Social:Hussaini Brahmin
Hussaini Brahmin is a Mohyal Brahmin community of the Punjab-region.
The Mohyal community comprises seven sub-clans named Bali, Bhimwal, Chhibber, Datt, Lau, Mohan and Vaid.
However, as consistent with their Hindu tradition, they have adopted non-Indic traditions. This has led to a small sub-set of the Moyhal community paying reverence to Islam, most notably to the third Imam Hussain.[1]
According to V. Upadhyaya[2] they were influenced by the Chisti Sufis. While they wear the yajnopavita and the tilak, they take alms from only the Muslims, and not from Hindus.[3] Some of them are found in Pushakar, Ajmer, where Mu'in al-Din Chishti is buried.[4] According to another tradition, Yazid's troops, had brought Imam Husain's head to their ancestors home in Sialkot. In exchange for his head, the ancestor exchanged his own sons' heads.[5]
Few families can still be found in parts of Iraq but most families of Hussaini Brahmins are now settled in Pune,[6] Delhi,[7] Chandigarh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu region in India. Sindh, Chakwal and Lahore in Pakistan and Kabul and South Afghanistan in Afghanistan. Some of them also observe Muharram every year.
A sect of Bhumihar Brahmins in the Muzaffarpur district of Bihar also claim ancestry from Hussaini Brahmins and take part in Muharram each year.[8]
History
As per Mohyal oral history, a Mohyal Brahmin of the Dutt clan had fought on behalf of Imam al-Husayn in the Battle of Karbala (680 C.E.), more specifically in the storming of Kufa—sacrificing his seven sons in the process.[9] According to legend, Rahab Sidh Dutt (also mentioned as Rahib Sidh or Sidh Viyog Datt in some versions) was the leader of a small band of career-soldiers living near Baghdad around the time of the battle of Karbala.[10] The legend mentions the place where he stayed as Dair-al-Hindiya, meaning "The Indian Quarter", which matches an Al-Hindiya in existence today.[10] However this is false, as Al-Hindiya was named after Indian Shia students who financed a water canal after coming to Karbala for religious studies.
Other
In Ajmer, Rajasthan, a place of Sufi pilgrimage, where Moinuddin Chishti lived and passed his last days, there is even today a class of people who call themselves Hussaini Brahmins, who are neither 'orthodox Hindus' nor orthodox Muslims. Hussaini Brahmins practiced a mixed blend of orthodox Vedic and Islamic traditions. A saying in Hindi/Urdu language refers to the Hussaini Brahmans thus: "Wah Datt Sultan, Hindu ka dharm, Musalman ka Iman, Adha Hindu adha Musalman" (Well Datt Sultan, declaring Hindu Dharma and following Muslim practice, Half Hindu and Half Muslim.[11]
See also
- Punjabi Hindus
- Mohyal Brahmins
- Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb
- Hindu–Islamic relations
- Hindu–Muslim unity
- Religious syncretism
References
- ↑ Nonica Datta (30 September 2019). "The Forgotten History of Hussaini Brahmins and Muharram in Amritsar". The Wire (Indian News and Opinion Website). https://thewire.in/religion/the-forgotten-history-of-hussaini-brahmins-and-muharram-in-amritsar. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
- ↑ संत-वैष्णव काव्य पर तांत्रिक प्रभाव, V. Upadhyaya, 1962, Page 181
- ↑ Hamara Samaj, Sant Ham, 1957, p. 115
- ↑ Jayasi, Malik Muhammad, Ramchandra Billaurey, 1973, p. 131
- ↑ [https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_Glossary_of_the_Tribes_and_Castes_of_t/Vcx-7gUN0g4C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=husaini+brahmin&pg=PA141&printsec=frontcover A Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North-West Frontier Province, Based on the Census Report for the Punjab, 1883 · Volume 2, Horace Arthur Rose, Sir Denzil Ibbetson, Sir Edward Maclagan, 1911, p. 141]
- ↑ NADEEM INAMDAR, RIZWAN KHAN. "Brahmins who went to war for the Imam". The Times of India. Times group, India. http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Layout/Includes/MIRRORNEW/ArtWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=MIRRORNEW&BaseHref=PMIR/2010/12/19&ViewMode=HTML&EntityId=Ar00700&AppName=1. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
- ↑ Akram, Maria (5 November 2014). "For Hussaini brahmans, it's Muharram as usual". The Times of India. Times group, India. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/For-Hussaini-brahmans-its-Muharram-as-usual/articleshow/45039950.cms. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
- ↑ "Where Hindus join Shias to mourn Imam Hussain". 25 November 2012. https://zeenews.india.com/news/bihar/where-hindus-join-shias-to-mourn-imam-hussain_812803.html.
- ↑ Mohyals, Muslims and Mustafabad". The Tribune, Chandigarh. 8 August 1993
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Mahdi Nazmi (1984). Reg-i-Surkh: Dut Brahman Imam Husain se Rabt o Zabt. Abu Talib Academy, New Delhi. pp. 63–71.
- ↑ Mitra, Sisir Kumar. The Vision of India. Bombay, India: Jaico Publishing House. pp. 229–230 (First Print 1949).
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