Barethi - Pargana Chail

Road to Barethi

Turn towards Barethi

I got to see an Ekka 

Another view of the road leading to Barethi

Came across this carrier .......

                   

The Gateway of the House of Chaudhari Abdul Haq

Qabr of Chaudhari Baqar Marhoom

At the top floor of Chaudhari Abdul Haq

Small lake and the qabr of Chaudhari Baqar

House of Chaudhari Abdul Haq

Another view

the House of Chaudhari Abdul Haq from the second floor

There you see the Qabr of Chaudhari Muhammad Baqar 

House of Chaudhari Abdul Haq

Another view inside the house

Another view

Makan Ladey Bhai

House of Ghulam Family

Lake in front of the house

another view of the lake

The other part of the Ghulam family's house

An old well

With  Mr.Ghulam Irfani

Making notes With  Mr.Ghulam Irfani

With  Mr.Ghulam Irfani and others

another view over and above the lake

A view from the House Ghulam Dynasty

The house of the Ghulam family

View from the courtyard of the house of Ghulam Jeelani

With the youth of Ghulam family at Barethi

The residence of the Ghulam Family of Barethi

Lake in front of this house

The sculptured doorways from the mansion of Ghulam family 

Original House of the Purwa family inside the village

Village

Purwa

WIth the Barthi youth club

Barethi as seen from across the lake

Another click from across the lake

You are approaching Barethi

A new construction ( Makan Munna Bhai )

Northern Part of Barethi ( House of Nasrul Huda etc)

another Lake here

Primary School in Barthi

Jama Masjid of Barethi from the Back

Inscription over the door-way of Jama Masjid

Main Gate of  the Jama Mosque

Another small mosque

Goats in swing

A view of Banana Plantation

Here A denotes for Barethi

Barethi Kamalpur is a small Village in Pargana & Tehsil Chail in Kaushambi District of Uttar Pradesh State,India. It is located 25 kms towards South from District head quarters Manjhanpur

Name

The village we shall read about today is known as BARETHI. It is located in south of Pargana & Tehsil Chail in district Kaushambi today (formerly Allahabad). The name suggests that it should have been originally BADETHI as there are supposed to be a jungle of Banyan Trees where the village is situated today hence the BAD+ETHI. The other opinion which seems more close to the name is that the village was inhabited by Washermen community around the pond and that is because it got the name Barethi from the local word Baretha meaning washerman.

In the revenue records it is known as Barethi Kamalpur while there is another hamlet of this village called Kamalpur Barethi.

Now a days the government has renamed it as Barethi Amadpur (Ahmadpur) because it consists of three villages

1.     . Barethi Kamalpur           Main village
2.     . Chak Ahmad Patti          Purwa
3.    .. Kamalpur Barethi           Almost unpopulated hamlet, purwa of Barethi.

In 2001 the population of Barethi was :-

Male Population            518

Female Population         493

Total Population           1011

The numbers are certainly not true as on today. They must have been doubled during these years.

Origin

Barethi appears to have been a place of importance since the Zamindars of Sarai Aqil & Gaura placed their tents here 240-250 years ago. The landlords of this village are Shaikh of Siddiqi descent and upto this day , they hold considerable weight and have a decisive say in the matters of village.

History

Barethi Kamalpur and Kamalpur Barethi are two different villages. The village that we shall read about today is Barethi Kamalpur normally called Barethi only.

While going back into the history, we find that about 250 years ago , a Jurist named Qazi Khateebuddin was awarded a large no of villages as reward in Pargana Chail by the Mughal Government . In Allahabad the Qazi Shahr and other revenue officials used to stay at Dairah Shah Ajmal which today itself has become a Muhalla. Qazi Khateebuddin came from west , most probably from Kara / its environs and collected the farman from the Shahar Qazi or Nazim at Dairah Shah Ajmal and was asked to settle anywhere in the south of Pargana Chail where Kurmi and Gadariya castes abounded. Qazi Sahib took hold of the villages and appointed Ziledars and caretakers but did not shift to live inside Pargana Chail ( then called Pargana Ba Haveli). However his sons after his passing away moved from Kara and distributed amongst themselves villages as and when it was required and that distribution of villages later on formed a closed group of villages that was later known to be the Ath-Gawan ( Eight villages of Siddeeqi Shaikhs) descended form Qazi Khatibuddin. These 8 villages are :-

All the zamindars/siddeeqi Shaikhs of these 8 villages are Aulaad of Qazi Khateebuddin Siddiqi .

Qazi Khateebuddin’s son Ameen Miyan ( Muhammad Ameen) is the ancestor of the entire Siddiqis of Barethi  & Sarai Aqil family. Ameen Miyan's son was Muhammad Panah who settled in Gaura Muhammadpur and his family lived there for at least 100 years. Afterwards Shah Muhammad Aqil s/o Qaim Muhammed shifted his base to Sarai Aqil and within a span of 10-15 years Baqar Miyan , his nephew shifted to Barethi and here starts the history of the shaikhs of Barethi.

As per the Shajra available at Audhan and Dairah Shah Ajmal , The family moved from Makkah to Misr ( Egypt ) and from Egypt they came to Delhi and from Delhi they came to Kara Manikpur and from Kara , they finally settled in the villages of Parana Chail.

Nasab

The zamindars of Barethi are Shaikh Siddeeqis descended from Hadhrat Abdul Rahman Bin Abu Bakr As Siddeeq (Radi Allahu Anhu . They have a common ancestor as of other ATH-GAWAN of Siddiqis in Chail.

It seems that the family had main three centres of Zamindari

• The one at Audhan, it was the headquarters, the eldest son Jafar Miyan at Audhan
• The second at  Gaura.
• The third at Biyur.

Qazi Khateebuddin’s son Ameen Miyan ( Muhammad Ameen) is the ancestor of the entire Siddiqis of Barethi  & Sarai Aqil family. Ameen Miyan's son was Muhammad Panah who settled in Gaura Muhammadpur and his family lived there for at least 100 years. Afterwards Shah Muhammad Aqil s/o Qaim Muhammed shifted his base to Sarai Aqil and within a span of 10-15 years Baqar Miyan , his nephew shifted to Barethi and here starts the history of the shaikhs of Barethi.

Now in the coming centuries, from Gaura , three more villages came into being settled by Siddiqis.

•  Basawan Miyan went to Seondha
• Aqil Miyan went to Sarai Akil
• Baqar Miyan went to Barethi
• Fazil Miyan went to Akbarpur after 1857

Sarai Aqil

Mosque inside the compound of Hariharnnath Singh

Myself in front of the historial mosque of Aqil MIyan

Inside the mosque at Sarai Aqil

Inside the house of Shri Hariharnath Singh

fields at Sarai Akil 

House of Shri Hariharnath Singh at Sarai Akil

The Hujra of Shah M. Aqil Sahib inside the mosque

Sarai Aqil was registered as a Town when there were only five towns in the district in 1856.

Sarai Akil  was one of earliest towns recognised in the district of Allahabad.It grew as an Inn-town after Aqil Sahib built a Serai there and in 1856 was made a Town Area from Pargana Chail and it shows the importance of the place 150 years ago. There was no place in chail as happening and trade-ful as Sarai Aqil at that time. There was/is a route that went to Banda which itself attracted hundreds of travelers, pilgrims to stay and shop at Sarai Aqil .Trading activity was brisk and there was always fight to get a place of sitting in the Bazar of Sarai. People as far as from Banda , Rewa , came to sell their goods in the markets of Sarai that held twice a week.The remnants of that Sarai can be seen today. Markets are still held twice a week.

This all came into being after the settlement of the family of Siddiqis of Chail when they got some 35 or more villages at the side of Purkhas , Sarai Akil etc whereas the remaining 15-20 villages were on the eastern side close to modern Barethi……Now Shaikh Muhammad Aqil who was a pious, practicing and devout Muslim left Gaura and constructed a large compound for his residence in Sarai Aqil to look after the estate properly, including a small mosque inside. He looked after his large estate with the help of his attendants and having not wed, he had no son of his own. His time passed in study, ibadat and strolling along his farming lands.  He called his nephew (Bhatija) Chaudhary Muhammad Baqar (Baqir) to assist him in his task as well as to take on the responsibility after him because he wanted to go on Hajj.

Chaudhary Baqar Sahib went there but for one reason or another he could not accommodate himself with the atmosphere and thence he asked the permission of Aqil Miyan to take abode in a remote village Barethi near a pond. His uncle tried hard to persuade him not to leave him and instead sit at his place as he would inherit the entire Taluqa after him but Chaudhary Baqir Sahib had somehow developed an aversion to that place. He did not listen and came to the place which is now known as Barethi. He laid foundation of a house with a small mosque and settled here permanently. Thus Chaudhary Muhammad Baqar is the founder of Barethi.

The district gazetteer of Allahabad carries mention about Sarai Aqil as follows:

On the other hand , Shah Muhammad Aaqil had hard time controlling his urge to go Haramain Sharifaain.  He sent for Chaudhary Baqar several times to come and see him but Baqar Sahib was not interested in Sarai Aqil. Therefore having had no option, Chaudhary Shah Muhammad Aqil sahib installed his attendant, A kurmi by caste to look after his entire his large estate and look after his house as well.

At the time of departure Aqil Sahib said to the him”This entire estate and my house , I have given in your hands , If I come back from Hajj then I will regain the control otherwise this is all yours. Live here peacefully and do not oppress the villagers “

FInally Shah Muhammad Aqil went for Hajj and as it happened that did not come back and thereafter the entire estate of Shah Muahammad Aqil went into the possession of the said Kurmi who became a de facto ruler and was known as the “Bina tilak ka Rajah “in his hey days. During the last century he was the largest non-muslim Zamindar in the Pargana of Chail. Even today the house of Shah Aqil is under his gracious possession and he has maintained the small mosque of Shah Muhammad Aqil in such a clean , maintained state that when I saw the place , I could not believe that a non-muslim could be so devout and true to his words. Not to say about the person who got the property from , it is 9t or 10t generation of that guy and all these years through , they vigorously maintained the sanctity ,purity of the place and kept it as if it is in the hands of Shah Aqil.

Every day it is dusted, cleaned , perfumed and maintained like the Namazis are about to come …….When I entered the mosque , I found small flowers , a lamp alighted inside and it was spick & span like no other building I saw in Chail. I do not remember any cleaner and tidier mosque in entire Chail and adjacent to this mosque is the residence of Shri Harihar Nath Singh. 

Shri Raghuraj Singh was the largest tax payer in Chail at the beginning of this century being the owner of entire Sarai Aqil. His descendents are still in possession of large part of that estate , Shri Hariharnath Singh and Shri Arjun Singh were from the same family.  Taluka of Basohar was with this family which originally belonged to Shah Muhammad Aqil. Villages names such as Darha Taluka Basuhar and Kura Taluka Basuhar are still carrying the names of the Taluka.

Hats off to these people who have shown the world without any highlight or media glare that good word with good intention could be carried on

In this era of communal frenzy, this is an example of the composite culture that existed 200 years ago , -particularly at the level of masses.  It also speaks of the influence of piety and character on the part of Shah Muhammad Aqil Sahib that his words have been kept intact after his demise more than 200 years ago. It is a unique example of the Ganga Jamuni Tehzeeb , the result of the composite culture, the respect and adulaiton of Saint Shah Muhammad Aqil in which he is still held in the eyes of the family…………..It is interesting that whenever this family found any trader from Barethi has come at Sarai Akil , no tax was levied on him out of  the respect for the family of Shah Muhammad Aqil ( RA).

It is unique instance in a country where spreading canard of lies, hate and stereotypes  have become a norm  while those preaching peaceful coexistence and unity in diversity are getting marginalized.We should not forget that the history of peaceful co existence among Hindus and Muslims far exceeds those of conflict in the country.

On the contrary look at our ignorance and apathy that today very few know the name of Shah Muhammad Aqil , nobody remembers him, and even the people at Barethi did not know where is the Qabr of Aqil Sahib and what is their relation to this man ? The people at Barethi told me that Aqil Sahib’s Qabr is at Barethi while the fact is that Shah Muhammad Aqil did not return from Hajj and his house and mosque is maintained in such a fine condition that some non-muslims visit the mosque to get blessings even today and the people at Barethi thought it was a Qabr of Aqil Sahib.

The entire area owned by Shah Muhammad Aqil was named after him as Sarai Aqil.

Barethi Part

Now the other part of Taluka which was located near Barethi came into the possession of Chaudhari Baqar who had laid foundation of the village. His family and descendants settled on a high mound near the pond which was later known as Chaudhrana in Barethi. They were the originators and held in entirety the whole village as well as the other villages in their part of the estate. They multiplied quickly and that gave rise to their exodus to other villages where they found better prospects after their marital connections in those villages.

Qazi Khateebuddin’s son Ameen Miyan ( Muhammad Ameen) is the ancestor of the entire Siddiqis of Barethi  & Sarai Aqil family. Ameen Miyan's son was Muhammad Panah who settled in Gaura Muhammadpur and his family lived there for at least 100 years. Afterwards Shah Muhammad Aqil s/o Qaim Muhammed shifted his base to Sarai Aqil and within a span of 10-15 years Baqar Miyan , his nephew shifted to Barethi and here starts the history of the shaikhs of Barethi.

Families

There are three distinct zamindar families (Gharana) in the village as follows:-

1. Chaudharis

2. Ghulam Family - Migrants from Audhan

3. Family at Purwa ( Bagh Waley)  _ Non Chaudharis of Barethi

Except the Ghulam family of Audhan , all others are from the same tree and stem of Barethi Siddiqis.

The Chaudharis

The chaudharis of Barethi are the originator of this village who are descended from Chaudhari Muhammad Baqar. As explained above, the family originally settled in Muhammadpur Gaura and then shifted to Sarai Aqil and finally to Barethi.

Qazi Khateebuddin’s son Ameen Miyan ( Muhammad Ameen) is the ancestor of the entire Siddiqis of Barethi  & Sarai Aqil family.

The family of Chaudharis have five or six main branches

• The family of Meer Miyan of Barethi that went to Pawan.
• The family of Chaudhari Kallu , that went to Ludhaur
• The family of Chaudhray Raj Mian – went without a son,inherited by family of Audhan ghulam Jilani.
•  Chaudhari Abdul Ghani -Represented by now Chaudhary Abdul Haq and his descendants 
•  The family of Chaudhari Kamaluddin. Represented by   Nafees Ahmad Lade Sb
• Family of other Chaudharies  who are lesser known , at Chaudhra

Family of Chaudhari Abdul Haq

Chaudhari Abdul Haq Marhoom of Barethi

In the 12 Generation of Ameen Miyan Came Meeran Bakhsh who had two sons, Hurmat Ali and Abdul Ghani. Hurmat Ali had a daughter whose husband was Mohammad SIddiq inspector of Mahgaon and his sons are Abdul Mueed, Abdul Haleem , Abdul Rahman, Swaleh Sahiban of Mahgaon.Abdul Ghani had Abdul Haq who rose on to become the celebrated Chaudhary Abdul Haq of Barethi whose family is one of the most famous families amongst the Zamindars of Chail today

Chaudhari Abdul Haq was born in an atmosphere of scarcity and adversity, whatever meager lands ( reportedly only 15 Bighas) his father had , he had already bequeathed it against some cash and the family was under severe financial crisis. But this Child Abdul Haq since the age of 13 tried hard to recover the lost pride and restore the place his family once enjoyed. He even worked in Allahabad as an apprentice and later on took job as an office actuary with Dakhkhini Din of Peepalgaon. At his office he acquired specific and particular knowledge of Zamindari revenues and learnt how to purchase the shares of the indebted zamindars of Chail. He worked hard and after accumulating wealth, he purchased shares in Kamalpur Barethi and thereafter he started a flourishing trade of getting loans and purchasing shares and then repaying it through the proceeds of others. Within a span of 20 years he became a man & force to reckon with in the Chail Fraternity which earlier did not consider him noteworthy. He purchased shares in Hashimpur Kinar, Jawaharganj, Gaura, Barethi, Rasoolpur, Katra, Sursaini etc …….Eventually he replaced the Ghulam Family's supremacy and became the biggest land holder of Barethi and ever since his family has held the top slot so far. Even today the largest single Chak (120 Bighas) in Chail belongs to the same family.

He was an highly efficient manager and frugal master. He did not spend a single penny without a purpose. His effeciency was even hired (without pay ) by the Landlords of Niwan when their estate was in bad shape and under debts, he took over the reins and appointed Niyaz Husain of Bisauna as the manager of Niwan estates and it is hard to believe but he turn the tides within a span of two years and the estate which was encumbered with debts came out clearly scoring and earning profits for the owners. His bonding with Nawab Isa of Niwan was very strong and upon Nawab Sb's advice he built a house in close proximity of his Kothi at Chowk.

He contested elections for the local district boards, Panchayat and other elections and came out victorious each time. The most famous one was the 1942 election when he defeated the veteran as Shaikh Tajammul Husain of Purkhas who considered him as his nephew. He became a famous name during the pre-partition era when the big 4s of Chail held their head high. He had a knack of making connections and with the help of this quality he moved in the society with the top notch Zamindars of the entire Allahabad region and this gave him an edge over others in Chail.

This receipt of Madarsa Saulatiya Makkah 70 years ago has an historical value.( Irrespective of Amount paid)

He was the first person in Chail who managed to have a pucca road to Barethi village in 1926. This was the first ever road constructed for any remote village in Chail.He built large housing complex at Chowk,Allahabad in 1938 side by side a house in Barethi. Both the houses are still very much serving the purpose.

He lived a luxurious and playful life initially but during the last quarter of his life , he turned towards religion and made contacts with pious and saintly figures, took part in the construction of several madaris in Allahabad and abroad. He lived in Allahabad but did not go to Bartehi for 20 years or so and died in 1962.


Descendents

Eldest son, Chaudhari Annu Marhoom

Issan Chaudhary in Youth

Masood Chaudhari Now

Masood Chaudhari ( Ye Qissa hai jabka  ki Atish Jawan tha)

Chaudhari Shakeel Ahmad  

Chaudhary Abdul Haq three sons, Anwar ul Haq ( Annu Chaudhari “Band Button”) , Ehsan ul Haq ( Chhangey) , Asrar ul Haq ( Issan) who migrated to Pak.

Chaudhari Anwar ul Haq had a son named Masood Ahmad who lives in Barethi and whose sons & daughters have broken the confines of un-education and un-enlightenment attributed with the village and are on the path of educative progress today.

Ch. Mahmood Ahmad

Chaudhary Ehsan ul Haq Urf Chhangey had two sons , Chaudhari Shakeel Ahmad and Fazeel Ahmad.Chaudhary Shakeel is arguably one of more well known figures in Chail. He has been in Barethi since his birth and he spends his time looking after the property and in socializing with the people.

Chaudhary Asrar-ul-Haq Issan who migrated to Pak had a son name Mahmood Ahmad there.

Today Chaudhari Shakeel and Chaudhari Masood live in the original house built by Chaudhary Abdul Haq and enjoy being the the largest land-owner in the village as well.The positive part is that the present generation of this family has broken the confines of un-education and un-enlightenment attributed with the village and are on the path of educative progress today. Ma Sha Allah

Marriages

This family had the recent relations mostly in Qazi Rasoolpur & Mahgaon.

Family of Chaudhari Kamaluddin

The other prominent Chaudhari family is descended from Chaudhari Kamaluddin. During the years 1900-1930 , the only family of Chaudharis that held weight and wielded power was the family of Chaudhary Sharfuddin who had a son Chaudhari Kamaluddin. They were prominent land-owners and by their effective management had restored a lot of ancestral lands and at the time of Settlement in 1878 ,the village was named after him as KAMALPUR BARETHI. 

Chaudhary Kamaluddin had two sons RIyazuddin and  Imaduddin ( died at Bhopal).

Riyazuddin had three sons,  Jamal Ahmad , Iqbal Ahmad and Maqbool Ahmad. Now Jamal Ahmad had Nafees Ahmad (Ladey), Saeed and Muhammad Asif.  Iqbal Ahmad had Shameem Ahmad, Naseem and kaleem, Naeem Ahmad, while Maqbool Ahmad had Afzal Ahmad , Wisal Ahmad and Fuzail Ahmad who live in Durg (MP).

Imaduddin’ had anwaruddin and his grand sons are in Pakistan as well like Muhammad Islam s/o Nanhe , Mohammad Hasan, Mahmood Hasan (Pak) etc.

Marriages

This family of Chaudhari Kamaluddin has maintained the sanctity of bloodline and secured this earnestly. They married with great care earlier and yet continue the trend.

Family of Meeran Bakhsh Urf Meer Miyan – Migrated first to Akbarpur ( near Kasenda ) and then to Pawan. Renowned Wrestler and a icon of 1857 Nemat Ashraf was from the same family of Akbarpur who lived mostly at Pawan with his uncles.

At Pawan Meer Miyan’s family was represented by Deputy Habeebullah , Deputy Mansoob Ullah and Mahboobullah , Hifzullah of Pawan and today Khalid Saeedullah is from the same family of Barethi. ( See Pawan)

Other families of Chaudharana :

Ibadullah whose sons were Ansarullah whose sons  Aftab Alam , Naseer Alam , Bashir Alam and brothers are in Pak.

This Bashir Alam was Pradhan of the village for 10 years and is known as Munna Jangi.

Abdul Samad whose sons were Sagheer Ahmad Jailor and Aijaz Ahmad

Abdul Ahad whose sons Mohammad Siddiq and Mohammad Shafi, Muhammad Faiyyaz , Riyaz and Wasi Sahiban Muahmmad Shafi had a son name Mauli Kabeer Ahmad ( Kabban ) who was the sole scholar of religious sciences as well as Indian History. He passed away last year without an issue. Nisar Ahmad had Iltifaat Ahmad, Qamar-uz-Zaman & Mohammad Mustafa. Faiyyaz had Anees Ahmad and Azeez Ahmad. Riyaz Ahmad had Raees Ahmad and Nisar Ahmad. Wasi Ahmad had Naseem Waseem & Riyaz

Hafeezuddin had Aulad Ahmad and Jakkan , Now Aulad Ahmad has Khalid & Rashid Abdullah. Jakkan had Haroon and Muhammad Sabir.

Zamindari

Barethi in its origin was a large zamindari and was part of the taluka that was held by Shah Aqil , This taluka was later date created with the name of Basuhar. Part of the Taluka Basuhar went into the hands of the owners /successors of Sarai Aqil . The other part was with a family of Chaudharies in Barethi. Therefore Barethi had a great name amongst the Zamindars of Chail. In the following I would summarize the biggest landowner

Era                   Princiapal Landholder of Barethi

1790- 1830        Chaudhary Muhammad Baqar

1830-1860         Raj Miyan 

1860-1870         Shahid Miyan 

1870-1890         Shaikh Nusrat Ali of Audhan (Succeded Shahid MIyan)

1890-1920         Ghulam Jeelani

1920-1930         Ghulam Yazdani , Ghulam Rabbani and Chaudhari Kamaluddin (Shared )

1930-1952         Chaudhary Abdul Haq – Chaudhary Anwar ul Haq etc…

Here we can see that the village was  originally founded by the Chaudharies who must have been the sole proprietors which later on got divided into various shares and eventually from Shahid Miyan it went to Nusrat Ali of Audhan who came to inherit his Khalu’s property and thence his family held the entire taluka till the end of Zamindari.

The Ghulam Family 

The Old Gateway of the Nusrat Ali (Ghulam Family)

Facade of the building now only in picture

The  doorways half-buried in the ground

The Tomb of Nusrat Ali of Audhan

The Residence of Ghulam Family at Barethi

Lake in front of the house

The Tomb from other side

The Ghulam Dynasty or the Ghulam Family of Barethi

The founder of Ghulam family is Sheikh Nusrat Ali who after getting the share of property from Shahid Miyan moved from Audhan and settled in Barethi .As we know that Audhan belongs to the same family tree of Shuyukh Siddiqis descended from Shaikh Khateebuddin. 

It is learnt that Shahid Miyan Chaudhari was the Taluqdar of Barethi at the time of 1857 upheavel but he had no son. When he grew old , the question arose of inheritance, he did not want the entire estate to go into the hands of his paternal kinsmen (i.e Chaudharies ) and he instead called his sister in law’s son Nusrat Ali From Audhan. Nusrat Ali of Audhan was a highly ambitious , capable person with excellent managerial qualities. He not only took care of the inherited estate , he made further purchases in the form of shares of several villages like Chandrasen, Ludhaur, Dulapur, Jaraini, Bhitura, Newada, Alampur ,etc etc which catapulted him into the league of the biggest four Taluqdars of Pargana Chail.

The Big fours ( Big4s) of Pargana Chail in 1857

• 1.    Bamhrauli Taluka Ibrahimpur
• 2.    Bisauna Taluka Adampur
• 3.    Behka Taluka Ahmadpur
• 4.    Barethi Taluka Basuhar

Shaikh Nusrat Ali was much respected and was a man of genial nature. His prominence was further enhanced when he married his sisters and daughters into the four leading families of Chail as mentioned above and for the next 50 + years , they did never marry outside these four or the closest relatives of these four. For generosity, munificence and boundless good nature, very few contemporary zamindars were equal to him. He had no vice in his character but complacency, thriftlessness and extravagance exhibited in the government and management.

BUT

Alas ! This prominence and supremacy could not be continued owing to the habit of extravagance. His son was moderate but his grandson Ghulam Yazdani stood idle and spent heavily on ceremonies, marriages, dances & music so extravagantly that became deeply involved in debt, and by 1870 one-half of the villages had passed into the hands of the money lenders. He did not heed and still increased the debt by protracted litigation with other pattidar.

Thereafter, around 1912 their area under zamindari declined further; as they were unable to meet their revenue demands, whether due to the excess of the demand or to their own extravagance or inefficiency, the government auctioned their estate in 1915.

Give me liberty to say that the weakness of character of the owners ruined the fortune of Barethi and their downfall, which lies principally in their obsessive love for pomp and extravagance, classical music and the extravagance with which they consummated this passion took them to dooms.

Today their present generation has nothing as compared to their ancestors except the stories of the yesteryears……..

Han dikha de ai tasavvur pir wo subh o sham tu !

Laut picchhe ki taraf ai gardish-i-Ayyam Tu !

Here is the shajra of descendents of Nusrat Ali of Audhan nee Barethi

A page from Khewat showing Mohal Shaikh Ghulam Rabbani

Mohammad Siddiq had Maqsoodullah and Matloob Ullah

Ghulam Rahmani – No Issue

Ghulam Haqqani -  had Ghulam Mannai and Ghulam Yazdan II i-  Now Ghulam Mannai had Farogh Ahmad who have  Waseem Ahmad, Muiz-ur-Rahman, Waheed and Hidayat-ur-Rahman  -  While Ghulam Yazdani II had Mabood Ahmad , Maqsood Ahmad, Mahfooz Ahmad & Mashooq Ahmad, Gulam Ammani and Nafees ur Rahman. Mabood Ahmad has two daughters Faria & Maria.

Ghulam Samdani -  No Issue

Ghulam Sultani  - had Ghulam Furqani who had two sons, Fazl-ur-Rahman and Iqbal-ur-Rahman , now Fazlurrahman has Hafeez-ur-Rahman and Zia-ur-Rahman while Iqbal has Abdul Rahman. Ghulam Sultani Sahib was an influential person who held the office of Pradhan of the village for more than two decades.. Fazlur Rahman marhoom was a famous personality with a royal bearing , popularly known as Fajju Zamindar.

Ghulam Wahdani  - had a son Ghulam Hamdani and then Ghulam Hamdani had four sons, Ghulam Usmani, Ghulam Jeelani, Ghulam Hannani (Pak), Ghulam Irfani. Now Ghulam Usmani has Asim , Ghulam Jeelani have Shahid, Afzal & Nusrat , Ghulam Hannai has Kashif & Shoaib, Ghulam Irfani has five sons, Mohammad Atif, Nasir, Zaki, Yasir & Bilal Irfani.

Note : There were two Ghulam Yazdanis in this family , the earlier was a spendthrift who sqandered away almost the entire estate while the later one just opposite , Ghulam Yazdani II  who was the father of Mabood Ahmad etc , was a sedate, sympathetic , unflurred and genial person who look after the entire clan as his own children.

Ghulam Hamdani Marhoom

Iqbal ul Rahman and Farogh Ahmad

Fazlur Rahman Urf Fajju Zamindar Marhoom

Hifz ur Rahman

Marriages

Since the family in its hey days were one of the leading landholders , they contracted marriages with their counterparts only namely with Bisauna, Bamhrauli, Mindara , makhaupur etc ......

Maulana Shah Ghulam Wahdani Alias Shahid Miyan– Barethi

The Ghulam Family produced a sage of his time and a luminary amongst the gnostics of the era. I mean Shah Ghulam Wahdani , son of Ghulam Rabbani who went to Ganj Muradabad and Lucknow to learn Islamic sciences and came back as a accomplished Aalim and Da’ayi. He started advising people to live a life according to the Shariah. A sign of his piety and god-fearing status is that ever since he returned from lucknow , he did not live in his father’s house nor did he take any food there because he thought that the proceeds and income from Zamindari has certain things that makes the entire income ill-gotten or improper.

He lived in the mosque and did his prayers peacefully there. The sound of his Zikr ( Recitation ) could be heard as far as the village TILGODI. People from that village came to check if someday they could not hear to his divine voice full of Allaah’s Zikr.

In the later part of his life , he took to travelling for Tableegh and did not stay at Barethi. During one of his sojourns he was staying at Kachi Dargah, Patna and suddenly died there. Hearing of his death the Ulama of Kachi Dargah reached the place and laid him to rest at Chhati Shareef at the banks of River Ganges , near Kachi Dargah at Patna. Mawlana Waiz-ul-Haq was the main care taker of Kachi Dargah then.

May Allaah shower his immense blessings upon him !

Muneerpur /Chak Ahmad Patti / Purwa family

This is another important family which did not enjoy Zamindari status because they did not have an estate as compared to their village kinsmen.Hence this was the first family that took jobs outside , rushed to have  education and eventually many of them had to step out of the village to eke out a living. Though at a later date they had purchased several shares in the village as well as in Village Rehi apart from their old hereditary part at Chak Ahmad Patti and  Munirpur and Rehi. They lived with their kinsmen inside the village but shifted their base at the beginning of this century and today they are found in all three sides of the village.

This is the original house of the Purwa Family located inside the village

Bagh 

Purwa ( Chak Ahmad Patti)

Purwa / Bagh

Another viw

Around 50-60 years ago the family shifted its base from inside the village to an open place near the large orchard making known themselves as Bagh Wale. They are also descended from Shaikh Muhammad Ameen, the common ancestor of Barethi.

Their near ancestor is Shaikh Tajuddin who had a son named Fazl Imam miyan . Now Fazl-i-Imam had one son Shaikh Munir-ud-din who fathered four sons, Wali Muhammad, Sajjad Husain, Nazeer Ahmad, Wakeel Ahmad. Munirpur is a nearby hamlet who is named after this Muniruddin Miyan. 

Annu Khule Button ( Jb.Anwar ul Haq)

Now Wali Muhammad had Jawad Husain (4 daughters only), Altaf Husain(Lawalad) & Lutfullah who had Anwar-ul-Haq and now Anwar-ul-Haq  had Zamir-ul-Haq (Ahmad Miyan) & Jafar-ul-Haq alias Mohammad Miyan , Zamir ul Haq is father of  Muhamad Hashim Urf Munna and Muhammad Asif while Jafar-ul-Haq had Faizi.

This Anwar ul Haq II of Purwa was called Annu Khule Button while Anwar ul Haq from Chaudharana was called Annu Band Button. This Annu of Purwa emerged as a powerful person after the abolition of Zamindari and in post-zamindari era he was indeed a person of power to reckon with. His son Zamir ul Haq was also an influential person and his Son Munna Bhai has also been an important person of Barethi as on today. He has built a fine house in Barethi and this family still lives in the village

Sajjad Husain had four sons,  Iqbal Ahmad, Sarfaraz Husain, Umrao Husain and Muhammad Ahmad. Here again , Iqbal Ahmad had Raees Ahmad residing at Bamhrauli and Idris Ahmad (Dularan) at Kanpur while Sarfaraz Husain had Mahmood Ahmad and Naseem Ahmad living at Barethi , Umrao Husain had five sons namely Janab Mansoor Ahmad (Sukkhan) Lawyer at London whose son Adnan Mansoor is a scientist in LA in United States,  Farogh Ahmad who served at GM of Olympic Airlines at London whose son Wasif Farogh is at London, Farooq Ahmad Alias Niraley , Mansoob Ahmad (Pyare) are at Kareli & Mahfooz Ahmad is associated with Jamia Millia at Delhi. At last Muhammad Ahmad who fathered Mabood Ahmad, Mashooq Ahmad , Aafaq Ahmad and Nehal Ahmad ( Daily Pradhan).

Nirale Baba

Nehal Ahmad Urf Daily Pradhan served as pradhan of Bartehi for 10 continuous years and is quite well known .

Jb. Nehal Ahmad ( Dialy Pradhan)

Nazeer Ahmad had  Qadeer Ahmad who had  Azeez-ur-Rahman Urf Lalli who migrated to Audhan in his maternals. His son is Anees Ahmad at Katahula.

Wakeel Ahmad had Er.Kafeel Ahmad (UP Irrigation) who fathered four sons , Aqeel Ahmad, Jameel Ahmad (Pakistan), Jaleel Ahmad & Khaleel Ahmad.

There is a collateral branch of this family represented by Noor-ul-Huda,Shams-ul-Huda, Misbah-ul-Huda, Nasm-ul-Huda, Najam-ul-Huda etc 

From the other branch of this same family was Daan Miyan whose descendents was Yaqoob Ahmad and Yaqoob Ahmad had Maulvi Ilyas Ahmad and Shafeeq Ahmad . Maulvi Ilyas Sahib was a teacher whose sons were Shabbir Ahmad (Lucknow) , Zameer Ahmad , Akhlaq Ahmad jameel Ahmad etc in Pakistan while Shafeeq Ahmad settled in Malaak, Mahgaon before migrating to Pakistan , his sons are Mr.Razi Ahmed and Mr. Mubeen Ahmed.

Migrations

Inward

Family of Nusrat Ali of Audhan came to inherit the property and his descendetns known as the Ghulam Dynasty or Ghulam Khandan is still very much there and their details are in the following paras.

Outward

Chaudhari kallu from the Chaudharana migrated to Ludhaur , a hamlet nearby with original name as Muhiuddinpur Chandrasen.

Meeran Miyan of Barethi (from Chaudharis branch) migrated to Akbarpur first and then to Pawan and settled there. The famous Deputy Habibullah and Deputy mansoobullah are from the same family.

Ludhaur

Ludhaur - Makan Jailor Sahib

Fine Lake encircling the village

House

Buffalo & Woman - both at work

Masjid at Ludhaur

Goats at Ludhaur

Family of Chaudhari kallu – migrated to Ludhaur

Chaudhary Kallu during 1860-1870 married twice , one the marriages being not at par of his status, was criticized severely to the extent that the children of his first marriage asked from him their share and separated from their father , left Barethi and settled in a village Ludhaur or Ladhaur. The name of this village is Muhiuddinpur Chandrasen known as Ludhaur.

Chaudhari Kallu's two sons actually form the part of the Ludhar Siddiqis

One was Ikramuddin Siddiqui famous as Shaikh Jee and the other was Jalaluddin Siddiqi

Shaikh Jee had four sons out of two marriages. Eldest was Maqbool Ahmad and then was Iqbal Ahmad, Jabbar Ahmad and Afzal Ahmad ( Jailor ) Now Maqbool had Mahmood Ahmad who has also expired. Then was Iqbal Ahmad who sons are Matloob Ahmad, Mansoob , Nabi Ahmad and Rashid Ahmad mostly at Lucknow. Jabbar Ahmad shifted to Shahdol ( MP ) and his sons are Saeed Akhtar (syed Bhai) , Hafiz Owais Akhtar and Waseem Akhtar. Now Afzal Ahmad Jailor who was arguably the most famous of the Ludhaurian guys had fours sons , Mahfooz , Ayyub , Maqsood and Tariq Ahmad, only the last one is presently living at Mundera.

The Other brother Jalaluddin Siddiqui had five sons namely , Mahboob Ahmad, Asrar , Abrar , Maashooq and Maabood Ahmad.

This is all what Ludhaur has made a name for .

Epilogue

Barethi was as famous village as it is today but the times and circumstances have changed. Yesterday Barethi was known to be a pure Zamindari village, the testimony to its fact is that the guys of Barethi did not join services or took up employment till very late. Even today this is the village which has the least count in employment index .  Zamindari and the hues of the Zamindari were so strong that it resulted in severe neglect of modern Education. This is not the story of a family or two , the entire village was enjoying the fuits of ignorance and darkness of mind throughout the century. I don’t think there was a single graduate in Barethi till partition. Even after partition , there are people on tips of our fingers who got modern education and in my opinion this was the only drawback that Barethi suffered from so far.  

But

Despite this lack of so-called modern education, the people of Barethi had lesser vices than their other kinsmen in the Pargana of Chail. There was never and even now no practice of gambling and no habit of drinking found in the fraternity.  There was no series or chain or skirmishes and killings known or reported from Barethi. Stray incidents of petty skirmishes are ignorable  but With NO GAMBLING , NO DRINKING and NO KILLING , Barethi has to be put in the first pedestal in Pargana Chail as no other village with so much of influential landlords could put a check on these major vices in their village. This is something that there is no rival of Barethi in other settlements of Chail.  As they say that villagers have insight which civilized people lack and Barethi is an example of the same. 

Secondly , the village has still maintained its old world charm. There is a Raunaq inside the village, you still feel you are in a village of the textbooks and you don’t fin desolate or forlorn houses, Crumbling walls or broken doors here, almost all the houses are intact and are open to receive you. To me this is most populous (zamindar) , lively and Ba-raunaq village in Chail because the migrations were few and the village was not left unattended. The lowest no of migrations were from Barethi.

Banana Plantation has flourished and gave heavy fruitful returns to the cultivators in Barethi and today the economy of a good chunk of the landowners depend on the Banana Crop.

Further It has not transformed into a urban or semi-urban township in terms of human relations & connections. The charms of nature around the village justifies the remark of poet Cowper that “God made the country and man made the town. There is an ancient pond in the middle of the village and that gives a splendid look from anywhere you peep in. I am reminded of a poem

The ancient pond

Frog jumps in

Plop!

The Zamindars have gradually lost their estates but have not lost their grip over the village. They are still held in awe and have maintained the prestige of their houses and this is again unmatched with any other village in Chail.

Though I am not sure how long would it be able to hold its originality as the signs of modernity have started coming up.

The important observation that I would like to share with our brothers at Barethi is that the more I wander so much here and there, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance.It could destroy a company ... a village ... a home. If we cannot change the inevitable but still we can change our attitude... !  You have the talent and are competent enough to turn the tide, just have a look at our attitude coupled with a enlightened mind, you can create a history. Or might rewrite it again. Learn a lesson from the past as the Qu'raan says"

Fa'tabiroo Ya Ulil Absaar”  (So take heed, O you who have insight!)

Leave

With these lines I have come to time of taking leave and hopefully this is going to be a long leave as I am moving out of country , leaving these beautiful places , the land of my forefathers behind for some greater cause. Let’s pray that I & You keep our ties intact with our roots and nourish them for the posterity.

Let me depart wit the words of a poet :

Aankhain khuli rahengi toh manzar bhi ayenge

Zinda hai dil to aur sitamgar bhi ayenge !!!

Pehchaan lo tamaam faqeeron ke khadd-o-khaal

Kuchh log shab ko bhes badal kar bhi ayenge

Gehri khamosh jheel ke paani ko yun na chedh

Chheente udey to teri qaba par bhi ayenge

Khud ko chhupa na sheesha garon ki dukaan mein

Sheeshe chamak rahe hain to pathar bhi ayenge

Ai shehryaar dasht se fursat nahi — magar!!

Nikle safar pe hum to tere ghar bhi ayenge

WRITE TO ME @

khalidkoraivi@yahoo.com 

     OR

khalid.bin.umar@gmail.com
















Was’salaam

Khalid Bin Umar

New Delhi