Month: January 2023

The unsung history of khanpur estate & Bara Basti

Shaikh Isa khan Afghan the head of his tribe Daudzai afganan was a horse trader who had six son.
His Eldest son SHAIKH RUKHNU-DIN KHAN AFGHAN served as mansabdar as he was was very valiant man.
Emperor JAHANGIR when he was prince titled shaikh rukn uddin khan afghan as ( Sher Khan) when he lost his arm by sword in a battle. Later on he was promoted to grade of larger Mansaabdari & the pargana of Gujarat was also bestowed on him by the emperor jahangir.


Shaikh Rukhnu din Khan Afghan established the very first village of the bara basti known as Basi Bangar which is on the shores of Ganga but after his death,the emperor bestowed some portion of his rank and jagir to his younger brother and his children. Shaikh ALLU KHAN AFGHAN during the reign of emperor JAHANGIR /SHAHJAHAN moved from basi bangar to another village and named it after his name Khanpur .

SHAIKH ALLU KHAN AFHAN also served as mansaabdar & fought many battles under the service of Mughal Emperor shahjahan but the battle that came in the light of history is against Raja Jagat Singh pathania of Taragarh, Himachal Pradesh. He rebelled against mughal emperor SHAHJAHAN in which he fortified the forts of Nurpur, Mau, taragarh of Himachal Pradesh and during this battle SHAIKH ALLU KHAN AFGHAN body was perished and only his head was came back to KHANPUR fort.

SHAIKH ALLU KHAN AFGHAN built the big fort at erstwhile khanpur estate in back those days & which had several majestic gates,a court, baradari , Mosque and all the structure is builded with big blocks and lakhauri bricks (Lahori) mostly of mud.The fort was very wide with thick walls and expand in most khanpur and during his time the khanpur estate reached the pinnacle .

*Khanpur estate was the main headquarter of bara basti villages.

*The other villages that were settled are-Basi,
, Bugrasi, Jalalpur, Chandiyana, Gesupur, Barwala, Amarpur, Sherpur, Bahadurgarh, Hasanpur, Mohammadpur, giroura


*During the mughal era there were time only few taluqdar estates at bulandshahar district that were khanpur Chhattari , kuchesar, pahasu ,shikarpur


The Khanpur family had inherited feud with jat kuchesar family and fought many battles with them for landholding /parghanas.


Historical event – Nawab mustufa khan (pen name -shefta) of jehangirabad who is contemporary of mirza ghalib urdu poet & had closed ties with the Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar was caught and expelled out from Jejhangirabad fort by THAKUR Bheem SINGH of village guroli then nawab then went to khanpur family and asked for the help because he had family relationship with khanpur family, then the Haji Munir khan/sole son of Azam khan went on elephant with many irregular cavalry troops which are mostly recruited from pathans of barabasti who are very brave they had battle with thakur bhim singh & exchanged many shots with him and last he lost the battle then Haji Munir khan put him behind his elephant to khanpur fort and leave him on note not to trouble Nawab again.Then Nawab MUSTUFA KHAN SHEFTA was re established at Jejhangirabad fort.

*DURING THE FIRST WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE 1857

In the beginning when it broke out and there is less force at meerut and Brand sapte wrote letters to taluqdars of bulandshahr district to seek help by furnishing him with men & horse’s and they all responded them immediately to his call.

But after later on when Nawab walidad khan of malagarh came to bulandshahar from delhi with the sanad of doab from emperor BAHADUR SHAH ZAFAR delhi then they started revolt.

There were three people from khanpur family who took the charge against the British Empire during the first war independence 1857


1-Azim Khan alias Azam khan – He actively participated in the battle of uprising under the overall command of Nawab walidad khan of Malagarh having been deputed as his deputy at khurja. He was arrested while crossing the ganga to move into Rohilkhand and subsequently hanged order of british military commission.

2 Hajee Munir khan alias Munir khan only son Azim khan.
He was the main commanders of the revolutionary of the bulandshahar district. In the famous second battle gulothi which is fought on 29 july 1857 in which britishers want took control over the whole bulandshahar district but to stop them nawab of malagarh deputed his main commander at gulothi Haji muneer khan & ismail khan who established a picket just before gulothi on the canal to stop the colonial force to enter the bulandshahar district & fortified the bridge but there was surprised attack on them in which more than 50 revolutionaries were shaheed but these two managed to escape but haji muneer khan & ismail khan got severe sword cuts on their face & due to this news of attack there was panic in the fort of malagarh
Fort & when they try to look for attack on nawab malagarh then nawab walidad khan flew to khanpur fort & seek shelter and haji muneer khan fought until his last breath.


3- Abdul Latif khan- He was nephew of Azim khan.He fought in different manner never came on battle field but gave shelter revolutionaries of bulandshahar including Nawul gurjar, Raheem ali khan & pathan of bara basti village when they were actively engaged in fighting the british. Refused to give land revenue to empire & write letter to the king to bring elephants & horses to the court but he was caught tried by British military commission and send to penal colony of Andaman island or kala pani.

Later on the Estate was subsequently confiscated by the British Empire & was given to given to Sardar Bahadur syed meer khan the nephew of Jan fishan khan (Nawab Sardhana) as this family helped the empire during the war of 1857 & some portion was auctioned aftewards which was purchased by the loyal Zamindars of the district.

Then after the confiscation the khanpur family was expelled out over night so they reached again to village basi bangar the village which was first established by SHAIKH RUKHNU DIN KHAN AFGHAN on the shores of Ganga river.
Haji Munir khan grandson janab saeed ur rehman also joined & participated in the freedom struggle of 1942 quit india movement & imprisoned in the bulandshahar jail for year or more & afterwards his son Saud ur rehman joined the indian army and served in signal regiment & participated in the 1965 war & 1971 war and now Musa Munir khan is national player at shot gun shooting & doing individual research work on the glorious past of his ancestor’s & their role during the first war independence 1857

We are thankful to Central as well as state government for celebrating these unsung heroes glorious past at State Museum, Meerut & Red fort Museum of first war independence 1857 .

• Great Sacrifices-of-mujahid-rais-abdul-latif-khan-and-his-family-of-the-first-war-of-independence
• The unfolding Historical Narrative of Ravenswood and how it evolved into Buddhist Monastery

• The Erstwhile Khanpur Estate and Barah Basti village’s .
• A Brief history of Abdul Kadir Khan (Bar at Law) London and his ancestor’s glorious past.

Compensation of a part of the Tongue:

It has been described in the “Majmua” by Ibn-i-Maizaban that a man came to Hazrat Omar, (RA) and complained to him that a man had cut a part of his tongue with the result that he could not speak properly.

Hazrat Omar (RA) found it difficult to fix the penalty for that crime. He, therefore, turned to Hazrat Ali (A) who was present at that time for a solution as to whether penalty for the whole tongue should be fixed or for the part which was cut and as to what should be the amount of the penalty?

Hazrat Ali. (A) advised him to let the man pronounce all the alphabets. The number of the alphabets he could not pronounce or pronounced with difficulty should be deducted from the total number of the alphabets of the Arabic language and the penalty should be fixed accordingly.

ACCORD & DISCORD-ITS PLACE IN A SUFI’S LIFE

Accord is exact proof of love. It is no wonder his other qualities due to the ffect of exaltation of the attributes of surrender to the will of God, might have remained indistinct. Along with this the sayings of Hazrat Habib Ajmi deserves consideration. He said relating clearly concerning the high rank of surrendering to the will of God, Its relation is with the heart; the quality of which should not be published. But ill-feeling of difference and misunderstanding due to animosity in which it is held, may affect the ability to resign to the will of God. Hence discord it may be said is entire aversion and accord is associated with the heart. The difference between the two is-one is blameworthy and the other praiseworthy. Discord is an attribute of foe and accord is the habit of friend. The heart is their source of origin one or the other of which has deep relation with heart and due to their influence on human faculties, their precepts and practices come openly in favour of discord or accord with respective vices.

In short when the effect of discord and accord becomes apparent from man’s precepts and practices or in other words it may be said the intrinsic value of man’s heart can be know from his mode of talk and the way of his manners.

From this clear explanation we can come to know the effects of this attribute on the heart of our Saint and which was most proper in shaping his precepts and practices. Regarding the effect of the attribute of discord it may be said with certainty that our Saint’s heart was so brilliantly illuminated, the glowing effect of concord on which even the shadow of unpleasant ill-feeling and enmity never fell. From the way of life and practice it is clear that he hated discord, never thought anyone as enemy or never entertained feelings of animosity against others. Our Saint regarded everyone as friend and innocent creature of God irrespective of his caste and creed, viewed with friendly eye subjects of others nations and followers of diverse religions. Concord and amity in every community professing diverse creeds and acknowledging respect and loyalty to their motherland was his ideal and ultimate goal of life. By Divine Grace his heart was pure from the ting of bias, ill-feelings and communal animosity. Whenever a Hindu, Christian, Parsi or Jew cam to seek his spiritual blessings he treated them all alike and made no invidious difference.

Our Saint’s warmth of affection and behaviour of equal treatment with every community professing diverse creeds and nationalities and others who were firm believers of their ancestor’s religion became his devoted disciples.

THE REMOVER OF ENMITY AND HATRED

The Prophet advocated for social integration and maintaining ties with people. When the Prophet emigrated to Medina, he created a city-state which united peoples of different tribes and religions. One of the first pacts he made was the pact of brotherhood between the Aws and Khazraj tribes, who were broiled in a bitter civil war over many generations. Through the message of Islam, the beloved Prophet of God united the people of these two tribes and ended their renowned feud.

Another pact was the brotherhood between the Helpers of Medina and the Emigrants from Mecca. He took one person from the Helpers of Medina and made him a brother of one of the people among the Emigrants of Mecca. He taught the Helpers to share their resources with the Emigrants and to remove the disparity in wealth between them. He also made a pact between the Muslims and Jews and united them as a single nation. All of these were the efforts the Prophet made to bring people together and to remove hatred between them.

On one occasion the beloved Prophet said: “The glory of the believers lies in brotherhood. They do not subject each other to torture, coercion, oppression, terrorism and vandalism. Nor do they usurp on another’s wealth or are thirsty for eachother’s blood. They protect and love each other and hide each other’s fault.”

I Set forth by al-Bukhārī in al-Ṣaḥīḥ, 2:862 S2310. Muslim in alṢaḥīḥ, 4:1996 $2580.
I Set forth by Ibn Sa’d in al-Tabaqāt al-Kubrā, 1:238. al-Ṣāliḥī in Subul al-Huda wa al-Rishād, 3:527. •Ibn Hishām in al-Sīra al-Nabawiyya, 2:529-533.

अनपढ़ सैयद अफज़ल है या गैर सैयद आलिम

खातिमुल मुहक्किीन इमाम शैख इब्ने हज्र अस्कूलानी (852 हि०) के फतावा में है, उनसे पूछा गया कि अनपढ़ सैयद अफज़ल है या गैर सैयद आलिम ? और अगर यह दोनों किसी जगह इकट्ठे मौजूद हों तो उनमें से ज़्यादा इज्ज़त और एहतराम का मुस्तहिक पहले किसको समझा जाए? मसलन अगर ऐसी मेहफिल में चाय, काफी या कोई और चीज़ पेश करनी हो तो पहले किस से की जाए? या ऐसी मेहफिल में कोई शख़्स अगर हाथ चूमना चाहता है या पेशानी को
बोसा देना चाहता है तो आगाज किससे किया जाए? इमाम इब्ने हजर असकलानी जवाब में फरमाते हैं: इन दोनों को अल्लाह तआला ने बहुत बड़ी फजीलत बख़्शी है मगर सैयद में क्योंकि लायक तकरीम गोशा-ए-रसूलुल्लाह के खून की निस्बत है जिसकी बराबरी दुनिया की कोई चीज़ नहीं कर सकती इसी लिहाज़ से बाज़ उलमा किराम ने कहा है:
“हम जिगर गोश-ए-रसूलुल्लाह चीज़ से भी बराबरी की निस्बत नहीं दे सकते । ” को दुनिया की किसी
बाकी रहा बाअमल आलिमे दीन का किस्सा तो चूंकि उसकी जात मुसलमानों के लिए नफा बख़्श, गुमराहों के लिए राहे हिदायत है और यह कि उलमा-ए-इस्लाम रसूले अकरम के नाइब व जानशीन और उनके उलूम व मआरिफ के वारिस और इल्मबर्दार हैं इसलिए अल्लाह तआला की तरफ से तौफीक याफ्ता लोगों से हमें यह तवक्को है कि वह सादात किराम और उलमाए किराम की इज्ज़त एहतराम और ताज़ीम करने में उनकी हक तलफ़ी नहीं करेंगे।
ऐसी महफ़िलों में मजकूरा बाला लायके एहतराम हस्तियों के यक्जा होने पर किसी चीज़ के देने या ताजीम के आदाब बजा लाने के सिलसिले में आगाज़ करने के लिए हमें नबी अकरम के इस क़ौल मुबारक को पेशे नज़र रखना चाहिए कि (इज्ज़त व एहतराम और मेहमान नवाज़ी वगैरा में एहले कुरैश को मुकद्दम रखिए) और फिर मजकूर बाला सूरत में तो एक शख़्स को जिगर गोशा -ए-रसूलुल्लाह की निस्बत भी हासिल है।” (जैनुल बरकात)