Hussaini Brahmin

{{short description|Mohyal Brahmin community of the Punjab-region}}

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{{Infobox ethnic group

| group = Hussaini Brahmins

| rawimage = A illustration depicting Rahab Sidh Datt with his seven sons standing behind Imam Hussain in the battle of Karbala.jpg

| total_ref =

| total_year =

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| regions = India: Delhi, Chandigarh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu

Pakistan: Sindh, Chakwal, Lahore,

Afghanistan: Kabul, southern regions

| languages = Hindi, Gujarati, Urdu

| religions = 15px Islam, 10px Hinduism

| related_groups = Mohyal Brahmins, Saraswat Brahmins

}}

Hussaini Brahmins are a sect within the Mohyal Brahmin community of the Punjab region.{{Cite book |title=Non-Shia practices of Muḥarram in South Asia and the diaspora: beyond mourning |date=2022 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-367-81904-0 |editor-last=Sohoni |editor-first=Pushkar |series=Routledge South Asian religion series |location=Abingdon, Oxon ; New York |editor-last2=Tschacher |editor-first2=Torsten}}

The Mohyal community comprises seven sub-clans named Bali, Bhimwal, Chhibber, Datt, Lau, Mohan and Vaid.

However, as consistent with their Hindu tradition, they have adopted non-Indic traditions. This has led to a small sub-set of the Moyhal community paying reverence to Islam, most notably to the third Imam Hussain.{{cite web | author= Nonica Datta | url= https://thewire.in/religion/the-forgotten-history-of-hussaini-brahmins-and-muharram-in-amritsar | title= The Forgotten History of Hussaini Brahmins and Muharram in Amritsar | publisher= The Wire (Indian News and Opinion Website) | date= 30 September 2019 | accessdate=17 December 2020 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20201101130440if_/https://thewire.in/religion/the-forgotten-history-of-hussaini-brahmins-and-muharram-in-amritsar | archive-date=1 November 2020 | url-status= live }}

According to V. Upadhyaya[https://books.google.com/books?id=cmtIAAAAMAAJ&q=%E0%A4%B9%E0%A5%81%E0%A4%B8%E0%A5%88%E0%A4%A8%E0%A5%80+%E0%A4%AC%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B9%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%A3 संत-वैष्णव काव्य पर तांत्रिक प्रभाव, V. Upadhyaya, 1962, Page 181] they were influenced by the Chisti Sufis. While they wear the yajnopavita and the tilak, they take alms from only the Muslims, and not from Hindus.[https://books.google.com/books?id=A40cAAAAMAAJ&q=%E0%A4%B9%E0%A5%81%E0%A4%B8%E0%A5%88%E0%A4%A8%E0%A5%80+%E0%A4%AC%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B9%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%A3 Hamara Samaj, Sant Ham, 1957, p. 115] Some of them are found in Pushakar, Ajmer, where Mu'in al-Din Chishti is buried.[https://books.google.com/books?id=xJ8RAAAAMAAJ&q=%E0%A4%B9%E0%A5%81%E0%A4%B8%E0%A5%88%E0%A4%A8%E0%A5%80+%E0%A4%AC%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B9%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%A3 Jayasi, Malik Muhammad, Ramchandra Billaurey, 1973, p. 131] According to another tradition, Yazid's troops had brought Imam Husain's head to their ancestors home in Sialkot. In exchange for his head, the ancestor exchanged his own sons' heads.[https://books.google.com/books?id=Vcx-7gUN0g4C&dq=husaini+brahmin&pg=PA141 A Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North-West Frontier Province, Based on the Census Report for the Punjab, 1883 · Volume 2, Horace Arthur Rose, Sir Denzil Ibbetson, Sir Edward Maclagan, 1911, p. 141] Famous Hussaini Brahmins include the actor Sunil Dutt, Urdu writers Kashmiri Lal Zakir, Sabir Dutt, and Nand Kishore Vikram.{{cite web |last1=Mujtaba |first1=Syed Ali |title=Uniqueness of Indian culture: Hussaini Brahmins are Hindus but observe Muslim traditions |url=https://www.siasat.com/uniqueness-of-indian-culture-hussaini-brahmins-are-hindus-but-observe-muslim-traditions-2388090/#google_vignette |website=The Daily Siasat |date=11 August 2022 |access-date=6 August 2024}}

Few families can still be found in parts of Iraq but most families of Hussaini Brahmins are now settled in Pune,{{cite news|last1=NADEEM INAMDAR|first1=RIZWAN KHAN|title=Brahmins who went to war for the Imam|url=http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Layout/Includes/MIRRORNEW/ArtWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=MIRRORNEW&BaseHref=PMIR/2010/12/19&ViewMode=HTML&EntityId=Ar00700&AppName=1|accessdate=22 January 2016|agency=The Times of India|publisher=Times group, India|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160127211246/http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Layout/Includes/MIRRORNEW/ArtWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=MIRRORNEW&BaseHref=PMIR%2F2010%2F12%2F19&ViewMode=HTML&EntityId=Ar00700&AppName=1|archive-date=27 January 2016|url-status=dead}} Delhi,{{cite news|last1=Akram|first1=Maria|title=For Hussaini brahmans, it's Muharram as usual|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/For-Hussaini-brahmans-its-Muharram-as-usual/articleshow/45039950.cms|accessdate=22 January 2016|agency=The Times of India|publisher=Times group, India|date=5 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160122165217/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/For-Hussaini-brahmans-its-Muharram-as-usual/articleshow/45039950.cms|archive-date=22 January 2016|url-status=live}} Chandigarh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu region in India. Sindh, Chakwal and Lahore in Pakistan and Kabul and South Afghanistan in Afghanistan. Some of them also observe Muharram every year.

History

As per Mohyal oral history, a Mohyal Brahmin of the Dutt clan had fought on behalf of Imam al-Husayn in the Battle of Karbala (680 C.E.), more specifically in the storming of Kufa—sacrificing his seven sons in the process.Mohyals, Muslims and Mustafabad". The Tribune, Chandigarh. 8 August 1993 According to legend, Rahab Sidh Dutt (also mentioned as Rahib Sidh or Sidh Viyog Datt in some versions) was the leader of a small band of career-soldiers living near Baghdad around the time of the battle of Karbala.Mahdi Nazmi (1984). Reg-i-Surkh: Dut Brahman Imam Husain se Rabt o Zabt. Abu Talib Academy, New Delhi. pp. 63–71. The legend mentions the place where he stayed as Dair-al-Hindiya, meaning "The Indian Quarter", which matches an Al-Hindiya in existence today.

Other

In Ajmer, Rajasthan, a place of Sufi pilgrimage, where Moinuddin Chishti lived and passed his last days, there is even today a class of people who call themselves Hussaini Brahmins, who are neither 'orthodox Hindus' nor orthodox Muslims. Hussaini Brahmins practiced a mixed blend of orthodox Vedic and Islamic traditions. A saying in Hindi/Urdu language refers to the Hussaini Brahmans thus: "Wah Datt Sultan, Hindu ka dharm, Musalman ka Iman, Adha Hindu adha Musalman" (Well Datt Sultan, declaring Hindu Dharma and following Muslim practice, Half Hindu and Half Muslim.{{cite book|last1=Mitra |first1= Sisir Kumar |title=The Vision of India |publisher= Jaico Publishing House |location=Bombay, India |pages=229–230 (First Print 1949) }}