The document discusses the Pirana sect of Shia Muslims in Gujarat, India. It states that the Pirana sect is a branch of Shia Islam, and that Imam Shah is an important Saiyyed, or descendant of the prophet Muhammad, who helped spread the sect. It also mentions that the village of Giramtha is located near the Pirana monastery, which contains five rows of mausoleums, with the main one being that of Imam Shah.

1. Ahmedabad District Gazetteer 1984 -Pirana Sect is a branch Shia Muslim and Imam Shah is Saiyyed Series 45
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2. Ahmedabad District Gazetteer 1984 -Pirana Sect is a branch Shia Muslim and Imam Shah is Saiyyed Series 45
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4. Ahmedabad District Gazetteer 1984 -Pirana Sect is a branch Shia Muslim and Imam Shah is Saiyyed Series 45
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5. Ahmedabad District Gazetteer 1984 -Pirana Sect is a branch Shia Muslim and Imam Shah is Saiyyed Series 45
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7. Ahmedabad District Gazetteer 1984 -Pirana Sect is a branch Shia Muslim and Imam Shah is Saiyyed Series 45
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8. Ahmedabad District Gazetteer 1984 -Pirana Sect is a branch Shia Muslim and Imam Shah is Saiyyed Series 45
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210
Muslims
The Gujarat Mus lims may b e d ivided into two ~ain s,e ction s, thoae
""ho have a foreign strain and those wh o arc almost c;-nhrcly of local R indu
descent. Fro m the middle of the 7th to the e nd. o f G1e 18th cenltu:y, foreign
M uslims continued to find their way into Gujarat. Of the lo cal converts,
some were persuaded and othe rs were fo rced to adopt I s lam b y Alp Khan
( A . D. 1297-13 17 ) wl1o spread the Muhammada n faith fro m Anhilvad to
Broach . Sultan Ahmed Shah (A. 0 . 14 11-1441 ). Mahmud l3egada
(A. D . 1459-1513 ) a nd Mahmud ll (A. D . 153 6 - 1547 ) specially exerted
the msel ves t o s pread I slam. Among the Mughal e m pero rs . J a hang.ir in
A. D . 161 8 and Aurangzeb in A . D. 1646 atte mpted. b y persecution to
force the Hindus to become Mnslims. l
Among the "Muslims of fo reign o r igin. there are Saiyads. Shaikhs.
Pathans and Mughals. while the V oh oras . Si pahis. Ghanc his. Pinjaras.
M o mnas, Khojas, M c mo ns and C hh ipas are Muslims con verted from
Hindus in this d istrict .
•
The Saiyads can be sa id to form the hig_hest com munal group
in the Muslim societ y. They claim to be desce nda nts fr,1m the Prophet
th rough his daughte r Fatimah and h e r hu~hand the Proph et's cousin Al i.
Scores of Saiyad families e ntered Gujarat dur ing the reigns of the
Su ltans o f Gujarat ( 1400-1570 ) and thei r successors. the M ughals
( 1570-1750). The Mirat-i-Ahm adi lists the roltowing important families:
(J) The Shirazis. (2) The Bukharis. (3) The Rifa'i s. (4. The Qadirlyyas.
(5) The Meshhcd is, (6) The Tdrusis. (7) The Tirmizis . (8) The Bbaktaris.
(9) The Arizis, ( 10) The Zaid is and ( 11 ) The M a hdvis. Out of them.
,....._ _ _ ___,.iukhari . Rifa'is and M eshhed is are fo und mainly in this d istrict as they
ettled here.
. . .It ~ranch o f Saiyads tracing its o TJgm from Nizad P ir and ha' it~~
•_th~n tts. ranl<s. the important Tmam Shah entered Gujarat a· l sma•h
m•sstonanes. At prese nt th e Sa iyads can hard ly be regarded as an affluent
section o f the Muslim communi ty . The re are n number of immigrants.
who claim t o be the Saiyads but the y are no t so recognised by ·rrue' Saiyads.
The ' t rue · s a1yad s are ·
·
· h ighly sc n s . . .
•uve to marriage connecttOnS an d t hose
cust~ms which bes peak or e ven su~gest a Saiyad o rigin. T h e fl uency in Ordtf•·
un
m•.xec1 With Gujarati and well-ve rsed in P ersian arc so me trat 5 o f
· ·t
ge nutne Sa iyad s. The y arc mainly fo und in Ahmadabad City ta tuka 0
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9. Ahmedabad District Gazetteer 1984 -Pirana Sect is a branch Shia Muslim and Imam Shah is Saiyyed Series 45
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DISTRICT GAZETTEER ; AHMADA'8Al)
2 14
The Ghanchis are oilm en: They are also called Ghanchi-Yoh?.ras. They
arc fou nd in Ahmadabad C tty taluka and ot~e~ talukas of thts district.
They are t he descendants of Hindus of the P~)'ara and Ghanchl castes.
Th.::ir fe males dress l ike Hindus and adopt. Hmdu n~mes. At marriage,
their w{1me n go singing like the Hindu s, w1th the bndegroom in proce.
ssion to the bride's house and in their feas ts they have Hindu dishes of
tadu, kansar , etc. At death, women wail anJ beat the breasts. They are
Sunni in faith, and h ave a jcunat , with a h e admen ch osen by the members.
The Pinjara is a craftsman community, who are cotton-threshers.
In addition, they have taken to misce llaneous callings like oilselling, small
trade and private service. Since both the Gban chis and Pinjaras have taken
to old trade and sinc.e both have adopted the surname Mansoori, it appear:;
probable that the two communities are n e arer to one another and may
- - - - - - - . have a commo n origin. They are fo und in Ahmadabad City of this district.
)
In matter of social customs like birth, marriage and death they follow
?
Muslim social customs. They are a poor and backward community.
)
? ~
The Momnas from Mo min ( beJievcrs ) are descendants of Hindus oF
) many castes converted to the Sbiah form of the faith b y differ~nt mC:'mbers
?
o( the I smaliya Saiyads, of whom lmamshah o f Pirana was the most
L--------J distinguishc<..l. T h ey are found in Ahmadabad City taluka of this district.
They are mai11ly cotton weavers, wh ile some of ~hem also wea ve silk sarees.
They also scJI cotton rope and tape. Do th males and females have
Hindu names . Among them circu mdsion is _Qractiscd and dead arc buried.
Like Hindus, wo men wail ahd b eat the breast a t death. Some of tbci11
1Ul on Hi ndu dress. wh ile some ut on Muslim dress. Their women
generally put on sarce and petti-coat. The.y speak Gujarati. Jnstcad ~f
the <.luran , they read lmamshah·s book o [ religious rules and also wo.r';;htP
Hindu Gods.
The Khoja s are convert ed Hindus. They are mainly found ill the
Ahmadabad City taluka, of this d istri<:t. They are the descendants of
Luhanas , who were converted to I slam b y the preaching of a Shiah preacher
called Nur Satagur or Nur-ud-din in the 12th century. H e is said to have
made a numbe r of converts in Gujarat by orderinO' the idols of a :Hindu
- o
t e mp1 to speak and b ear test1mony to the tru th of his mission. The u .
L hanas
e
were the first to y ield to his jnfluence and in con seq uence acquired their tnbal
. Rande.
name KhOJa, or h onourable convert. One of Nur Satag:ur's successor'. • fiJ'St
• _ o
o ngmally a Tuwar R ajput, sowed the seed of Ismalia faith. On tb eJr . ·n
settle ment in the towns of G ujarat, the Khojas were small dealers jn ~:Cr1
~nd fuel. From th ese humbl e beginning. they now occupy a powerfu~ pos~Hh
m commer ce. They are scattered all over Gu1 at and I1ave dealwgs . 5
·ar
11 - - tstor1l
a · Im portant t rade center s in a nd outsid e India. Many of thelr c t
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10. Ahmedabad District Gazetteer 1984 -Pirana Sect is a branch Shia Muslim and Imam Shah is Saiyyed Series 45
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cHAPTBR XlX-PLA C!!S OF JNTE~EST
92.1
chievem ents. The M a ha Laxmi Mata temple is spac ious and bas been reno-
~ated more than o nce. The Maha Kali temple boasts of a beautifu l and rare
·dol of Sbiva in the tandava pose. A stone slab of seventee nth century
~otains seventee n Sanskri t verses com posed by o ne Oayara m e ngraved on it.
There is a temple of K uber towards the southe rn e xtre mity o f Dholka
.
c ontrary to oth er temples . this temple faces east. Tt was built by a Brahmi
n
in Saka Samvat 172 1. A temple built 150 years back: displays a big anci'eDt
idol of Ardha-N ari-lshw ar. The Jain te mple in B haJa pol ha an anc
ient
Parswan ath id o l, suppose d to have bee n built in the pre-Chr ist era . DhoJka
has rwo other Jain te mples. r The first school at Dho lka wa-. ope ne
d a c;
early a <; A . D . 1829. At present. the to wn has I I primary sch ools. six
h igh
schools, colleges of arts and commer ce a n d a Prir:nary Teache rs
Training College for women. There are two public hospital s. a primary
health centre. two garde n s. two c ine ma houges and Govern ment rest h
ouse.
Jt is an importa nt h a ndloom centre . There are two rice mills, cotton
ginning factories . a brass ute nsil fac to ry. a hume pip e fa ctory and
two
facto ries manufa cturing w ooden c hairs and fumiture . The town has
branches of State Ban k of India. Dena Bank. Ban k o f Baro da. J a
n ata
Co-oper ative Bank and Ahmad abad Distri L Co-opc ratie Bank.
Dholka has its town m unicipa l ity. It has a sub-ma rket yard of agri'c ut.
rural produce . The to wn is eq uipped with e lectricit y a n d piped water supply.
A fa ir is he ld at the temple of the Nagnat h Mahade v o n Sh r a van V a d
30.
Annual Urs are he ld at t he tomb of Hazara t Sha P ir a nd Bukhar i Sabeb
oa.
Shawwal I 6-20 and Rajab 7 respecti vel y. Dho lka is fa'l' om: for its pomegT
&·
nates and guavas .
...---- --,
Giramth a- Oa-;kro i Taluka J>. 1.244 ): Area in a c rcc; I .8 18
Giramth a is 9 km . from Vatva. a railway station o n the B o mbay
-
Viramga m bro ad gauge section of th e W este rn R ailway and 15 k m . from
Ahmada bad. the taluka a nd distr ict h e a dquarte rs. It is connect ed b y
the
. State Transpo rt buses w ith Ahmad ab ad a nd other importa nt centres o
f th e
L---,. ---'district. Near this v j!lage is the P irana mo na ste r v with five
rows ( mauso-
~ums ) .....!he ch ie f being tha t o r Ima m sh a . It is said that in l f1t19 A . D .•
.§yed Imamsh a cam e fro m Ira n a nd settled o n a h m oclc at tbe entran
ce
~ ramtha viJJage. The re w e re no ra ins for three year s in s uccessio n .
l'he farmers requeste d him to b ring ra in . When rain felt. th ey chose
him
t~ be their spiritua l guide. A hutmen t was built for h im to the west o f the
~~lag~ where an arrow sh ot by h im had fa JJen . Soon after . th is. Mo.hamm ed
l<mg o f A h madaba d. w h o was convi nced tha t Tmamc:h a h ad m1rac ulo
us
1· T he acoouM
It mainly bated on an artic le prepared by Dr. B i.,in Jhave ri of
Oho tka.
ffi(:) li-47- 116
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