From 1793 to 1787 continuously, fighting in a state of complete lack of resources against the organized government of the time and the devilish British was neither a joke nor a game. At a time when small and large landlords, zamindars, jagirdars, rajas, maharajas, nawabs and kings had already surrendered before the British and become pensioners, there was no one with Syed Majnoon Shah Madari except the common people. Everyone was opposed and hostile to the army of Syed Majnoon Shah Madari. It was nothing short of a miraculous phenomenon that Majnoon Shah Malang continued fighting the British in this manner for 25 years, and later his successors carried his mission forward. All these battles were fought much before Tipu Sultan of Mysore, Haji Shariatullah and others, but unfortunately, they were kept hidden from the pages of history.
There were hundreds of thousands of monasteries and spiritual lodges of the Madariya order throughout India. The situation in Purnia district alone was such that the British surveyor Buchanan, in his survey of 1809–1810, wrote that there were 1,900 khanqahs of the Madariya order here that were centres of public devotion. Great scholars used to graduate from these spiritual lodges. At that time, even in Makhanpur Sharif, there was a major institution called “Faizan-ul-Uloom”, which also housed an ancient library that was a centre of learning for distinguished scholars. It was adorned with centuries-old handwritten manuscripts, many of which had no second copy available in any other library. The Madariya order also possessed a priceless collection of handwritten manuscripts that was an ornament of this library.
However, in 1793, the war launched by Majnoon Shah Malang Madari against the British became the cause of the destruction and devastation of the Madariya order. Conditions continued to deteriorate, and the British government became determined to erase from existence the distinguished scholars and eminent jurists who graduated from these spiritual lodges and madrasas. The British government first completely destroyed and burned Makhanpur Sharif, the centre of the Madari faqirs, and laid waste to the Faizan-ul-Uloom madrasa. The library inside it was also caught in the fire.
Along with this, thousands of spiritual lodges, khanqahs, places of retreat and their custodians belonging to the Madariya order were erased without a trace. In addition, no effort was spared to defame the Madariya order. The writings of the elders were altered, and offensive and nonsensical material was inserted concerning the Madariya order. In short, the British government brought the Madariya order to the brink of decline and backwardness. Yet even in this state of helplessness, the Mujahideen of the Madariya order kept their determination high, did not make peace with the British, and remained prepared for the freedom of the homeland of India.
The Rohilla Pathans of the Madariya Order
In addition to the faqirs of the Madariya order who were promoting the mission of Majnoon Shah Malang, the Madari Pathans also played a full part in driving the British out during the war of 1857 CE. The history of these forgotten Madari Pathans deserves to be documented.
On 10 May 1857, news of the disturbances in Meerut was rapidly spreading throughout the surrounding areas. Agitation had already broken out among the people of Bareilly, Pilibhit and Shahjahanpur, and people were becoming ready to sacrifice their lives in large numbers. At that time, Ahmad Khan Pathan, son of Rahmat Khan Pathan Madari, was serving as Sadr-us-Sudur in Bareilly. At the instruction of General Bakht Khan Pathan Rohilla Madari, he raised the banner of jihad against the British. Many British were killed in the fighting, and freedom fighters confronted the British at various places throughout the city.
This fierce fighting continued for several days, and many patriotic Madari Pathans of Bareilly embraced martyrdom. Their names are given below:
(1) Rohilla Pathan Ejaz Khan Bhatti Madari (Year of martyrdom: 5 May 1858)
(2) Rohilla Pathan Kale Khan Bhatti Madari (Year of martyrdom: 5 May 1858)
(3) Rohilla Pathan Talu Khan Madari (Year of martyrdom: 5 May 1858)
(4) Rohilla Pathan Inder Khan Bhatti Madari (Year of martyrdom: 4 May 1858)
(5) Rohilla Pathan Aziz Ahmad Khan Bhatti Madari (Year of martyrdom: 1858)
(6) Rohilla Pathan Qasim Khan Bhatti Madari (Year of martyrdom: 4 May 1858)
(7) Rohilla Pathan Shakir Dawood Khan Madari (Year of martyrdom: 4 May 1858)
(8) Rohilla Pathan Ashraf Khan Madari (Year of martyrdom: 4 May 1858)
(9) Rohilla Pathan Mehrab Khan Bhatti Madari.
Mehrab Khan Madari was severely wounded and died a few days later, unable to withstand his injuries. At the place where he had been wounded and where his blood had fallen, his grave was built after his death according to his will.
In the battle of 11 May 1857, Ahmad Khan, also known as Bahadur Khan Pathan Madari, gave the British a severe beating. They were driven out of Bareilly, Shahjahanpur, Badaun and Pilibhit. However, the shameless British would receive reinforcements again and then regroup and gather together. The revolutionary Madariya Battalion did not allow the British to establish their grip in this region again until February 1858.
These Pathans were disciples of the Madariya order and wrote “Madari” before or after their names. These people had converted to Islam from the Bhatiya Kshatriya and Khatri communities, and these Kshatriya Bhaiya were Pathans, just as Sher Shah Suri was a Pathan of the Shorya-Vanshi lineage.
The War of Independence of 1857 and the Faqirs of the Madariya Order
It has already been explained in detail that the successors and disciples of Majnoon Shah Malang Madari, along with the Madari Pathans, continued to participate equally and also embraced martyrdom, yet they remained constantly prepared for the freedom of their homeland.
When the war of 1857 began, the Mughal Emperor Sirajuddin Bahadur Shah Zafar, observing their bravery, requested them to participate fully in the Great War of 1857 along with the Malang faqirs and Hindu ascetics. The Mughal royal decree states:
“Since the Europeans are enemies of both Hinduism and Islam, and at this time a war is being fought against the British on the basis of religion, it is therefore necessary for the Pandits and Faqirs to participate in the sacred war of 1857, because the Pandits and Faqirs are the protectors of Hinduism and Islam.”
In this way, a large group of faqirs and ascetics also participated in the War of Independence of 1857.
There is an urgent need to give space in the pages of history to those eminent personalities of the Madariya order, and research should be conducted on them so that the names of these freedom fighters may remain preserved on the pages of history.
References:
(1) Safinat-ul-Auliya: authored by Dara Shikoh Qadri, p. 322, published by Madrasa Agra, 1853.
(2) Buchanan the British, 186, and ancient Bengali publications.
(3) Royal decree dated 1 Muharram al-Haram 1244, written in Persian Nastaliq script.
(4) Gosh (J.M.): Sanyasi and Faqir Raiders, and ancient Bengali publications.
Note: The reports and royal decrees mentioned in the article are preserved in the Khuda Bakhsh Library, Patna, and the Oriental Public Library, Calcutta. Their photocopies are also held by the Khanqah Madariya and the custodians of the spiritual lodges. The material included in the article has been reproduced from these sources.
☆☆☆
Hazrat Maulana Mufti Hashim Ali Badi’i Misbahi
[Source: Quarterly magazine Rahbar-e-Noor, August 2021]
