Hallaur


Hallaur or Hallor village is located in Domariyaganj Tehsil of Siddharthnagar district in Uttar Pradesh, India. Domariyaganj is the nearest town to Hallaur village.
The name was derived from Chapter Hal-ata of the Quran by Meer Syed Shah Abdur Rasool. It has a maternity home run by the state government. Bhatangwan village was merged into Hallaur and became a de facto part of Hallaur.
It is 44 kilometres southwest of Siddharthnagar district and 49 kilometres north of Basti district headquarters, neighbouring Domariaganj its headquarters.

History

As per historical evidence some 335 years ago, a noble and small family of Sayyids, led by Shah Sayyid Abdur Rasool along with his family migrated from the Persian City of Toos to India during the Mughal period. Shah Syed Abdur Rasool later came to be known as "Meera Baba". He was a devout Twelver Shiite.In fact ancestors of more than 20% of present sadaat population was migrated from nearby villages such as Pandri, Sisai, Bhuigaawan, Pokhra, Bangawaan and Pipra during the past 250 years. Some migrated even 50 to 60 years ago.
Meera Baba's tomb is in the heartland of Hallaur and old natives of Hallaur who are descendants of Meera Baba and his brothers revere him a lot. Every year urs of Meera Baba is commemorated and attended by huge number of people. A huge gathering pay their homage and recite verses of the Quran at his tomb daily especially on every Thursday. As per historical evidences Mughal Emperor Alamgir II visited Hallaur and was so impressed by Meera Baba's charms and divine power that he gifted five villages to Meera Baba. Shah Abdur Rasool Trust is still functional in Hallaur. The trust is responsible for maintenance of Bada Imambargah, maintenance of tomb of Meera Baba, organising anniversaries, etc. Day of Ashura procession on 10th Moharram, mourning procession of 7th Moharram and similar other processions are organised by the trust round the year from the grants released by Shia Central Waqf Board in favour of Waqf Shah Alamgir II.The present trustee is Janab Naushad Haider Rizvi, Advocate.
It has been said by the local Hallauris that Meer Shah Abdur Rasool faced hard-hitting confrontation from the tribal settled in Hallaur who were known as "Tharus". The Tharus asked Meera Baba to prove himself being a true Syed and show some miracles commensurate with their magical performances. Meera Baba once brushing his teeth with a Reetha stick sowed the same in the land within the premises of today's Jama Masjid of Hallaur. Within few days a sapling emerged. The whole Tharu community became his followers and most of them embraced Islam. That miraculous tree is still alive at the entrance of Jama Masjid. Hallauris keep the leaves of that tree as trophy. All Hallauris believe that as long as Meera Baba is in Hallaur, this a secured place. This area was named Hallaur either by Meera Baba or by his brothers. It is a prominent place near Domariaganj in the District of Siddharthnagar of Uttar Pradesh in India. Generally the natives of this area are small landlords and agriculturists by profession. Soon they realized the importance of education and as such presently they can be found in. Generally they visit Hallaur on few occasions such as Muharram. Hallaur was actively involved in first war of Indian Independence. Begum Hazrat Mahal of Awadh took refuge on her way towards Nepal when she was being chased by British Army. Her small contingent was safely helped and guided by Shah Kabeer Ali under the leadership of Meer Muhammad Bakhsk. The British Army punished the Hallauris for this.
No murder or any other heinous crime has yet occurred in Hallaur.

Demographics

As per the Census held in India in 2001, Hallaur has a population of approximately 25000 people, 50:50 men to women. However, after amalgamation of neighbouring Bhatangwa village with that of Hallaur, now Bhatangwa is part of Hallaur and with that Hallaur has an estimated total population of approximately 18,000 to 20,000 people including those of the adjoining areas. Residents of Hallaur are referred as Hallauris. Most of the Hallauris practice the Shia Islam religion with considerable population of other faiths such as Sunni Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and a dozen Christians. Christians also have their missionary School and Hospital named as St. Thomas on Highway No. 26 of Hallaur.
Most of the Hallauri Muslims are Twelver Shiites. Around 85% of entire population is Muslim out of which more than 90% Shiites are from the Syed families, they are predominantly devout Shias. The remaining 15% of population has Buddhists and, Hindus and Christian population.
The Hindus settled in Hallaur have decades old history. They were given land by Syed landlords to settle down with their families in Hallaur. A separate locality of Dalits still exists in Hallaur on the land provided by Syeds. They have a good rapport with the other communities of hallaur.

Education and literacy

The literacy rate amongst the people is considerably higher than other people living in surrounding area. Due to unemployment, people of this town are compelled to work in metropolitan cities, the Middle East and other countries for their living. A substantial number of people work in the government sector.
Religious educational institute like Madrasas was established by the Late Alhaj Syed Ali Hasan Rizvi and is running successfully. The Modern school was established by late Qazi Adeel Abbasi, the late Hashmat Ali, the late Ghalib Husain, the late Mohd Iliyas,the late Samar Hallauri, the late Mohammad Husain, the late Lutf Haider, the late Itait Husain, the late Dr Nazeer Hasan and the late Sultan Ahmad in 1952. The district board also runs four schools and three primary schools. There are some privately run schools also in Hallaur. Makhtab and Madrasas are the preferred sources of religious education for all preferably for women. Fine arts, craft and composition of Urdu poetry are major hobbies of native Hallauris. Hallaur has hosted All India Shia Conference which was attended by important religious leaders and also hosted the executive body meeting of "Anjuman Wazeefa Sadaat wa Momineen."

Culture and religion

Hallauri are influenced by Persian as well as Indian culture. The language used by them is unique too. Being a Shiite-dominated town, Hallaur is becoming a Shiite center of eastern Uttar Pradesh because of its sizable population of Shia Muslims.
A huge gathering can be seen during the month of Moharram. The great and renowned scholar and theologian from Saran district of state of India "Allamah Sayyid Sa'id Akhtar Rizvi” who actively promoted Islam in East Africa and wrote number of books on Shiite theology and jurisprudence had served as Imam of Jama Masjid of Hallaur in his early days. The late Haider Mahdi who was also a good orator. Itrat Hallauri, Qais Hallauri and Allamah Samar Hallauri are the greatest poets Hallaur has ever produced. Khurshid Hallauri and Jamal Hallauri are known for their classic poetry. Mayal Hallauri and Baqar Hallauri, teachers by profession, were also local poets. Sada-e-Dil was the epic which was composed and recited by Samar Hallauri on the opening day of All India Shia Conference. Upon him was conferred the title of 'Allamah' by AISC presided by 'Maulana Kalbe Abbas' the 'Fakhr-e-Qaum. More than three quarters of the population of this place is scattered throughout the world and other places like Mumbai, Lucknow, Delhi, Aligarh, Bangalore, Pune and Gorakhpur. However, most of the immigrants of this town are well connected to their roots as they frequently visit their motherland especially during the month of Moharram. A monthly Hindi magazine 'Dost Ki Baat' edited by Nafees Haider Hallauri and a newspaper named Hallaur Sandesh edited by Roshan Rizvi, another newspaper 'Watchman', edited by Helal Haider Rizvi also give glimpses of Hallauri thoughts and culture. Badshah Husain Rizvi contributed in Hindi literature. 'Parivartan' a Hindi magazine was a good effort of Sultan Ahmad Rizvi and his brothers. Jamaali Sahab has also written several Urdu novels which were published with the assistance of UP Urdu Academy. Presently, much work is being done by Dr Wazahat Rizvi in respect of Urdu literature. At the cultural level, Sultan Ahmad Rizvi and his brothers established 'AAG' which has done commendable work in the field of Art, Drama and Theater. Mr. Hasan Abbas Rizvi ex. program executive All India Radio has contributed much in the field of radio drama. He had written, directed and played main character of Bhola, which was immensely popular, in very popular radio drama series Jharokha highlighting social problems, broadcast for more than 10 years continuously in eighties from Gorakhpur center of All India radio. District-level representation of the Indian People's Theatre Association was also representation of Hallaur, position of district secretary & president was with Adv. Manzar Rizvi and Khurshid Ahmad respectively. Anwar Abbas Rizvi residing in Gorakhpur also contributed in the field of radio and TV. Hallauris are a unique community and most of them have the same resemblance.
"Anjuman Farogh Matam" and "Anjuman Guldasta Matam" are the registered organisations behind all religious activities of Hallauris. "Anjuman Urooj Matam" is the youth wing of Farogh Matam and "Anjuman Ghuncha Matam" is the youth wing of Guldasta Matam. Every Hallauri is either affiliated to Farogh Matam or Guldasta Matam. Unlimited religious activities are performed by both parties round the year. Locally, Farogh Matam is named as Hari Party whereas Guldasta Matam is nicknamed as Kali/Safed Party. Almost every religious scholar of the country has visited Hallaur once or more to participate in Majlises organised by Farogh Matam and Guldasta Matam since almost last 100 years. AL Haj Ahmad Raza Rizvi who has delivered taqreer at Karbala Hallaur on the day of Ashura continuously for 56 years, Maulana Hasan Abbas Fitrat, Maulana Syed Ilmul Hasan Rizvi,Maulana Syed Zawar Hussain Rizvi, Maulana Chand, Alhaj Tafseer Hasan, Maulana Lakhte jigar, Jamal Haider, Qaiser Abbas, Khushter Abbas, Er. Mehdi Abbas and Er. Aftab Haider and many other religious scholars of Hallauri origin are doing/have done their level best to propagate Islam in different parts of India and world. "Anjuman Yadgare Husaini" is the mother Anjuman of all Anjumans. The late Ali Hasan Tehsildar was the person who had institutionalised and streamlined the activities of this Anjuman and was instrumental in making it financially strong. Karbala of Hallaur is a major place of mourning for Imam Husain ibn Ali. Earlier it was only for burial of Taziya and few other occasional events but in recent past Karbala has emerged as an important place of worship and social gatherings. A Mosque-cum-Imambargah was constructed by the late Er. Sayyid Badrul Hasan in the premises of Karbala. Much construction has continued since then. Several shrines were recently constructed and several are underway.
Shrines so far constructed in Karbala premises of Hallaur are as follows:
Shrines planned to be constructed in Karbala premises of Hallaur as of March 2010:
  • The Shrine of Syedah Fatimah Zahra daughter of Muhammad.
  • The Shrine of Abbas ibn Ali, already a Dargah in name of Bab ul Hawaej Abbas ibn Ali exists in Hallaur.
  • The Shrine of Syedah Sakinah bint Husayn, already a small Imambargah exists in name of Sakinah Bint al Husain within Hallaur.
  • The Shrine of Ali Asghar Ibn Husayn, constructed recently at Babulganj Muhallah.