Hallaur

Hallaur or Hallor village is located in Domariyaganj Tehsil of Siddharthnagar district in Uttar Pradesh, India. Domariyaganj is the nearest town to Hallaur village.

The name was derived from Chapter Hal-ata ( Al-Insan) of the Quran by Meer Syed Shah Abdur Rasool (Meera Baba). Hallaur has a post office with PIN 272191 and homoeopathic and Ayurvedic dispensaries and a maternity home run by the State government. Bhatangwan village was merged into Hallaur and became a de facto part of Hallaur.

It is 44 kilometres southwest of Siddharthnagar district and 49 kilometres north of Basti district headquarters, neighbouring Domariaganj its headquarters. It is one of the biggest villages of the district and hence is sometimes because of its vast area referred to as a town by the local people of Siddhartha Nagar. Hallaur bazaar, a weekly shopping market, is the backbone of all trading activities of the area. The bazaar was established in 1907 by Meer Akber Husain, a prominent figured landlord and elderly person of old Basti district. Hallaur is a well-known place in the fields of literacy, education, art and culture, and social and political awareness.

History

As per historical evidence some 335 years ago (during the reign of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb), a noble and small family of Sayyids, led by Shah Sayyid Abdur Rasool along with his family migrated from the Persian City of Toos to India during the Mughal period. Shah Syed Abdur Rasool later came to be known as "Meera Baba". He was a devout Twelver Shiite.In fact ancestors of more than 20% of present sadaat population was migrated from nearby villages such as Pandri, Sisai, Bhuigaawan, Pokhra, Bangawaan and Pipra during the past 250 years. Some migrated even 50 to 60 years ago.
Meera Baba's tomb is in the heartland of Hallaur and old natives of Hallaur who are descendants of Meera Baba and his brothers revere him a lot. Every year urs of Meera Baba is commemorated and attended by huge number of people. A huge gathering pay their homage and recite verses of the Quran at his tomb daily especially on every Thursday. As per historical evidences Mughal Emperor Alamgir II visited Hallaur and was so impressed by Meera Baba's charms and divine power that he gifted five villages to Meera Baba. Shah Abdur Rasool Trust is still functional in Hallaur. The trust is responsible for maintenance of Bada Imambargah, maintenance of tomb of Meera Baba, organising anniversaries, etc. Day of Ashura procession on 10th Moharram, mourning procession of 7th Moharram and similar other processions are organised by the trust (Waqf) round the year from the grants released by Shia Central Waqf Board in favour of Waqf Shah Alamgir II.The present trustee is Janab Shah Saiyyed Salman Mehdi.

It has been said by the local Hallauris that Meer Shah Abdur Rasool faced hard-hitting confrontation from the tribal settled in Hallaur who were known as "Tharus". The Tharus asked Meera Baba to prove himself being a true Syed and show some miracles commensurate with their magical performances. Meera Baba once brushing his teeth with a Reetha stick sowed the same in the land within the premises of today's Jama Masjid of Hallaur. Within few days a sapling emerged. The whole Tharu community became his followers and most of them embraced Islam. That miraculous tree is still alive at the entrance of Jama Masjid. Hallauris keep the leaves of that tree as trophy. All Hallauris believe that as long as Meera Baba is in Hallaur, this a secured place. This area was named Hallaur either by Meera Baba or by his brothers. It is a prominent place near Domariaganj in the District of Siddharthnagar of Uttar Pradesh in India. Generally the natives of this area are small landlords and agriculturists by profession. Soon they realized the importance of education and as such presently they can be found in. Generally they visit Hallaur on few occasions such as Muharram. Hallaur was actively involved in first war of Indian Independence. Begum Hazrat Mahal of Awadh took refuge on her way towards Nepal when she was being chased by British Army. Her small contingent was safely helped and guided by Shah Kabeer Ali under the leadership of Meer Muhammad Bakhsk. The British Army punished the Hallauris for this.

No murder or any other heinous crime has yet occurred in Hallaur.

Demographics

As per the Census held in India in 2001, Hallaur has a population of approximately 6000 people, 50:50 men to women. However, after amalgamation of neighbouring Bhatangwa village with that of Hallaur, now Bhatangwa is part of Hallaur and with that Hallaur has an estimated total population of approximately 18,000 to 20,000 people including those of the adjoining areas. Residents of Hallaur are referred as Hallauris. Most of the Hallauris practice the Shia Islam religion with considerable population of other faiths such as Sunni Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and a dozen Christians. Christians also have their missionary School and Hospital named as St. Thomas on Highway No. 26 of Hallaur.

Most of the Hallauri Muslims are Twelver Shiites. Around 85% of entire population is Muslim out of which more than 90% Shiites are from the Syed families, they are predominantly devout Shias. The remaining 15% of population has Buddhists and, Hindus and Christian population.

The Hindus settled in Hallaur have decades old history. They were given land by Syed landlords to settle down with their families in Hallaur. A separate locality of Dalits still exists in Hallaur on the land provided by Syeds. They have a good rapport with the other communities of hallaur.

Education and literacy

The literacy rate amongst the people is considerably higher than other people living in surrounding area. Due to unemployment, people of this town are compelled to work in metropolitan cities, the Middle East and other countries for their living. A substantial number of people work in the government sector.

Religious educational institute like Madrasas was established by the Late Alhaj Syed Ali Hasan Rizvi (Tehsildar Sb) and is running successfully. The Modern school was established by late Qazi Adeel Abbasi, the late Hashmat Ali, the late Ghalib Husain, the late Mohd Iliyas,the late Samar Hallauri, the late Mohammad Husain( Nanhey baba), the late Lutf Haider, the late Itait Husain, the late Dr Nazeer Hasan (Moti doctor) and the late Sultan Ahmad in 1952. The district board also runs four schools (including two for girls) and three primary schools. There are some privately run schools also in Hallaur. Makhtab and Madrasas are the preferred sources of religious education for all preferably for women. Fine arts, craft and composition of Urdu

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