Hazratbal Shrine

{{Short description|Muslim shrine in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India}}

{{Infobox religious building

| building_name = Hazratbal Shrine

| native_name =

| native_name_lang =

| image = HAZRATBAL SHRINE 01.JPG

| caption = The shrine in 2010

| alt =

| map_type = India Jammu and Kashmir

| map_size = 250

| map_relief = 1

| map_caption = Location of the mosque and dargah in Jammu and Kashmir

| location = Hazratbal, Srinagar, Srinagar District, Kashmir Valley, Jammu and Kashmir

| coordinates = {{Coord|34|7|45|N|74|50|32|E|display=inline,title|format=dms}}

| religious_affiliation = Sunni Islam

| rite = Sufi

| country = India

| consecration_year =

| status = Mosque and dargah

| functional_status = Active

| heritage_designation =

| leadership =

| administration = Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Waqf Board

| patron =

| architect =

| architecture_type = {{nowrap|Mosque architecture}}

| architecture_style = Islamic

| founded_by =

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| groundbreaking =

| year_completed = {{ubl|1634 {{small|(first structure)}}|1979 {{small|(expansion)}}}}

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| length = {{convert|105|m|ft}}

| width = {{convert|25|m|ft}}

| width_nave =

| height_max =

| dome_quantity = One

| dome_height_outer =

| dome_height_inner =

| dome_dia_outer =

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| minaret_quantity = One

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}}

The Hazratbal Shrine, popularly called Dargah Sharif ({{literally|Holy Shrine}}), is a Sufi dargah and mosque, located in Hazratbal locality of Srinagar, in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, India. The site contains a relic, Moi-e-Muqqadas, believed to be the hair of the Islamic prophet Muhammad."Moslems Riot Over Theft of Sacred Relic", Chicago Tribune, 29 December 1963, p1 It is situated on the northern bank of the Dal Lake in Srinagar, and is considered to be Kashmir's holiest Muslim shrine.{{Cite news |agency=Reuters |date=7 August 1994 |title=Kashmir Indians Yield at Shrine |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/08/07/world/kashmir-indians-yield-at-shrine.html |url-access=limited |access-date=10 October 2021 |issn=0362-4331}}

Etymology

The name of the shrine is a combination of the Arabic word hazrat ({{Literal translation|respected}}) and the Kashmiri word bal ({{Literal translation|place}}).

History

File:Hazratbal Shrine 1917.jpg

File:Dome of Hazratbal Shrine - Srinagar - Jammu & Kashmir - India (26565403180).jpg |date=10 January 2018}}]]

Hazratbal Shrine was established by Inayat Begum, the daughter of Khwaja Nur-ud-Din Eshai and the custodian of the relic. The first building of the shrine was constructed in 17th century by Mughal subedar Sadiq Khan during the emperor Shah Jahan's reign.{{Cite web |date=14 October 2021 |title=The Majestic Hazratba Shrine |url=https://www.kashmirnewsline.com/the-majestic-hazratba-shrine/ |access-date=17 June 2022 |website=Kashmir Newsline |language=en-US}} This was initially called Ishrat Jahan. The building was ordered to be converted into a prayer hall in 1634 by Shah Jahan. Construction of the present day structure was started in 1968 and took 11 years to complete, finishing in 1979.{{Cite news |title=Hazratbal Shrine |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/travel/srinagar/hazratbal-shrine/ps51718080.cms |access-date=17 June 2022 |newspaper=The Times of India |last1=Kapur |first1=Saurabh}}

The relic was first brought to Kashmir by Syed Abdullah Madani, a purported descendant of Muhammad who left Medina (in present-day Saudi Arabia) and settled in the South Indian city of Bijapur in 1635, at a time when the Islamic Mughal Empire was rapidly expanding across India.{{Cite web |title=Hazratbal |url=http://www.jktourism.jk.gov.in/List/ListDetails.aspx?52734E46697354352F5A43466636687234686936586433494E5A66586B376F4C356E5931746C47445051593D |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818120147/http://jktourism.jk.gov.in/List/ListDetails.aspx?52734E46697354352F5A43466636687234686936586433494E5A66586B376F4C356E5931746C47445051593D |archive-date=18 August 2021 |access-date=10 October 2021 |website=Department of Tourism Govt of Jammu & Kashmir}}

Following Abdullah's death, his son Syed Hameed inherited the relic. The region was conquered by the Mughals shortly afterwards, and Hameed was stripped of his family estates. Finding himself unable to care for the relic, he passed it to Khwaja Nur-ud-Din Eshai, a wealthy Kashmiri businessman.{{Cite book |last=Warikoo |first=Kulbhushan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qvAr6ZJLLuIC |title=Cultural heritage of Jammu and Kashmir |date=2009 |publisher=Pentagon Press |isbn=978-81-8274-376-2 |pages=173–174 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Akbar |first=M. J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p6ohEAAAQBAJ |title=Kashmir: Behind the Vale |date=8 February 2018 |publisher=Roli Books Private Limited |isbn=978-81-936009-6-2 |pages=content-17 |language=en}}

File:Holy_Quran_at_the_Hazratbal_shrine.jpg

When the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb was informed of its existence and transfer, he had it seized and sent to the shrine of Sufi mystic Mu'in al-Din Chishti in Ajmer, and imprisoned Eshai in Delhi. After nine days Aurangzeb had a dream of Muhammad with four caliphs: Abu Bakr, Umar, Usman and Ali. In the dream, Muhammad ordered him to send the Moi-e-Muqaddas to Kashmir from Ajmer. Then Aurangzeb returned it to Eshai and allow him to take it to Kashmir. However, Eshai had already died while imprisoned. By 1700, the relic had been transported to Kashmir, along with the body of Eshai. There, Inayat Begum, the daughter of Eshai, became the custodian of the relic and established the Hazratbal Shrine. Since then, her male descendants have been caretakers of the relic at the mosque.{{cite book |author=Verma, Hari Narain |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r_rOAAAAIAAJ |title=Decisive battles of India through the ages, Volume II |author2=Verma, Amrit |publisher=GIP Books |year=1998 |isbn=978-1-881155-04-1 |page=124 |access-date=22 June 2010}}

Begum's male descendants belong to what is known as the Banday family. {{As of|2019}}, three main members care for the relic: Manzoor Ahmad Banday, Ishaq Banday and Mohiuddin Banday.{{Cite web |last= |date=24 June 2019 |title=Head priest Hazratbal shrine Ghulam Hassan Banday passes away |url=https://www.greaterkashmir.com/srinagar/head-priest-hazratbal-shrine-ghulam-hassan-banday-passes-away |access-date=10 October 2021 |website=Greater Kashmir |language=en}} The relic is displayed for public view only on special Islamic occasions, such as the birthdays of Muhammad and his four main companions.

=1963 relic disappearance episode=

The Moi-e-Muqqadas was reported to have gone missing from the shrine on 27 December 1963. Following its disappearance, mass demonstrations were held all over the state, with hundreds of thousands of protesters out in the streets.{{citation needed|date=April 2019}} On 31 December, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru made a broadcast to the nation on the disappearance of the relic, and sent a team from the Central Bureau of Investigation into Jammu and Kashmir to probe the suspected theft. It was recovered by Indian authorities on 4 January 1964, at the instigation of Sayyid Meerak Shah Kashani and others. Shah Kashani said he had seen the relic many times and could easily identify it. Identification by its caretakers and other investigation made by the Government of Jammu and Kashmir (law and order), special identification team says its authenticity is indeed original.

A public viewing of the relic was held on 6 February 1964 in remembrance of Ali bin Abu Talib.{{cite book |author=Francesca |first1=Neelam |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=70jQHIuAPLYC |title=Secularism in the postcolonial Indian novel: national and cosmopolitan narratives in English |last2=Srivastava |first2=Rashmi |publisher=Routledge |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-415-40295-8 |series=Volume 17 of Routledge research in postcolonial literatures |pages=70 |access-date=22 June 2010}}{{cite web |last1=Ahmad |first1=Khalid Bashir |title=Kashmir: The Sacrilege And The Turmoil |publisher= Countercurrents |url=https://countercurrents.org/2018/12/kashmir-the-sacrilege-and-the-turmoil/ |website=countercurrents.org |access-date=19 January 2023 |date=27 December 2018}}{{cite web | url=https://www.awazthevoice.in/india-news/hazratbal-shrine-with-holy-relic-has-a-tumultuous-history-16384.html | title=Hazratbal shrine with holy relic has a tumultuous history }}{{cite web|title=Hanging By The Relic|date=7 July 2014 |url=http://www.kashmirlife.net/hanging-by-the-relic-issue18-vol06-61615/|accessdate=23 January 2017|publisher=Kashmir Life}}

The incident led to communal tensions and riots in the Indian state of West Bengal and East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), due to which India saw a refugee influx of around 200,000 people between December 1963 and February 1964.{{Cite journal|last=Das|first=Mayurakshi|title=Title: Calcutta Cauldron: City-life during the January 1964 Riots|url=https://www.academia.edu/43473655|journal=Indian History Congress Proceedings|date=January 2018 |language=en}}

Demands were made that it be officially identified by the elders. It was charged that political bosses had stolen the hair so they could later come to power by taking credit for restoring it.{{cite magazine |last=Mehta |first=Ved |date=31 May 1968 |title=IV- The Holy Hair of the Muslims |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1968/06/08/iv-the-holy-hair-of-the-muslims |magazine=The New Yorker |accessdate=1 November 2021}}