Mohan, Uttar Pradesh

Mohan, Uttar Pradesh Mohan
city
Mohan, Uttar Pradesh Location in Uttar Pradesh, India
Coordinates: 26°47′N 80°40′E / 26.78°N 80.67°E / 26.78; 80.67Coordinates: 26°47′N 80°40′E / 26.78°N 80.67°E / 26.78; 80.67
Country	India
State	Uttar Pradesh
District	Unnao
Elevation	128 m (420 ft)
Population (2001)
• Total	13,553
Languages
• Official	Hindi
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)

Mohan is a town and a nagar panchayat in Unnao district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

History

Some local residentssay that Mohan is derived from Moh meaning devotional love in Hindi and han meaning loss. A story claims that when Rama was going to Vanvas (self imposed exile) for fourteen years, Mohan is the place where he separated from his wife Sita thinking that he may suffer han in Moh due to the worldly love hence continued forward with his journey. Other local residents say the word Mohan was given by the first inhabitants of this place. They migrated from a small city Mahan in the Kerman province of Iran thereby naming the place after their homeland .

During the Mughal and British empires, Mohan flourished as a town known for its literate people. During the days of the Nawabs of Awadh, many residents found employment in the court of the Nawab and earned large fortunes. The town was well known for its Unani Hakims, mimics and actors. Locals affectionately used to call it as Mohan Khitta-e Unan meaning Mohan as a part of Greece, due to a number of well known Hakims (doctors of Unani medicine).

Hasrat Mohani, a well known Urdu poet and freedom fighter of Indian independence from British rule, and Iffat Mohani, a well known Urdu novel writer, trace their origins from Mohan.

Currently Mohan has several elementary schools and an intermediate school that goes up to grade 12. It is approximately 25 kilometres from city of Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh.

Dargah

Mohan has the Dargah of Hazrat Qasim (a.s.) located in its heart which is also a spiritual place for the Shia Islam. Every year on the 7th Muharram of Islamic calendar people gather here to pay obeisance to the martyr Hazrat Qasim ibn Hasan (a.s.) of Karbala and organize a procession to the Imaam chowk. This procession witnesses mourners from many sects and religions.

Geography

Mohan, lies on the left bank of the Sai River, about 6 km east of Hasanganj and 38 km north-east of Unnao. Roads lead from this place to Malihabad in Lucknow district on the east, Nawabganj on the south and Bangarmau on the north-west. Mohan is located at 26°47′N 80°40′E / 26.78°N 80.67°E / 26.78; 80.67.^[1] It has an average elevation of 128 metres (419 feet). In the British period Mohan was part of Lucknow district. After independence it got merged into the Unnao district.

Demographics

As of 2001 India census,^[2] Mohan had a population of 13,553. Males constitute 54% of the population and females 46%. Mohan has an average literacy rate of 46%, lower than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 51%, and female literacy is 40%. In Mohan, 17% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Sayyids of Mohan

Sayyids from Iran initially chose four places to settle in India. These were Hallaur, Baraha, Mohan and Bilgram.^[3] Sayyids of Mohan descend from one of the descendants of the Imam Raza, Sayyid Mahmood Neshapuri who migrated to India from Iran and settled in Mohan.^[4] One of the branch of Moosavi and Nishapuri Sayyids from Mohan settled at Bijnor, near Lucknow.^[5] The Grandfather (mooris-e aala) of Sadat-e Naqvia Gharbi Sirsi, Syed Ali Arab Naqvi Neshapuri migrated from Sabz Qadam, Neshapur, Iran and came to India. During that time, the son of Changez Khan named as Tooli Khan attacked on Iran and terrorized the whole country. It resulted civil war which ruined the whole of Iran. All Sadaat living in Iran were facing trouble very much and became unsafe at all. During that civil war, Syed Ali Naqi urf Syed Ali Arab Naqvi Neshapuri along with his brother 'Syed Ismaeel Naqvi, son Syed Zaid Kalan Naqvi, nephew Syed Meer Gadan Naqvi and a servant Malik Shah Khurasani, migrated from Neshapur, Iran to India in 632 AH (1236 AD). Syed Ali Arab Naqvi Neshapuri belonged to the lineage of Imam Ali Naqi(A.S.) as the following sequence Syed Ali Arab S/o Syed Mehmood Neshapuri S/o Syed Daud S/o Syed Hamza S/o Syed Sharaf Uddin Neshapuri S/o Syed Ahmad S/o Syed Ali Ashqar S/o Syed Jafar-e-Saani S/o Imam Ali Naqi (A.S.). The ruler of that time granted the area of Pansukha in Sambhal as a grant to Syed Ali Arab Naqvi Neshapuri. Pansukha was also named regarding him as Alipur. Due to communal insanity, Syed Ali Arab Naqvi was murdered on 21 Ramzan, 635 AH (1239 AD). A poet (Sha`ir) of that period, made a Quata regarding the date of murder, "Saani Ibne Muljim bedeen, Kard Qatal Ali aley Nabi Roohe Zehra Bamatamash naleed, Qatal al Sayyed Beh Gaftah Ali" (635 AH). The grave of Syed Ali Arab Naqvi Neshapuri Shaheed is located in Alipur” (Pansukha) where Sadate Gharbi Sirsi do go to present Fateha Khawani. After the death of Syed Ali Arab Naqvi, his brother Syed Ismaeel Naqvi, son Syed Zaid Kalan Naqvi, nephew Syed Meer Gadan and a servant Malik Shah Khurasani shifted to Sirsi in the shelter of Dada Makhdoom Sahab. Before coming Malik Shah Khurasani, Dada Makhdoom was already informed by a spiritual dream in which ‘a person brought a child and informed him that his innocent father was murdered’. Dada Makhdoom, then, decided to look after the child Syed Zaid Kalan Naqvi. After leaving Syed Zaid Kalan Naqvi near Dada Makhdoom Sahab, Syed Ismaeel Naqvi along with his son Syed Meer Gadan Naqvi, came to Mohan. Today, the grave of Syed Meer Gadan Naqvi is located in the town.^[6]

References