SATANPURWA

SATANPURWA is a village with a combined population comprising of both Islam and Hindu religions, and diverse casts and creeds. It is situated seven or eight k.m. Away in the south west of Inhauna that is seventy km. Away from Lucknow on the Lucknow-Sultanpur National Highway. It is a Mauza under the district Raebareli, and one of the biggest villages in the area. It’s Tahsil and legislative constituency is Tiloi and it’s parliamentary constituency is Amethi. It has a post office and a government primary & middle school. Earlier there was a branch of Gramin Bank that lately shifted to Ahorwa Bhawani. Green fields and orchids of mangoes surround it from all sides and make the environment pure and clean. On it’s south a big canal flows that irrigates the agricultural fields in that area with the help of several minor canals. A paved road surrounds it from its east and north combining Ahouwa Bhawanin and Haider Garh. The first one is four km. From the village, and the second one is eleven km. The historical back ground: Their history dates back to the ancient India, and they belong to Shaktriya clan of Aryans. Like other Aryans they were also idle worshipper but in 15^th

Century their fore father…………. Son of……….Embraced Islam on the hands of ……………and thus started a new chapter of their history. The (not complete yet)

KHANS OF SATANPURWA: Khans of Satanpurwa are living in a semi tribal form in a group of villages that are situated seven or eight km. Away in the south west of Inhauna that is seventy km. Away from Lucknow on the Lucknow-Sultanpur National Highway. There are seven villages, in which they have been living for generations. Satanpurwa is the biggest village among these. It is a Mauza under the district Raebareli. It’s Tahsil and legislative constituency is Tiloi. All the other villages of Khans fall under Satanpurwa.Three villages namely Garhi Wasil(choti garhi), Garhi Dilawar(Behrana) and Garhi Aladad(jhalia) comprise purely khan family and no other cast, creed or religion is found there. The four other villages that have a combined population are Satanpurwa, Bangra, Garhi Mohkam(Bari Garhi) and thakurain purwa. The genealogical tree of the forefathers of Khans who inhabit these villages is as below.

Zabardast Khan
!

Zorawar Khan Rustam Khan Dialwar Khan Khairandaz Khan

! !

! (Forefather of Garhi Dilawar)

Najaf Khan Mohkam Khan Neamat khan Razawand Khan HaiderKhan

! ! ! !

(child less)(Forefather of Garhi Mohkam) Wasil khan Khudabakhs Khan

!

(Fore father of Garhi Wasil)

A son of Wasil Khan, Quasim Khan is the forefather of Thakurain Purwa and Mohd Latif (my grandfather) a son of Wasil khan’s grand son Imam Ali shifted to Satanpurw.

(Child less)

SheraKhan AladadKhan AsadAliKhan AbulHasanKhan MahmoodKhan Wahab Khan ! ! ! ! ! ! ! (child less) ! Jumman Khan Salamat Khan !

Fore father of a few families in Satanpurwa.

(fore father of Garhi Aladad) ! ! ! (Child less) (Forefather of Bangra village)

Their economic, educational, religious, political and

social conditions

Economic Condition: After the zamindari was abolished their economic condition became critical and it was very difficult for them to live on a little agricultural land that somehow remained in their hands, with the day-by-day increasing population, unemployment prevailed and poverty stroke them. The situation remained so till the late 20^th century when the new generation started to leave the villages to big cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Surat, and Ahmadabad etc. in the search of livelihood.The youngsters who came to Delhi adopted the hard profession of house painting and those who went to Surat and Ahmadabad indulged in hand dying and most of them set up their own hand dying shops. That industry once boomed and they made big bucks and the economic situation once looked improved, brick houses replaced the houses of mud and a number of vehicles started to appear on the roads of these villages, but soon this industry went down. In Mumbai some of them started their own little business and some involved in the same as in Surat and Ahmadabad.
Educational Condition: Till the end of 20^th century the education was nil. All the people were illiterate and there were only four or five people who passed out 10+2 but could not go ahead, with the exception of Dr. Shamim Akhtar khan who is the only well educated man not only in the khan family but also in the whole area. And then only two or three graduated in a college situated in Semrauta. Some boys passed out in some Islamic Madrasas and a few of them left to Delhi for higher studies. Earlier there was only one government primary & middle school and a small unimportant Islamic Madrasa In Satanpurwa and a Madrasa in Behrana. Later in 2000 private public schools started to appear in Satanpurwa .A school namely BRIGHT WAY PUBLIC SCHOOL was set up by Mr. Faiz Mohammad Khan and Mr. Vash Mohammad Khan in Satanpurwa and a semi Madrasa type school in Garhi Aladad (Jhalia), and later a school BRIGHTWAY BALIKA INTER COLLEGE was started by Dr. Shamim Akhtar Khan at Bangra. They had to work hard to get students for their schools because peoples mostly send even their sons of early ages to work in cities and don’t know the importance of education. Any ways the educational condition of them has gradually started to improve now. Religious Condition: Even after they all are Muslims for many generations the scenes of superstition, polytheism and un-Islamic rites, rituals and customs are very common there. I won’t be wrong if I say they are unaware of the soul of Islam and the Tauhid (monotheism) does not exist there. They get blessings from tombs and most of them aspire to visit Places of tomb worship like Ajmer, Dewa, kichaucaha etc. Even many of them believe that a man’s visit to ajmer seven times in his life is equal to a Hajj. Many say if there had been a more Mazar (tomb) in Ajmer the Hajj would have been organized here, and so on. Several kind of Fatihas, Tija, Chaliswan, Urs and Muharram are considered the symbols of Islam here. Gyarhvin or fatiha of Bare-pir (sayed Abdul Qadir Jeelani R.A.) is celebrated warmly and in the same way Barhvin the birthday of our prophet Mohammad (S.A.S.) is also celebrated. Muharram is the main festival of them. Many of them keep zarih (they call it taazia) at their doors in the festive season of Muharram. The importance of Muharram among them can be understood by the returning of pardesis to their homes in large numbers at the time of Muharram. It is celebrated there very warmly and with excitement and enthusiasm. The Navin and Dasvin (the Ninth and tenth day of Muharram) of Satanpurwa are very famous in the region. The satvin (the seventh day of Muharram) is celebrated in Garhi Wasil and the athvin (the eighth day of Muharram) is celebrated in Garhi Mohkam(Bari Garhi), in these days the nights are decorated and lit with the tube lights, bulbs and kumkuas by the support of generators, several kind of regional sweat cousins are cooked. A special item namely khichchar is prepared and the stalls of sharbat are set up at several places. In these, the money is spent in excess since the people donate a huge amount of money in the name of Muharram without hesitation.
The Political Situation:In and before colonial period they were jagirdars and Zamindars. None of them played an active role in the freedom struggle like other peoples of the area because they all were illiterate and did not have any leader and their villages were isolated and the voice of freedom struggle did not reach there well. After the independence too they could not produce even a district level neta (political leader). At the level of national politics they all have inclination to the Congress because their villages are located in the parliamentary constituency of Amethi where the key leaders of congress like Rajive Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have been fighting and winning elections for long. At the state level politics they are divided and they incline to different political parties like Samajwadi party, Congress party and Bahujan Samaj party. Since they outnumber other people in the Mauza(Satanpurwa) the home level politics or politics of pardhani have been always in their hands. Among them, there have been two factions for long and two names have bee in use, one of Doctor Shameem Akhtar khan and the other of Ahmad Pradhan and the two were known and referred in public as Doctor and Pardhan. In seventies and early eighties there was a severe rivalry among them. And along with Khans the other people of the area as well were either this side or that side. In late eighties they reconciled and bitterness and sourness were gone but something still remained. Ahmad pradhan hold the post of Pardhani till 2000, for more than forty years. In 2000 instead of him, his son Shakeel Ahmad fought election and lost to Muazzam supported by Dr. Shamim. In next election in 2005 Shakeel won. And now again two names are referred in the region one of Muazzam and the other of Shakeel and the politics of pardhani revolves around them. But this time people are not as divided as they were at that time. But no doubt the bitterness in relations is found there. Social Condition: In the local society they hold higher position and are respected. They are proud of their family clan and status and some times the words of proud come to their tongue. But most of them don’t know how to live an Islamic or standard life. Most of the youngsters who visit their homes in the season of marriages waist their hard earned money in Nautankeys and Nach. Bachelor girls don’t wear Naqabs and don’t do any kind of Pardah whereas married women do wear Naqabs of Indian styles. Since the young boys have started to work in cities the respect and honor of elders had disappeared from the scene and the regional language has changed to some extant. Earlier a woman who visit shops or do marketing was considered wrong in the society, but lately it has become a trend among the women especially of Garhi villages to visit Inhauna for shopping on every Thursday, pretending the visit of a Mazar (tomb) there. All the seven villages have mosques and the mosque of Satanpurwa is the biggest. Only a few old people keep the mosque alive otherwise they are deserted. Many of the young who work in cities don’t keep fast in Ramadan not to speak of offering prayer (namaz). In marriage and other ceremonies many non-Islamic activities are performed like Band Baja, nach, dance and so on