The Muhajir people (also spelled Mahajir and Mohajir) ( ur, , ) are Muslim immigrants of various ethnic groups and regional origins, and their descendants, who migrated from various regions of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

after the Partition of India to settle in the newly independent state of

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

. The term "Muhajirs" refers to those Muslim migrants from India, mainly elites, who mostly settled in urban Sindh. The Muhajir community also includes stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh who migrated to

after 1971 following the secession of East Pakistan in the Bangladesh Liberation War. The group's native language is

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Indo-Iranian language in the Indo-Aryan language branch of the

Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutc ...

language family. Muhajirs also speak several other languages, including

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub ...

Rajasthani Rajasthani may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Rajasthan, a state of India * Rajasthani languages, a group of languages spoken there * Rajasthani people, the native inhabitants of the region * Rajasthani architecture * Rajasthani art ...

, and

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 2 ...

. Muhajirs are the fifth-largest ethnic group of Pakistan. The total population of the Muhajir people worldwide is estimated to be around 15 million, and this figure was supported by the official census in 2017 which showed the Muhajir population to be around 14.7 million. But the population showed by the official census was challenged by all political parties of Sindh including MQM, PPP, and PSP. Some organizations estimate the muhajir population to be around 30 million. The Muhajirs are the most educated community of Pakistan, and because of this muhajirs constituted a privileged community in the early years of Pakistan. The high literacy rate also results in the Muhajirs of Karachi mostly living in their own middle and upper class communities such as

Gulshan-e-Iqbal Town Gulshan Town ( ur, ) is a Karachi borough in the northeastern part of Karachi. Gulshan Town was formed in 2001 as part of the Local Government Ordinance 2001, and was subdivided into 11 union councils. The town system was disbanded in 2011, ...

Defence Housing Authority Defence Housing Authority (DHA) ( ur, ). It is a Government of Pakistan owned real-estate development company that governs housing and municipal services for Defence neighbourhoods across Pakistan. It is the first largest residential community in ...

Gulistan-e-Jauhar Gulistan-e-Johar or Gulistan-e-Jauhar ( ur, ) is a neighborhood in the Karachi East district of Karachi, Pakistan. Administration It was previously administered as part of the Gulshan Subdivision borough, which was disbanded in 2011. Some bl ...

, and others.

Etymology

The Urdu term ''muhājir'' ( ur, ) comes from the Arabic ''muhājir'' ( ar, مهاجر), meaning an "immigrant", and the term is associated in early Islamic history to the

migration Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...

of Muslims.

Definition

Among historians, anthropologists, and the Muhajirs themselves, there is some debate as to who exactly qualifies as a Muhajir. The most widely used definition is: # Migrated to

from Muslim minority provinces of the subcontinent at the time of partition, # Is not considered as belonging to any of the nationalities of Pakistan, neither Punjabi, nor Sindhi, nor Baloch, nor Pakhtun, # Migrated from those areas of

East Punjab East Punjab (known simply as Punjab from 1950) was a province and later a state of India from 1947 until 1966, consisting of the parts of the Punjab Province of British India that went to India following the partition of the province betwee ...

whose language and culture were not Punjabi.

Demographics

Origins

Most of those migrants who settled in the Sindh province of Pakistan came from the present-day Indian states of Central Provinces,

Berar Berar may refer to: *Vidarbha, the eastern region of Maharashtra Province, India, historically known as Berar *Berar Sultanate (1490–1596), one of the Deccan sultanates *Berar Subah (1596–1724), a Subah of the Mughal Empire *Berar Province (1724 ...

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second-m ...

, United Provinces,

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land a ...

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peaks ...

, and

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

, while others were from Jammu and Kashmir,

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern s ...

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India ...

Baroda Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district and is situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River, from the state capital ...

, Kutch, and the

Rajputana Agency The Rajputana Agency was a political office of the British Indian Empire dealing with a collection of native states in Rajputana (now in Rajasthan, northwestern India), under the political charge of an Agent reporting directly to the Governor ...

Linguistic groups

Being a multi-linguistic ethnic group of people, the Muhajirs speak different languages natively depending on their ethnicity and ancestral history. Over a period of a few decades, these disparate groups sharing the common experience of migration, and political opposition to the military regime of Ayub Khan and his civilian successor

Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Zulfikar (or Zulfiqar) Ali Bhutto ( ur, , sd, ذوالفقار علي ڀٽو; 5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979), also known as Quaid-e-Awam ("the People's Leader"), was a Pakistani barrister, politician and statesman who served as the fourth ...

, evolved or assimilated into a distinct ethnic grouping.

Urdu

Most Muhajirs speak Urdu, and Muhajirs are considered the third-largest

Urdu-speaking Native speakers of Urdu are spread across South Asia. The vast majority of them are Muslims of the Hindi–Urdu Belt of northern India, followed by the Deccani people of the Deccan plateau in south-central India (who speak Deccani Urdu) and the M ...

ethnicity in the world. Many dialects of

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

such as,

Dakhani Deccani (also known as Deccani Urdu and Deccani Hindi). https://knowledgehubadda.blogspot.com/2022/02/blog-post_74.html? m=1 or Dakni, Dakhni, Dakhini, Dakkhani and Dakkani (, ''dekanī'' or , ''dakhanī''), is a variety of Hindustani spoken ...

Khariboli Kauravi ( hi, कौरवी, ur, ), also known as Khaṛībolī is a set of Western Hindi varieties of Shauraseni Prakrit mainly spoken in Northwestern Uttar Pradesh. Standard Hindi and Urdu are based on Khariboli, specifically on its De ...

Awadhi Awadhi (; ), also known as Audhi (), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in northern India and Nepal. It is primarily spoken in the Awadh region of present-day Uttar Pradesh, India. The name ''Awadh'' is connected to Ayodhya, the ancient city ...

, Bhojpuri,

Mewati Mewati (Devanagri:मेवाती; Perso-Arabic:میواتی) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by about three million speakers in the Mewat Region (Alwar and Bharatpur, districts of Rajasthan, Nuh district of Haryana). While other people ...

, Sadri, Marwari, and

Haryanvi Haryanvi ( ' or '), also known as Bangru, is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the state of Haryana in India, and to a lesser extent in Delhi. Haryanvi is considered to be part of the dialect group of Western Hindi, which also includes Kharib ...

are spoken by Muhajirs.

Gujarati

There is a large community of

Muhajirs mainly settled in the Pakistani

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of Sindh. Community leaders say there are 3,500,000 speakers of the Gujarati language in

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...

. This group includes Muhammad Ali Jinnah,

Abdul Sattar Edhi Abdul Sattar Edhi ( ur, ; 28 February 1928 – 8 July 2016) was a Pakistani humanitarian, philanthropist and ascetic who founded the Edhi Foundation, which runs the world's largest volunteer ambulance network, along with various homeless s ...

Javed Miandad Mohammad Javed Miandad PP SI (Urdu: ; born 12 June 1957), popularly known as Javed Miandad (Urdu: ), is a Pakistani cricket coach, commentator and former cricketer known for his unconventional style of captaincy and batting. ESPNcricinfo desc ...

Abdul Razzak Yaqoob Abdul Razzak Yaqoob (7 May 1944 – 21 February 2014) was a Pakistani gold bullion trader who founded ARY Gold in the United Arab Emirates and later ARY Media Group. Early life He was born in Surat, British India to Memon people, Memon family in ...

I. I. Chundrigar Ibrahim Ismail Chundrigar ( ur, ابراہیم اسماعیل چندریگر; 15 September 1897 – 26 September 1960), best known as I. I. Chundrigar, was a Pakistani politician who served as the sixth prime minister of Pakistan, appointed in ...

, and

Ahmed Dawood Seth Ahmed Dawood (15 March 1899 – 2 January 2002) was a Pakistani industrialist and a philanthropist. Dawood founded several companies and The Dawood Foundation (TDF), which established the Dawood College of Engineering and Technology (re ...

Rajasthani

The 1951 census recorded a total of 60,000 Rajasthani-speaking Muhajirs. This group includes

Ramiz Raja Ramiz Hasan Raja ( ur, ; born 14 August 1962) is a Pakistani cricket administrator, commentator, YouTuber, and former cricketer who served as the 35th Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board between September 2021 and December 2022. As a pla ...

, Alimuddin, and

Iqbal Hussain Qureshi Iqbal Hussain Qureshi (Urdu:اقبال حسين قریشی) 27 September 1937 – 8 December 2012) , best known as I.H. Qureshi, was a Pakistani nuclear chemist and an Emeritus professor of chemistry at the University of Karachi. Qure ...

Others

Non-Urdu speaking Muslim peoples from what is now the Republic of India, such as

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

and Konkani-speaking refugees and also several-thousand Malabari Muslims from

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

South India South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territ ...

, are considered Muhajirs. These ethno-linguistic groups are being assimilated in the Urdu-speaking community.

Geographic distribution

Pakistan

Most of the Muhajirs are settled in the towns and cities in Pakistan, such as

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital ...

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...

Sukkur Sukkur (; ) is a city in the Pakistani province of Sindh along the western bank of the Indus River, directly across from the historic city of Rohri. Sukkur is the third largest city in Sindh after Karachi and Hyderabad, and 14th largest city ...

, and

Mirpurkhas Mirpur Khas (Sindhi and ; ''meaning "Town of the most-high Mirs"'') is the capital city of the Mirpur Khas District and Mirpur Khas Division in the Sindh province, Pakistan. Mirpur Khas is the 16th largest city in Sindh province and the 80th ...

Bangladesh

A large number of Urdu-speaking Muslims from

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

went to

East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Myanmar, wi ...

after the independence of India and Pakistan. After the formation of Bangladesh in 1971, the Biharis maintained their loyalty to Pakistan and wanted to leave Bangladesh for Pakistan. The majority of these people still await repatriation, however. About 178,000 have been repatriated. In 2015, the Pakistani government stated that the remaining ' Stranded Pakistanis' are not its responsibility but rather the responsibility of Bangladesh. Nearly 300,000

Biharis The Biharis () is a demonym given to the inhabitants of the Indian state of Bihar. Bihari people can be separated into three main Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic groups, Bhojpuris, Maithils and Magadhis. They are also further divided into a v ...

are currently settled in the urban areas of

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

.Christophe Jaffrelot, ''The Pakistan Paradox: Instability and Resilience'', Oxford University Press (2015), p. 104 In 2003, these Muhajirs were granted nationality and the right to vote.

History

Pre-Partition

Indian Rebellion of 1857

Prior to the

Indian Rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the fo ...

, British territories in South Asia were controlled by the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...

. The company maintained the fiction of running the territories on behalf of the

Mughal empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

. The defeat of Mutineers in 1857 -1858 led to the abolition of the

and the British government taking direct control of the Indian territories. In the immediate aftermath of the rebellion, upper-class Muslims, the ancestors of present-day Muhajirs, were targeted by the British, as some of the leadership for the war came from this community based in areas around Delhi and what is now

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 1950 ...

; thousands of them and their families were shot, hanged, or blown away by cannon. According to

Mirza Ghalib ) , birth_date = , birth_place = Kala Mahal, Agra, Maratha Confederacy , death_date = , death_place = Gali Qasim Jaan, Ballimaran, Chandni Chowk, Delhi, British India , occupation = Poet , language ...

, even women were not spared because the rebel soldiers disguised themselves as women.

Pakistan movement

The

Pakistan movement The Pakistan Movement ( ur, , translit=Teḥrīk-e-Pākistān) was a political movement in the first half of the 20th century that aimed for the creation of Pakistan from the Muslim-majority areas of British India. It was connected to the per ...

, to constitute a separate state comprising the Muslim-majority provinces, was pioneered by the

Muslim elite and many notables of the

Aligarh Movement The Aligarh Movement was the push to establish a modern system of Western–style scientific education for the Muslim population of British India, during the later decades of the 19th century. The movement's name derives from the fact that i ...

. It was initiated in the 19th century when Sir

Syed Ahmed Khan Sir Syed Ahmad Khan KCSI (17 October 1817 – 27 March 1898; also Sayyid Ahmad Khan) was an Indian Muslim reformer, philosopher, and educationist in nineteenth-century British India. Though initially espousing Hindu-Muslim unity, he ...

, the grandson of the Khwaja Fakhruddin, the

Vizier A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called '' katib'' (secretary), who was ...

of Akbar Shah II, expounded the cause of Muslim autonomy in

Aligarh Aligarh (; formerly known as Allygarh, and Kol) is a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Aligarh district, and lies northwest of state capital Lucknow and approximately southeast of the cap ...

. In its early years, Muslim nobles such as

nawabs Nawab ( Balochi: نواب; ar, نواب; bn, নবাব/নওয়াব; hi, नवाब; Punjabi : ਨਵਾਬ; Persian, Punjabi , Sindhi, Urdu: ), also spelled Nawaab, Navaab, Navab, Nowab, Nabob, Nawaabshah, Nawabshah or Nobab, ...

(aristocrats and landed gentry) supported the idea, but as the idea spread, it gained great support amongst the Muslim population and in particular the rising middle and upper classes. The Muslims launched the movement under the banner of the All India Muslim League and

was its main centre. The headquarters of the All India Muslim League (the founding party of Pakistan) was based there since its creation in 1906 in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city i ...

(present-day Bangladesh). The Muslim League won 90 percent of reserved Muslim seats in the 1946 elections and its demand for the creation of Pakistan received overwhelming popular support among Indian Muslims, especially in those provinces of British India such as U.P. where Muslims were a minority.

Migration

A couple migrating from India To Pakistan with their household stuff and cattle during Partition

The Partition of India was the largest migration in human history. Many

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

migrating from

were killed by

Hindus Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

and Sikhs, while many

and Sikhs were killed by

. After the independence of Pakistan, a significant number of Muslims emigrated or were out-migrated from the territory that became the

Dominion of India The Dominion of India, officially the Union of India,* Quote: “The first collective use (of the word "dominion") occurred at the Colonial Conference (April to May 1907) when the title was conferred upon Canada and Australia. New Zealand and N ...

and later the Republic of India. In the aftermath of partition, a huge population exchange occurred between the two newly formed states. In the riots which preceded the partition, between 200,000 and 2,000,000 people were killed in the retributive genocide.

UNHCR The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrat ...

estimates 14 million Hindus, Sikhs, and Muslims were displaced during the partition; it was the largest

mass migration Mass migration refers to the migration of large groups of people from one geographical area to another. Mass migration is distinguished from individual or small-scale migration; and also from seasonal migration, which may occur on a regular basis ...

in human history.

First stage (August–November 1947)

There were three predominant stages of Muslim migration from

to West Pakistan. The first stage lasted from August–November 1947. In this stage of migration the Muslim immigrants originated from

, the four adjacent districts of U.P., and the princely states of

Alwar Alwar (Pronunciation: �lʋəɾ is a city located in India's National Capital Region and the administrative headquarters of Alwar District in the state of Rajasthan. It is located 150 km south of Delhi and 150 km north of Jaipur. ...

and Bharatpur which are now part of the present-day Indian state of

. The violence affecting these areas during partition precipitated an exodus of Muslims from these areas to Pakistan. Punjabi Muslims from East Punjab crossed to West Punjab and settled in a culturally and linguistically similar environment. The migration to Sindh was of a different nature to that in Punjab as the migrants to Sindh were ethnically heterogenous and were linguistically different from the locals. The migrants were also more educated than the native, and predominantly rural Sindhi Muslims who had been less educated and less prosperous than the former Sindhi Hindu residents, suffered as a result. The migrants, who were urban, also tended to regard the local Sindhis as "backwards" and subservient to landowners. Prior to the partition, the majority of urban Sindh's population had been Hindu, but after the independence of Pakistan in 1947, the majority of Sindh's Hindus migrated to India, although a substantial number of Hindus did remain in Sindh. 1.1 million Muslims from Uttar Pradesh, Bombay Presidency, Delhi, and Rajasthan settled in their place; half in Karachi and the rest across Sindh's other cities. By the 1951 census, the migrants constituted 57 percent of the population of Karachi, 65 percent in Hyderabad, and 55 percent in Sukkur. As Karachi was the capital of the new nation, educated urban migrants from

, and

Deccan The large Deccan Plateau in southern India is located between the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats, and is loosely defined as the peninsular region between these ranges that is south of the Narmada river. To the north, it is bounded by the ...

preferred it as their site of settlement for better access to employment opportunities. The migrants were compensated for their properties lost in India by being granted the evacuee property left behind by the departing Hindus. A sizable community of

Malayali The Malayali people () (also spelt Malayalee and also known by the demonym Keralite) are a Dravidian ethnolinguistic group originating from the present-day state of Kerala in India, occupying its southwestern Malabar coast. They are predomin ...

Muslims (the

Mappila Mappila Muslim, often shortened to Mappila, formerly anglicized as Moplah/Mopla and historically known as Jonaka/Chonaka Mappila or Moors Mopulars/Mouros da Terra and Mouros Malabares, in general, is a member of the Muslim community of same n ...

), originally from

, also settled in Karachi.

Second stage (December 1947 – December 1971)

Many Muslim families from

continued migrating to

throughout the 1950s and even early 1960s. This second stage (December 1947 – December 1971) of the migration was from areas in the present-day Indian states of U.P.,

, Maharashtra,

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the eleventh-largest state and the twelfth-most populated state in India with a geographical area of and 3 ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

, and

. The main destination of these migrants was

and the other urban centers of Sindh. In 1952, a joint passport system was introduced for travel purposes between the two countries which made it possible for

Indian Muslims Islam is India's second-largest religion, with 14.2% of the country's population, approximately 172.2 million people identifying as adherents of Islam in 2011 Census. India is also the country with the second or third largest number of Muslim ...

to legally move to

still required educated and skilled workers to absorb into its

economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...

at the time, due to relatively low levels of education (15.9 percent in 1961) in Pakistan. As late as December 1971, the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi was authorized to issue documents to educationally-qualified Indians to migrate to Pakistan. The legal route was taken by unemployed but educated Indian Muslims seeking better fortunes, however poorer Muslims from India continued to go illegally via the Rajasthan-Sindh border until the 1965 India-Pakistan war when that route was shut. After the conclusion of the 1965 war, most Muslims who wanted to go to Pakistan had to go there via the India-East Pakistani border. Once reaching

, most made their way to the final destination-

. However, not all managed to reach

West Pakistan West Pakistan ( ur, , translit=Mag̱ẖribī Pākistān, ; bn, পশ্চিম পাকিস্তান, translit=Pôścim Pakistan) was one of the two Provincial exclaves created during the One Unit Scheme in 1955 in Pakistan. It was ...

from

. In 1959, the

International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and o ...

(ILO) published a report stating that between the period of 1951–1956, around 650,000 Muslims from

relocated to

. However, Visaria (1969) raised doubts about the authenticity of the claims about Indian Muslim migration to Pakistan, since the 1961 Census of Pakistan did not corroborate these figures. However, the 1961 Census of Pakistan did incorporate a statement suggesting that there had been a migration of 800,000 people from

throughout the previous decade. Of those who had left for

, most never came back. The Indian Prime Minister

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

conveyed distress about the continued migration of

There has...since 1950 been a movement of some Muslims from India to Western Pakistan through Jodhpur-Sindh via Khokhropar. Normally, traffic between India and West Pakistan was controlled by the permit system. But these Muslims going via Khokhropar went without permits to West Pakistan. From January 1952 to the end of September, 53,209 Muslim emigrants went via Khokhropar....Most of these probably came from the U.P. In October 1952, up to the 14th, 6,808 went by this route. After that Pakistan became much stricter on allowing entry on the introduction of the passport system. From 15 October to the end of October, 1,247 went by this route. From 1 November, 1,203 went via Khokhropar.

Indian Muslim Islam is India's second-largest religion, with 14.2% of the country's population, approximately 172.2 million people identifying as adherents of Islam in 2011 Census. India is also the country with the second or third largest number of Muslim ...

migration to

continued unabated despite the cessation of the permit system between the two countries and the introduction of the passport system between them.

Third stage (1973-1990s)

The third stage, which lasted between 1973 and the 1990s, was when migration levels of

was reduced to its lowest levels since 1947.

migration to

had declined drastically by the 1970s, a trend noticed by the Pakistani authorities. In June 1995, Pakistan's interior minister,

Naseerullah Babar Major-General Naseerullah Khan Babar (Urdu: نصیر اللہ خان بابر; born 1928 – 10 January 2011) was a Pakistani army officer, diplomat, and politician who served as the 28th Interior Minister of Pakistan from 1993 to 1996. A membe ...

, informed the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

that between the period of 1973–1994, as many as 800,000 visitors came from India on valid travel documents. Of these, only 3,393 stayed. In a related trend, intermarriages between

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

and

Pakistani Muslims Islam is the largest and the state religion of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. As much as 90% of the population follows Sunni Islam. Most Pakistani Sunni Muslims belong to the Hanafi school of jurisprudence, which is represented by the Ba ...

have declined sharply. According to a November 1995 statement of Riaz Khokhar, the Pakistani High Commissioner in New Delhi, the number of cross-border marriages has declined from 40,000 a year in the 1950s and 1960s to barely 300 annually.

Politics

The Muhajirs have started many socio-political groups such as the

Muttahida Qaumi Movement Muttahida Qaumi Movement (abbreviated MQM) is a name currently claimed by two competing Pakistani political factions: * Muttahida Qaumi Movement – London, a political faction managed from the UK * Muttahida Qaumi Movement – Pakistan Muttah ...

under Altaf Hussain in 1984, the All Pakistan Muslim League under

Pervez Musharraf General Pervez Musharraf ( ur, , Parvez Muśharraf; born 11 August 1943) is a former Pakistani politician and four-star general of the Pakistan Army who became the tenth president of Pakistan after the successful military takeover of t ...

, and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf under

Imran Khan Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi ( ur}; born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician and former Cricket captain who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan from August 2018 to until April 2022, when he was ousted through a no-confidenc ...

as a secular movement, The literacy rate among the Muhajirs is very high in Pakistan, and this results in the Muhajir parties being middle-class parties.

Pre-independence era

During the last period of the Ottoman Empire, the empire was indebted and the community provided significant financial support to preserve the empire. The members of the movement who are now Muhajirs and West Punjabis granted the money to preserve the Ottoman Empire but were unable to prevent its decline; it was the biggest political eminence in pre-Muhajir history.

1947–1958

The Muhajirs of Pakistan are largely settled in Sindh province, particularly in the province's capital,

, where the Muhajirs were in a majority. As a result of their domination of major Sindhi cities, there had been tensions between Muhajirs and the native Sindhis, and this has been a major factor in the shaping of Muhajir politics. The Muhajirs, upon their arrival in Pakistan, soon joined the Punjabi-dominated ruling elite of the newborn country due to their high rates of education and urban background. They possessed the required expertise for running Pakistan's nascent bureaucracy and economy. Although the Muhajirs were, socially, urbane and liberal, they sided with the country's religious political parties such as Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakistan (JUP). Upon arrival in Pakistan, the Muhajirs did not assert themselves as a separate ethnic identity, being multi-ethnic themselves, but were at the forefront of trying to construct an Islamic Pakistani identity. Muhajirs dominated the Government of Sindh, bureaucracy of Sindh in the early years of the Pakistani state, largely due to their higher levels of educational attainment. Prior to the partition,

dominated the professions of lawyers, teachers, and tradesmen in Sindh and the vacancies they left behind were filled up by the Muhajirs. Many

people had higher education and civil service experience from working for the British Raj and Princely state, Muslim princely states. Out of the 101 Islam in India, Muslims in Civil Services of India, India's civil service, 95 chose to leave

. A third of those civil servants were Punjabis and there were as many Muhajirs as Punjabis. From 1947 to 1958, the Urdu-speaking Muhajirs held more jobs in the Government of Pakistan than their proportion in the country's population (3.3%). In 1951, of the 95 senior civil services jobs, 33 were held by the

Muhajirs and 40 by Punjabi people, Punjabis. The Muhajirs also had a strong hold over the economy, 36 of the 42 largest private companies belonged to Muhajirs, mainly those from the Gujarat, Indian state of Gujarat. Gradually, as education became more widespread, Sindhi people, Sindhis and Pashtun people, Pashtuns, as well as other ethnic groups, started to take their fair share of the pool in the bureaucracy. But even by the early 1960s, 34.5 percent of Central Superior Services, Pakistan's civil servants were those who had not been born in the territory comprising Pakistan in 1947. Most of them were born in the United Provinces (1937–1950), United Provinces.

1958–1970

On 27 October 1958, Ayub Khan (President of Pakistan), General Ayub Khan staged a 1958 Pakistani coup d'état, coup and imposed martial law across Pakistan. By the time of Pakistan's first military regime (Ayub Khan, 1958), the Muhajirs had already begun to lose their influence in the ruling elite. With the Baloch, Bengali people, Bengali and Sindhi people, Sindhi nationalists distancing themselves from the state's narratives of nationhood, Ayub (who hailed from what is now the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province), slowly began to pull the Pashtuns into the mainstream areas of the economy and politics. This caused the Muhajirs' to agitate against the Ayub dictatorship from the early 1960s onwards. The percentage of Muhajirs in the Central Superior Services of Pakistan, civil service declined while the percentage of Pashtuns in it increased. In the 1965 Pakistani presidential election, presidential election of 1965, the Muslim League (Pakistan), Muslim League split into two factions: the Pakistan Muslim League, Muslim League (Fatima Jinnah) supported Fatima Jinnah, the younger sister of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, while the Convention Muslim League was supported General Ayub Khan. The Muhajirs had supported the Muslim League before the independence of Pakistan in 1947 and now supported the Pakistan Muslim League, Muslim League of Fatima Jinnah. The electoral fraud of the 1965 presidential election and a post-election triumphal march by Gohar Ayub Khan, the son of Ayub Khan (general), General Ayub Khan, set off ethnic clashes between Pashtuns and Muhajirs in Karachi on 4 January 1965. Four years later, on 24 March 1969, Ayub Khan (President of Pakistan), President Ayub Khan directed a letter to Yahya Khan, General Yahya Khan, inviting him to deal with the tense political situation in Pakistan. On 26 March 1969, Yahya Khan, General Yahya appeared on Pakistan Television Corporation, national television and proclaimed martial law over the country. Yahya subsequently abrogated the Constitution of Pakistan of 1962, 1962 Constitution, dissolved Parliament of Pakistan, parliament, and dismissed Ayub Khan (general), President Ayub's civilian officials.

1970–1977

The 1970 Pakistani general election on 7 December 1970, saw the Awami League winning the elections. The Muhajirs had voted for the Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan and Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan. Muhajirs had decisively lost their place in the ruling elite, but they were still an economic force to be reckoned with (especially in urban Sindh). When a Sindhi, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, became the country's head of state in December 1971, the Muhajirs feared that they would be further sidelined, this time by the economic and political resurgence of Sindhis under Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Bhutto. The Pakistan Peoples Party, Pakistan People's Party government Nationalization in Pakistan, nationalized the financial industry, educational institutions, and industry. The nationalization of Pakistan's educational institutions, financial institutions, and industry in 1972 by Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto of Pakistan People's Party impacted the Muhajirs hardest as their educational institutions, commerce, and industries were nationalized without any compensation. Subsequently, the quota system introduced by Liaquat Ali Khan which allowed Muhajirs to take government jobs was reversed by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto preventing them from taking government jobs and other government institutions. In 1972 Language violence in Sindh, 1972, language riots broke out between Sindhis and Muhajirs after the passage of the 1972 Sindhi Language Bill, "Teaching, Promotion, and use of Sindhi Language" bill in July 1972 by the Sindh Assembly; which declared Sindhi language, Sindhi as the only official language of Sindh. Due to the clashes, Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto compromised and announced that

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

1977–1988

In the 1977 Pakistani general election, Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan and Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan joined in a coalition named the Pakistan National Alliance. Since the Muhajirs voted mostly for the Pakistan National Alliance, Muhajirs enthusiastically participated in the 1977 Pakistan uprising, 1977 right-wing movement against the Bhutto regime (which was largely led by the religious parties). The 1977 Pakistan uprising, movement was particularly strong among Karachi, Karachi's middle and lower-middle-classes (and aggressively backed by industrialists, traders, and the shopkeepers). The alleged electoral fraud by Pakistan Peoples Party caused protests across the country. On 5 July 1977, Chief of Army Staff (Pakistan), Chief of Army Staff General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq led a coup d'état against Bhutto and imposed martial law. Zain Noorani, a prominent member of the Memon people, Memon community, was appointed as Minister of State for Foreign Affairs (Pakistan), Minister of State for Foreign affairs with the status of a Federal Minister in 1985.

1988-2016

After the 1988 Pakistani general election, 1988 General Elections, MQM, the largest Muhajir nationalist party, emerged as the third-largest political party of Pakistan, in alliance with PPP. Differences developed between the PPP and Muttahida Qaumi Movement – London, MQM after dozens were killed at an Muttahida Qaumi Movement – London, MQM congregation by Sindhi nationalism, Sindhi nationalists, and the alliance fell apart in the wake of ensuing violence. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement – London, MQM lent its support to Nawaz Sharif, Nawaz Sharif's Islami Jamhoori Ittehad instead. In June 1992, a massive ‘Operation Clean-up, Operation Cleanup’ was launched to rid the city of terrorism but Muttahida Qaumi Movement – London, MQM was selectively targeted. The Party's political offices were shut down as scores of its workers were killed in extra judicial murders and shootouts. After the operation ended, Muttahida Qaumi Movement – London, MQM continued to dominate Muhajir politics until 2016 when it broke up into four factions and collapsed.

Social and political views

The Muhajirs are socially Urban area, urbane, Liberalism, liberal, and Religious tolerance, religiously tolerant. Politically, the Muhajirs echoed the views of the religious parties that eschewed pluralism and ethnic identities and propagated a Pakistani nationalism, holistic national unity based on the commonality of the Islam, Islamic faith followed by the majority of Pakistanis. The dichotomy between the Muhajirs' social and political dispositions was a result of the sense of insecurity that the community felt in a country where the majority of its inhabitants were 'natives'. Lacking the historical and cultural roots of native Ethnic groups in Pakistan, Pakistani ethnicity, the Muhajirs backed the state's project of constructing a homogeneous Pakistani nationalism, national identity that repulsed ethnic sentiment. But in the 1980s, Muhajir nationalism surged for the first time with the rise of the secular Muhajir nationalist party Muttahida Qaumi Movement – London, MQM, and ever since then, Muhajirs have backed nationalist and secular parties.

Education

To this day, Muhajirs, with a 100% literacy rate, are the most-educated and literate ethnic group in Pakistan, and the Muhajirs dominate most of

's educational institutions. The Muhajirs have established have themselves economically, socially, and professionally. Currently, Muhajirs run established businesses such as, Lakson Group (owned by Marathi Lakhani Family), hold high-level government jobs such as Arif Alvi, are renowned doctors, engineers, lawyers, and social workers such as Adeebul Hasan Rizvi, Waseem Akhtar, and Hakim Said. Muhajir parents are known to emphasize to their children to get the highest education and go into professional fields so that they could live respectfully in society. Muhajirs have many academics, poets, writers, journalists, and artists such as Abdul Wahab (educationist), Abdul Wahab, Ahmed Ali (writer), Ahmed Ali, Waseem Badami, and Abdul Haq (Urdu scholar), Abdul Haq. In his book, Pakistan: A Hard Country, Anatol Lieven claimed that the education, openness, and progressivism of Muhajirs is responsible for whatever social and economic dynamism exists in

. A Muhajirs' middle class culture and high levels of education made urban areas of Sindh, especially

and

, the fastest developed cities of Pakistan.

became the ‘City of Lights’ and is called Mini-London by international tourists.

Notable people

Culture

The Muhajir culture refers to the Pakistani variation of Indo-Islamic culture and part of the Culture of Karachi city in Pakistan. It is a blend of

, Culture of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, Culture of Bengal, Bengali, Bihari culture, Bihari, and

cultures.

Cuisine

Muhajir cuisine (or Karachi cuisine) refers to the food found mainly in the city of

. The cuisine of Karachi is strongly influenced by the city's Muhajir population, Muslim immigrants originally from India who migrated to Pakistan following the independence in 1947. Most Muhajirs have traditionally been based in

, hence the city is known for Muhajir tastes in its cuisine. Muhajirs clung to their old established habits and tastes, including numerous desserts, savory dishes, and beverages. The Mughlai cuisine, Mughal and Indo-Iranians, Indo-Iranian heritage played an influential role in the making of their cuisine. In comparison to other native Pakistani dishes, Muhajir cuisine tends to use traditional royal cuisine specific to the old royal dynasties of now defunct states in ancient India. Most ''dastarkhawans'' (dining tables) include chapati, rice, dal, vegetable, and Curry, meat curry. Special dishes include biryani, Korma, qorma, kofta, Seekh kebab, seekh kabab, nihari, haleem, Nargisi Koftay, Nargisi koftay, Roghani Naan, roghani naan, naan, Sheer khurma, sheer-khurma (dessert), Tea, chai (sweet, milky tea), and Hyderabadi cuisine, and other delicacies associated with Muhajir culture. Muhajirs are famous for their habit of eating paan.

Traditional dress

The traditional clothing of Muhajirs is the traditional clothing worn by Muslims in North Indian culture, North India, and it has both Muslims, Muslim and South Asian influences. Both Muslim men and women wear the shalwar kameez, but kurta and ''choridar'' Pajamas, pajama is more commonly worn by most Muhajirs. Men also wear the sherwani, and it is believed to have been introduced to

by Muhajirs. Muhajir women also wear Sari, which is wrapped around the waist, with the loose end of the drape worn over the shoulder, baring the midriff.

Festivals

Muhajirs celebrate many festivals which include religious, political, ethnic, and Public holidays in Pakistan, national festivals. Islamic festivals which are celebrated by Muhajirs include Eid al-Fitr, Eid-al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha, Eid-al-Adha, and Ashura, Ashoura. Political celebrations include MQM Founding Day, Death anniversary of Azeem Ahmed Tariq, Azeem Ahmad Tariq, and All Pakistan Muttahidda Students Organization, APMSO Founding Day. Muhajirs celebrate Muhajir Cultural Day as an ethnic and cultural festival.

In popular culture

* In the fifth episode of the TV series Ms. Marvel (TV series), Ms. Marvel, the main character, a Muhajir girl, travels back in time to reunite her grandmother to her great-grandmother during the partition of India. * In the 1998 film Jinnah (film), Jinnah, the partition of India and the migration towards

is covered in great detail.

Persecution

Persecution of Muhajirs ranges from mass killings, discrimination, Missing person, enforced disappearances, torture, to political repression and suppression of freedom of speech. A Middle East Media Research Institute, MEMRI representative stated that the Muhajirs "have faced discrimination and attacks in linguistic conflicts involving Sindhi-speaking locals, while in

, the federal capital, the Muhajirs face discrimination in government jobs."

Massacres

Notable massacres against muhajirs include the Qasba Aligarh massacre, 1988 Hyderabad, Sindh massacre, Pucca Qila Massacre and Operation Clean-up. In 1985, due to the competition between the Punjabis and Muhajirs, intelligence agencies forged an alliance—the Punjabi–Pashtun Ittehad (PPI)—to challenge the Muhajirs. Since then, the Punjabis, the Pashtuns, and the Muhajirs have been engaged in ethnopolitical clashes over the control of

's infrastructure and resources. The European Muhajir Network claimed that that over 1.3 million Muhajirs have died in Pakistan in targeted killings and genocides. * The Qasba Aligarh massacre, Qasba–Aligarh massacre was a massacre of Muhajirs that happened when armed tribal Pashtuns from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, KPK and Afghanistan attacked densely-populated civilized locals in Qasba Colony, Aligarh Colony, and Sector 1-D of Orangi in

in the early hours of the morning on 14 December 1986. More than 400 Muhajirs were killed in this massacre. * The 1988 killings in Hyderabad, Sindh, 1988 Hyderabad massacre took place on September 30, 1988, when over a thousand people, mostly Muhajirs, were killed in Hyderabad, Sindh, in what was known as "Black Friday". Sindhi extremists fired indiscriminately at passers-by and shopkeepers, as well as at children, adults, and women. Death tolls ranged from 1000+Ethnic Rioting in Karachi Kills 1000* and Injures 50
''The New York Times'', October 2, 1988 to 1050+ , and the attacks are said to have been coordinated and carried out by militants of the Sindh Taraqi Pasand Party. Sindhi nationalism, Sindhi nationalists, including (Sindhi Baloch) Qadir Magsi, and the Sindh Taraqi Pasand Party, were widely seen as responsible for the massacre. * Pucca Qila Massacre

Notes

References

External links

Muhajir diaspora

Quotas and Karachi
__FORCETOC__ {{DEFAULTSORT:Muhajir People Muhajir people, Muhajir communities Social groups of Pakistan Ethnic groups in Pakistan Social groups of Sindh Cultural assimilation Muhajir diaspora Indian emigrants to Pakistan Islamic terminology Urdu-speaking people

Etymology

Definition

Demographics

Origins

Linguistic groups

Urdu

Gujarati

Rajasthani

Others

Geographic distribution

Pakistan

Bangladesh

History

Pre-Partition

Indian Rebellion of 1857

Pakistan movement

Migration

First stage (August–November 1947)

Second stage (December 1947 – December 1971)

Third stage (1973-1990s)

Politics

Pre-independence era

1947–1958

1958–1970

1970–1977

1977–1988

1988-2016

Social and political views

Education

Notable people

Culture

Cuisine

Traditional dress

Festivals

In popular culture

Persecution

Massacres

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links