Saturday 25 February 2017

Forgotten Builders of Imami Shrines in Sindh-Talpur Rulers


Zareeh Mubarak Of Imam Hussain at Khairpur
Dr.Mazhar Naqvi
The contribution of Talpur dynasty to propagation of the message of Imam Hussain has not been acknowledged. The efforts made by successive Talpur rulers seem to be a forgotten page of history when compared to the awareness about the similar contribution made by their well-known counterparts of Awadh and Qutbshahi kingdoms. Talpur as dynasty has flourished in the latter half of 18th century in Sindh province of Pakistan. Its first ruler Mir Fateh Ali Khan constructed the first replica of Imam Hussain’s shrine at Karbala in Iraq. The first Zareeh  or Shabeeh(replica) was placed in Tondo Agha area of Hyderabad(Sindh).Another Zareeh found place in Tondo Noor Mohammad.Both these Zareeehs were made of Gold. The third Zareeh was placed in Tondo Mir Mohammad in Hyderabad and it was made of wood.
The sole objective of Talpur rulers to initiate the installation of holy replicas of Imam Hussain’s shrine was to enable poor people to have a glimpse and idea about the original shrine of Imam Hussain. Initially, very few people used to turn up to have a glimpse of these replicas but their numbers swelled to thousands in days to come. The increase in their numbers resulted in the construction of similar replicas in other parts of Sindh. Apart from replica of Imam Hussain’s majestic mausoleum, replicas of Imam Ali and Imam Raza at Najaf and Mashhad were also commissioned. These shrines served two purposes. The first, they represented the original mausoleums of holy Imams in Iraq and Iran for the locals and second they were used by scholars to deliver lectures on the philosophy of the Holy Prophet and his Ahle-Bait.
The last ruler of Talpur Mir Murad Ali even sent two masons to Karbala in 1953 to see the original shrine of Imam Hussain. On their return, the ruler asked them to imitate the original shrine at Khairpur. These masons erected a replica flanked by two minarets resembling what they had witnessed at Karbala. Some of Zareehs commissioned during the rule of Talpur dynasty were displayed as part of Muharram processions. Till British period, poets used to recite their Kalam(Poetry) at these shrines but the tradition is no longer as popular as it used to be during the reign of Talpur dynasty. However, there is no dearth of poets in Sindh who still compose poetry on the tragedy of Karbala but they don’t recite them at the shrines like their predecessors. Like the tradition, awareness about Talpur rulers and their contribution to development of shrines associated with Imami faith has also nosedived with the passage of time. They are not as popular as Muhammad Quli Kutb Shah or Nawab Asafuddaula-builders of World famous Badshahi Ashurkhana (Hyderabad-India) and Bara Imambara (Lucknow) respectively.(References available on request.Photo Courtesy Google Images)


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