Hazratbal Shrine

The Hazratbal Shrine (Kashmiri: درگاه حَضْرَت بل), popularly called Dargah Sharif ("the Holy Shrine"), is a Muslim shrine located in Hazratbal, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India. It contains a relic, Moi-e-Muqqadas, which is widely believed to be the hair of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.[1] It is situated on the northern bank of the Dal Lake in Srinagar, and is considered to be Kashmir's holiest Muslim shrine.[2]

Hazratbal Shrine
درگاہ حَضْرَت بل
The Hazratbal Shrine in 2010
Religion
AffiliationIslam
DistrictSrinagar District
RegionKashmir Valley
LeadershipJammu and Kashmir Muslim Waqf Board
StatusActive
Location
LocationHazratbal
MunicipalitySrinagar
StateJammu and Kashmir
CountryIndia
Location within Jammu and Kashmir
Location within India
TerritoryJammu and Kashmir
Geographic coordinates34°7′45″N 74°50′32″E
Architecture
TypeIslamic architecture
StyleClassical
Specifications
Length105 metres (344 ft)
Width25 metres (82 ft)
Dome(s)1
Minaret(s)1
Website
www.wakf.gov.in/jammukashmir/

The name of the shrine is a combination of the Persian word hazrat (lit. 'respected') and the Kashmiri word bal (lit. 'place').

History and present status
Close-up of the dome

The shrine contains strands of what is believed by many Muslims to be the hair of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The relic was first brought to Kashmir by Syed Abdullah Madani, a purported descendant of Muhammad who left Medina (in present-day Saudi Arabia) and settled in the South Indian city of Bijapur in 1635, at a time when the Islamic Mughal Empire was rapidly expanding across India.[3]

Following Abdullah's death, his son Syed Hameed inherited the relic. The region was conquered by the Mughals shortly afterwards, and Hameed was stripped of his family estates. Finding himself unable to care for the relic, he passed it to Khwaja Nur-ud-Din Eshai, a wealthy Kashmiri businessman.[4][5]

However, when the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb was informed of the holy relic's existence and transfer, he had it seized and sent to the shrine of Sufi mystic Mu'in al-Din Chishti in Ajmer, and imprisoned Eshai in Delhi. After nine days Aurangzeb had a dream of Muhammad with four caliphs: Abu Bakr, Umar, Usman and Ali. In the dream, Muhammad ordered him to send the Moi-e-Muqaddas to Kashmir from Ajmer.[6] Then Aurangzeb returned the holy relic to Eshai and allow him to take it to Kashmir. However, Eshai had already died while imprisoned. By 1700, the relic had been transported to Kashmir, along with the body of Eshai. There, Inayat Begum, the daughter of Eshai, became the custodian of the relic and established the Hazratbal Shrine. Since then, her male descendants have been caretakers of the relic at the mosque.[7] Begum's male descendants belong to what is known as the Banday family. As of 2019, three main members care for the holy relic: Manzoor Ahmad Banday, Ishaq Banday and Mohiuddin Banday.[8] The relic is displayed for public view only on special Islamic occasions, such as the birthdays of Muhammad and his four main companions.

The head cleric of the shrine displaying the holy relic to the general public on different occasions

The caretakers of the shrine are known as nishandeh. The eldest male heirs of the previous nishandeh continue the legacy of displaying the relic when their predecessor dies.

1963 relic disappearance episode
See also: 1963 Hazratbal Shrine theft

The Moi-e-Muqqadas, a relic widely believed by Muslims to be the hair of Muhammad, was reported to have gone missing from the shrine on 27 December 1963. Following its disappearance, mass demonstrations were held all over the state, with hundreds of thousands of protesters out in the streets. On 31 December, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru made a broadcast to the nation on the disappearance of the sacred Muslim relic, and sent a team from the Central Bureau of Investigation into Jammu and Kashmir to probe the suspected theft.[9]

The incident led to communal tensions and riots in the Indian state of West Bengal and East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), due to which India saw a refugee influx of around 200,000 people between December 1963 and February 1964.[10]

The relic was recovered by Indian authorities on 4 January 1964.[7][11][12]

Demands were made that it be officially identified by the elders. It was charged that political bosses had stolen the hair so they could later come to power by taking credit for restoring it.[13]

  • History of Moi-e-Muqaddas of Prophet Mohammed present in the Hazratbal Shrine
  • Dome view of the shrine in February 2019

See also

References
  1. "Moslems Riot Over Theft of Sacred Relic", Chicago Tribune, 29 December 1963, p1
  2. Reuters (7 August 1994). "Kashmir Indians Yield at Shrine". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  3. "Hazratbal". Department of Tourism Govt of Jammu & Kashmir. Archived from the original on 18 August 2021. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  4. Warikoo, Kulbhushan (2009). Cultural heritage of Jammu and Kashmir. Pentagon Press. p. 173. ISBN 978-81-8274-376-2.
  5. Akbar, M. J. (8 February 2018). Kashmir: Behind the Vale. Roli Books Private Limited. pp. content-17. ISBN 978-81-936009-6-2.
  6. Warikoo, Kulbhushan (2009). Cultural heritage of Jammu and Kashmir. Pentagon Press. pp. 173–174. ISBN 978-81-8274-376-2.
  7. Hari Narain Verma; Amrit Verma (1998). Decisive battles of India through the ages, Volume II. GIP Books. p. 124. ISBN 978-1-881155-04-1. Retrieved 22 June 2010.
  8. "Head priest Hazratbal shrine Ghulam Hassan Banday passes away". Greater Kashmir. 24 June 2019. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  9. "Hanging By The Relic". Kashmir Life. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  10. Das, Mayurakshi. "Title: Calcutta Cauldron: City-life during the January 1964 Riots". Indian History Congress Proceedings.
  11. Francesca, Neelam; Srivastava, Rashmi (2008). Secularism in the postcolonial Indian novel: national and cosmopolitan narratives in English. Volume 17 of Routledge research in postcolonial literatures. Routledge. p. 70. ISBN 978-0-415-40295-8. Retrieved 22 June 2010.
  12. Din, Zahir-ud (22 December 2016). "Forgotten probes". Greater Kashmir. Archived from the original on 24 December 2016. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  13. Mehta, Ved (31 May 1968). "IV- The Holy Hair of the Muslims". The New Yorker. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
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