrated to Muhiuddinpur while Meer Mohammad Yaqub migrated to Behka. A family went to Nazarganj and Husainpur each.

Today the Bisauna off-shoots are found residing in Muhiuddinpur, Puraini, Manauri and Alamchand (Via PeepalGaon) while the rest of the immigrants have moved on.

Buildings

I was surprised to find that there was no building or construction worthy of a note. Keeping in view the famous past and their being a Taluqa, I expected at least one or two remarkable edifices but to my utter surprise Bisauna does not have such constructions at all.

Rather there is a mosque seemed to have been kept well in a fine condition that attracted my attention. This mosque was constructed in 1865 by one Tahira Bibi of Bamhrauli who had her Nanihal here in Bisauna. The mosque was renovated by one Ibadat Husain Urf Abai Marhoom in the first half of 20^th Century.

Imambaras –There are two Imambaras in Bisauna.The older was constructed in the last century while the latter one was constructed in 1905 by Meer Ata Husain known as Imambara Husainia Jadeed.

On the western outskirt of the village is the Qabrastan and Karbala.Near the old graveyard close to a ditch are few graves where local villagers including the sunnis come to offer their respects and are knowns as Shaheeds.

It is a strange fact that Taziyas in Bisauna are buried as well as immersed in Jamuna. Reason ? Catch up a Bisaun-ian and get the details yourself.

Famous persons

In the past Meer Hayat Husain, Meer Inkisar Husain, were famous persons from Bisauna. Abdul Hai sahib was a wakeel. Maulvi Ali Jawwad of Bisauna was a well known Aalim of Arabic and Persian , it is remarkable that he took his high-school exams at the age of 72 and succeeded meritoriously.. Such was his quest of knowledge (ilm).

Master Irshad Husain Sahib was a teacher in GIC Allahabad and very active socially. Maulvi Iqbal Sahib of Alamchand was also from Bisauna. Dr. Mujawar Husain in Lucknow is also from Bisauna.

Peepli Live’s connection with Bisauna !

Though I am averse to cinema yet I know about the film Peepli Live that made waves recently and its director Anusha Rizvi was highly applauded for its story and direction. Do you know that Anusha Rizwi’s father belongs to Bisauna and hence Anusha is a daughter of Bisauna?

Professor Mujeeb Rizwi, father of Anusha Rizvi, was the head of Department of Hindi at Jamia Millia University and at one point of time acted as a Pro Vice Chancellor as well. It was Mujeeb Rizvi, who founded the Hindi department at Jamia Millia Islamia and served as its Head for nearly fourty years. His is an expert in medieval Awadhi and Braj poetry, in particular the Sufi poetry of the pre-Mughal era. His writings on such seminal figures as Kabir, Tulsi, Khusro and several others have long been recognized as pioneering works in the field of medieval literary and devotional scholarship. In addition, he is the greatest living scholar of Jayasi and of Padmavat. He has been a life long champion of indigenizing Islam and revitalizing medieval ways of creative coexistence between different faith communities. The recipient of numerous awards and contributor to a number of international compendia, he is widely recognized as one of the most distinguished modern scholars of Hindi.

I had a chance to meet Prof Mujeeb Rizwi at his residence in Delhi along with her daughter Meera Rizwi ,sister of Anusha, and an established and proficient script writer who has worked for numerous Television programmes so far. He shed light on various historical aspects of Bisauna and its past. I owe him thanks for enlightening with some lesser facts about Bisauna.

Historical Lapses

However with reference to Saiyid Asas-ud-Din Haidar and his life there are several serious historical lapses that cannot be ignored which I have summed up as under :-

No reference is found about Saiyid Asas-ud-Din Haidar in any Hindi, English, Persian book of any time. Isn’t it strange that there is no mention of such an important figure in a book of any language?
There is no sign of his grave anywhere in the four villages. Whether he existed or not cannot be proved by any means. Should I take Muhammad Naeem Sahib as the real ancestor of Bisauna.
The present shajra directly links Saiyid Asas-ud-Din Haidar to Imam Raza Aalihi’salaam without naming the guessed 18 generations with no reference or citations produced at all. This casts doubt over the sanctity of the Shajra itself.
In the same printed Shajra published form Karachi, There is an epithet associated with Saiyid Asas-ud-Din Haidar as Salar Masood Ghazi while we all know the Saiyid Salar Masood Ghazi is famed warrior saint resting in Bahraich. How come this Khitab or Laqab got attached with him is again a question without answer ?
While I have no reasons to believe some stories stating that Bisauna landlords are converted Muslims but at the same time I have no proofs to support the claim that they are Rizwi Syeds either.There is however least doubt that originally all of them were Sunnis and converted to Shia faith at a later stage.

These lapses would place a serious student of history in a state of discombobulation. I would urge the descendents of Saiyid Asas-ud-Din Haidar sahib to please trace and put forth some substantial evidences that defuse such questions once for all.

For my visit to Bisauna, I was enormously helped by Faisal Bhai and Aslam Bhai who not only took me there but also “Wasted” their time with me. Naushad Rizwi sahib played a fine host while taking us round the village.

Jazak Allah !

Was’salaam

Khalid Bin Umar

New Delhi