Muharram during Delhi Sultanate and Mughal Period

Muharram during Delhi Sultanate and Mughal India

By Prof.Mazhar Naqvi

The observance of Muharram rituals during Delhi Sultanate and Mughal India has been a subject of very limited study. The accounts of contemporary writers of Delhi Sultanate literally offer no mention of taziadari or azadari. Even the material about the existence of the followers of Ahle-Bait under the regime of Delhi Sultans is scarce. Only Ibne Batuta has mentioned a group of people from Hejaz residing Delhi during the rule of Muhammad Bin Tughlaq. He has mentioned the settlement of Hejazi Iranians with reference to the visit of an Iraqi chief and scholar to the court of Muhammad Bin Tughlaq in his work titled Rehala. However a detailed account of the persecution of Ahle-Bait’s followers in the sultanate period is found in ‘Fatuhat-I-Ferozshahi’. The account exhibits as to how difficult was the reign of Feroz Shah Tughlaq for the survival of pro-Husaini elements in 14^th century India. Feroz Tughlaq himself has raised concern over the growing popularity of Ahle-Bait and mentions the steps he initiated to suppress the voice of their followers. He proudly remarks “I seized all such persons and when it was established that they have not only deviated from the right path but also leading others stray , I inflicted punishment on the most fanatical of them. I had their books burnt in public so by the grace of God the influence of this sect was entirely suppressed” .

The words of Feroz Tughlaq put him as the worst enemy of Ahle-Bait on Indian soil. No other ruler has so jubilantly praised the persecution of Ahle-Bait’s followers. An idea about the observance of Muharram rituals are found in the Sufi literature but that too is somewhat restricted to the shrine of Nizam Uddin Auliya. Amir Khusro, famous as Parrot of India, has also not dedicated any of his compositions to the martyrs of Karbala even though he composed two marsiyas on the death of sultan Balban’s son. His approach is strange as he was a favorite disciple of Hazrat Nizam Uddin who himself was a great devotee of Ahle-Bait and used to perform azadari in his shrine. History is also silent about the observance of Muharram during other Sultans of Delhi. This silence continues till the establishment of Mughal rule by Babur in the battle of Panipat in 1526. Babur ruled only for four years and spent most of his time in consolidating his newly acquired kingdom. He has also not mentioned much about the religious practices being followed in India during his time in his memoirs ’Tuzuk-e-Babri’.     

The growth of Imamia faith becomes only after the recapture of India by Humayun with the help of Safavid ruler Shah Tehmasp. The shah who had declared Imamia faith as official religion of his country, had sent a large army comprising of Persian soldiers along with Humayun in his endeavor to win back his lost kingdom. Most of them settled in India and introduced azadari. Humayun also donated lands in towns and villages for imam Chowks for placing tazias during Muharram. In his period,  mourning assemblies called ‘maarik’ ,( battle field) had become quite popular. In these assemblies, verses were recited about the martyrdom of Imam Husain. Akbar also followed a policy towards the observance of Muharram. He used to invite scholars of Imamia faith and Orthodox school of Islam for deliberations over the reasons for differences between the twin sects.   

An amazing description of Muharram ceremonies during the rule of Akbar is found in the work of Father Monserrate in his commentary on his journey to the court of Akbar. He saw the muharram observance in Narwar and writes “ The Musalmans fast for nine days during Muharram and eat only pulse and certain of these days some of them publicly recite the story of sufferings  of asson(Hasan0 and Hossen(Husain) from a raised platform and their words stir the whole assembly to lamentation and tears. On the last day of the festival funeral pyres are erected and burnt one after the other. The People jump over these and afterwards scatter the glowing ashes with their feet .meanwhile they shriek’ Asson-Hossen with wild and savage cries”. The unusual description gives an idea about the scale of Muharram observance in a small city, participation of people from all faiths and matam on fire during the period of Akbar.

Jahangir martyred great scholar for his Imamia leanings Qazi Nurullah Shustri (Shaheed-e-Salis) but did not place any restriction on Muharram. However, he did not encourage the ceremonies despite being under the tremendous influence of Noor Jahan and her family who all professed to Imamia faith. An interesting account of Muharram during Jahangir’s regime is found in the work of Dutch traveler Factor Palsaert who has written about a taboot procession in memory of Imam Husain. Muharram seems to have become a low key affair during the so called golden period of Shah Jehan. Though his favorite queen Mumtaz Mahal was an Imamia by faith, neither Shah Jahan nor Mumtaz ever showed any affection or inclination towards Muharram. Their orthodox son Aurangzeb tried to suppress Muharram ceremonies close on the heels of Feroz Tughlaq. He imposed ban on Muharram processions on the pretext that they were source of tension every year.

Muharram rituals once again restored their lost glory duri8ng the period of later Mughals, especially during the reign of Muhammad Shah. Imamia Nobles became important in Mughal court. The rise of Sadat of Barah further gave fillip to Muharram rituals. Badshah Begum and Sahiba Mahal who were the favorite queens of Muhammad shah and great devotees of Ahle-Bait gave patronage to Marsiya Khwani and other Muharram rituals. Dargah Kuli Khan who travelled Delhi during the time of Muhammad shah has given a detailed description of Muharram observance in his work Muraqqa-E-Delhi. He specifically mentions one Mir Lutf Ali Khan and praises him for his role as chief organizer of Majlises and also for his wonderful Marsiyakhwani at the Ashurkhana of Jawaid Khan. He has used word Ashurkhana and not imambara because he belonged to Hyderabad Deccan. He also discusses the assembly of a large crowd at the shrine of ‘Majnun Nanak Shahi’ on 10^th day of Muharram. Dargah Quli Khan has also mentioned in detail the Muharram ceremonies observed at Shah –E-Mardan complex dedicated to Hazrat Ali.

After the weakening of Mughal Empire and fall of Safavid dynasty, Faizabad, Lucknow, Murshidabad, Azeemabad (Patna) emerged as centers of azadari under the patronage of Nawabs. Lahore and Sri Nagar also developed as centers of Muharram marasims due to the untiring efforts of Majlisi family of Isphahan. As an impact of Imamia scholars like Sheikh Ali Hazin and Syed Mahmud of Yazd who settled at Banaras and Murshidabad, inclination towards muharram ceremonies continued till the end of Mughal Empire in 1857.Last Mughal King Bahadur shah Zafar showed great devotion to Ahle-bait and he openly offered prayers at Panja Sharif in Kashmiri Gate area of old Delhi. He also used to dress himself as Saqqa in memory of Hazrat Abbas and wore clothes like a fakir to pay his tribute of Hazrat Qasim.( Reference available on request)