^ -1 A SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY OF MUSLIMS OF ALIGARH Ph. D. Thesis in Partial Fuifiiment of reqirement for the degree of Ph. D. in Sociology. by Supervised by ]>i*. A. HAleexn Si<ldliqui DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY ALYGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY ALIGARH Session flBBB I9d0»8l ^J*ft /f^- >' -' -', s*". .._•> v-/ t. < 0 \uA 1383 T2271 > •SA ^J^^ •%>- -T7 FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES (DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY) ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY, ALIGARH, Certified that Mr, S. Maqbool Hasan, Ph.D. student in the department of Sociology has completed his thesis " A Sociological Study of Muslims of Ali- garh" tmder my supervision and guidance. His vraric is original and is completed within the required period, (DT) Abdul Haleem Siddiqi SUPERVISOR. PREFACE / The present vrork " A Sociological Study of Muslims in Aligarh" attempts to study the various social aspects of the whole Muslim community which is divided into different sections and sub-sections all over the District, ^It equally traces hov; far the Muslims of this particular area differs in their social customs and Ixaditions from the rules of Islam to which they adhere,/^ At the outset I started this st\xdy on the basis of certain facts vifhich came before me on my personal observations of the city Muslims as well as Muslims residing in its adjoining areas, I marked in the very beginning some social, cultxoral and traditional disparities in between the Muslims of this District as well as the Muslims residing in Eastern Utter Pradesh, This disparity created in my mind a curiosity to trace all those factors which differs from the Muslims of Eastern Utter Pradesh, specially the »Nau-Muslims of this area who traditionally differs in several respects. The solution of the above problems began to clear before me when I started to study the local his-tory of Ali­ garh, The District Aligarh being situated in the «Duab» of the two rivers, Ganges and Jamuna, from its earliest time have been the main dwelling place of the various races and tribes. Thereafter, it remained -under the domination of Hindus, Muslim and Christian rulers. Thus from its ancient time, in this »DuabS there floiarished Hindu, Muslim, English cultvjres and traditions* Ihe historical study of District Aligarh solved various problems as, when Muslims came to this area? What changes Islam brotJght on the manners and customs of the local inhabitants? How far new converts were Islaminizedl? How far the immigrant Muslims were indianized by the impact of native's cxiltiare and religion? What was the role of Britishers in this area? To which extent Eng­ lish science and technology influenced the local inhabitants? What were the basic factors which brought the revolution of 1857? This is most regretable that no authentic book on the history of Aligarh so far has been written. These problems in fact, had to be studied from the historical documents in their time sequences as the same were necessary to explain ' in the light of my personal observations in the present time* The past history of the Muslim community inhabited in this area has been neglected, instead of, the natiire of different sections and sub-sections of the whole Muslim commu­ nity of District Aligarh has been discussed. The problem to what extent these Muslim groups share the characteristics of Hindu divisions and why these divisions among Muslims are called castes, has been tried to explain. In Hinduism the caste system is an integrated part of the social order, Islam theoritifially discards the same. The Islamic society from its various aspects is an egalitarian socio-religious system. It discourages groupism in Muslimjcommianity. Anti-Islamic formation of such diffCT-ent autonomous and mutually differen­ tiated groups and communities have brought into lime-light. This is deplorable that too little has been vstritten so far about the development of caste behavioiirs and attitudes of the Muslims in India, No doubt, the caste system is a Hindu phenomenon and the structural basis of Hinduism is the caste system (Srinivas, P,81&- 195S)• The same fact from my point of view is applicable upon the Muslim community all over this country, which adopted the same phenomenon as their social structure. The truth, how the Muslim commu­ nity of this area, in the course of time adopted Hindu social system and stratification, as well as how the »Nau- Muslims' retained their original caste practices, when Islam is devoid of all such things, has been tried to test here. The study of the three cultures of this area demar­ cates the process of assimilation of caste system among the immigrant Muslims as well as the preservation of old prac­ tices among the local »Nau-Muslims*• There are certain castes still among Muslims in this area~which practices^ Hindu and Muslim religions both on the occasion of marriages and births. The report with the Muslim householders residing in different Mohallas of Aligarh proved not much helpful. The respondants specially out of clean lower castes hesitated in telling their caste and origin. Most of them told other than their original castes. For the correct assessment of the same the census reports of District Aligarh as well as District Bulandshahar and the adjoining Districts for the period of fifty years (1881-1931) have been consulted, which provides comprehensive datas regarding the caste affiliation, occupation, education of the Muslims of the different Tehsils of Aligarhr Apart from census reports Regional Glossaries and Account of Tribes and Castes among the Muslims of this particular area have been thoroughly examined, The compa— rative study of these records gave considerable assistance in examining how various castes, in the course of time dis­ appeared and how new castes out of new socio-economic changes came into the eod-stence. The whole study of Muslims in District Aligarh is spread into five chapters. The last chapter is deputed to­ wards the conclusion. The first chapter deals with the his­ tory of this »Duab' and its old inhabitants, the establish­ ment and rise of the Muslim community, their social, cultural and religious impact upon the natives of this area, the mo­ dernity and changes brought by Muslim rulers in this area. The second chapter deals with the downfall of Mughal rulers, the rise of English power, their social, cultural changes, the influence of new science and technology, the influence of new institutions and the causes of revolt of 1857, The third chapter deals with the ethnological account of the various Muslim castes resided all over the District, The information towards this end have been gathered from the local his-tory of l>istrict Bulandshahar written by Lach- man Singh as well as Mangal Sen Patwari in Urdu, At that time both the Districts were combined together. The book written by Mangal Sen Patwari in 1865 is rare, its extracts, I consulted with the assistance of one of my friends Kunwar MeraJ Ahmad Khan» The other book written by Lachman Singh, I got to consult by the coiartesy of Librarian, Historical Research Centre, Muslim University, Aligarh, This book is also rare and out of print. The information which I could gather in the field work are primarily concerned with the social organisation, religious believes, customs and tra­ ditions. Among lower class Muslims, there are certain castes which are much larger and spread into the remote corners of the different villages of Aligarh, Such castes left unstudied here. The fourth chapter deals with the social and religious institutions of Muslims, their Islamic laws, religious and ceremonial festivities, marriage and birth rites, expressing all irreligious traditions which differs to the Muslims of other parts of Uttar Pradesh, The fifth chapter deals with the superstitious and syncre­ tic believes of the Muslims, either the same permeated among them being living since a long in the association of the natives or developed among them itself out of their own whims and fantasy. The ciarsorary light have been casted- upon several habits which is strictly prohibited by Islam, as endogamous and hypergamous pattern of marriages, traditions of Hindu marriages prevalent among Muslims, worship of gods and goddesses, process of social mobility and social rise. -^- specially in the present changing situation. In the end I must not forget to thank Dr» Abdul Haleem Siddiqui, Department of Sociology, Muslim University, Aligarh, who has been my guide and supervi­ sor in the present work, I am deeply indebted for his valuable siJggestions and personal encouragements, which led the cart on the right path, otherwise the present study could not reach to its completion along by me. With the assistance of his wide experiences in the dis­ cipline, I managed to collect all relevant reading mate­ rials without any loss of time and energy. His direc­ tions prior writing each and every chapters proved most helpful, for which I am very much obliged, I also thank to my friends for their kind assistances towards this study as well as colleagues of Department of Sociology, Muslim Univer.sity, Jiligarh who gave me their sincere advices towards this end. S.Maqbool Hasan, (Ph,D. Student) Department of Sociology, Muslim University, Aligarh, -vii- A SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY OF MUSLIMS IN ALIGARH PREFACE - P. i - vi CONTENTS P, vii -ix CHAPTER « I : KOL, KOIL OR ALIGARH ,. P. 1-57 I, A» Introduction ; The Torai and its old inhabitants. Castes and Tribes of Aligarh, B, Social Change: Muslim Rule in the Town, Planning and Rehabili­ tation of the Town, II, A. The Administration of Town Kol under Muslim Rule, CHAPTER - II BRITISH DOMINATION END OF MUSLIM RULE P.58-147 I, Cohesion and Conflict in the District Aligarh. (a) Causes of Conflicts:- 1, Economic Bacploitation, 2, Social and Re­ ligious Discontentments, 3.