Hussaini Brahmans: A bridging community, Hindu by religion, Islamic by faith

By Col Satwant Singh Gill

The Hindu society for ages has been divided in 4 Varnas and various Jatis. The Brahman were supposed to be educated & religious ones, the Khastraya the warriors; the Vaish the traders and the other daily activities; Shudras to do the minial work. Manu in his ManuSmriti further strengthened the order of Varnas with punishment for those who went against it. When Islam came to India it further added to the complicated equation especially as the later were in power. The British as rulers made the most of it to rule over India. In the present times, the atmosphere of divide and mistrust has been the same if not increased.

Shia Muslims whose many traditions are followed by Hussaini Brahmans like Taziyas. 

However in such times there is still one community which is Hindu by religion but Islamic by faith. These are the Hussaini Brahmins!!! How did it happen? There is a whole history behind them. But first we go into a brief about Brahmins and then the story.

The Brahmins over the times have been divided into various clans mostly based on regions- Mohyal's (Dutt, Chibber, Bakshi) are  mainly from Afghanistan, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtoonwa, Sharma's from northern part of India like Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, HP etc, Maithli's from Gangetic plains and Central India, Iyer's & Aiyengar's from South India,Mahitaya's from North East, Peshwas/ Chitpavan from Deccan and various others spread all across the country.

Out of these clans one caste, the Dutt/Dutta of Mohyal Brahmin clan call themselves as Hussaini Brahamans. As per legend they are the children of Rahib Dutt. Rahib Dutt fought on the side of truth with Imam Hussain and in that infamous war lost his seven sons and many of his kith & kin. How they landed in Iraq has two versions of the story. As per one account they were courtiers based at Lahore and went there to support the imam. Other story says that they were based in Baghdad, probably due to diplomatic duties or as cloth merchants. 1400 Hussaini Brahmans joined the Battle of Karbala alongside Imam Hussain. According to them, they were participating in Mahabharata of their times representing the side of truth. However unlike Mahabharata Imam Hussain lost and his life could not be saved against the superior forces of Caliph Yazid IbnMuawiyah. It is also said Rahib was childless for long time.  He had his 7 children only with the blessing of Imam. They were born to serve the Imam and fulfilled their destiny sacrificing their lives for him.

Battle of Karbala where Rahib Dutt and his 7 sons participated. The 7 sons were martyred in the Battle

After the war, the family of the Prophet blessed Rahib Dutt and  is said to have given the name of Hussaini Brahmin to Rahib & his family as blessings.

Rahib is said to have left Bahgdad after the war for India. However many of the Brahmins were still said to be left behind. Over many centuries many of them have either converted to Islam or left for India. There still today a place known as Dair-i-Hindiya or Indian quarter strongly pointing towards the story.

In Pre Independence India most of the Husaini Brahmans were settled in cities of Lahore, Sheikhpura, Dipalpur and in Sindh. After Partition these families migrated all across India in cities of Pune, Pushkar, Indore, Jammu & Delhi. A part of them are said to have merged with Kashmiri Pandit's and Bhumihar's of Bihar

When in present times, a strong undercurrent of communal distrust is present in Indian society, Hussaini Brahmans sound like oxymoron. A section of the community even takes out Tazias every year during Muharram. A report in Times of India pointed in one of it's report of Mr Rakesh Kumar of Shadipur heading the Kalyanpuri Tazia. The popular saying for the community is "Wah Dutt Sultan, Hindu ka Dharam Mussalman Ka Iman, Aadha Hindu Aadha Musalman" (Wow Dutt Sultan, Hindu by Religion, Muslim by faith, Half Hindu Half Muslim a rough translation)

Besides Taziyas, there are many examples where Hussaini Brahmins have contributed to many Shia traditions like composing Marsiyas, constructing Imambaras. Chunnu Lal Dilgeer(1778-1846) one Hussaini Brahman of 19th Century composed 70000 couplets in praise of Hussain and War of Karbala. Mewa Ram was another member & a great follower of Imam and constructed Imambara at Lucknow besides arranging Taziadari at him home.

Sunil Dutt is a Hussaini Brahman. Nargis though a muslim was from a Hussaini Brahmin converted family

There have been many famous Hussaini Brahmins- Sunil Dutt (Actor), Lara Dutta (Actress), Padam Shri winner of Birendra Nath Datta and Arpita Singh (Earlier Dutta), JP Dutta (Film Producer of Border fame), Divya Dutta (Actress), Barkha Dutt (Journalist) and many more. Nargis a muslim was from a family of Hussaini Brahmins converts to Islam (& Married to a Hussaini Brahmin Sunil Dutt- A ghar wapsi probably in modern terminology). In Indian army many Mohyal have risen to the highest ranks and play a very important role as modern fighters.

Lt Gen M.L. Chibber one of the many Generals from the Mohyal Brahmins

Besides Hinduism & Islam, the Husaini Brahmans played a great role in Sikhism too. Bhai Mati & Sati Das who were martyered with Guru Teg Bahadur were Chibber Brahmin before converting to Sikhism. Bhai Praga was another Chibber who was a martyr was with Guru Hargobind (6th Guru). In later times of Sikh Misls, Mai Karmo who was incharge of Katra area of Kanhaiya Misls (Capital at Batala) was another Mohyal. Some infamous personalities associated with Sikhism were also from the community like Diwan Dina Nath, Pandit Jallah and General Lal Singh during times of Anglo Sikh Wars. However this would be true for people from any community

Bhai Mati Das & Bhai Sati Das were Chibber Brahmins by ancestory

Whatever be the case, the community surely is a great link between Hinduism & Shia Muslims and can be even extended to Sikhism. Shia Islam has surely been a much more peaceful sect in Islam. They have been voters of Atal Bihari in Lucknow where they reside in great numbers (Globally Iran is leader of Shia world). Not only have they been such a strong link between these two religions, they have played a strong role in building modern India. In such vicious times, more people should know about this unique community and help to try to get over the narcissistic tendencies that has crept into most of the religions.