Muslim Rajputs

Muslim Rajputs
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Rajputs

Muslim Rajputs or Musulman Rajputs (Urdu: مسلمان راجپوت‎) are patrilineal descendants of Rajputs of Northern regions of the South Asia who embraced Islam.[1] Today, Muslim Rajputs can be found in Northern India, Kashmir, as well as Punjab and Sindh also in other provinces Pakistan.[2] They are further divided into different clans.

History

The term Rajput is traditionally applied to the original Suryavanshi, Chandravanshi and Agnivanshi clans, who claimed to be Kshatriya in the Hindu varna system.

Conversion to Islam and ethos

According to Jawaharlal Nehru:

The fact of subsequent conversion to other faiths, did not deprive them of this heritage; just as the Greeks, after their conversion to Christianity, did not lose pride in the mighty achievements of their ancestors, of the Italians in the great days of the Roman Republic and early empire... Christians, Jews, Parsees, Moslems. Indian converts to these religions never ceased to be Indian on account of a change of their faith ...[3]

There is also recorded instances of recent conversions of Rajputs to Islam in Western Uttar Pradesh, Khurja tahsil of Bulanshahr.[4]

Despite the difference in faith, where the question has arisen of common Rajput honour, there have been instances where both Muslim and Hindu Rajputs have united together against threats from external ethnic groups.[5]

Medieval Muslim Rajput dynasties of Sindh and Gujarat

Katara dynasty

Main article: [[:Katara Rajput]]

The Ismaili Rajputs replaced the Sunni Arab in Punjab in the 9th century. The dynasty lasted until the mid-11th century and had Multan as its capital. The Katara's are one the most persecuted people in Punjab especially during the Ghazni rule, after which they went into seclusion for self-preservation. They had converted to Ismaili Islam under the Da'i Halam b. Shayban, sent by Fatmid Caliph. In their rule Multan saw a period of peace, expansion of commerce and trade, and flourishing local culture.

Soomra dynasty

Main article: Soomra dynasty

The Rajput Soomra dynasty replaced the Arab Habbari dynasty in the 10th century. The dynasty lasted until the mid-13th century. The Soomras are one the longest running dynasties in the history of Sindh, lasting 325 years. They had converted to Islam under the Arab rule. During their reign, Sindh saw a period of relative peace, expansion of commerce and trade, and flourishing local culture.[6]

Samma dynasty

Main article: Samma dynasty

The Samma era saw the rise of Thatta as an important commercial and cultural centre. At the time the Portuguese occupation of the trading centre of Hormuz in 1514 CE, trade from the Sindh accounted for nearly 10 per cent of their customs revenue, and they described Thatta as one of the richest cities in the world. Thatta's prosperity was based partly on its own high-quality cotton and silk textile industry, partly on export of goods from further inland in the Punjab and northern India.[7]

The Samma period contributed significantly to the evolution of the Indo-Islamic architectural style. Thatta is famous for its necropolis, which covers 10 square km on the Makli Hill.[8]

Muzaffarid dynasty

The Gujarat Sultanate was an independent Rajput kingdom established in the early 15th century by the Muzaffarid dynasty in Gujarat. Under the dynasty, trade, culture, and Indo-Islamic architecture flourished. The city of Ahmedabad was founded by the dynasty.

Notable Muslim Rajputs

Beliefs and customs

Social practices

Rajputs who accepted Islam often retain common social practices (such as purdah (seclusion of women), which is generally followed by Hindu, Sikh and Muslim Rajputs).[2]

Marriages

After conversion to Islam from a culturally Rajput background, there was very little difference between Rajasthani and Uttar Pradeshi Hindu and Muslim Rajputs (outside of religious practices).[10] Hence until recently, marriages between Muslim and Hindu Rajputs also took place.[11]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "UNHCR Refugee Review Tribunal. IND32856, 6 February 2008" (PDF).
  2. 1 2 "Rajput". Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
  3. ↑ The Discovery of India by Jawaharlal Nehru, Oxford Uni. Press 1985, p62, p341
  4. ↑ Muslim Women by Zakia A. Siddiqi, Anwar Jahan Zuberi, Aligarh Muslim University, India University Grants, M.D. Publications Pvt. Ltd., 1993, p93
  5. ↑ Self and sovereignty: Individual and Community in South Asian Islam Since 1850 by Ayesha Jalal, Routledge 2000, p480,p481
  6. ↑ http://www.uok.edu.pk/faculties/sindhi/docs/soomroEng.pdf
  7. ↑ [The Global World of Indian Merchants, 1750-1947: Traders of Sind from Bukhara to Panama by Claude Markovits, 2000 ISBN 0-521-62285-9, ISBN 978-0-521-62285-1]
  8. ↑ Archnet.org: Thattah
  9. ↑ Isa Khan on Banglapedia written by ABM Shamsuddin; chief Editor Professor Sirajul Islam
  10. ↑ People Of India by K. S. Singh, B. K. Lavania, S. K. Mandal, Anthropological Survey of India, N. N. Vyas, Popular Prakashan, 1998, p880
  11. ↑ Sangari, Kumkum (2004). "Multiple Temporalities, Unsettled Boundaries, Trickster Women". In Blackburn, Stuart H.; Dalmia, Vasudha. India's Literary History: Essays on the Nineteenth Century. Orient Blackswan. pp. 225–226. ISBN 9788178240565.
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