Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Audhan-Pargana Chail

On the left is Biyur (Beur)

Road to Audhan
At Kamal Baba Shaheed's tomb

























The Qabr of Shaikh Fareed Shaheed and his killer
Primary Health Care Centre at Audhan
The Inscription at the Kothi built in 1889
Kothi
Young Lads in Audhan
A view inside the Mosque 
Alhamdu Shareef in the Old copy of Qur'aan
The Old manuscript Quraan in Audhan 
a beautiful view over the Yamuna river
The village from Inside

Audhan 

Audhan is an old village situated on the banks of the River Yamuna in Block Newada Under Tehsil Chail in District Kaushambi about 19 Kms away from district Allahabad. On its east is village Biyur (Beur) and Seondha and in the west is Faridpur and Durgapur.Near By Villages  are Rasoolpur Biyur(1.2 km) ,Durgapur(2 Km) ,Kadirpur Newada(2.7 km) , Amwa(3.6 km)

Origin

It is amongst the eight villages of the clan of Siddiqi Shaikhs ( Ath-gawan) descended from Hadhrat Shaikh Abu Bakr As Siddeeq Radi Allahu Anhu. It seems that the present occupants / zamindars took this village two or three hundred years ago at a time when Mughals were at the fall in India. Their complete geneaological tree is preserved here and is update from time to time. It shows one Qazi Khateeb-ud-deen as the progenitor of all the siddiqis of the eight villages as mentioned below.

History 
It is an old village indeed. The remains found here alongwith the vessels and other ornaments suggest that it is a very old inhabitation , perhaps from the time of Old Vatsa region when it formed a part of the grand old Buddha regime. Large mounds with height so remarkable seem to be a part of an rampart of old mud fort . Few elderly people suggest that there passed the main route of Kosam Rajya that went to Prayag Teerth.

The advent of Siddiqi Shaikhs in this village is a recent one. It is certain that after the fall of Mughal control, about the installation of Awadh throne or a bit earlier. One Qazi Khateeb ud Deen came here from Kara( Kara Manikpur ) and settled here. Since the Qazi was a Siddiqi .The entire zamindar clan of Audhan are descended form Hadhrat Abu Bakr Siddeeq Radi Allahu Anhu through his son Abdul Rahman Bin Abi Bakr. A complete geneaological chart is available in Audhan wherein we could see very easily the names and their succesive generations.

From the Shajra I could surmise that their stay in this village is not more than 250-300 years old. Their premier ancestor Qazi Khateeb-ud-din had eight sons and one of them namely Jodawan Miyan stayed in Audhan while the rest of them migrated to different villages and polpulated them with their progeny in the subsequent years. The names of villages that are on off-shoot of the same Siddiqi family is as follows :-

ATH-GAWAN ( Eight Villages of Siddiqis in South of Chail)
  1. Audhan   - The prinicpal village.
  2. Seondha - The Shaikhs of Seondha
  3. Akbarpur - A Village close to Kasenda , was an important village earlier. No family now.
  4. Beur       - The Shaikhs of Beur , the Chaudharis of Beur are from this family.
  5. Barethi   - The Shaikhs of Barethi are also an offshoot of this family.
  6. Makhaupur- The Zamindars of Makhaupur are also siddiqi from the same root.
  7. Kath Gaon - The Chaudharis /shaikhs of Kath Gaon are also from the same stem.
  8. Muhammadpur Gaura - Line found in Barethi & Pawan
In the following I have produced a brief chart oulining the main four brothers of Audhan who are in turn the main ancestors of the entire Shaikh clan in Audhan.



Now I would write down the names of the descendents of the above mentioned gentlemen so that the readers could connect to their correct line of ascendant.

From Bakhshish Ahmad s/o Paira Miyan came Mohd Idris,Hafeez Alam,Lateef Ahmad,Mohammad Muslim , Akhtar Husain , Noor Zadah etc in Pakistan.

From Basharat Miyan are - Chhiddan Miyan,Salamuddin then Husamuddin,Rafiuddin and Sadruddin. line extinct. 

From Khadeeru Miyan are - Rajab Ali , Abdul Qadir, Abdul Bari ,Mohd Isa , Nabi Ahmad, Wali Ahmad , Raziq Ali, Masihullah Shah Burzurg, Farhatullah Darogha, Hikmatullah , Iqbal Uddin, Ghayasuddin,Khaliluddin,Matinuddin, Mahboob Ahmad, Rasool Ahmad, Siraj Ahmad, Ansar Ahmad,Ikramuddin, Kareemudin, Hashim Ali, Abdul Rauf , Abdul Shakoor, Mushtaq Ahmad etc

From Ghulam Rasool were - Kabeer Hasan, Ameer Hasan, Laeeq Alam, Aulad Hasan, Safat Alam ( kanpur),

From Doondi Miyan were - Hafeezuddin, Ataullah, Samiuddin, Kabeer Ahmad, Niyaz Ullah, InayatUllah,Kamaluddin ,Nizamuddin ,Ameer Ahmad Chhiddan,Akbar Ali, Karam Ali , Nausha,Mohd Yusuf , Mohd Ayub, Habeeb Miyan ,Manzoor ul Haq , Then Farzand Ali, Lutf Ali,Hidayat Ali, Mohd Zakariya,Abdul Kareem,Abdul Raheem ,Abdul Azeez , Tajammul Husain,Waheedudin,Fazal Haq, Fayaz ul Haq, Aijaul Haq, Ali Jawwad,Nazeer Ahmad, Khursheed Ahmad,Maqbool ul Haq, Masood ul Haq, Ansar Ahmad

Nusrat Ali migrated to barethi and the famour Ghulam family is descended from him, Ghulam Rabbani , Ghulam Yazdani and the entire Ghulam family is from Nusrat Ali of Audhan.

From Fateh Ali are Kifayat Ali, Inayat Ali,Arshad Ali , Shaikh Muhammad , Raziuddin, Wakeeluddin, Mohd Fayyaz,Ashfaq Ahmad , Iftikhar Ahmad , Jan bakhsh, Abdul Samad, Abdul Ahad,Abdul Wahhab , Abdul Rauf,Tajammul Husain. Ali Ahmad , Kabeer Ahmad, Nabi Ahmad, Ausaf Ahmad, Ghufran Ahmad, Abdul Salam, Jameel Ahmad, etc.

From Gauhar Ali are - Ali Raza , Ali Jafar, Nazeer Ali, Meeran Bakhsh, Mohd Arab,Ahmad Haq, Inamul Haq etc Sahiban

The list of  names are indicative and not complete.  This is to connect you to your forefathers and relatives , if you wish to know more , do write to me or consult the original Shajra at Audhan.

The fourth Ancestor - Fareed Ali or Fareed Ahmad Shaheed had no issue and he died young  as a martyr.

Migrations

Audhan had been a fairly large village with considerable population since its inception. A number of families migrated into Audhan to take care oftheir maternal properties. Some of the prominent ones are listed here.

1. Shamshad Ali of Audhan had no male heir. Thus his son-in-law Saiyid Abdullah of Kashia migrated to Audhan and settled here. His son was Saiyid Ahmad’ullah and their sons Ishrat Ullah, Sibghat’Ullah and ObaidUllah are still connected with the village.

2. Hasan Raza of Audhan had no male child with three daughters. His daughter’s sons came and settled in Audhan. Firstly Jb. Habeebuddin of Saiyid Sarawan came here , his grand sons were Mahboob Ahmad Subban and Zain ul Abidin. This family still owns land in Audhan.Hasan Raza's other daughter was married to Nazeeruddin Saiyid Sarawan and his and then Hakeemuddin and his son is Zameeruddin Malik at London.

3. Another daughter of Hasan Raza was married to Siraj ul Haq of Ratgaha.His sons were Nawab Husain and Imam Husain. Nawab Husains descendents are in Pakistan ,Zubair Ahmad and Zuhair Ahmad etc. 

4. Imam Husain’s sons were Zafeer Ahmad, Safeer Ahmad, Taskheer Ahmda and Tauqeer Ahmad, except Zafeer Ahmad all migrated to Pakistan. Zafeer’s sons still hold land and house in Audhan

5. Again the daughter of Imam Miyan namely Safia Bibi was adopted by Rafiuddin and Khalli Bua of Audhan and thus she settled here with her husband Ishtiyaq Ahmad of Asrawe Khurd. Hence a family of Asrawe is residing and have properties in Audhan as on date.

Zamindari

The principal family /landowners of Audhan were the Siddiqi Shaikhs wo held in Zamindari almost sixteen Annas of share in Audhan proper and several villages (Mazra) around Audhan between 1700-1857. As per the local standing, the Shaikhs of Audhan were held high and known to be mild tempered and gentle-natured guys.

General Condition


Audhan was known to be a village of Hukama ( Hakeems ) Ulama ( Aalim ) and educated young brats in the beginning of twentieth century. The youth of Audhan was far more progressive and vibrant than their other brethren in the Pargana. There used to be a Literary Club, Footbal Club, Friends society in Audhan way back in 1920s and 30s.Mushairas were held and social life was quite vivacious.

Faridis of Audhan


There is another illustrious family in audhan who suffix their names with Faridi. They are certainly not from the stock of the Siddiqi Shaikhs of Audhan but they have been here for at least 200 years from now and did well in their respective careers. 

Upon enquiry , it transpires that Shaikh Laal Muhammmad from Nindaura (a place near Lalganj in Partabgarh) had come and settled here. He had eight sons and thus called Ath Bhayyan namely 1.Safdar Ali 2.Qadir Bakhsh 3.Nadir Ali 4.Afzal Ali 5.Sabit Ali 6.Abdul Wahid 7.Maulvi Deputy Abdul Ghafoor 8. Abdul Lateef.

The descendents of these 8 gentleman are those who use Faridi with their name. Their origin and reason of migration is obscure.However this family is a talented one and produced a good number of Ulama and Hukama (Hakeem hazrat) in the past century. Uncha , Kothi and Bangla the three landmarks in Audhan are built and owned the Faridis.

Deputy Abdul Ghafoor was a Khan Bahaur and a major land holder of his time. Sabit Ali was a Numberdar, Afzal Ali was a Jema'daar in Agra, Nadir Ali was a Naib Nazir in Agra Cant, Qadir Bakhsh was a Tahsildar in Bharatpur and Abdul wahid was a Mukhtar (pleader).

As per the gazetteer of Allahabad (1911), during the last century the biggest zamindar from Audhan was Khan Bahadur Maulvi Abdul Ghafoor, Deputy Collector who was employed in Riyasat Reewa and earned his fortune through hard work and honesty. His constructed a Bangla (Bungalow) in 1889 and a Rauza (Rectangular grave yard compound) in honor of Shaikh Fareed ,a Scion of Shaikhs of Audhan.

Shaikh Fareed, a resident of Audhan and a officer in the Mughal Government, was known to be a highly principled and a pious person; he was attacked with dagger while offering Salat by some jealous and green-eyed person. After being injured, Shaikh Fareed retreated to his native Audhan and told his family members that someone has tried to kill him with dagger and while he would not survive, the killer would also come in self-reproach and would die in few days please do not try to retaliate and instead bury him beside my grave. The events followed were exactly true as Shaikh Fareed had foretold. Today we see that the graves of Shaikh Fareed and his killer both are at a same place, now known as Rauza.

Amongst the divines and godly people of Audhan was one Shah Maseeh'ullah Alias Chhanga Shah ,who was a Majzoob Buzurg and lived some sixty years ago, He was very famous and migrated to Gwalior in 1930s and his tomb is highly revered in Gwalior atop a rock cliff. It is reported that the last Maharaja of Gwalior was born after his prayers. The royal family takes care of his tomb.
Mazar of Hazrat Maseeh Shah Sahib in Gwalior
The earliest tomb of a shaheed in Audhan is of Baba Kamaluddin who seems to be a part of Salar Masud’s army and whose body is buried here while his head is told be fallen off during a fight in Ujhini (A village on the banks of Ganges (Ganga). He is highly venerated for the past so many centuries !


In the later period Ishtiyaq Baba of Audhan was a famous mystic who was known as a wandering mystic and would land in anyone's place without any prior intimation. He was associated with the Ganj Muraabad silsila .He died in Bombay and is buried there.
Mazar of Ishtiaq Baba of Auhan in Bombay (Courtesy Br.Faiz Alam )

When I visited Audhan last I met a few young guys who were very interested in exploring the their roots and wanted to dig out history of their village. When I went to the mosque to offer Zuhr salat , I was shown a beautifully hand written copy of Qur’an which had been preserved in the mosque for the last three or four hundred years , I am attaching the photograph of the first few pages of that Quran for your view. Masha Allah.

Since Audhan is located at an high altitude, it has a panoramic view of the river Yamuna and across. Legend has it that Audhan is the last one to be inundated in a flood and if Audhan submerges then Allahabad cannot survive the wrath of the flood.

Audhan has a special connection with me as my maternal grandfather Late Safat Alam Sahab belonged to this village. While I write these lines I miss him a lot as he would have been so happy to know about my effort. He used to tell me a lot of things and would recite a verse as follows…………..

Yaadgar-i-Zamana hain hum log ! ! !
Sun Rakho tum, Fasana hain hum log !

How true it is that he virtually became a afsana (legend) now,I don’t find people like him now and even in older generation there is not even a glimpse of him. Those were the different lot and entirely different stock which they don’t make now. Allah Bas Baqi Hawas.

The journey goes on............wait for my next visit........

Safar hai shart Musafir Nawaz Bahuterey !
Hazarha Shajar -i-Saya-dar Raah mein hain !!

Khalid Bin Umar - New Delhi

Monday, June 27, 2011

Seondha

Maulvi Akbar Husain of Seondha ( Chail )



Yamuna as seen from the cliff in Seondha



Tomb of Shah Najmuddin Ibrahim


Rauza of Ali Miyan (Rahmatullah Alaihe)


Inside view of the tomb of Najmuddin Shah



Outer view of the tomb




Road to Seondha



Seondha
Seondha is a village situated on the bank of River Yamuna and naturally an old settlement. I already had read about a saint Saiyyid Najmuddin Ibrahim (Rah) who lived here 600 years ago and is buried in the same village.

Apart from that it was a seat of a large and most dreaded Zamindari villages of Pargana Chail. Movli Nadir Ali who was a Mukhtar-i-Adalat (1855 - 1875) and his successor Molvi Akbar Husain, of this village were once the most talked about landholders of their time.

Originally Seondha consisted of two thoks, Seondha Khalsa and Seondha Aimma. A single family with two off-shoots owned both the parts of village wholly. Molvi Nadir Ali represented the first family while Sheikh Qasim Ali the second. Maulvi Nadir Ali with his acumen and managerial abilities increased his lands a lot and post 1857 era , he held the largest shares in Seondha and a number of villages in environ. Unfortanely he was murdered in late 1870s while returning from court on a Palanquin. He was succeeded by his nephew Maulvi Akbar Husain,a very influential and fiery natured zamindar of 1920s and after him we find the name of Sufi Sahib ( Zafar Maqsood) known as the most awful personage of his time who died few years ago.The family besides their zamindari in villages owned the famed Mumtaz Mahal in Allahabad and some land in Garhi Sarai as well.


Going by geneaology ,Seondha is a part of Eight villages ( Ath-Gavan) that were owned and are inhabited by the Shaikh Siddiquis of noble descent for the past many centuries.

One day I expressed my wish to visit Seondha before M.Aslam of Qadirpur and who in turn caught me next day around 6 AM in the morning and took me on his bike to Seondha. The lush green fields, heavenly fresh air,the groves and swaying mustard fields were smiling on us, it was refreshing and rejuvenating journey to some remote island. After a few turns and bumps , we saw the outskirts of the village and as I first wanted to pay my regards to Shah Najmuddin Sahib Rahmatullah. We went straight to his tomb which is located exactly on the bank of the Yamuna and naturally a very picturesque spot. We enquired the care takers of the Dargah about the Saint and his details but we could find very little. It is noteworthy that the upkeep of the Tomb is appreciable and it is in a very fine condition. With the grace of Allah swt I got some details about the saint in a Persian book that I wish to reproduce separately along with details of other Sufi Saints of Allahabad. That is another project !

Shah Najmuddin was a Suharwardi Saint and a disciple of Shaikh Ruknuddin of Multan and he died in seondha in the year 741 A.H (Manba ul Ansab ) Where did he come from and whether he had any off-spring.

There was a Qazi Khandan that lived in Seondha till 100 years ago but gradually migrated to another vilage named Mahgaon. Qaziana in Mahgaon is a famous Muhalla and a lot of people , Qazi Abu Ahmad, Qazi Ayub , Qazi Haseen Ahmad etc are from the same family.They have migrated from Seondha to Mahgaon.

We then went to see the tomb of Ali miyan who appeared to be from the family of Shaikhs of Seondha. It is a circular tomb with boundariies on all sides.

There is another spot of martyrs known as Ganj-i-Shaheedan where a lot of lives were martyred and the bodies dumped into a big Baoli ( Step-Well). We noticed the queer silence there and offered Fatiha to the martyrs. There are no detail about the time of war that took place here.

After a span of few months I happened to see Mr.Faisal Akhtar, the present representative of Maulvi Nadir Ali's family who still holds considerable property in and around Seondha and still has a say in the village.He shared with me a picture of Maulvi Akbar Husain that I have reproduced here .

As for the families in Seondha as I mentioned earlier , the primary ones were the Qazi who left the village in phases during the last century and settled in Mahgaon almost wholly.

Apart from the Qazi Khandan the main Siddiqi family is Seondha did not flourish as it should have been save the family of Maulvi Nadir Ali.Upon enquiry, it transpires that during 1870-1900 a lot of families from Seondha migrated to several nearby villages due to extreme un-inhabitable conditions and oppression they had to face at the hands of the landlord family .Such an atmosphere was created that saving their life and honour seemed difficult they had no choice but shift to other villages.Such families of Seondha origin are found in Chail Khas, Husainpur ,Qadirpur etc villages

Third important house of Siddiqis is an off-shoot of the primary family is there and some of the name of past generation are Samiuddin, Qubooluddin, Shafeefuddin etc......

Faorgh Siddiqui , a film producer and director in Bombay belongs to the same family in Seondha.

Would love to hear from you ! Let me know if I missed something or you would like to share a piece of information.

This was a brief write-up on the village ,however I intend to write a comprehensive book on the history and people of Pargana Chail seperately. Please help me with the relevant information, shajra-jat and other memoirs that could add up in making a memorable account.

Khalid Bin Umar - New Delhi

A new village very soon.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Bamrauli - Pargana Chail


Road towards Village Bamhrauli 
Alley
At the top once stood the "Mahal" the original abode of  Hashmis

House of Chaudhari Habban Marhoom
Turns in the village
The 7th Century Hijri Mosque as seen from a distance
Well maintained mosque from Inside
Inside the mosque
 Doorways 
Fields as seen from the Mosque
7th Century Pillars in the mosque
Wheat Crop
Exactly at the steps of Mosque

One fine morning at Bamhrauli - Sehar ka Waqt
Far you see the Ganges
The simple Mausoleum of Makhdoom Sahib
The encomapssing Neem Tree in Hashmi House
Fuzail Hashmi at Hashmi House
Marhoom Jb Abdul Hameed Hashmi - Middan Chaudhary

Mr.Fuzail Hashmi & Nufail Hashmi at Hashmi House Bamrauli
Fields !

Bamrauli is one of the most famous villages in Allahabad located on the right bank of River Ganga. It falls under Tehsil -Sadar , District - Allahabad today but It used to be a part of Pargana Chail in Dist Allahabad before the bifurcation of Allahabad into two parts creating a new district named Kaushambi. 

Similarly Bamrauli is also known to be into two parts, namely Bamrauli Uparhar and Bamrauli Kachhar. The propulation in 1951 is as follows , taken from a book compiled by Rajeshwari Prasad.ICS in 1951.


Name & Origin

Bamrauli appears to be one of the oldest inhabited villages in Pargana Chail. It is not surprising keeping in view its ideal location on the banks of Ganges and lying close to the Teerth Raj Prayag, the centuries old greatest pilgrimage centre of Hindus. It is arguably the first Muslim settlement in the environs of modern city of Allahabad. The village enjoys a huge in-habitation and has lands covering almost entirely right from the banks of Ganges to exterior of the Air Force Station and even across.Today the air force station and the only functional airport in Allahabad is known as Bamrauli Airport. All these areas were once owned by the zamindars of Bamhrauli.

Legend has it that centuries ago there was a local Rajput Chief named Rajah Brahmdeo  who held the village as well the environs under its sway. The village was known after him as Brahma-rauli.During the course of several hundred years the name changed to Bamhrauli and today it is simply Bamrauli however the correct spelling is & should be Bamhrauli.

Makhdoom Shah of Bamhrauli

Here lies a saint of a very high standing namely Makhdoom Shaikh Imaduddin Ismail who came here from Multan at the close of 7th Century Hijri and pitched his tents on a hillock near Ganges. He lived here peacefully keeping himself engaged in prayers and spiritual meditations.Soon his name & fame crossed the boundaries of the village and people from all directions started to pay a visit to him. (See Aaaine-i-Awadh). The local Rajah considering him to be a future threat for this estate & power,arrogantly asked the Saint to leave the place but was subdued miraculously by the events that followed on. Under the awe of the saint The Raja himself lad to leave the village with his family and the legend further says he established another Bamhrauli village several miles away from here on the Kanpur - Fatehpur Road which still bears the same name.

As far as my research goes Makhdoom Sahib of Bamhrauli should be the oldest saint to settle in Prayag (Modern Allahabad),  being a grand-son of Shaikh-ul-Islam Baha’uddin Zakaria Multani (Rah) ,he came here between 670-690 Hijri at a divine instance from Multan , erected a mosque on the banks of river Ganges close to his hermitage.One of his famous disciples is Shah Karak Majzoob of Kara (Sirathu) who is highly celebrated historial figure in the medieval history of India. The tomb of Makhdoom Sahib is within the courtyard of that mosque is still present being a place of great veneration. Though no rituals like Urs take place here yet the knowledgeable people of the environs do sometime come here to pay their respects to Makhdoom Sb. 

His wife is also buried in a small tomb a furlong away in the burial ground which is the largest cemetery in Pargana Chail covering an area of 99 Bighas marked for burial purposes only. The mazar of the wife is known as Barah Dari.
-
The district Gazetteer of Allahabad 1911 confirms the arrival of  Makhdoom Sahib as follows;-

The Hashmis of Bamhrauli also known sometimes as Makhdoomzadas and Chaudharis of Bamhrauli are descended from the Makhdoom Shah Ismail.

The persona of Makhdoom Sahib of Bamhrauli is the fountainhead of the enviable reverence the Hashmis of Bamhrauli enojyed throughout the centuries. His descendants known as the Makhdoomzadas & later on Chaudharis were always held in high by the masses as well as the rulers and kings alike.


The Chaudharis of Bamhrauli and their Zamindari

Apart form the religious and faithful importance Bamhrauli,for the last few centuries,was best known as the seat of a large zamindari estate. The Chaudharis of Bamhrauli were known to be one of the most influential landholding families in Allahabad and they enjoyed this status for the fairly long period right from the Sultanate Era till our freedum struggle of 1857. Some people assert that Bamhrauli was the name of a big Taluqa under the Mughal & Awadh rulers.

Historically between the 7th and 10th Century Hijri, the makhdoomzadas were mostly involved in the religious and social activities by carrying on the tradition of learning and imparting education.They were regarded and quite well-placed but their responsibility and duties took a U turn when Mughals strengthened their grip over the Subah by replacing   Kara with Allahabad as the seat of the Governor-ate.Eventaully Akbar created the Subah of Ilahabas and thereafter he picked up the few local influential families to help him control the region.During 1580-1600 ,he chose a branch of Makhdoomzadas of Bamhrauli to take care of a vast territory after conferring upon them the title of Chaudhari.From that day on the learning part of the family got eclipsed under their social clout and policitial influence which increased exponentially year by year .They gradually moved from being religious guides to  social magnates of their time. Any socio-religious movement or a political struggle was not considered fruitful unless and until the Chaudharis of Bamhrauli seconded and supported it.Hence the descendents of Makhdoom sahib (The Hashmis of Bamhrauli) were known to be the most vibrant and influential family in Pargana Chail.

At the beginning of 20th century this family was the strongest family from Chail, as C.A Bayly in his master-piece “The local roots of Indian Politics” has rightly put up as follows:-

Book       :The local roots of Indian politics: Allahabad, 1880-1920
Author     :Christopher Alan Bayly

As for the land-holdings, since the Bamhrauli family always enjoyed the patronage of the emperors of Delhi over the centuries. They had already got large tracts of lands during the Tughlaq/lodhi era that kept on the numbers going up after each bandobast. When Akbar created Pargana Chail, Bamrauli was made a head-quarter of a taluqa of Pargana Chail and with the title of Chaudhary to one of the branch-head of this family they reached at the pinnacle of their supremacy. The Title and land-holdings continued throughout even in the Awadh kings era  till 1857 when they were charged with sedition and almost 3/4th of the Bamhrauli estate was confiscated.

Today's Bamrauli Airport and it adjoining villages were almost entirely owned by the Bamrauli family. The airport was constructed in 1919 and Allahabad was linked by air. Bamrauli was an international airport till 1935 and it had direct flights to London till then. See the excerpt from the book.


Book         :Town planning regeneration of cities
Author : Ashutosh Joshi
Publisher :New India Publishing, 2008


Famous Persons
Apart from Makhdoom Shah and his sons which call for a seperate chapter/book on these holy men, the following were the popular figures from the village:-

Shah Gada Sahib - a renowed religious saint of 15th Century

Shah Fida Sahib -  highly respected religious figure of 16th Century.
We find names from this family all along the history. In the 18th Century Chaudhary Shaikh Ibrahim Urf Tidi Shah was a powerful magnate of his time.

Chaudhary Shahab-ud-din was one the most important leaders of 1857 uprising and a very close aide of Maulvi Liaqat Ali of Mahgaon, His property was confiscated and he was hanged thereon. 

Chaudhari Mohammad Musa Mukhtar, Mohammad Isa , Chaudhary Mohammad Aala, Chaudhary Ummed Ali , Ahmad Ali, Chaudhary Paighambar Bakhsh, Chaudhary Mohammad Khalid, Chaudhary Ubaid-ur-Rahman, Shafee-ur-Rahman, Rafee'ud'deen ,Kabeer'ud'deen etc were the famous persons for the late century.

Chaudhari Jamaluddin  along with his brother Chaudhari Kamaluddin was one of the most popular figure among the elites of the early 20th century in Allahabad. He was a nominated member of the Municipal Board of Allahabad from Bamrauli. His son Chaudhari Hamid too, a honorary speical magistrate ,was a major land holder in the post partition era; 

Chaudhary Hamid Sahib Marhoom with his friends (senior officials of Allahabad)

Book       :The local roots of Indian politics: Allahabad, 1880-1920
Author     :Christopher Alan Bayly , Page 174

Then we have the popular ones like Chaudhari Middan Marhoom (Abdul Hameed Hashmi) , the elected Pradhan was an influential figure of the village was known throughout Chail.

After the partition, a son of Chaudhari Abdul Hameed Middan , namely Nadeem Shaheen Suharwardi made a mark with his political acumen and social service in Sindh ( Pakistan) .He is still regarded in Sindh area as a saint.

The Magazine ORIENT gave a detailed life sketch of Nadeem Shaheen Suharwardy from Bamrauli with excerpts as follows:-



Chaudhari Hidayat-ur Rahman S/o Habban Miyan Marhoom

Chaudhari Habeeb-ur-Rahman (Habban) was also a well known name from Bamrauli who held the sway in the post-partition era. His sons Hameed-ur-Rahman and Hidayat-ur-Rahman are there in Allahabad. His son Zia-ur-Rahman still resides in their ancestral house in Bamrauli.

Today Bamhrauli is known for Fuzail Hashmi as well, a son of Chaudhari Abdul Hameed who is a prominent leader of Congress in Allahabad. His elder brother Zafar Saeed Hashmi is an advocate.

Ch.Hameed ur Rahman


Marriages

Initially the Makhdoomzadas of Bamhrauli married only into the the family of Makhdoom Shaban al Millat Bayabani  and their off-shoots since these were the only two oldest families of Prayag and were known to each other with reference to Multan. Later on the marriages started into the top notch families of Kara - Manikpur. Since the Makhdoom-zadas of Bamrauli were highly regarded as one of the few blue blooded ones, they married particularly into the Khanwadas , the descendents of a saint and saintly figures.

From the beginning of 16th Century when a lot of noble Shaikh and Sayyid families started to populate Pargana Chail , the Bamrauli family gradually confined themselves to Pargana Chail only and this tradition carried on for the later centuries without any change.

After gaining a status as Chaudharis they obviously married into the families of the same status like the Chaudhries of Beur, Behka, Barethi, Makhaupur, Bisauna etc........

Other Makhdoomzadas (Non-Chaudharis) mostly married into the Sayyids of Kakrapurwa (across ganges) , Sayyids of Ujhini and Jhusi, Shaikhs of Pawan , Puraini  and Behka. THey had a selected number of villages to which they gave & accepted daughters .

Branches & Offshoots 

Amongst the Chaudharis of Bamrauli, a lot of branches sprang out and the details is as follows:-

The line of Chaudhari Imam Baksh.

Chaudhari Muhammad Aala  had a son named Chaudhari Basheeruddin

Chaudhari Rafiuddin whose son was Kabiruddin who had a son Sharfuddin who first shifted to Shaikhpur and then his descendants migrated to Pakistan. Ahmad Kabir son of Chaudhari Sharfuddin represents the same family. Ahmad Kabir Hashmi has Mohammad Arsalan Hashmi (Bata) and Mohammad Asad Hashmi (Poland).
Ahmad Kabir Hashmi

Chaudhari Muhammad Isa whose descendants are Khalil ur Rahman Saeed ur Rahman ,Ubaid ur Rahman and Shafi ur Rahman – Now Saeed Ur Rahman had Nabi Ur Rahman , Saif Ur Rahman and Ghani ur Rahman. – Ubaid ur Rahman had Sana ur Rahman who shifted to Shaikhpur.  Saif ur Rahman have  four sons ,Lutfur Rahman , Shaamu etc settled at Allahabad ( Igloo)
Ch. Sanaur Rahman


Chaudhari Muhammad Moosa  - had Aziz ur Rahman who had Chaudhari Habeeb ur Rahman (Habban) and in turn he have Humaid Ur Rahman , Hidayat ur Rahman and Zia ur Rahman.

The Line of  Chaudhari Mukarram Ali got extinct as it had only grand dauthers.

The line of Chaudhari Qurban Ali – had Chaudhari Paighambar Baksh – now represented by Chaudhari Abdul Hameed Hashmi Middan MIyan, Abdul Waheed Farooq & Abdul Rasheed Haroon Hashmi.

Middan Miyan have Yusuf Saeed, Yunus Saeed, Aun Saeed, Anas Saeed, Zafar saeed , Suhail , Fuzail, Nufail , Kamal , Qamar & Omar Hashmi whereas Abdul Waheed Farooq  who have Yameen, Usman , Haider Hashmi . Chaudhari Abdul Rasheed Haroon had daughters only.

The Line of Chaudhari Ummed Ali is represented by Chaudhari Jamaluddin ( Lawalad) Chaudhari Kamaluddin who had Chaudhari Muhammad Hamid  , another off shoot of the same branch in represented by Chaudhari Muhamad Abid  & his son Ch. Muhammad Iqbal & Chaudhari Muhammad Ahmad ( Gulab Bari) who have Azam , Aslam and Ismail..

The Off-shoots of Bamhrauli family


Migration from Bamhrauli is also striking feature. At every two hundred years a branch of the Hashmis of Bamhrauli would leave the village , chose and populated a new village for their abode. I could count seven (7) villages that were populated by the Hashmi off-shoots apart from Bamhrauli. The names of the villages are as follows
  • Peepal Gaon    .
  • Shaikhpur Ibrahimpur 
  • Muhiuddinpur  - 
  • Kurai  
  • Kuswan 
  • Neem Sarai 
  • Fatehpur 
It was the status at the begining of the 20th Century now today you may not see the original hashmis in all these villages except Shaikhpur, Muhiuddinpur and Neem Sarai yet the history of these villages is not complete without the mention of the Bamhrauli.

Bamrauli has got a large fertile are around it and it lies in the famed Guava belt of Allahabad.

For visiting Bamrauli you need to take an auto from Khusro Bagh and get down near Begum Bazar called Bamrauli Mod. Here you can continue on foot for 10 minutes to reach the village. You may like to give a try to see the Hashmi House (the residence of Hashmis ) that is the lone shining mansion worth seeing. Do not forget to pay a visit to Makhdoom Shah as well.

From the mosque you shall get a glimpse of river Ganges flowing eastward towards Allahabad city. If not a delicate one, you may like to run towards it and get a dip and wash off you sins altogether……….
Mr.Qamar Saeed Hashmi with his nephew Salman Hashmi