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Iraqi Biradri is a Sunni Muslim caste found chiefly in
Ghazipur Ghazipur is a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Ghazipur city is the administrative headquarters of the Ghazipur district, one of the four districts that form the Varanasi division of Uttar Pradesh. The city of Ghazipur also constitu ...
,
Azamgarh Azamgarh is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the headquarters of Azamgarh division, which consists of Ballia, Mau and Azamgarh districts. Azamgarh is situated on the bank of Tamsa River (Tons). It is located east of the s ...
,
Ballia Ballia is a city with a municipal board in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The eastern boundary of the city lies at the junction of two major rivers, the Ganges and the Ghaghara.The city is situated east of Varanasi and about 380  ...
, Deoria and
Gorakhpur Gorakhpur is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, along the banks of the Rapti river in the Purvanchal region. It is situated 272 kilometers east of the state capital Lucknow. It is the administrative headquarters of Gorakhpur dis ...
districts of the eastern
Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 195 ...
in India. Iraqi Biradri is also referred to as Iraqi Shaikh.


History and origin

Iraqi biradri is a descendant population of immigrants from the country of Iraq. Recent facts argue that their ancestors were the immediate descendants of Sayyid Masud Al Hussaini and his poorly defined
retinue A retinue is a body of persons "retained" in the service of a noble, royal personage, or dignitary; a ''suite'' (French "what follows") of retainers. Etymology The word, recorded in English since circa 1375, stems from Old French ''retenue'', ...
, all recent immigrants from Iraq. Sayyid Masud Al Hussaini successfully extended the Ghazipur area under Delhi Sultanate, settling with his family in the newly conquered city during the Mamluk Sultan Firoz Shah Tughlaq circa 1330. As a result, Iraqi Biradri are known have to settled in Ghazipur in the 14th century, with an origin roughly 700 years ago. Initially, for a couple of centuries, the population growth took place chiefly in Nonahra, among other places, in
Ghazipur Ghazipur is a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Ghazipur city is the administrative headquarters of the Ghazipur district, one of the four districts that form the Varanasi division of Uttar Pradesh. The city of Ghazipur also constitu ...
, and subsequently, a population dispersal began in neighboring districts, namely, Azamgarh, Ballia, Deoria, Gorakhpur, and some other places in eastern Uttar Pradesh. Their ancestors as old as 300 years or more are very well-identified in many towns/villages of the aforementioned districts including Ghazipur in the form of distinct families trees. With reference to the Sunni Muslim ‘Iraqi Biradri’, more than a century earlier, in relation to another Muslim caste from the converted Hindu Kalals (a class of wholly Muslim caste after the conversion) or simply ‘Kalal Iraqis’ in the United Provinces (or U.P.), a fallacy was created from the work of the British colonial civil administrators and others as published elsewhere. Those authors did not attempt to distinguish the two populations. In fact, they grouped Iraqi Biradri together with the Kalal Iraqis who actually dealt with the business of ‘Araq’ or spirituous liquor in the past as ‘Araquis’ in U.P. (also in Bihar), assuming that the claim of Iraqi Biradri to be immigrants of the country Iraq was fictitious. It is not a correct way to characterize them in one group without taking into account all the properties pointed out in some of the papers, such as political/cultural practices, place, and origin, with respect to each population (also the phylogenetic Y-DNA trees). It is described clearly in the above papers that the "Kalal Iraqis" reside mainly In the Mirzapur district, are linked with indigenous roots in India i.e. Hindu rituals are noted in marriage/divorce activities; they practice hypergamy and they are under the caste Panchayat rule. By contrast, the descendant families under "Iraqi Biradri" are identified distinctly as follows: the bulk of them reside mainly at places i.e. Ghazipur, Ballia, Deoria and Gorakhpur (not Mirzapur) in the Eastern U.P.; time of their domicile in India is relatively recent -Hindu rituals/traditions do not exist in marriages or divorces; they are not under caste Panchayat rule; their combined patrilineal Y-DNA phylogenetic trees are possibly unique, see below. The failure to distinguish "Iraqi Biradri" from others earlier in the above publications may be due to a deliberate attempt or a fortuitous omission by the authors, but it alters the characteristics of the Sunni "Iraqi Biradri" as a caste with foreign roots to that of a caste with no foreign roots - a low status.


Present circumstances

Consistent with a past record of enterprising Iraqi Biradri in U.P, majority of the them were engaged in manufacturing business/trades of goods during the 20th century, albeit a small number acted as money lenders, Zamindars with and without cultivating lands in villages in some districts like Ballia. Examples in the recent past included: ownerships of Sugar Mills in North Eastern U.P., North Western Bihar, Textile mills in Kolkata and leather tanneries in Kanpur, and Hotel business in Nepal. The Iraqi Biradri who live in big towns in India continues to do businesses that include Leather Industry in Kanpur, Kolkata, and Chennai, Hotel and tourism Business in Nepal. Otherwise, the majority has been involved in retail business/small manufacturing business in places of residence. The educated members of the Biradri, few in number, work as medical doctors, teachers, and engineers in India and abroad.


Census and language

The present population size of Iraqi Biradri may fall in the category of small ethnic groups in India. The basal population still lives in towns of its origin and other nearby towns in Ghazipur, Ballia, Deoria/Gorakhpur, Mau, and Azamgarh in Eastern U.P. against the continuous flow of population out of those towns during the last 600-700 years. The people speak Urdu and local Bhojpuri, and Awadhi dialects. The grasp on Arabic/Persian used to be strong in most families 50-100 years ago.


Genetic background

Iraqi Biradri practices endogamy within its own population; consanguineous i.e. first cousin/second-cousin marriages are allowed. A genetic study on Y-chromosome SNP and Y-DNA STR in a large sample of extant Biradri need to be done. However, a few Y-DNA SNP phylogenetic tree results from the male members of the Biradri are known between them. The members are second to 3rd cousins based on autosomal DNA overlapping noted in the DNA relative section of the result by
23andMe 23andMe Holding Co. is a publicly held personal genomics and biotechnology company based in South San Francisco, California. It is best known for providing a direct-to-consumer genetic testing service in which customers provide a saliva sample ...
. After confirming each other as members of the Biradri, our Y-DNA SNP haplogroup include: M198(R1a1a)-->Z93/Z94→Y40→M560; M198(R1a1a)-->Z93/Z94→L657→Y6; J2→J2a1→L26→L24→L25; J2-M172→J2b M102→J2b2-J-M241; and J1-M267→J1a CTS5368/Z2215.


Notable people

* Lari Azad, Indian historian and Writer *
Nasreen Jalil Nasreen Jalil ( ur, ) (born: 22 February 1944, Lahore) is a Pakistani politician and a senior leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement. She served as a member of the Senate of Pakistan from Sindh from 2012 to 2018. Previously, she served as ...
, Pakistani senator and daughter of Zafarul Ahsan
Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 300 million p ...
officer of the 1936 batch and former Chairman of Pakistan International Airlines * Ghazala Lari, Indian politician, and former member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly (2008-2017) * Maqbool Ahmed Lari, Indian philanthropist, recipient of the Padma Shri in 1971 * Yasmeen Lari, first female architect in Pakistan and daughter-in-law of Justice Z. H. Lari deputy Leader of the opposition in Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly (1936-1947) and member of the Constituent Assembly of India People from the community carry the surname Lari from
Lar, Uttar Pradesh Lar is a town, a nagar panchayat, and is a block in Deoria district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Uttar Pradesh. Lar is noted by the single, old and historical bazar in the town. Lar is located at , and has an average ...
in Deoria district, a historic center of the community.


References

{{Reflist * * Indian Sunni Muslims Muslim communities of Uttar Pradesh Muslim communities of India People from Deoria district People from Mau district People from Gorakhpur People from Azamgarh People from Ghazipur People from Ballia district