Odia Muslims are a community of people hailing from the Indian state of

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

who follow Islam and primarily speak

Odia language Odia (, ISO: , ; formerly rendered Oriya ) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Indian state of Odisha. It is the official language in Odisha (formerly rendered Orissa), where native speakers make up 82% of the population, and it is also ...

. They mostly descend from indigenous converts to Islam along with a small proportion that migrated from

northern India North India is a loosely defined region consisting of the northern part of India. The dominant geographical features of North India are the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, which demarcate the region from the Tibetan Plateau and Central ...

. They are marked by their distinctive religious practices, food habits and language.

History

It is impossible to state with any certainty when Islam first arrived in Odisha. It is believed that the first significant Islamic presence dates from the invasion of the Bengal general,

Kalapahad Kalapahar ( bn, কালাপাহাড়; died 24 April 1583), also known by his daak naam Raju ( bn, রাজু), was a military general of the Sultanate of Bengal under the Karrani dynasty. He is credited for conquering Orissa, which re ...

. Commanding the army of Sultan

Sulaiman Khan Karrani Sulaiman Khan Karrani ( bn, সুলায়মান খান কররানী, fa, ; reigned: 1565–1572) was a Sultan of Bengal. He ascended to the throne after the death of his brother Taj Khan Karrani. According to the ''Riyaz-us-Sala ...

, the Sultan of Bengal, Kalapahad defeated Raja Mukund Deva of

Cuttack Cuttack (, or officially Kataka ) in Odia is the former capital and the second largest city in the Indian state of Odisha. It is the headquarters of the Cuttack district. The name of the city is an anglicised form of ''Kataka'' which literall ...

in 1568 CE. Karrani brought with him Muslim soldiers who settled down in Odisha, however their number was very few. Some early Odia Muslims were converts. However, the number of these Muslims, almost all converts from Hinduism, was statistically insignificant and though they were Muslims by faith, they continued subscribing to the local customs and traditions and retained

Odia Odia, also spelled Oriya or Odiya, may refer to: * Odia people in Odisha, India * Odia language, an Indian language, belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family * Odia alphabet, a writing system used for the Odia languag ...

as their native tongue, as opposed to

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Indian Muslims. The descendants of these Muslims are still found in the districts of

Puri Puri () is a coastal city and a Nagar Palika, municipality in the state of Odisha in eastern India. It is the district headquarters of Puri district and is situated on the Bay of Bengal, south of the state capital of Bhubaneswar. It is als ...

Khurda Khordha is a town and a municipality area in Khordha district in the Indian state of Odisha. Bhubaneswar, is the capital of Odisha located within the Khordha district and is only 25 km from Khordha town. Odisha State Highway 1 and Nationa ...

and Cuttack, Bhadrak,

Jajpur Jajpur (also known as Jajapur) is a town and a municipality in Jajpur district in the Indian state of Odisha. It was the capital of the Kesari dynasty, later supplanted by Cuttack. Now, it is the headquarter of Jajpur district. Etymology and ...

Later migration continued under

Mughal Mughal or Moghul may refer to: Related to the Mughal Empire * Mughal Empire of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries * Mughal dynasty * Mughal emperors * Mughal people, a social group of Central and South Asia * Mughal architecture * Mug ...

as well as the

Nawab of Bengal The Nawab of Bengal ( bn, বাংলার নবাব) was the hereditary ruler of Bengal Subah in Mughal India. In the early 18th-century, the Nawab of Bengal was the ''de facto'' independent ruler of the three regions of Bengal, Bihar, ...

's rule. The majority of these were traders or clergy, sent to preside over the courts, both secular and Islamic. Post independence, a number of Muslims from other parts of India have made their way to the cities of

Rourkela Rourkela is a planned city located in the northern district Sundargarh of Odisha, India. It is the third-largest Urban Agglomeration in Odisha after Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. It is situated about west of state capital Bhubaneswar and is surro ...

and

Bhubaneswar Bhubaneswar (; ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. The region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Ekamra Kshetra'' (area (''kshetra'') adorned with mango trees (''ekamra'')). Bhubaneswar is ...

Demographics

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

has had a very slow rate of growth in Odisha even during the Muslim rule as there had never been any major Muslim

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

work. The current population of Muslims in Odisha is 911,670 (2011 census), roughly 2.2% of the total population. The city of Bhadrak has the maximum number of Muslims as a percentage of the total population (about 35%). There is a large population in the cities of

Kendrapada Kendrapara is a Town and a municipality in the Kendrapara district of the Indian state of Odisha. It is the headquarters of Kendrapara district. Geography Kendrapara is located at . It has an average elevation of . It is surrounded by Bhadrak ...

and

and Bhadrak districts also have a substantial rural Muslim population. Isolated Muslim populations exist all along the Odisha coast, primarily in old towns and villages that lie along the main trade routes. Prominent among them are the villages of Brahmabarda, Binjharpur, Alkund, Baruan and Adang in the district of Jajpur. In the interiors, the city of

has a large number of Urdu speaking Muslims, mostly employed with the Rourkela Steel Plant. They have migrated from the adjoining states of Jharkhand and Bihar. Sambalpur has another important Muslim population. The community has a literacy rate of 71.3%, higher than the national average of 64.9%. Outside Odisha, Odia Muslims may be found as a part of the Odia diaspora in

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 w ...

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

and

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

. A small proportion of Odia Muslims, largely from the prosperous upper classes of old Cuttack district, migrated to

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 cap ...

Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

in 1947. Familial ties with relatives in Odisha remained strong till increasing restrictions in the 1980s led to their decline. Outside the

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...

, Odia Muslims are settled in

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

, especially in

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

, and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Sects

The vast majority of Odia Muslims are

Sunni Muslims Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...

belonging to the

Hanafi The Hanafi school ( ar, حَنَفِية, translit=Ḥanafiyah; also called Hanafite in English), Hanafism, or the Hanafi fiqh, is the oldest and one of the four traditional major Sunni schools ( maddhab) of Islamic Law (Fiqh). It is named aft ...

school. The Sunnis are divided between the

Deobandi Deobandi is a revivalist movement within Sunni Islam, adhering to the Hanafi school of law, formed in the late 19th century around the Darul Uloom Madrassa in Deoband, India, from which the name derives, by Muhammad Qasim Nanautavi, R ...

and Barelvi sub-schools. There are some sectarian differences and there are often the cause of minor conflict. A small population of

Shia Muslims Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most n ...

belonging to

Twelver Shia Twelver Shīʿīsm ( ar, ٱثْنَا عَشَرِيَّة; '), also known as Imāmīyyah ( ar, إِمَامِيَّة), is the largest branch of Shīʿa Islam, comprising about 85 percent of all Shīʿa Muslims. The term ''Twelver'' refers t ...

Sub-Sect, mainly of

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

n descent may be found in Cuttack city. The Ahmadiyya community, considered heretical by Muslims is also has present in very small numbers in Kerang of Khurda District.

Language

A large proportion of Odia Muslims are bilingual and speak both

and

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Brahmapur Brahmapur may refer to the following places: * Brahmapur, Bihar * Brahmapur, Nepal * Brahmapur, Odisha ** Brahmapur railway station * Brahmapur, West Bengal See also * Brahampur, Phagwara Brahampur is a village in Tehsil Phagwara, Kapurtha ...

in South Odisha and Odia with

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

by those in Balasore district. Odia and Urdu are spoken by the Muslims of Western Odisha.

Food

The food habits of Odia Muslims are no different from that of their Hindu neighbours with some minor differences.

Seafood Seafood is any form of sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of molluscs (e.g. bivalve molluscs such as clams, oysters and mussels, and cephalopods such as octopus an ...

features heavily in spite of the Hanafi school's disapproval of

shellfish Shellfish is a colloquial and fisheries term for exoskeleton-bearing aquatic invertebrates used as food, including various species of molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish are harvested from saltwater envir ...

. Meat, both red and white, is widely consumed.

Dress

The traditional

sari A sari (sometimes also saree or shari)The name of the garment in various regional languages include: * as, শাৰী, xārī, translit-std=ISO * bn, শাড়ি, śāṛi, translit-std=ISO * gu, સાડી, sāḍī, translit-std= ...

is preferred by most women.

Hijab In modern usage, hijab ( ar, حجاب, translit=ḥijāb, ) generally refers to headcoverings worn by Muslim women. Many Muslims believe it is obligatory for every female Muslim who has reached the age of puberty to wear a head covering. While ...

rules are generally relaxed though the

burkha A burqa or a burka, or , and ur, , it is also transliterated as burkha, bourkha, burqua or burqu' or borgha' and is pronounced natively . It is generally pronounced in the local variety of Arabic or variety of Persian, which varies. Exampl ...

is becoming increasingly common. Men use the lungi, a type of sarong, to cover their lower body unlike the dhoti that is worn by the Hindus.

Culture

Religious observance is generally high among Odia Muslims, though many practices have clearly Hindu roots. Muslim missionary organisations like the

Tableeghi Jamaat Tablighi Jamaat (, also translated as "propagation party" or "preaching party") is a transnational Deobandi Islamic missionary movement that focuses on exhorting Muslims to be more religiously observant and encouraging fellow members to ...

have sought to counter this admixture.The traditional faith in Dargahs, shrines and other local holy places remains pervasive. The medieval shrine of Qadam Rasul in Cuttack is one of the most important Muslim dargah in Odisha. It is believed to contain the footprints of the

Prophet Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monoth ...

. Important dargahs are at Kaipadar, near

and at Dhamnagar, near Bhadrak.

mosques exist at Cuttack, Jajpur. Niali at Cuttack and near the ancient Buddhist site of

Lalitgiri Lalitagiri () (also known as Nalitagiri) is a major Buddhist complex in the Indian state of Odisha. The complex is home to stupas, 'esoteric' Buddha images, and monasteries ( viharas), which is the oldest site in the region. Significant finds at ...

. Capital Mosque at Bhubaneswar is the largest mosque in Odisha.

Education

The Urdu Academy of Odisha, a wing of the Department of Culture, Government of Odisha is engaged in the propagation and popularization of the Urdu language in Odisha. Sayeed Seminary at Cuttack is the oldest and largest Islamic educational institution that provides both secular as well as religious education. At the University Level, Urdu is taught as per certain prescribed syllabus at Fakir Mohan University (FMU),

Balasore Balasore or Baleswara is a city in the state of Odisha, about north of the state capital Bhubaneswar and from Kolkata, in eastern India. It is the largest town of northern Odisha and the administrative headquarters of Balasore district. It i ...

, Odisha. The Department of Language and Literature at FMU has Urdu as a key branch of study along with English and Odia. Jamia Ashraful Uloom at Kendrapara town & Jamia Abu Hurairah at Rourkela are the largest

madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...

in the state. Markazul Uloom, Sungra, a renowned centre of Deobandi Islamic study in Odisha, was founded in 1946 by Muhammad Ismail Katki, the third president of Jamiat Ulema Odisha. Important Barelvi Madrasa are located at Bhadrak.

Notable people

* Khwaja Fazal Mohammed (1805–1868), Sufi philosopher * Syed Irfan Ali Chaudhury (1842–1890), Raja of Tarakote *

Sayeed Mohammed Sayeed Mohammed (1891 – 1922) was an Indian Odia educationist, freedom fighter and philanthropist. In 1913, he founded the Moslem Seminary (present day : Sayeed Seminary) at Cuttack, which is regarded as the second nationalist school of Odisha ...

(1891–1922), educationist and philanthropist *

Syed Ameer Ali Syed Ameer Ali Order of the Star of India (1849–1928) was an Indian/ British Indian jurist hailing from the state of Oudh from where his father moved and settled down at Bengal Presidency. He was a prominent political leader, and author of a n ...

(1849–1928), jurist, author and political leader *

Atharuddin Mohammed Atharuddin Mohammed also known as Athar Mohammed was an Odia military officer, feudatory chief ''(Samanta)'' of Madhi (present day : Kamakhyanagar) and the ''Dewan'' of the princely state of Dhenkanal during ''Raja Dinabandhu Mahendra Bahadur'' ...

(1859–1931), Dewan of

Dhenkanal State Dhenkanal State was one of the princely states of India during the period of the British Raj. The state is now referred to as Dhenkanal district, Odisha, with Dhenkanal, India, Dhenkanal town as its district headquarters. History Foundation o ...

Ekram Rasul Dr. Ekram Rasul (date unknown - 1948) was an Indian Freedom fighter as well as a doctor who spent most of his life in the service for humanity. He was the vice president of Indian National Congress of Odisha or better known as Utkal Pradesh Congr ...

(died 1948), doctor and politician *

Ibrahim Suhrawardy Ibrahim Suhrawardy (1896-1971) was an Indian educationist, author and linguist from Balasore, Odisha. He is credited to have written the first English grammar books in Odia for the native students. He achieved high distinction in English studi ...

(1896–1971), educationist and linguist *

Afzal-ul Amin Mohammed Afzal-ul Amin, popularly known as M.A. Amin, was an Indian statesman, politician and social worker from Cuttack, Odisha. He served as the general secretary of Utkal Pradesh Congress Committee during Biren Mitra's chief ministership. Afz ...

(1915–1983), statesman and social worker * Surat Alley (1905–1988), trade unionist and political activist * Mohammad Mohsin (1942–2003), actor, director and producer *

Mehmood Hussain Mehmood Hussain was an Indian filmmaker, avant-garde auteur, director and author hailing from the Indian state of Odisha. Mehmood's feature films and documentaries had represented India in four International film festivals. His first feature ...

(1950–2015), filmmaker and author *

Syed Mustafiz Ahmed Syed Mustafiz Ahmed (21 December 1941 - 11 September 2017, Cuttack) was an Indian politician who was member of Odisha Legislative Assembly from 1985 to 1995. He served as health and family Welfare Minister besides holding the portfolio of ''Texti ...

(1941–2017), former Welfare Minister *

Karamat Ali Karamat Karamat Ali Karamat (1936 – 2022) was an Indian Urdu language poet, author, literary critic and mathematician. His name is enlisted among those who connected and introduced Odisha's Urdu literature to the Urdu speaking world. Some of his works ...

(1936–2022), Urdu poet, author, literary critic and mathematician *

Hussain Rabi Gandhi Hussain Rabi Gandhi (also spelled Hussain Rabigandhi or Husen Rabi Gandhi; 23 April 1948 – 28 January 2023) was an Indian Odia writer of the late-twentieth century, a politician and a cultural activist hailing from the Indian state of Odisha. ...

(1948–2023), author and cultural activist *

Mohammed Ayoob Mohammed Ayoob (born 1942) is a Distinguished Professor of International Relations at Michigan State University's James Madison College and the Department of Political Science. He is also Coordinator of the Muslim Studies Program at Michigan Sta ...

(born 1942), professor *

Harun Rashid Khan Harun Rashid Khan, was a Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India between 2011 and 2016. Early life and education Khan had his early schooling at Badagada Highschool in Bhubaneswar. He was a brilliant student. Although he studied in the vernac ...

(born 1955), deputy governor of the

Reserve Bank of India The Reserve Bank of India, chiefly known as RBI, is India's central bank and regulatory body responsible for regulation of the Indian banking system. It is under the ownership of Ministry of Finance, Government of India. It is responsible for ...

Mohammad Shahid Jabbar Mohammad Shahid Jabbar is an Indian football coach and former footballer. He served as the head coach of the India women's national football team from 2010 to 2012, and currently as the head coach of Odisha women's football team. Playing caree ...

(born 1965), football coach * Mohammed Moquim (born 1965), MLA for Barabati-Cuttack *

Farhat Amin Farhat Amin (born 26 February 1967; Cuttack, Odisha ) is an Indian journalist, cartoonist and social activist. She's Odisha's state convenor of Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, a national rights based organisation which fights for the rights of ...

(born 1967), journalist and social activist

References

{{Muhajir communities Islam in India by location Muslim communities of India Social groups of Odisha Social groups of Pakistan