Family History
Family History
I have a copy of a handwritten document titled “Qazian-e-Kotana” authored by Salah-ud-Din Ahmed Tahir son of Qazi Mehman-ud-Din Ahmed with an acknowledgement to Munshir-ud-Din Ahmed Asad, son of Qazi Musheer-ud-Din Ahmed. Another companion is an image of a published document compiled from a narration by Mubashar-ul-Abedeen and Musharrif-ul-Abedeen (my paternal uncles). It is titled Siddiqian-e-Kotana and is part of a collection titled Shajra-e-Almas [by Kafeel Ahmed Almas Yamani, 1956]
The documents state that the patriarch of the Qazis or Siddiquians of Kotana, Mullah Abd-us-Samad came from Bokhara to Delhi with the caravan of Khudawandzada Qiwam-ud-Din. These further state that he was invited by Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlaq on the recommendation of the famous traveler Ibn-e-Battuta.
Based on the narration above, the arrival of Mullah Abd-us-Samad has to be somewhere between 1334 to 1341 AD (the period of Ibn-e-Battuta’s presence at Delhi).
There is mention of Khudawandzada Qiwam-ud-Din, a Qazi of Tirmiz (in present day Uzbekistan) who arrived with Ibn-e-Battuta in historical accounts [The Delhi Sultanate - A Political and Military History, Cambridge University Press (1999)] and in Ibn-e-Battuta’s writings [https://archive.org/stream/TheRehlaOfIbnBattuta/231448482-The-Rehla-of-Ibn-Battuta_djvu.txt].
Apparently Qiwam-ud-Din held an office called Wakeel-e-Dar (in-charge of royal household) after being promoted by Firoz Shah Tughlaq from an assistant or Naib-e-Wakeel-e-Dar during the reign of Muhammad bin Tughluq.
The second document states that Mullah Abd-us-Samad was appointed as the Qazi of Delhi, while the handwritten one notes that he was Qazi for the region around the village of Kotana in the Baghpat district of the Meerut division, Uttar Pradesh province. The area was given the name Islamnagar and included 360 villages.
Within the administrative structure set up by the Muslim rulers starting with the Khilji dynasty a Qazi was a judicial officer who dispensed civil laws based on Muslim personal law. There also came to be an office of “Sadr” for receiving appeals and complaints. Though it was a separate office, but was often held by the regional Qazi.
An alternate account of the arrival of Mullah Abd-us-Samad in India exists supported by two accounts. Hakeem Mahmood Barkati places the arrival of Mullah Abd-us-Samad in India during the period of Mughal Emperor Akbar (reign 1556 - 1605 AD) [Jadaah-e-Nasian - Bhoolti Yadain, Hakeem Doctor Syed Mahmood Ahmad Barakati, Bait-ul-Hikmat 2009]. A similar account appears in a newspaper article by Imdad Sabri in Daily Jang (Rawalpindi) July 18, 1976. Both of these state that Mullah Abd-us-Samad came from Baghdad. The article was to mark the passing away of my maternal grandfather, Muhammad Yusuf Siddiqui. These refer to one Abd-ul-Hai as being made Qazi during the reign of Emperor Aurangzeb who ruled between 1658 and 1707 AD. Imdad Sabri further mentions the grant of land in Baghpat, Ratol and Kotana to Qazi Abd-ul-Hai.
The handwritten document states: at the end of the Mughal Empire Kotan (Islamnagar) came under the jurisdiction of the French government! The confusion probably arose because of Walter Reinhardt Sombre – a mercenary soldier who had ties to France and gained the principality of Sardhana, that probably included Islamnagar, from Emperor Shah Alam II (reign 1759-1806). At this time, the surviving descendents of Mullah Abd-us-Samad were Qazi Amin-ud-Din and his sons Qazi Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din and Qazi Zia-ud-Din. Qazi Amin-ud-Din peacefully withdrew from the authority earlier vested in him.
Walter died in 1778 AD and his wife Begum Sombre (Begum Samru) ruled the area of Sardhana (Meerut) till her death in 1836 AD. It was in 1835 that the office came back to the family as Maulvi Hisam-ud-Din was made Qazi of Sardhana.
Evidently there is confusion regarding the arrival of the family patriarch Mullah Abd-us-Samad in India and about his origins. The account in the first two documents referred to at the start has a gap of 5 centuries between the arrival of Mullah Abd-us-Samad and mention of Qazi Amin-ud-Din. The name of Qazi Abd-ul-Hai on the other hand does not appear on the family tree in either the handwritten document or the image of the document compiled by my paternal uncles. One may surmise that Qazi Abd-ul-Hai lived before Qazi Amin-ud-Din’s time as Qazi but certainly after Mullah Abd-us-Samad. Unfortunately it is not until later that names of female members of the Qazi/Siddiqui family of Kotana make an appearance among the documents cited so far and that too in the hand written version titled Qazian-e-Kotana.
The Siddiqui Connection:
The first two documents note that the descendants of Mullah Abd-us-Samad trace their lineage to the youngest son of Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq - the first caliph of Islam, Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr. Thus they are also called Siddiqui.
Sifting through history, I find that Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr (631 AD - 658 AD) was born of Asma bint Umais, the second of four wives. Muhammad was raised by Hazrat Ali as after Hazrat Abu Bakr’s death in 634 AD Hazrat Ali married Asma and adopted Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr.
It is alleged that Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr was involved in the murder of the third caliph Hazrat Usman.
Records indicate that Hazrat Ali (Caliph at the time) appointed Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr as the governor of Egypt after the battle of Siffin (657 AD). The ongoing Sunni-Shia schism led to his horrific death in 658 AD following capture by forces loyal to Muawiyah ibn Abi Sufyan, then governor of the Syrian province.
Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr was survived by his son Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr (b. 656/657 AD). He came to be an important jurist in early Islam. He is considered the fourth in the Naqshbandi Golden Chain of Sufi masters. Qasim had married his paternal cousin Asma bint Abdul Rehman ibn Abu Bakr. Their daughter Farwah bint al-Qaim (Umm Farwah Fatima) was the mother of Jafar al-Sadiq, the sixth Shia Imam. Another daughter is listed as Umm Hakim.
The male descendants of Qasim ibn Muhammad were named Muhammad and Abd-ul-Rehman.
Efforts to trace the lineage of the Siddiquians of Kotana may be difficult without the assistance of hisorians well versed with the travels and movements of the descendents of Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr. The period span of centuries till reaching Abd-us-Samad in Bokhara or Baghdad.
(To be continued, hopefully!)