The Gazetteers Department

ACCORDING TO THE 1951 CENSUS MUSLIMS NUMBERED 1,51,215 (Males 76,794; Females 74,421) in Jalgaon. This is nearly ten per cent of the total population. Most of these can be classified as Sayyids, Pathans, Moghals and Shaikhs. Apart from these there is a considerable percentage of Muslims which goes by the name of their traditional occupations like Attars, Maniars, Nalband, Tambolis. A very large proportion of the present day Muslims was originally Hindus but after conversion to Islam, whether voluntary or under duress, they adopted the family name of Shaikh, Sayyid or Pathan from the religious or military or civil leader under whom they were converted. Such of them as have a strain of foreign blood are probably the descendants of Arabs who took service under the Faruqi dynasty (1370-1599) and afterwards were hired by Moghals, Marathas and local chiefs. Others of foreign extraction are the Maliks, the descendants of the first Muslim converts in the north who followed the armies of Ala-ud-din Khilji and other Ghori kings and chiefs. Besides those who claim Arab descents, some Khandesh Muslims have a tradition that their forefathers belonged to Khorasan, while others trace them vaguely to Hindustan and some say that they originally came from Ahmadnagar. Each Moghal expedition seems to have brought fresh settlers from the north. Of Khandesh Muslims, nearly a third are presumably servants and the rest traders, craftsmen, husbandmen and workers. Except the Shia Bohoras and a few who have become Wahabis, all are Sunnis by profession; in common behaviour and often in appearance they are nearer to their Hindu brethern in their various callings and occupations.

Of the four general classes named above, Moghals are very few. Others like the Tadvis, i.e., converted Bhils and the Naikwadis, probably Hindus from Mysore, once upon a time chose to call themselves Pathans. Some families of Sayyids are of undoubted foreign descent and some Shaikh families are the descendants of the house of Faruqi kings.

Dawoodi Bohoras.

The community of traders are Dawoodi Bohoras, who are Shias of the Islamia sect and followers of the Mullaji Saheb who had formerly his headquarters in Surat but who now has shifted them to Bombay. Most of them have come from Burhanpur, once the headquarters of their sect and are found more in Bhusaval, Chopda, Raver and Jalgaon. With a stain of Arab and Persion blood in some of them, they are chiefly descendants of converts of Nagars and Banias of North Gujarat. They are easily distinguished from other Muslims by their small tightly-wound white or golden turbans and skull caps, as also by their long flowing white robes and loose trousers widening from the ankles upwards and fastened round the waist into puckers with a string. Their language is Gujarati. They marry among themselves. In most of the important towns they have their own mosques; they do not attend Sunni mosques. At each of their settlements there is an office-bearer called Mulla under a superior officer who is stationed at Burhanpur. The Mulla conducts their marriage, death and other ceremonies. Bohoras are supposed to pay an annual contribution of one-fifth of their incomes to the Mullaji Saheb. They are all traders dealing chiefly in iron and hardware goods.

The twelve communities of craftsmen are Attars or perfumers, Bhandekars or potters, Kadias or brick-layers, Gai Kasabs or beef butchers, Khatiks or mutton butchers, Momins or weavers, Nalbands or farriers, Shikalgars or knife grinders, Shishgars or glass bangle makers, Sutars or carpenters and Takaras or millstone grinders.

MUSLIMS Classes. Other classes.

Of these, Attars are converted Hindus, tall, thin and fair as a rule. Their home language is Hindustani and they dress like ordinary Deccani Muslims except that their turbans are smaller. The women wear a kurta and ijar. They extract perfume from flowers and sell cosmetics, hair oils and dentifrices. Bhandekars are a small class of local converts spread all over the district. They speak corrupt Hindustani at home and dress like Marathas, but their women, put on a kurta and ijar. They make earthen pots. Gai-kasabs are local converts calling themselves Shaikhs: Their language is Hindustani at home. They sell only beef or buffalo flesh. Khatiks are also local converts. Their women dress like Hindus. They sell only mutton and neither sell nor eat beef. Momins or Julahas are local converts who embraced Islam during the reign of Aurangzeb. They weave cloth on their own or on hire. Shikalgars or armourers are a mixed class including both local and foreign Muslims. Those among them who are known as Ghasaris were comparatively recent converts to Islam under the preaching of Syed Safdar Ali, the Kazi of Nasirabad. They still maintain their identity by not mixing socially or by marriage with other Shikalgars. Formerly they used to make knives and razors, even swords and daggers. But the prohibition to wear arms and competition of foreign goods of better quality and finish ruined their trade. They returned to the land as labourers or were absorbed in other callings. Some still make a poor living by sharpening and grinding knives and razors and such other domestic implements. Shishgars or Maniars are a mixed class. They make glass or the lac bracelets and bangles. Their trade also has been practically ruined by better goods from abroad and other parts of the country. Sutars are the descendants of those who were converted during the reign of Aurangzeb. Takaras make millstones and repair them. Most of them have some skill in surgery and are known as hakims. Tambats or coppersmiths are immigrants from Marvad. They make copperpots. They took to educating their offsprings early under British rule and many entered Government service.

The three communities of husbandmen and cattle-breeders are Baghbans or gardeners, Maulas or Deshmukhs and Multanis Baghbans are local converts. Besides working as gardeners they sell fruits and vegetables, buying them wholesale and retailing them. Maulas are the representatives of the district revenue officers and village headmen, accountants and servants, who preserve their office and pay on the promise of grant of lands. They embraced Islam during the reign of Aurangzeb. It often happened that of the same family one branch became Muslim and the other remained Hindu. Not having married with Muslims, except that some men grow beard, they have remained Hindu in appearance, dress and character. Multanis who are husbandmen and cattle-breeders are the descendants of the camp followers who came with Aurangzeb's armies from North India. There are the Maliks who claim descent from the early converts to Islam during the first Muhammedans invasion in 1300. The Naikwadis are believed to be descendants of the soldiers of Tipu who during the disturbances that followed his overthrow settled in the northern districts. Originally Hindus, they are said to have been converted and named by Haider Naik. Some of them have leanings towards the Wahabi faith. Tadvis are Bhils converted by Aurangzeb. Bhangis are both descendants of converts and others who have lately come from North India.

But for the fact that a good many Muslims in Jalgaon sport the beard and have their heads tonsured, they differ little in appearance from the local Hindus. The Momins and Bohoras speak Gujarati or Kutchi at home but the other Muslims speak Hindustani with a number of Marathi words and in the peculiarly Khandesh Marathi accent. Their houses also do not differ much from those of the Hindus. The rich houses have generally four or five rooms, the front room being used as a diwankhana for men. It is decorated with a few mats, carpets and cushions. The middle rooms are bed-rooms, one of them being reserved for women of the family. There is a store-room and kitchen also with a stock of metal vessels. Houses in villages may not have well water-supply and then the women fetch water from a river or a pond without caring much for purdah which is ordinarily observed.

Food.

Muslims are meat-eaters but few can afford to have meat as part of their daily food. So their food habits also are not very different from those of Hindus. Occasionally they may take fowl, eggs and fish but millet bread, dal and rice are the daily fare. Well-to-do families may take three meals a day; others usually two. On festivals like Bakr Id, every Muslim will have meat in his menu. They do not object to beef but do not like it. Mutton is preferred by all but beef is usually consumed by the poor. Use of tobacco in some from or other is quite common among all classes of Muslims.

Dress.

In the matter of dress, a uniformity is slowly evolving. As for instance, young office-going, white collared people of all communities dress in the same way, a pair of pants and shirt or a bush-shirt or bush-coat being the latest style. Headwear is altogether being dispensed with. Yet some old patterns persist here and there. The sherwani and pyjama do still make a distinctive dress of the Muslims. Some of them use the chudidar pyjama in the Uttar Pradesh style. Salvar which is distinctively Punjabi is also used by some with the sherwani. At prayer time, Muslims wear what is called a lungi (loin cloth) reaching down to the ankles with a pahiran. Men generally wear indoors a loin-cloth and a waist-coat. Out of doors, a loose turban, coat and trousers of some sort will be usually found. Inddors women use the sari and bodice in the Maratha style but the tendency even among women is to adopt the Punjab dress of kurta, salvar and odhni.

Ornaments.

Men usually do not wear any ornaments except rings and shirt studs. Women usually begin married life with some ornaments, commensurate with the status of the husband. It is usual to present the daughter or the daughter-in-law with some costly ornaments at the time of marriage. The poor give silver ornaments.

Marriage.

Among Jalgaon Muslims offers of marriage come from the parents of the marriageable boy. The boy's father first spots a girl and if the girl's father is willing, both of them consult the Kazi and the Maulavi over the birth stars of the boy and the girl. There is nothing like prohibited degrees preventing marriages. First cousins are joined in wedlock, the only restriction being that the bride and the groom should not have fed at the breasts of the same mother. If the stars are found favourable, they settle as to what the boy's father should pay the girl's father as dowry for the girl. The girl's father usually spends the sum on the marriage. If both parties are well off, no such transactions may take place. Girls of poor and middle class families are married earlier but among the rich marriages are usually delayed over finding suitable matches. Caste endogamy and observation of some Hindu marriage customs still prevail, particularly in rural areas among the unsophisticated. Betrothal usually takes place a year or a few months before the wedding. A Kazi is present at the betrothal. On this occasion, which is usually a selected auspicious hour, the bridegroom sends the bride the present of a green coloured sadi and bodice-piece to match and an ornament like the todas, to be worn on the anklets and he receives in return from the bride's father a turban, a ring and a cloth piece. When the wedding day approaches, a pandal is erected in front of the house and the muhurtmedh is planted just as Hindus do. The rajjaka ceremony is performed at night, the main item of which is the recital of songs in praise of God and beating of drums by women of the household and relatives and often by professional players. While this revelry goes on gulgulas and rahims, heaped in a pyramid shape in two big plates are kept, the former by the bride and latter by the groom. Gulgulas are small stuffed wheat cakes and rahims are boiled rice flour balls made with milk, sugar and rose water. After offering red cotton cord, flowers and burnt incense to the pyramids of these sweets, they are broken and the cakes and balls are distributed among the women. Next day, a woman with her husband alive marks the groom's clothes with turmeric paste. This is done without the knowledge of the boy and is, therefore, called chor-halad. This is followed in the evening by savhalad, i.e., public turmeric ceremony in which the bride and the groom are rubbed with turmeric paste each separately and one after the other. This is followed by the biyapari feast at which incense is burnt in the name of Allah and the bride and the groom pray and salute all present. Friends and relatives make presents of clothes to the parents of the bride and the groom. This is akin to the Aher custom among Hindus. A feast of pulav (spiced rice cooked with mutton) or mutton and capati is served to the guests. The next ceremony is telmendi, i.e., applying oil and henna paste. This is brought from the bride's house by her sister or in her absence by some one who is like a sister. She sits behind a curtain and rubs it on the groom's palms and gets a money present. The remaining henna paste is then applied to the palms and soles of the bride.

Wedding.

Muslim marriages are usually solemnised at night. About 10 o'clock, the groom's kinsmen and friends seat him on horseback and accompany him in a procession to the bride's house. The groom is dressed in a jama, i.e., long coat and a mandil (turban) and a cloak of Jasmine or similar white flowers is thrown over his body from top to toe. The procession reaches the marriage pandal or hall and processionists are received at the entrance by the bride's kinsmen and seated. The Kazi is then called to register the marriage. Two male agents called vakils and two witnesses, one for the bride and one for the groom, stand before the Kazi and declare that they have agreed to the proposed marriage and are ready to hear evidence. Before making this declaration they approach the bride, formally repeat the name, and age of the bridegroom and ask her whether she is willing to accept him as the marital partner or not. After she gives her assent, they declare it to the Kazi and the guests present. The Kazi then asks the groom and the bride's father to sit facing each other and hold each other's right hand and registers the marriage. The sum stipulated as dowry for the girl is also registered. The bridegroom announces before all present that he has taken the bride for his wife with the said, sum of dowry. The bride's father repeats the announcement. This done the bridegroom embraces his father-in-law and salutes every one present. Then there is a music and dance party till early hours of the next day. About day-break the bride's brother calls the bridegroom to the women's apartment. The new couple is asked to sit side by side on a raised seat and look into each other's face. While they are thus seated the Kazi takes a little sugar, puts it on the bride's right shoulder and asks the groom whether he finds the sugar sweeter than his wife. He says sugar is sweet, hut the wife is sweeter and the Koran is the sweetest. The couple look at each other's face in a mirror, place their hands on the. backs of cither and make a how to Allah five times. If they are literate they read the chapter on Islam, i.e., peace from the Koran. The bride then leaves the groom who stays in the pandal or hall till the varat or home-going procession time. In this procession it is customary to seat the bride in a carriage and the groom riding a horse escorts his wife hone. When they reach the front gate of their house, they are welcomed by the groom's sisters and cousins who before letting him go in take his promise that he would give his daughter in marriage to their sons.

Religion.

Most Muslims do not attend the mosque daily for prayers but they do so on occasions like Ramzan and Bakr-Id. Yet they are particular to join the public prayers and most of them fast during Ramzan. The traditional religious functionaries of the Muslims are the Kazi who now chiefly acts as the marriage registrar, the Khatib or preacher, the Mulla or Maulana, i.e., priest and the Mujawar (beadle). Even these officers have now almost disappeared and the mosque services are now led by any learned or prominent man or a maulavi, who is usually a lawyer. The Bangi (who cries Allaho Akbar five times a day from the turret of a mosque and calls the faithful to the prayers) is invariably employed in even an humble mosque. Muslims believe in Pirs or saints to whom they pray for children or for health and offer sacrifices and gifts to them. It is the aspiration of every Muslim to become a haji by making a haj, i.e., pilgrimage to Mecca and bow to the Kaaba but few can afford to do so.

Birth.

Muslims seem to believe in Satvai like the Hindus; for. on the sixth day of the birth of a child, a silver human tooth and a small silver sickle are worshipped as her symbol. The tooth and the sickle are placed in a winnowing fan with a platter containing the heart and head of a goat and boiled rice, some cocoa kernel, two betel leaves and a betel-nut and a marking-nut with a needle through it for the Satvai to write the fate of the newly born. A feast is given to friends and relatives. The family is regarded as ceremonially unclean for forty days after child birth. The mother is given a ceremonial bath on that day and a new chess is given to her. She is also given new glass bangles. Feasts of pulao and banga, i.e., rice and mutton respectively cooked together and separately are given to friends and kinsmen. In the evening the child is given new little clothes and its hands and feet are decorated with silver trinkets. Women gather near the cradle, rock it and give the child a name which is chosen by the Kazi in conformity with the position of the stars at the time of its birth. Before naming; the child, a piece of sandalwood is wrapped in a napkin, waved about the cradle, passed from one woman to another with the words "take this moon and give the sun". After repealing this several times, they lay the niece of wood by the side of the babe and name the child.

Circumcision.

An important Muslim sacrament for males is circumcision or Sunta. It is performed at any time between a male child's third and twelfth year but it is always thought that the younger the age the better for the child. The ceremony, if elaborately gone through, may extend over three or four days. A pandal is erected as on the occasion of a wedding and the boy to be circumcised is rubbed with turmeric paste for two days. A biyapari feast is held on the second day when women, friends and relations are invited and five women with their husbands alive are asked to fast and are treated to a special dinner after the fast is over. On the third day, the boy is given a ceremonial bath, dressed in jama and a sultani shera (a veil made of net-work of flowers) and is taken in a procession to the mosque to offer prayers. On return home after mid-day meals, he is seated on a raised seat and the barber, who is called Nabi (prophet) or Khalifa (ruler) calls out 'Din Din' and skilfully performs the circumcision. Next day the barber washes the wound, turns up the foreskin with a wooden instrument called ghodi and applies oil to the wound. He is given a suitable fee for his services. In most families the ceremony is finished in a day. Instead of going to the mosque, the ceremony is also performed at home in the presence of a Kazi. The wound heals in about two weeks. To celebrate the recovery also a feast is given, but the tendency of late is to cut down the ceremony to the shortest duration possible and not much fuss is made about it.

The bismilla (initiation) and akika (sacrifice) ceremonies are now-a-days not much cared for, partly owing to ignorance of the scripture and partly because of poverty.

Funeral.

Among Muslims, the custom invariably is to bury the dead. When a Muslim dies, some near relations accompanied by a Mulla purchase a shroud 75 feet long for a man and 90 feet long for a woman and other things necessary for a funeral, viz., rose-water, scents, sulphurate of antimony, frankincense and yellow earth, a flower net when the dead person is a female. The dead body is washed with hot water boiled with bor and pomegranate leaves and then with soap-nut water and laid on the back on a wooden board. The Mulla writes the creed about the greatness of Allah from the Koran in aloe-powder on the chest and forehead of the dead and puts pieces of camphor at all joints of the body. The body is then wrapped in a shroud and placed in a bier called janaja and taken to the graveyard. While going there all mourners who are only men recite Kalma-i-shahadat and verses from the Koran. The bearers keep on constantly changing. At the Idga, prayers place, everybody prays. The corpse is then taken to the grave and buried. Everybody helps by throwing in some earth. The grave is closed and retiring forty paces from there they again pray for the dead. These prayers are called khatmas, last prayers. All come back to the house of the dead, repeat the khatmas and go home. No food is cooked in the home of the dead on this day. It is provided by others. On the third day, there is the ziarat when flowers and sabja are placed on the whitewashed grave. Feasts are held on the fortieth day. Maulud, i.e., readings of the Koran are gone through. The Mulla is paid for his services in connection with the funeral. On this day, a garland of flowers is kept hanging from the centre of the roof on a large platter filled with a number of savoury dishes. The mourners burn incense before the platter and offer prayers for the soul of the dead. At the funeral feast, tobacco is not tabooed but no pan is eaten. Muhammedan law prescribes only one form of mourning in the case of the head of the house, viz., that his widow should remain in strict seclusion. This lasts for four months and ten days.

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