ewpakhistorian

Khanzada Caste: The Bhale Sultan

In this post, I stick with the state of Uttar Pradesh, and look at the Bhale Sultans, a community of
Khanzadas found in Uttar Pradesh. There name is a combinationation of the Sanskrit, Bhala, a kind of
arrow or spear and the Arabic word Sultan meaning lord. The Bhala in medieval India was a type of
spear given only to army commanders, and possession signified leadership. So technically, any army
commander was a Bhale Sultan, but the title is now restricted to a specific community of Hindu Thakurs
and Muslim Khanzadas found in the Awadh region and Bulandshahr district of Uttar Pradesh. In fact,
when we talk of the Bhale Sultan, we are really talking about two distinct communities, those of
Bulandshahr and those of Awadh, each with their own origin myths. In the introduction to my article on
the Ahbans, I discuss the exact meaning of the word Khanzada, and I ask the reader to look at that post.

Bhale Sultan of Bulandshahr, Aligarh and Mathura

In Bulandshahr, the Bhale Sultans are found mainly in villages around the ancient town of Khurja.
According to tribal traditions, there ancestor was Sidhrao Jai Sinh, a Solanki Rajput of Anhilwada Pattan
in what is now Gujarat. A descendent of Sidhrao, Sarang Deo, a nephew of the then Solanki Raja of
Gujarat, settled in the ancient city of Baran (now known as Bulandshahr), which was then part of a
principality ruled by the Dor clan of Rajputs. These Solanki were then granted an estate of eight villages
by Prithvi Raj Chauhan, as a reward for services rendered during the Mahoba war. Most of the country
was inhabited by the Meo community, who Sarang Deo and his followers conquered. His grandson,
Hamir Singh, obtained from Shah ab-ud-din Ghori the title of Bhala Sultan or lord of the lance.” From
then on the clan became known as Bhale Sultan. Kirat Singh was seventh in descent from Hamir Singh,
and his descendant, Khan Chand, seven generations later, converted to Islam during the rule of Khizr
Khan and took the name of Malha Khan. His son, Lad Khan and his nephew, Narpat Singh, who divided
the property between them, moved from their homes at Arniyan and Kakaur to Khurja during the reign
of Akbar and received the office of Chaudhri. Over time, the Bhale Sultan, both the Muslim branch
descended from Lad Khan and Hindu branch descended from Narpat Singh became effective rulers of
Khurja. At their height, the Muslim branch owned forty-four villages and the Hindus of the same clan
thirty-two villages and-a-half. However, with rise of Kheshgi Pathans of Khurja, the Bhale Sultan power
declined, with further losses when the British conquered the Doab in the early 19th Century.

The Bhale Sultan of Mathura have a slightly different origin story. According to their traditions, they are
descended from Sarang Deo, a nephew of the Raja of Gujarat, who took service under Prithviraj and
perished in the war against the Gahadavala rulers of Kanauj. For this, his descendant was rewarded with
the lands in Bulandshahr. It was his grandson, Hamir Singh, who took service with the Raja of Kanauj,
and obtained through him and Shahabudin of Ghor (1149 – March 15, 1206) the title of Bhale Sultan.
The seventh in descent from him, Kirat Singh, distinguished himself in the campaign of Delhi ruler
Ghiasuddin ((reigned: 1266–1287) against the Meos, and obtained their lands as a reward; while Khan
Chand, the seventh in descent from Kirat Singh, turned Muslim to please the Muslim governor under
Khizr Khan.

Bhale Sultan of Awadh

In Awadh, there are several communities of Bhale Sultans, each with their own origin myths. The most
important are those communities found in Faizabad and Sultanpur.

Among the Bhala Sultan of Sultanpur, there is a tradition that four hundred years ago Rai Barar, son of
Amba Rai, brother of the then Raja of Morarmau, commanded a troop of cavalry recruited entirely from
the Bais clan in the service of the Mughals, and was deputed to exterminate the trouble sum Bhars (an
indigenous community) in the Isauli Pargana in present day Sultanpur District. Having accomplished his
task, he returned to Delhi and presented himself at the head of his troop before the Emperor, who,
struck with their manly bearing, exclaimed, “Aao, Bhale Sultan” meaning “come, spear of the Sultan”.
Palhan Deo, great grandson of Rai Barar, is said to have been converted to Islam during the rule of Sher
Shah Suri. From this branch of the Bhale Sultan descended the taluqdar families of Deogaon, Mahona
and Unchgaon. In addition, the more minor Muslim Bhale Sultan formed the main landowning group in
the north-west corner of Sultanpur district, then forming the parganas of Isauli, Musafirkhana and
Jagdispur

In Faizabad, the Bhale Sultan claim descent from Rao Mardan Sinh, who is said to be a Bais Rajput, of
Dundiya Khera, who was a horse-dealer by profession. During a visit Gajanpur, in Isauli Pargana, of the
Sultanpur District, where there was a fort of the Rajbhars, which the Thakur is said to have captured. His
son, Rao Barar, entered the service of the Sultan of Delhi, and as he was a good horseman and clever
spearman, he obtained the title of Bhale Sultan. One of his descendants, Baram Deo, obtained the title
Khanzada from a Sultan of Delhi, and from that period his descendants have been called Khanzada.
While a little known tradition, in Rae Bareli claims that they were Ahirs who were raised to the rank of
Rajputs by Tilok Chand, a legendary figure in Awadh history. Outside Faizabad and Sultanpur, Bhale
Sultan are found in Barabanki District, in several villages near the town of Subeha. While in Sultanpur
District, there are several settlements near Jagdishpur, such Makhdumpur, Kachhnaon, and Nasura.
Other settlements are found in Gonda, Bahraich, Balrampur, Shravasti, Kheri and Raebareli districts.

The Bhale Sultan Taluqdars

In Awadh, several Bhale Sultan families held the position of Taluqdar. A Taluq or district under the
Mughals usually comprised over 84 villages and a central town. The Talukdar was required to collect
taxes, maintain law and order, and provide military supplies/manpower to the provincial government
(similar to the role of feudal lords in Europe). In most cases the Talukdars were entitled to keep one
tenth of the collected revenue. However, some privileged Talukdars were entitled to one quarter and
hence were called Chaudhry, which literally means owner of the fourth part.

In the Kingdom of Awadh, by beginning of the 19th Century, about 60% of its territory was in the control
of taluqdars, who were practically independent. They held judicial rights over there subjects, and
maintained small armies. With the arrival of the British in 1856, the taluqdar lost their semi-
independence, all they remained substantial landowners. The Bhale Sultan Khanzadas, who had control
of substantial parts of Faizabad and Sultanpur. As already discussed, Palhan Deo, the great-grandson of
Rai Barar, is said to have converted to Islam in the reign of Sher Shah Suri, and from him are descended
the three Khanzada taluqdars of the clan. Fifth in descent from Palhan Deo came Munnu Khan, who had
two sons, Mubarak Khan and Pahar Khan.

The Taluqdar of Deogaon

Palhan Deo is the first Bhale Sultan to have converted to Islam is the ancestor all three of the Bhale
Sultan taluqdari families. Fifth in descent from Palhan Deo came Munnu Khan, who had two sons,
Mubarak Khan and Pahar Khan. The descendants of the Pahar Khan became the taluqdars of Deogaon,
while from the former come the taluqdars of Mahona and Unchgaon in Sultanpur.
The taluqdar of Deogaon were styled as Raja till 1850, when Raja Bhure Khan was ejected by the British
colonial authorities for the supposed ill-treatment of his tenants and his property made over to Jamshed
Ali Khan, the son of his brother, Azam Ali Khan. Jamshed Ali obtained the sanad for the taluqa, but his
property at his death passed to his father, Azam Ali Khan, who held the estate for many years. He was
succeeded by his second son, Mustafa Ali Khan, from who descend the Rajah of Deogaon. The taluqdari
included lands that lay partly in Faizabad and partly in Sultanpur: in the latter the estate owned four
villages and three pattis, and also, conjointly with the Makhdumpur estate of seven villages and four
pattis in Isauli and Jagdispur; while in Faizabad possessions lay in the Khandasa pargana and comprised
ten villages.In Sultanpur district, the Deogaon family were in possession of Kishni, Kachnaon, Fatehpur,
and Alamau, four villages and three pattis, and the estates that lay in the parganas of Isauli and
Jagdispur.

Mahona and Unchagoan

The grandson of Mubarak Khan was a Parwez Khan, who had three sons, Lahras Khan, Darya Khan, and
Sadi Khan. The Mahona Taluqdars decend from Nihal Khan, the son of the first, was the greatest of the
Bhale Sultans. He succeeded to an estate comprising the greater part of the old Sathanpur pargana in
1715 in present day Sultanpur; and erected the fort of Nihalgarh as a base of operations for plundering
and annexing the lands of his neighbours. During the course of thirty years, he acquired almost all the
lands of the Mandarkyas of Kishni, a rival Khanzada community He was killed in 1745 in a quarrel with
Maigal Khan, the son of Sadi Khan, who acquired the Jagdispur estate, but lost it in 1750. ·He was
succeeded by Raja Arre Khan, a nephew of Nihal Khan. After his death the estate was divided, and
Mahona fell to the lot of the younger son of Nihal Khan, whose grandson, Ali Bakhsh Khan, received the
sanad.

From Darya Khan, the second son of Parwez, descended Babu Dargahi Khan of Unchgaon, who was
confirmed his estates by the British at the time of his conquests of Awadh in 1856.

Distribution of Bhale Sultans by District According to 1891 Census of India

District Hindu Muslim

Saharanpur 17 27

Meerut 20
Bulandshahr 6,370 4,790

Agra 59 3

Farrukhabad 9 6

Mainpuri 36

Badaun 11

Shahjahanpur 9

Pilibhit 19 4

Kanpur 11 75

Fatehpur 3

Banda 1

Allahabad 824 18

Lalitpur 2 2

Benaras 15 86

Jaunpur 25 3

Ghazipur 7

Gorakhpur 35 64

Basti 155 53

Azamgarh 122 29

Lucknow 17 283

Unnao 5 38

Rae Bareli 377 372

Sitapur 20 23

Lakhimpur Kheri 3 108

Faizabad 757 687

Gonda 406 352

Bahraich 108 271

Sultanpur 8,016 4,607

Partapgarh 49 17

Barabanki 329 735

Total Population in UP 17,320 12,670

Distribution of Muslim Bhale Sultan According to the 1901 Census

District Population

Sultanpur 4,674

Mathura 1,925

Bulandshahr 1,475

Gonda

1,054

Faizabad 625

Barabanki 395

Rae Bareli 354

Meerut 333

Bahraich

214

Pratapgarh 158

Lucknow 94

Basti 72

Other Districts
Total Population 11,608

This is my second post looking at some important Muslim communities in India. All the communities
looked are members of the Khanzada community. The Khanzada or Khan Zadeh are a community of
Muslim Rajputs found in the Awadh region of the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, India.

The Khanzada comprise a large numbered of dispersed intermarrying clans. These exogamous groups
are made up of myriad landholding patrilineages of varying genealogical depth, ritual, and social status
called biradaries or brotherhoods scattered in the various districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh. The
biradari, or lineage is one of the principal point of reference for the Khanzadas, and all biradaris claim
descent from a common ancestor. Often biradaris inhabit a cluster of villages called chaurasis (84
villages), chatisis (36 villages) and chabisis (26 villages). Important biradaris include the Bachgoti, Bais,
Bhale Sultan, Bisen, Bhatti, Chauhan, Chandel, Gautam, Sombansi and Panwar.

The sense of belonging to the Rajput community remains strong, with the Khanzada still strongly
identifying themselves with the wider Rajput community of Awadh, and often refer to themselves as
simply Rajput. This is shown by the persistence in their marriages of Rajput customs, like bursting of fire
crackers and sending specially made laddoos to biradati members. Many members of the community
continue to serve in the armed forces of India, an activity traditionally associated with the Rajputs.
However, like other Indian Muslims, there is growing movement towards orthodoxy, with many of their
villages containing madrasas.

I also wish to add a quick word about the term Taluqdar, which appears quite a bit in this post. Taluqdar
in Persian literally means a holder of a Taluq, and were often appointed during the period of Mughal
rule in India. A Taluq was district usually comprising over 84 villages and a central town. The Talukdar
was required to collect taxes, maintain law and order, and provide military supplies/manpower to the
provincial government (similar to the role of feudal lords in Europe). In most cases the Talukdars were
entitled to keep one tenth of the collected revenue. However, some privileged Talukdars were entitled
to one quarter and hence were called Chaudhry, which literally means owner of the fourth part. As
Mughal authority weakened, the taluqdar became independent rulers, only paying lip service to the
Nawabs or rulers of Awadh. The khanzada families made a large part of the taluqdari class in Awadh.
This semi-independent status ended when Awadh was annexed by the British in 1856.
Ahbans

The Ahbans Khanzada are Muslim converts from the Ahbans clan of Rajputs, who are found mainly in
the Awadh region. According to William Crooke, the word Ahbans probably comes the Sanskrit ahi,
meaning dragon,” which may have been the tribal totem, and bans meaning clan. The Khanzada or
Muslim branch of the tribe are found mainly in Lakhimpur Kheri and Hardoi districts of Uttar Pradesh.
The Ahbans provided the taluqdar families of Kotwara, Jalalpur and Raipur, and the zamindars of
Bhurwara, Ghursi, and Amethi.

Origin

According to their tribal traditions, they are descended from two brothers, Gopi and Sopi, who are said
to have been members of Chavda Rajput community of Gujarat. The Chávaḍás are connected with the
Chápas of Bhinmal and Chápa of Wadhwan, medieval dynasties that ruled in western India, and maybe
of Gurjara origin. Some scholar believe they originated from Indo-Scythian community, who were also
based in western India. Their origin is also placed in Saurashtra where their capital was at Deobandar
near Somnath. Dharanivaraha of Vardhamana’s grant mentions the etymology origin the word Chapa or
bow of Shiva. The Chavda dynasty ruled region of modern-day northern Gujarat, from c. 690 to 942.
Variants of the name for the dynasty include Chapa, Chahuda, Chávoṭakas and Chāpoṭkata.

The two brothers, Gopi and Sopi, are said to have come into Awadh shortly after the overthrow of
Chavda rule in Gujarat. They were said to have been living in Anhalwarra Patan, the capital of the
Chavda Dynasty. The brothers then went on a pilgrimage to the shrine of Gaya around, around the tenth
century AD. On their return, the brothers settled in Gopamau and Bhurwara in Lakhimpur Kheri District.
Gopi established his control over Pargana Gopamau, in Hardoi, and a descendant of the latter took
possession of Pataunja, near Misrikh, in that Pargana. They became effective rulers of Kheri during the
period of the Mughal Emperor Humayun, a position maintained until the arrival of the British in the 19th
Century.
Groups of Ahbans started to convert to Islam during the rule of Bahlol Lodhi, the Sultan of Delhi, who
appointed his nephew Mohammed Farman Ali, also known as Kalapahar, as governor of Bahraich. This
Kalapahar is said to have induced the conversion of the Ahbans ranas of Lakhimpur Kheri to Islam. The
Ahbans Khanzada provided the taluqdar families of Kotwara, Agar Buzurg, Chauratia, Kukra, Jalalpur,
Raipur and Gola. The author of the colonial Gazetteer of Lakhimpur Kheri writes as follows about them:

The Ahbans number over 3,000 souls, of whom the majority are Muslims; their dominions were once
very extensive, covering about 4,000 square miles in Kheri, Hardoi and Sitapur and including in thie
district the belt of land between the Jamwari and the Kathna and stretching northwards to the Chauka;
at present, owing to the force of circumstance~, their property is greatly reduced, but this tract is still
full of members of this famous clan.

Of the Muslims, the converted Ahbans hold 82 villages.

The Ahbans of Lakhimpur Kheri, were the effective rulers of the region, till the arrival of the British in
1856. Many of their vast estates once owned by members of this clan, both Hindu and Muslim, were
lost, although several families remained as taluqdars..

The first Ahbans to have converted to Islam was said to be a Rajah Mal Sah, who is said to have gone to
Delhi, the capital of the Mughal Empire, during the reign of Shah Jahan. Included in his descendants
were two brothers, Baz Khan and Fateh Khan, and during their time all Bhurwara was seized by the
Saiyids of Barwar. Both brothers left numerous descendants, and after the overthrow of the Sayyids in
the early 18th Century, the Ahbans recovered most of their lost possessions. Baz Khan had twelve sons,
of whom eight left no issue, while from the two elder sons, Sangi Khan and Tarbiat Khan, descend the
taluqdars of Kotwara, Jalalpur and Raipur, and the zamindars of Bhurwara, Ghursi, Amethi and
elsewhere. Fateh Khan’s descendants moved north and settled around Kukra and Gola, acquiring
between 1821 and 1832 a large tract of country. During the last ten years of Awadh rule, the .Ahbans
suffered very heavily at the hands of their Hindu kinsmen of Mitauli and the taluqdars of Oel and
Mahewa. Lone Singh seized Kukra and Mailani; the Raja of Oel swallowed up Bhurwara, Chaurathia, and
Siathu; and the Thakur of Mahewa took Bansi and Saunkhia Sunsarpnr. They thus were deprived of 72
villages, all mortgaged or sold for very inadequate sums and under great pressure; the owner of Siathu
being subjected to torture and threatened with death. The Khanzadas only recovered half of these by
redemption of the mortgage, and in 1860 there were several large estates owned by the Ahbans. In
addition to the three large taluqas there were the Muslim properties of Chaurathia, Gola and Kukra and
the Hindu estates of Bansi and Saunkhia Sansarpur, as well as many smaller properties in Aliganj,
Haidarabad and Paila, although located in Lakhimpur Kheri district.

Jalalpur Estate

Tarbiat Khan had three sons, the eldest being Muhammad Hasan Khan, who held Jalalpur in the early
18th Century, when he owned twelve nankar villages in addition to his share in the family estate. He was
succeed by lbadullah Khan, with whom the British authority’s, after their takeover of Awadh, granted 13
villages in Aliganj under the name of Agar Buzurg. During his lifetime he made over the property to his
son, Niamatullah Khan, who died in 1868 and was succeeded by his widow. At her death in 1884 a
relative, named Muhammad Lutfullah Khan, obtained the estate by purchase. The Kotwara estate
consisted of the Mirzapur taluqa of eleven villages and one mahal in pargana Bhur, and two villages,
known as the Jalalpur estate, in Paila.

Kotwara Estate

From the second son of Tarbiat Khan come the zamindars of Bhurwara and Cbaurathia, and from a third
came Qadar Bakhsh, who in 1801 eastablished control over a large area, with the aid of Awadh revenue
officials. He held it till the British annexation, with whom he sought confirmation of his estate. He died in
1859 and the property, then comprising 24 villages in Karanpur and Haidarabad, assessed, passed to his
widow, Chand Bibi, who held it for her infant son, Azmatullah Khan. The latter died, and the widow
continued in possession till her death in1886. She was succeeded by-her daughter’s son, Saiyid Raza
Husain, whom she had adopted. The estate eventually consisted of 14 whole villages and two mahals in
pargana Haidarabad, and the Rampur Gokul estate of eleven villages and two mahals in Paila. The
Kotwara taluqdars also owned a small estate of Pachhim Bilaon in Bara Banki. The present Raja is Syed
Muzaffar Ali, who is a Sayyid, and not a Khanzada.

Raipur Estate
The taluqdar of the Raipur Estate were descended from Bahadur Khan, the younger son of Baz Khan. His
descendants settled in the Sikandarabad pargana, and by degrees amassed a considerable estate. Over
the 19th Century, taking advantage of week control by the Awadh authorities, acquired an estate at
comprising 14 villages and one mahal in Haidarbadand the village of Pipra and one mahal of Kondri in
Puila. The current Raja is Muhammad Sher Khan.

Sectarian Affiliation

While the taluqdar families are Ithna Ashri Shia, most farming families belong to the Sunni sect.

Distribution

Found mainly in Kheri, but a second cluster of settlements found in Bangarmau in Unnao.

In Kheri many are found in and around the town Bhira, Aliganj and Bijua.