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The Barha family (also Bahera or Bara) was an Ashrafized[1]Shia[2]noble family in India during the Mughal Empire. Its members traditionally held high military ranks and frequently led armies in the service of Mughal emperors, particularly during the reigns of Akbar, Aurangzeb, and into the early 18th century.[3]
According to later sources recorded from family traditions, the dynasty traced its origin to Abul Farah al-Wasiti, who migrated to India from Wasit in the 13th century following the Siege of Baghdad.[6] Tradition further holds that after the death of Hulegu Khan in 1265, Abul Farah returned to Persia, leaving four of his twelve sons in India, who later established the four branches of the Barha family.[6]
By the 17th Century, under the rule of Emperor Aurangzeb, the dynasty was firmly regarded as "Old Nobility" and held prestigious Subahs (provinces) such as Ajmer and the Deccan (Dakhin).[10] They formed a Hindustani faction of Mughal nobility as opposed to the Turkic Turani and Persian Irani in the late Mughal period.[11]
Branches
The children of Abdullah Abul Farah al-Wasiti settled in various towns, each eventually forming its own branch:
Sayyid Daud settled in Tihaanpur, giving rise to the Tihaanpuri branch.
Sayyid Abul Fazl settled in Chhatbannur, giving rise to the Chhaturai branch.
Sayyid Najmudin Hussain settled in Jagner, giving rise to the Jagner branch.
Sayyid Fazail settled in Kundli, giving rise to the Lundliwal branch.[12]
All the branches eventually migrated to the Doab, where the branches occupied the following towns:
Kumhera and Dharsi by Tihaanpur
Sambalhera by Chatrauris
Jagneri by Bithauli
Majhera by Kundliwal
Tihanpur branch
The Tihaanpuri branch produced several high-ranking nobles, including Nawab Abdullah Khan I. The branch began with Sayyid Jalal Khan Emir, an 8th-generation descendant of Abdullah al Wasiti. Khan Emir left Tihanpur and settled in Dharsi, located in the pargana (an administrative district) of Jauli. He had four sons, of whom the eldest, Umar Shahid, settled in Jansath. The second son, Chaman, settled in Chitaura; a third son, Hassan, settled in Bihari, and a fourth, Ahmad, made his home in Kawal, in the pargana of Jansath.[13]
Upon his arrival, Umar found Jansath already occupied by Jat and Brahmin communities. However, during the branch's ascendancy in the late Mughal era, its influence grew so significantly that Jansath was administratively separated from the Jauli pargana.
It was also from this branch that Nawab Abdullah Khan I emerged, better known in places like Ajmer as Sayyid Mian. The branch benefited from Aurangzeb's reign. By the time Aurangzeb passed away, the branch had considerable influence, with Sayyid Mian's sons - Nawab Hussain Ali Khan and Nawab Abdullah Khan II - attached to the future emperor Bahadur Shah. Nawab Hussain Ali Khan and Nawab Abdullah Khan II, also known as the Sayyid Brothers, were positioned such that when Bahadur Shah I ascended to the throne with the brothers' assistance, he granted the former the government of Patna and the latter the government of Allahabad.
In 1709, Sayyid Ahmad, Sayyid Khan, Sayyid Hussain Khan, and Sayyid Ghairat Khan participated in suppressing a rebellion of Hindu princes along the Narbada River. They fought in the vanguard and were killed along with their followers. The Tihaanpuris remained active in campaigns in Punjab, Gujarat, and along the Indus. Their influence increased during this period, though later declined with the fall of the Sayyid Brothers.
In 1712, the sons of Sayyid Mian, having found themselves in a dangerous position and distrustful of other ministers at Delhi, took it upon themselves to raise Prince Furrukhsiyar to the throne as Emperor. The sons of Sayyid Mian participated in the battles of Sarai Alam Chand (Allahabad) and Agra. Sayyid Nurudin Ali Khan was killed in action at Allahabad.
Nawab Sayyid Hassan Ali Khan, who thereafter became known as Abdullah Khan II, was appointed as Grand Vezier with the title of Qutb al Mulk, while Nawab Sayyid Hussain Ali Khan was appointed as Commander-in-Chief with the title of Amir ul Mammalik. In the demise of the Sayyid Brothers, many other Sayyids of note fell with them, first with the assassination of Hussain Ali Khan and later when Abdullah Khan II was captured at the Battle of Hasanpur. The Tihanpur branch declined significantly following this, as many of its leaders were killed or captured in conflicts with rival nobles such as Muhammad Amin Khan and Qamar ud din Khan.[14]
Chaman
The Chaman branch came next in line to the Jansath branch. Descended from Sayyid Chaman, who settled in Chitura, this branch gained much influence during the reign of Shah Jahan when Sayyid Jalal became a high-ranking Mansabdar. He was given possession of Kharwa Jalalpur in the Sardhan pargana of Meerut. However, the branch fell into decline when Sayyid Shams, son of Sayyid Jalal, left the Imperial service. He had two sons, Sayyid Asghar Ali and Sayyid Asad Ali. The former died childless, while the descendants of the latter remained in Chitura until the British era.[15]
Hassan
Sayyid Hassan had six sons, many of whom rose in imperial service and later became Zamindars.[16]
Ahmad
The descendants of Sayyid Ahmad, who had settled in Kawal, gained much acclaim during the reign of Aurangzeb when Tatar Khan and Diwan Muhammad Yar Khan became distinguished in imperial service.[citation needed]
Khan Jahan
Portrait of Sayyid Abu'l Muzaffar Khan, Khan Jahan Barha.
Sayyid Nasirudin, the sixth son of Sayyid Hasan, gained fame in the form of Sayyid Khanjahan-i-Shahjahanil, who attained much power under the emperor Shahjahan and was consequently granted forty villages in the parganas of Khatauli and Sarwat, along with several bighas of land in free revenue for perpetuity with the title of Abul Muzaffar. He began to build a new town, which was completed by his son and named Muzaffarnagar.[17]
Chatrauri branch
The Chatrauri branch lived near Sambelhera and changed their name from Chatbanauri to Chatrauri. One member of this branch, Sayyid Hasan Fakhrudin, lived during the reign of Emperor Akbar. He used his influence at court to help the Raja of Sambelhera confirm his dignity in the male line to his son, Ram Chand. Later, when Ram Chand died childless, he helped Ram Chand's widow inherit the state. Pleased with the service rendered to her, she passed on the entirety of her estate to Sayyid Hasan, who was later confirmed in its possession as the Nawab of Sambelhera.[18]
Sayyid Hasan had a child named Sayyid Hussain, who in turn had four children: Sayyid Sher Ali, who died without issue; Sayyid Ahmad, who was killed fighting Ratan Sen of Chitor and whose descendants settled in Kailawada, and another descendant who fought under the emperor Muhammad Shah; Sayyid Tajudin, whose son Sayyid Umar founded Kakrauli and colonized the local towns of Rauli Nagla and Bera; and the last son, Sayyid Salar Auliya, who obtained Kaithora in a similar manner to his grandfather. He had two sons: Sayyid Haider Khan, whose descendant Sayyid Shahamat Khan settled in Miranpur and founded the Haider Khan family; and Sayyid Muhammad Khan, whose descendants remained in Kaithora and formed the Muhammad Khani family.
Of the Muhammad Khani family, Nusrat Yar Khan and Rukhan ad Daula gained prominence during the reign of Muhammad Shah, gaining the governance of Agra, Gujarat, and Patna. They additionally held a jagir of 28 villages in Ahmedabad, which they gained in return for their service in annihilating their Tihanpuri brethren, and which they retained until 1850. The Chatrauris of Morna received land grants to the west of Kali near Charthawal. There is still a mosque in Morna built in the name of the wife of Nawab Hasan Khan, the bakshi of Muhammad Shah, constructed in 1725 at the cost of 1,900 rupees.[19]
Jagneri branch
The Jagneri branch are descendants of Sayyid Najmudin Hussain, who first settled in Bidauli. Some generations later, his descendant Sayyid Fakhrudin moved to Palri in the Jauli pargana, where he purchased proprietary rights in Palri, Chanduri, Chandura, Tulsipur and Khera. Members of this branch reached high positions during the reign of Akbar and subsequent Emperors, but none gained the prominence typical of other branches of the dynasty. The Jagneri Branch was heavily affected by drought, resulting in less prosperous conditions. However, the head of the Bidauli family still served as Nazim to the Nawabs of Oudh while his nephew was a Chakladar.[20]
Members of the Kudliwal branch settled in Mujhera, where their family estates and a fort are recorded in district histories.[21] Accounts compiled in the early twentieth century identify SayyedMahmud Khan as an early figure of the Barha Sayyids in imperial service, with prior employment under the Sur rulers. He entered Mughal service during the siege of Mankot and subsequently serving under Akbar in campaigns during the 1550s and early 1560s.[22] He was granted a jagir near Delhi and is noted in regional histories for operations against local powers; he died in 1574 and was buried at Mujhera.[23]
A local anecdote recorded in the district gazetteer relates that, when challenged about his lineage, Sayyid Mahmud is said to have declared, "If I am a Sayyid the fire will not hurt me; if I am no Sayyid I shall get burnt," and is described as emerging unscathed, an episode treated as a traditional story in the source.[24]
Gallery
Mohsin-ul-Mulk was a Barha Syed of Etawah who converted to Sunni Islam.[25]
↑ Kolff, Dirk H. A. 2002, p.18: As another example of such soldiers of marginal peasant origin, the Barha Sayyids, a celebrated troop of soldiers under the Mughals deserve attention. They were said to be the descendants of the families who had, at an uncertain date, moved from their homes in Panjab to a sandy and infertile tract of what is now the eastern part of the Muzaffarnagar district.
↑ Irvine, William (August 2012). The Later Mughals. HardPress. p.203. ISBN978-1290917766.
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