URDU-SPEAKING MUSLIMS OF NORTH INDIA AND MUHAJIRS
Who are the Mussalmans of the northern Indian belt and Deccan, of whom many migrated to Pakistan during partition, and are generally called Urdu-speaking, or sometimes the 'Muhajirs' in Pakistan? From the low percentage of Muslims in those areas--- 17% in U.P., 14% in Bihar and 13% in the Deccan--- it is quite evident that there were no large-scale conversions here from among the Hindu population. A careful scrutiny of historical facts will reveal that an overwhelming majority of even these small minorities, particularly of Delhi, U.P., part of Bihar and the Deccan are of foreign origin. Most of the Muslim immigrants that entered this sub-continent during the 500- year span of 13th-18th centuries A.D., settled down in these regions which were the seats of governments as well as centres of cultural and intellectual activity. A few quotations from some Muslim authors will bear this out.
"The immigrants came from Central Asia, Afghanistan, Iran, West Asia and the eastern coast of Africa. They came because of unsettled conditions in their native land or in search of adventure and opportunity for achievement. But this was not migration in any considerable numbers. It was rather a slow and spasmodic infiltration of families and individuals." 2
"The Delhi Sultanate in its more vigorous days was the resort of many kings in exile. Ghyasuddin Balban (1266-1286) was proud of giving honourable asylum to upwards of 15 unfortunate sovereigns from Muslim Asia. As they brought in their train some of the most illustrious men of learning, the Delhi court became the most polite and magnificent in Islam. Ibn Batuta calls Delhi not only the first city in India but in all the East."3
"The Mongol pressure throughout these centuries gave Muslim India, through the refugees that came from the heart lands of Islam, its cultural stimulus and its opportunity for a continual intake of values and ideas generated elsewhere in tile world of Islam. At the court of Iltemish in Delhi the first wave of these refugees escaping from the hordes of Chengiz Khan, brought administrators from Iran, painters from China, theologians from Bukhara, divines and saints from all lands, craftsmen and men and maidens from every region, doctors adept in Greek medicine, philosophers from everywhere. In the face of the danger that threatened to overwhelm their religion and culture they stressed the conservative values, and taqlid (imitation) thrived at the expense of 'Ijtehad' (speculation). The wave of Muslim migrations to India reached another peak during the reign of Balban after Hulagu's sack of
Baghdad.
"Muhammad bin Tughlaq's intellectual curiosity, his preference for foreigners and his policy of get-togetherness in Dar-al-Islam brought in a new flood of men and ideas and a new wave of rationalism.
"In the late Mughal period Persian, Central Asian, and Ottoman nobles dissatisfied with the patronage of their masters at home took refuge in the Mughal court, where they were well received and often appointed to high positions. They included two Ottoman Governors of Basrah, three Persian Governors of Qandahar, two of whom were Safavid princes and a stream of noblemen from all over Central Asia and Persia.
"Under Baber and during the first phase of Humayun's reign the court had a Central Asia complexion. After Humayun's return from Persia the Persian influx began. Bayram Khan, Turkish in culture but with pronounced Shia proclivities represented the synthesis of the two cultural streams. Under Akber there was an influx of rationalist intellectuals escaping from the inhibiting orthodoxy of Abdullali Khan Uzbek in Transoxiana, and of Persian poets migrating from Iran where the lack of partonage by the Safavids was diverting the course of the main stream of Persian poetry from its own soil to hospitable India.
"On the whole Shah Jehan preferred Central Asians (Turanis) and his reign marks the turning point in the rivalry between Irani and Turani factions at the Mughal court. During the reign of Aurangzeb the Turani party gained definite ascendancy.
"Ahmed Shah Wali Bahmani (1422-34) of Deccan had reversed the policy of his predecessors by giving preference in his administrative appointments to foreigners over Indian nobles. He attracted to his court some distinguished foreigners like Syed Hussain Badaklishi and Abdulla Kurd, and raised a special corps of 3,000 archers from Iraq, Central Asia, Turkey and Arabia. In due course two factions rose in the Bahmanid court, the Afaqi (foreigners) and the Deccani.
"During the reign of Muhammad bin Tughlaq, new and eccentric elements from Central Asia introduced new vogues in Indo-Persian poetry.
"Baber ushered in a new era in Indo-Persian literature. With him came the Central Asian poets Abdul Wahid Farighi, Nadir Samarqandi and Tahir Khwandi, while the historians Zayn al-din Khawafi and Mirza Haider Dughlat followed him into India."4
When Rana Raj Singh of Udaipur was suspected of harbouring rebellious ideas, Shah Jahan sent his representative Chandar Bhan to the Rana to render him advice for discarding such plans and to impress upon him the Emperor's greatness. Following extract from Chandar Bhan's advice to Rana of Udaipur is interesting in this context:
"It is evident to all men that this Empire is the refuge of the princes of the world and at present the rulers of Iraq, Khorasan, Transoxiana, Balkh, Badakhshan, Kashgar and other countries are in the service of the emperor, what to say of the petty rulers of the Deccan who render allegiance to this court. Every month and every year men of all sorts and of different nationalities join the imperial service in large numbers and are being appointed to various mansabs and offices. This is one of the distinctive features of this Empire' that whosoever seeks refuge here does not go anywhere else."5
"There was a constant flow of visitors from Islamic countries to Northern India and the Sultanates of the Deccan during the period of Muslim rule in this area. Impecunious adventurers from Persia, Turkey and Central Asia, scholars and poets, religious preachers, young men in search of military career flocked from different parts of the Islamic world to the Indian capitals. Many found employment, some even founded dynasties. However, only a small group added to the cultural activities of India and contributed something to Indian Life."6
"The flow of foreign migrants into the sub-continent increased greatly as a result of the Mongol invasions of the Islamic world because the Sultanate of Delhi offered an asylum to the Muslim refugees. As early as Balban's reign we hear of large colonies of these migrants in Delhi, so much so that they were settled in different quarters, providing for the migrants an environment where their former ties did not have to be broken abruptly. Even when conditions in the neighbouring Islamic lands were stabilized by the conversion of Mongols to Islam, the Muslim states in the sub-continent being perennially short of Muslim personnel, continued to encourage immigration. Many distinguished families of administrators, soldiers and scholars during the Mughal rule hailed from Central Asia and Iran. The tradition of migration from Muslim lands never came to an end. Under the Nizam's Government until quite recently this policy continued and many families went from North India to earn a livelihood and settled down there; the Nizam's Dominions attracted Muslims not only from the rest of the subcontinent but also from Arabia and Iran."7
It must have been noticed that this constant stream of families from Muslim countries which commenced from the time of Altamash early in the 13th century A.D. continued till the time of Aurangzeb and even upto the reign of Shah Alam in the 18th century. It must have also been noticed that they mostly settled in the northern Indian belt from Panipat to Patna and in the Deccan.
The last names of the Urdu-speaking Muslims are quite revealing. They clearly and positively point out their respective ancestries. Urdu-speaking Muslims usually have the following words added at the end or beginning of their names.
Syed, Qureshi, Ansari, Siddiqui, Farooqi, Osmani, Alvi, Hussaini, Jafri, Moosvi, Naqvi, Zaidi, Zuberi, Kazmi, Rizvi, Qasmi, Hashmi, Abbasi, Mehdi or such place names as Sherwani, Sabzwari, Lan, Shirazi, Ispahani, Tirmizi, Bukhari, Kirmani, Yazdani, etc.
These last names speak volumes of the origin of the Urdu-speaking people. It is generally alleged that the people who use the words Syed, Qureshi, Alvi, Siddiqi, Farooqi, etc. are not the genuine descendants of the Prophet or his Companions; that their use is spurious and unreliable. This may be true of only a few cases but, by and large, they are genuine. As already proved, large number of Muslim families of noble birth and high pedigree migrated from various parts of the Muslim world to this sub-continent and settled mostly in the northern Indian belt from Panipat to Patna or in the Deccan which were centres of Muslim governments and of their cultural activities. They could not have failed to leave their progeny nor could their descendants have vanished from these areas. Their claim is mostly genuine.
Only about 25 to 35% Muslims of northern India and Deccan are descendants of Hindu converts. Most of these Muslims of Hindu origin were previously low-caste Hindus who converted to Islam to escape caste slavery, while others were high-caste Hindus who converted for better opportunism. But most importantly, it was Islam's simplicity that attracted people.
With the passage of time the Muslims of different origins of northern India inter-mingled with each other. This encouraged inter-racial mixing.
2. Indian Muslims, by Prof. M. Mujeeb.
3. The making of India, by Dr. A. Yusuf Ali.
4. Studies in Islamic culture in the Indian environment, by Aziz Ahmed
5. Shah Jahan and the Rana of Udaipur, by Shaikh Abdur Rashid, Islamic research series 2,
6. Studies in Indian history, K.M. Panikkar
7. Muslim community of Indo-Pak sub-continent, by Dr. I.H.Qureshi
