Bahadur Shah Zafar and Hazrat Mahal-Devotees of Imam Husain in Exile?

Bahadur Shah Zafar and Hazrat Mahal-  Devotees of Imam Husain in Exile?

By Prof.Mazhar Naqvi

Bahadur Shah Zafar and Begum Hazrat Mahal, two great devotees of Imam Husain and frontline leaders of India’s First war of Independence remain buried in foreign lands. It is indeed unfortunate and tragic. Both of them had tremendous affection for their homeland and they had challenged the British supremacy to liberate India from their clutches. Bahadur Shah had got a grave dug out for his burial at Mehrauli in New Delhi but he was laid to rest in Burmese capital Yangon (Earlier known as Rangoon) where he was asked to spend his last days in exile by the British.

On the other hand, Begum Hazrat Mahal who has proclaimed her son Birjis Qadr as the king of Awadh after the outbreak of rebellion in 1857 remained elusive after the recapture of Lucknow. She took shelter in the Terai area near Gorakhpur and finally settled at Kathmandu after coming to terms with the Nepalese ruler. While occasionally talks about bringing the remains of Bahadur shah Zafar erupts, no such demand has ever been made for Begum Hazrat Mahal.

To be honest, demand for brining back the remains of another devotee of Imam Husain and queen mother of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, Malika Kishwar and her younger son General Hashmat should also be raised. They lie buried in Paris following their death on way back to India after unsuccessfully trying to get back their annexed kingdom. No doubt, they did not take part in the campaign against British in 1857 as they were in London. But had Malika Kishwar been in India, she should have surely been with the side of Hazrat Mahal. She was a lady of great determination and courage. She had never stepped out of her purdah but did not hesitate in proceeding to England for taking up the cause of her dethroned son.   

Bahadur Shah was not from Imamia faith but he had great reverence of Imam Husain. He used to offer prayers at Panja Sharif in Delhi for the simple reason that it contained the imprints of hands of Maula Ali. The King preferred to reach Panja Sharif by walking from Red Fort. During Muharram, the king always wore green clothes. On 6^th of Muharram, he took round of the palace with a silver chain tied around his waist. He used to act as Faqir of Hazrat Qasim on 7^th day of Ashra. On 8^th of Muharram, he used to distribute water as Saqqa of Hazrat Abbas. On 10^th of Muharram, he used to offer prayers at Moti Masjid of Red Fort and eat after the burial of tazias. He himself offered ‘nazr’ at the carefully laid ‘dastarkhwan’ in memory of martyrs of Karbala.

His love for Imam Husain and his companions have found detailed description  in an article written by Maulvi Ameer Ahmad for a magazine ‘Shamae- Mazar ’ published in 1927.The King had also exhibited his profound love for Hazrat Ali in one of his poems. He says :

“ Mera hami hai Peshwa hai Ali

Mere Har dard Ki dawa Hai Ali

Jo Ho Husain Ka dushman Use  Kahan Aman

Agar Cha  Padhta Bhi ho Who Barai Namo Naman

Namz padh Ke sada sajdao qayam Ke saath

Wazifa Chahiye Zikro Gham Imam Ke saath

Aap samjhe Ya Na samjhein par zafar Hai aapka

Aaeye Ab To Madad Ke Waste Bahre Khuda  

Ya Hussain Ibne Ali Banda bahut Nachaar Hai”

“(Ali is my benefactor and leader and he cures all my sufferings. An enemy of Husain can’t escape from the wrath of God even if he offers prayers regularly. It is a prerequisite for a true Namaz to include the sacred memory of Imam in addition to Sajda and Qayam. O Imam Zafar is truly your servant and seeks your help as he too feeble now)”  

Similarly in her most trying days, Begum Hazrat Mahal did not forget to erect an Imambara in Kathmandu. She was devoid of funds as the ruler of Nepal had realized large sums and jewels from here to allow her to remain in his country. But whatever was left over, the warrior queen spent on construction of imambara and a mosque adjacent to it. When she died in Nepal on April 7, 1879 she was buried in the Imambara in accordance with her will. After Pandit Nehru, no Indian leader took interest even in ensuring protection to her imambara and grave. As an outcome of indifference, her imambara was demolished and replaced by a market. The mosque exists but nobody knows that it was built by Hazrat Mahal. Even her grave is in open and can’t be considered in a good condition. In Paris too, Malika Kishwar and General Hashmat buried close to each other with no one to light even a candle on their graves. Even officials and staff of Indian embassy don’t know anything about the ill-fated queen mother and her son.

The apathy of the government is mainly because of the indifference of Indian people to cherish and preserve the memory of those who laid down their lives for their freedom. Lucky are those freedom fighters that are remembered on the occasion of their birth and death anniversaries but majority of them remaining unsung heroes and heroines. It is high time that steps are taken to bring their remains of Zafar and Hazrat Mahal at least to India so the future generations have the opportunity to emulate their deeds for a free and secular India. How long will their exile continue?( Reference available on request)

Imami Shrine at Samana-Most Noteworthy and Neglected

Panj Peer Mazar -Awaiting Recognition as Shrine of Imam Reza's Son

By Prof.Mazhar Naqvi

Samana, a sleepy town of Punjab, should have been the most sacred among all the shrines dedicated to Ahle-Bait-E-Athar in Indian sub- Continent. But it still remains an insignificant place as the religious scholars and historians have not made sincere efforts to ascertain as to whether the popular Panj Peer Mazar at Samana contains the grave of Imam Reza’s son or not?     

The town had hit headlines after the chance discovery of an epitaph that reads “Tomb of Hazrat Imam Mash-had Ali son of Hazrat Ali Moosa Raza. Built by Ajruddin Khan Mughal son of Bakhsh Allah Khan in the month of Blessed Ramadan 967 Hijri corresponding to Year 4 of Emperor Akbar”. The epitaph had surfaced during the cleaning of the shrine complex before the visit of Lahore High Court Judge Shabbar Rizvi. The Punjab government had ordered the cleaning of the shrine complex upon coming to know from Justice Shabbar Ahmad that a great saint lies buried in Panj Peer Mazar and he was aware of its existence as his family had migrated to Pakistan from Samana after partition.

The discovery of the inscription evoked enthusiastic response from the followers of Ahle-Bait as there is no shrine of the direct descendants of Prophet’s family in the whole Indian sub- Continent. A host of important religious scholars like Maulana Kalbe Jawwad, historians from Patiala and Kurukshetra universities, dignitaries and diplomats from the Iranian embassy in Delhi visited Samana, located 28 kilometers from Patiala. On his return from Samana, Maulana Kalbe Jawwad confirmed the existence of a tomb who is said to be a pedigree of the Eight or the Ninth Imam at Samana from the time of Emperor Akbar. He also assured to facilitate the transfer of about 5000 Imami families to Samana so that proper care of the shrine could be ensured. Irani Embassy had also promised then to hold a seminar on Samana so that scholars could unravel the mystery shrouding the relation of Syed Ali Mashhad Ali with Imam Reza namely, Ali (the ninth Imam) and Moosa. Some other sources are of the view that Imam Reza also had a third son but his name was Yahiya and not Mashhad Ali.

The legends however support the common belief that Syed Mashhad Ali was one of the sons of Imam Reza. They support their claim to the visit of Khwaja Moin Uddin Chishti at the shrine while he was on his way to Delhi. Further, Nihangs of the area are also convinced that the saint buried in Panj Peer possess divine power even today. According to them, Samana was inhabited by many a Syed families before partition. But most of them migrated to Pakistan in view of the riots that broke out after 1947.When Sikhs refugees who arrived here ands tried to construct a Gurudwara in place of the shrine but failed in their attempt. Whenever they erected anything it collapsed immediately.   

As a veneration of the saint lying buried in the shrine, they dropped the area and asked Punjab Government to allot them another land for construction of Gurudwara .the government accepted their demand and gave a new land about 200 meters away from the shrine. The locals quote these incidents and discovery of the inscription as ample proof to establish the relationship of Syed Mashhad Ali with the family of Prophet. Being convinced that the shrine was a holy one , they have been taking care of it with respect for several decades. Their devotion towards the shrine makes Samana as a symbol of communal harmony like Maler Kotla.

Even the prominent lawyer of Moradabad, Late Zaheer Mohsin Naqvi Saheb was of the view that the tomb at Samana contained surely the grave of an Imam’s son. He had some Persian and Urdu literature to substantiate his claim. He had given photocopies of the literature on the history of Samana to the author also that clearly indicate the glorious past of shrine and its grandeur before partition. Late Mohsin was compiling the history of Imamia shrines in India and wished to publish a book but his sudden death in January 2011 left the task unfinished.  

As the entire Muslim population immigrated to Pakistan, the shrine left uncared for sometime. But then a Sikh order called “Buddha Dal” started taking interest in its upkeep. Prior to the initiative of Buddha Dal, one Thambi Baba maintained Panj Peer Mazar but then he disappeared one day. A Brahmin Mangat Ram has also been taking care of shrine for the past several years out of his devotion to Imam Husain and Baba buried at Panj Peer Mazar.

Sant Kripalji of Gurudwara Thada Saheb has also kept literature associated with Panj Peer Mazar. He claims to have seen a book in Urdu on the history of Samana. According to him Persians of “Samanat” caste came here and inhabited the place centuries ago. They were cloth merchants. The locals are of the view that Panj Peer Mazar belongs to “Chauda Peer” (Wide Saint) who is considered the most important saint in the area. The adjacent tomb, according to them, belongs to his brother or wife. A third tomb to the right belongs to his maternal uncle who is addressed by the villagers as “Imam Saheb” or “Bada Peer” (Big Saint). The Mughals had granted about 320 Bighas land to the tomb but most of it has been usurped by the encroachers.  Only few Bighas is left for the tomb. It is used for agriculture and the proceeds are spent for the upkeep and repair of the tomb. Thada Sahib Gurudwara keeps a separate register for this purpose. The tomb is located in a large compound about four kilometers outside Samana town. It has an impressive Mughal style gate but the structures inside are in need of urgent repair.( Reference Available on request).

Iran Deputy Vice-President Mohd Ali Abadi at Panj Peer Dargah, Samana

 I am reproducing below an email received from Janab Tahir Husain Rizvi which is self- explanatory.Heritage Guru

Holy places in samana.I am Syed Tahir Hussain Rizvi I have read ur article about imamzadah ALI in samana.my parents and entire family migrated from samana to Pakistan.our ancestors lived in samana more than six centuries.generally in India this impression is found that these mazars were discovered incidentally.as the entire population migrated so there was no one to look after.occasionally some people from our family used to visit samana.since there was no Muslim population left, the landgrabers grabbed the adjacent lands.graveyards were demolished and the lands were occupied by the local people.the buildings were crumbling and there was no mentinance.during the visit of ex chief minister of Punjab Maninder singh to lahore,syed family of patiala requested to reconstruct these mazars as maharaja patiala knew the sadat e patiala since the creation of this Sikh state.so under the orders of ex c m Punjab waqaf board took the charge of these mazars and reconstruction started and for.

 

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