Banoori

Banoori or Banuri is the family name of Syeds from the noble family of the Prophet of Islam, being his direct descendants and deriving lineage through Hazrat Sheikh Syed Adam Banoori from the Pakhtun region of Afghanistan, today's Pakistan including the regions of Kohat, Peshawar, Malakand and Swat.

Origins

People with family name calling themselves Banoori are the direct descendants of the Holy Prophet, Muhammed through Sufi Sheikh of the Naqshbandiya order, Hazrat Syed Adam Banoor.^[1] The name Banoori originated from the Sheikh who travelled from Afghanistan and spent some time in the Indian town of Banur near Sirhind, where he was ordained to attain his spiritual status in Sufism. Banur is a small town about 25 km from Chandigarh, the capital of Indian Punjab, on the Chandigarh-Patiala National Highway, NH 64. Banooris are not a clan of several families but represent only one aristocratic and noble family which has a direct link with the Islamic Prophet, Mohammad. The lineage of Syed Adam Banoori can therefore be directly traced to Prophet Mohammed and onward to Hazrat Ibrahim - another great prophet.

Banooris due to their lineage and aristocratic background suffered great setbacks during the Mughal period and later under the colonial rule.

Syed Adam Banoori

Hazrat Syed Adam Banoori lived in Afghanistan. The ancestors of Syed Adam Banoori were from Roh region in Iraq.

Books

In1625–26, Syed Adam Banoori wrote a book on the teachings of the Mujaddid and the Naqshbandiyya entitled Kalimatul Ma arif. Two of his other works; the Khulasatu Ma Arif and the Nikatul Asrar, were among other works on Sufi teachings and on the importance of the Naqshbandiyya order. Syed Adam Banoori was also the first to spread the Mujaddid teachings in Hijaz.

Disciples

A large number of Pashtuns and other muslims became his disciples and followers, with Muhammad Amin Badakhshi estimating the number to be 12,000 with 100 Khalifas. So large was the Sheikh's following that it became a perceived challenge and suspect in the eyes of the Mughal officials and the crony nobility of the area. In 1052/1642–43, the Sheikh arrived in Lahore with his supporting contingent made up of mostly disciples (who by this time were amounting to the size of a private army). The Mughal Governor was so apprehensive that the Emperor decided to dispatch his Diwan, Saad-ullah Khan, accompanied by Mullah Abdul Hakim Sialkoti to investigate the situation. Syed Adam Banoori ignored them both. On Saad-ullah Khan's recommendation, the Mughal Emperor, who regarded Naqshbandya order as adversary to the Mughal kingdom, became convinced that the great following was a potential threat to the Emperor and had the Sheikh and some of his disciples banished to Mecca.^[2]
It is said that Emperor Shahjahan, saw a dream that his kingdom has fallen, and therein realized his mistake of ill treating Adam Banoori. He tried to stop Adam Banoori from leaving, but it was too late, Adam Banoori had already left for Mecca from the port of Kathiawar by ship. The prophecy came true as soon after, Aurangzeb Alamgir took over the throne, and imprisoned his father (Shahjahan) in the Agra fort.
After performing Haj in Mecca, Adam Banoori went to Medina to debate and promote the reformist thesis with other great ulemas of the time. He died in Medina in 1642. His family thereafter suffered two setbacks, one during the reign of Emperor Aurangzeb who challenged their influence in the Swat and Buner regions of Yousafzai tribes and later during the occupation period and rule of the British when most of their forestry and agriculture land was turned into a Crown land, and its retention was subjected to a period of lease which was renewable conditioned to the continued loyalty of the owners to the Crown.

References