Husseini Brahmins

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Sunil Dutt, the famous Bollywood filmstar of yesteryears and father of actor Sanjay Dutt made a huge donation to Shaukat Khanum Hospital in Lahore, made in memory of late mother of cricketer Imran Khan. The reason of donation was that the ancestors of Dutt lived in Lahore till 1947 Partition and way back in 7th century AD, participated in favor of Imam Hussein in the battle of Karbala in Iraq.

Who were these Husseini Brahmins ?! They were Dutt Brahmins from Mohyal clan in Punjab who were also traders on land route towards Middle East and Arabia. These Dutts are not similar to Kayastha Dutts of Bengal. There two theories about the origin of Mohyal Dutts, one is from Ashwathhama who wandered after Mahabharata due to curse of Krishna and came to Arabia and one is that there was a army general named Dutt who belonged to the family of King Porus and accompanied Alexander after he completed the winning treaty with Porus in Punjab. Though Alexander was injured in Multan, but he died in Babylon. The general named Dutt was with him and he settled there. He was also made the governor of the westernmost borders of the Seleucid empire stretching till Arabia. This was in 4th century BC.

In the 7th century AD, the grandson of Prophet Hazrat Muhammed and the 3rd Imam of Shia sects, Imam Hussein had to leave his home in Medina due to the tyranny of Yazdi Khalifa. Hussein kept on changing places and gradually, his band of followers started reducing due to treachery and natural causes. He reached Karbala with only 72 people including his family and followers. The army of 30K by Yazdi followed him to Karbala and stopped the water supply of Euphrates River on the 7th day of Muharram to Hussein and his camp in blistering heat. As a result, a huge fight broke out. Rahab Sidh Dutt, a Brahmin from Punjab Mohyal clan who had marital links with Hazrat's family, fought for Hussein and sacrificed his 7 sons in the battle near Karbala in Iraq. Later the descendants of Rahab Dutt gradually returned to India and settled in Sindh, Jammu, Lahore, Delhi, UP, and later Bombay. ballad (Kabitt) from folklore describes in poetic form the presence of Dutts in Arabia and their subsequent role in the battle of Karbala.

There is another theory that Mohyal Brahmins who already had a very good relation with the Prophet's family had left with their army from Sindh but by the time they reached Karbala, Hussein was decapitated. The descendants and his army was given a place to stay near Karbala and the place was known as Dair - I- Hind ot the Indian quarters. At present, this place is known as Al Hindiya and is the biggest city in Karbala Governorate in Iraq.

Image - Upper image belongs to the battle of Karbala, a 19th century Iranian painting.

Illustration depicting the scene from the battle of Karbala, showing the river Euphrates, the army of Yazid and the tent of the 72 companions of Imam Hussain, Prophet Mohammad’s grandson.

Ref- History of The Muhiyals:The militant Brahmin clan of India, T.P. Rusell Stracey (1911).

The Vision of India by Sisir Kumar Mitra.