The Ulama
This article is an extract from PANJAB CASTES SIR DENZIL CHARLES JELF IBBETSON, K.C. S.I. Being a reprint of the chapter on Lahore : Printed by the Superintendent, Government Printing, Punjab, 1916. |
The Ulama
Caste No. 70
This is a perfectly miscellaneous as sortment of people, many of whom cannot claim to have any priestly charac ter. Any divine learned in the faith of Islam claims the title of Alim, the plural of which is Ulama or the learned men.But on the frontier any person who can read and write and possesses sufficient religious knowledge to enable him to conduct the devotions in a mosque claims the title. Besides the people who have returned themselves as Ulama, I have included under this heading a large number of persons who have denoted their caste by some word which ex presses nothing more than a certain degree of religious knowledge or standing among the Mahomedans. The terms so included and the numbers returned under each are shown in the margin. The meaning of Ulama bas just been described. Those who returned themselves as such are almost wholly in the Lahore and Rawalpindi divisions, and 4129 are in Gurdaspur and l701 in Gujrat. Mujawir is the hereditary guardian of a shrine. Of those returned as such 2,479 are in Derah Ghazi, and are very possibly the attendants of the celelirated shrine of Sakhi Sarwar at Nigaha.
Qazi is the Mahomedan law-doctor who gives opinions on all religions and legal questions. But the descendants of a famous Qazi often retain the title, and there are several well-known Qazi families. Of our Qfizis 1,725 are in Sialkot, 542 in Amritsarj and 241 in Gurdaspur. In Derah Ghazi the Qazis are said all to be Awans, and to call themselves Ulama. The Mulla or Maulvi is a doctor of divinity who teaches the precepts of the faith. Mulwa na or Mulana appear to be merely other forms of Mulla ; all these people are returned from the Derajat, Peshawar, and Multan divisions. Makhdum means the head of a shrine, generally a descendant of the saint who presides over the management ; and the title used to be almost confined to the heads of the more celelu-ated shrines ; but it is now used by those of smaller shrines also, and by any who claim descent from any saint. Makhdumana is another form of the same word, or perhaps rather denotes the descendants of a Makhdum. In the Dcrajat Mian means any saint or holy man or teacher, but is now often used \)j the descendants of such persons.
Miana has been discussed under Shekh. Mullazadah is of course nothing more than the de scendant of a Mulla. Under this head of Ulama should probably be included the Akhundzadah and Akhund Khel. Akhnnd is a title given to any spiritual chief of i-cnown, and the descendants of these men are known by the above names. Indeed Major Wace says that among the Hazara Pathans any one who has studied the religious books is called Akhundzadah or Mulla indiffer ently. Under the head Pathans 3,665 men have shown their tribe as Akhund Khcl ; 2,128 in Peshawar, 946 in Hazara, 354 in Rawalpindi, and 166 in Bannu. But Mr. Beckett points out that many of these are men who cannot show any claim to the title. They are mostly Gujars and Awans, but are slow to admit this, and very often pretend that they are Saiyads. They should not be classed as Mullas or priests, as they perform no priestly functions. They cultivate land or graze cattle like any other Pathans, but cling to the title, as it carries with it a certain amount of consideration. '•' I suspect there are very many of those classed in our tables as Ulama who have no better claim to the title. The popular opinion of the Ulama is expressed in the proverbs quoted at pages 143-4 in the Chapter on Religion.
