Ahmad Hindi


Syed Ahmad Musavi Hindi was an Indian-born Iranian Twelver Shia Muslim cleric. He was the paternal grandfather of the supreme leader of the Islamic republic of Iran, Ruhollah Khomeini.

Biography

India

His family migrated towards the end of the 18th century from Nishapur, Iran to Oudh in northern India. They settled in the town of Kintoor, Barabanki district. Zayn al-'Abidin al-Musavi, who was progenitor of Syeds of Kintoor, was the great-great-grandfather of Syed Ahmad. He was born in Kintoor.

Iraq

In about 1830, he permanently left India, initially on a pilgrimage to the tomb of Ali in Najaf, Iraq. According to Moin, this movement was to escape colonial rule.

Iran

He visited Iran in 1834 and bought a house in Khomeyn. He later purchased more land in and around Khomeyn, including an orchard and caravanserai. These properties remained in the family up to modern times.
By 1841, he had married three wives: Shirin Khanum, Bibi Khanum, and Sakineh, all from Khomeyn. He had five children, including a son named Mostafa, who was born in 1856 in Sakineh.

Death

He died in 1869 and was buried in Karbala.

The Hindi ''nisba'' (title)

He continued to be known by the nisba ''Hindi, indicating his stay there. Even Ruhollah Khomeini used Hindi as a pen name in some of his ghazals. Ruhollah Khomeini's brother was known by the name Nur ed-Din Hindi''.