Ahbans Khanzada

Last updated
Ahbans Khanzada
Total population
8,000 [1]
Regions with significant populations
• Flag of India.svg  India • Flag of Pakistan.svg  Pakistan
Languages
• Awadhi • Hindi • Urdu
Religion
• Allah-green.svg Islam 100% •
Related ethnic groups
• Rajputs • Muslim Rajputs • Khanzada • Bhatti Khanzada • Khokhar Khanzada

The Ahbans Khanzada are a Muslim community found in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. They are part of the larger Khanzada community found in the Awadh region. The community uses the surname Khan. [2]

Uttar Pradesh State in India

Uttar Pradesh is a state considered to be part of central, northern and north-central India. Abbreviated as UP, it is the most populous state in the Republic of India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It is located in the north-central region of the Indian subcontinent, has over 200 million inhabitants. It was created on 1 April 1937 as the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh during British rule, and was renamed Uttar Pradesh in 1950. The state is divided into 18 divisions and 75 districts with the capital being Lucknow. The main ethnic group is the Hindavi people, forming the demographic plurality. On 9 November 2000, a new state, Uttarakhand, was carved out from the state's Himalayan hill region. The two major rivers of the state, the Ganga and Yamuna, join at Allahabad (Prayagraj) and then flow as the Ganges further east. Hindi is the most widely spoken language and is also the official language of the state.

India Country in South Asia

India, also known as the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh largest country by area and with more than 1.3 billion people, it is the second most populous country and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives, while its Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia.

Awadh Region in India and Nepal, Asia

Awadh, , known in British historical texts as Avadh or Oudh, is a region in the modern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and a small area of Nepal's Province No. 5. Its inhabitants are referred to as Awadhis.

Origin

The Ahbans Khanzada are Muslim converts from the Ahbans clan of Rajputs. They were converted when the Bahlol Lodhi, the Sultan of Delhi appointed his nephew Mohammed Farman Ali, also known as Kalapahar, as governor of Bahraich. This Kalapahar is said to have induced the conversion of the Ahbans ranas of Lakhimpur Kheri to Islam. They remain concentrated in the villages near the city of Lakhimpur Kheri. Like other Khanzadas, they marry other Khanzada clans of similar status. The Ahbans Khanzada provided the taluqdar families of Kotwara, Agar Buzurg, Chauratia, Kukra, Jalalpur, Raipur and Gola. [3]

Rajput member of one of the patrilineal clans of western, central, northern India and some parts of Pakistan

Rajput is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Rajput covers various patrilineal clans historically associated with warriorhood: several clans claim Rajput status, although not all claims are universally accepted.

Bahraich City in India

Bahraich is a city and a municipal board in Bahraich district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Located on the Saryu River, a tributary of the Ghaghara river, Bahraich is 125 kilometres north-east of Lucknow, the state capital. The towns of Barabanki, Gonda, Balrampur, Lakhimpur and Sitapur share local boundaries with Bahraich. A factor which makes this town important is the international border shared with Nepal.

Rana (title) Kshatriya royal title

Rana is a historical title denoting an absolute monarch. Today, it is used as a hereditary name in South Asia.

The first Ahbans to have converted to Islam was said to be a Rajah Mul Sah, who is said to have then gone to Delhi, the capital of the Islamic Sultanate. From him descended two brothers, Fateh Khan and Baz Khan, from whom most of the present day Ahbans Khanzada claim descent from. Baz Khan had twelve sons, of whom eight had no issues, while from the two eldest, Sangi Khan and Turbat Khan came the taluqdar families of Kotwara, Jalalpur and Raipur, and the zamindar families of Bhurwara, Ghunsi, sehrua and Amethi.

Islam is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion teaching that there is only one God (Allah), and that Muhammad is the messenger of God. It is the world's second-largest religion with over 1.8 billion followers or 24% of the world's population, most commonly known as Muslims. Muslims make up a majority of the population in 50 countries. Islam teaches that God is merciful, all-powerful, unique and has guided humankind through prophets, revealed scriptures and natural signs. The primary scriptures of Islam are the Quran, viewed by Muslims as the verbatim word of God, and the teachings and normative example of Muhammad.

Delhi Megacity and Union territory of India

Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT), is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. It is bordered by Haryana on three sides and by Uttar Pradesh to the east. The NCT covers an area of 1,484 square kilometres (573 sq mi). According to the 2011 census, Delhi's city proper population was over 11 million, the second-highest in India after Mumbai, while the whole NCT's population was about 16.8 million. Delhi's urban area is now considered to extend beyond the NCT boundaries and include the neighboring satellite cities of Faridabad, Gurgaon, Ghaziabad and Noida in an area now called Central National Capital Region (CNCR) and had an estimated 2016 population of over 26 million people, making it the world's second-largest urban area according to United Nations. As of 2016, recent estimates of the metro economy of its urban area have ranked Delhi either the most or second-most productive metro area of India. Delhi is the second-wealthiest city in India after Mumbai, with a total private wealth of $450 billion and is home to 18 billionaires and 23,000 millionaires.

Delhi Sultanate successive Islamic dynasties that ruled large parts of the Indian subcontinent (1206–1526)

The Delhi Sultanate was a sultanate based mostly in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206–1526). Five dynasties ruled over the Delhi Sultanate sequentially: the Mamluk dynasty (1206–90), the Khalji dynasty (1290–1320), the Tughlaq dynasty (1320–1414), the Sayyid dynasty (1414–51), and the Lodi dynasty (1451–1526). The sultanate is noted for being one of the few states to repel an attack by the Mongols, and enthroned one of the few female rulers in Islamic history, Razia Sultana, who reigned from 1236 to 1240.

The Jalalpur family were descended from Tarbat Khan, who had three sons, the eldest being Mohammad Hasan Khan. These estate was one of the largest in Lakhimpur Kheri District, and consisted of thirteen villages. From the second son of Tarbat Khan came the taluqdar family of Kotwara. This estate eventually passed into the ownership of a Sayyid family. The final taluqdar estate was Raipur, whose taluqdar claimed descent from Bahudur Khan, a younger son of Baz Khan. [4]

Taluqdar

The Taluqdars or Talukders, were aristocrats who formed the ruling class during the Mughal Empire and British times. As owner of vast amount of lands, consistently hereditary, the Taluqdars were responsible for collecting taxes and they played a major role in the progression of the Indo-Saracenic and Indo-Islamic architecture.

Another community of Ahbans Khanzada are those of Bangarmau in Hardoi District. These Ahbans have no connection with those of Lakhimpur Kheri, and are historically connected with another Khanzada community, the Chandel Khanzada. They were said to be converted to Islam by Sher Shah Suri. These Ahbans are largely small zamindars, and many are simple peasant proprietors. They are also entirely Sunni, while those of Lakhimpur include a small Shia minority. [5]

Present circumstances

They are Sunni Muslims, except the taluqdar families, but incorporate many folk beliefs. The Ahbans speak both Khari boli and Urdu. They were at one time substantial landowners, but with the carrying out of land reform by the government of India after independence in 1947, they lost many of their larger estates. The community are now small to medium-sized farmers, growing wheat, sorghum, pulses and sugar cane. They have no caste council or panchayat, although there are localized panchayats in their villages. Although the community did practice clan exogamy, this is no longer the case. While the Ahbans of Bangarmau intermarry largely with the Chandel Khanzada, those of Lakhimpur Kheri have also had said marital links with the Rohilla communities of Pilibhit and Bareilly. [6]

The sense of belonging to the Rajput community remains strong, with the Ahbans Khanzada still strongly identifying themselves with the wider Rajput community of Awadh, and often refer to themselves as simply Rajput. This is shown by the persistence in their marriages of Rajput customs, like bursting of fire crackers and sending specially made laddoos to biradati members. Many members of the community continue to serve in the armed forces of India, an activity traditionally associated with the Rajputs. The Khanzada, however have been badly affected by abolishment of the zamindari system, with many now destitute. However, like other Indian Muslims, there is growing movement towards orthodoxy, with many of their villages containing madrasas. The madrasas have also facilitated the growth of Urdu, with it beginning to replace the Awadhi dialect they traditionally spoke. [7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.joshuaproject.net/peopctry.php
  2. ↑ Tribes and Castes of Northwestern Provinces and Oudh by William Crooke page 38
  3. ↑ A Gazetteer of Kheri District Volume XLII: Gazetteers of the United Provinces edited by H. R Neville
  4. ↑ A Gazetteer of Kheri District Volume XLII: Gazetteers of the United Provinces edited by H. R Neville
  5. ↑ A Gazetteer of Hardoi District Volume XLI: Gazetteers of the United Provinces edited by H. R Neville
  6. ↑ Tribes and Castes of Northwestern Provinces and Oudh by William Crooke page 38
  7. ↑ http://findarticles.com/p/news-articles/times-of-india-the/mi_8012/is_20070708/muslim-rajputs-india/ai_n39451474/?tag=content;col1
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