Bihari Muslims

Bihari Muslim

Total population
(2.4 cror Muslim)
Regions with significant populations
• India • Pakistan•Bangladesh • United States • Canada • Australia
Languages
• Urdu • Bihari
Religion
• Islam (Sunni and Shi'a)
Related ethnic groups
• Bihari peoples • Indian Muslims

Bihari Muslims are people originating and tracing descent from the Indian State of Bihar, who practice Islam as their religion. Bihari Muslims mainly practice Sunni Islam of the Hanafi creed, though a small Shia minority exists.

Origin

Islam in Bihar is said to have been established in the 9-15th century with the arrivals of Sufi missionaries as well as Sunni rulers. One prominent line of saints links to Arabian Peninsula and called Shaikh-ul-Bakhshi (Urdu:شیخ البخشی).

About 3 million Bihari Muslims migrated to Pakistan and Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) after independence.

Society

The majority of educated Bihari Muslims formally speak Urdu, while in the vernacular speak in the Bihari dialect.

The Bihari Muslim community is split into the Ajlaf and the Ashraf with Ashraf Muslims having a higher status then Ajlaf Muslims. Ashraf Groups is Bihar are Syeds, Pathans, Sheikhs, Mirzas and Maliks. The Ashraf Muslims claim to be of foreign Islamic descent from Arabia, Afghanistan and Persia and some of them like the Khanzada are descendants of high caste converts like Rajputs and Bhumihars. The Ajlaf on the other hand are descendants of low caste converts.

Muslims are spread throughout the State of Bihar, but are mainly concentrated in some Districts of Bihar, especially Kishanganj, Katihar, Araria, Purnia, Bhagalpur, Madhubani, Sitamarhi, Champaran, Samastipur, Madhepura, Darbhanga, Begusarai, Nawada, Gaya, Jehanabad and Muzaffarpur.

Distribution by district

Number	District	Headquarters	Population (2011)	Muslim population	Percentage
1	Kishanganj	Kishanganj	1,296,348	1,011,151	78%
2	Katihar	Katihar	2,392,638	1,017,495	43%
3	Araria	Araria	2,158,608	887,972	41%
4	Purnia	Purnia	2,543,942	935,239	37%
5	Darbhanga	Darbhanga	3,295,789	748,971	23%
6	Sitamarhi	Sitamarhi	2,682,720	568,992	21%
7	West Champaran	Bettiah	3,043,466	646,597	21%
8	East Champaran	Motihari	3,939,773	755,005	19%
9	Bhagalpur	Bhagalpur	2,423,172	423,246	18%
10	Madhubani	Madhubani	3,575,281	641,579	18%
11	Siwan	Siwan	2,714,349	494,176	18%
12	Gopalganj	Gopalganj	2,152,638	367,219	17%
13	Supaul	Supaul	1,732,578	302,120	17%
14	Sheohar	Sheohar	515,961	80,076	16%
15	Muzaffarpur	Muzaffarpur	3,746,714	573,951	15%
16	Saharsa	Saharsa	1,508,182	217,922	14%
17	Begusarai	Begusarai	2,349,366	313,713	13%
18	Banka	Banka	1,608,773	190,051	12%
19	Gaya	Gaya	3,473,428	403,439	12%
20	Jamui	Jamui	1,398,796	170,334	12%
21	Nawada	Nawada	1,809,696	204,457	11%
22	Madhepura	Madhepura	1,526,646	173,605	11%
23	Aurangabad	Aurangabad	2,013,055	221,436	11%
24	Kaimur	Bhabua	1,289,074	123,048	10%
25	Khagaria	Khagaria	1,280,354	131,441	10%
26	Rohtas	Sasaram	2,450,748	246,760	10%
27	Samastipur	Samastipur	3,394,793	355,897	10%
28	Saran	Chhapra	3,248,701	337,767	10%
29	Vaishali	Hajipur	2,718,421	259,158	10%
30	Jehanabad	Jehanabad	1,514,315	124,149	8%
31	Munger	Munger	1,337,797	98,791	7.4%
32	Patna	Patna	4,718,592	366,164	8%
33	Bhojpur	Arrah	2,243,144	163,193	7%
34	Nalanda	Bihar Sharif	2,370,528	176,871	7%
35	Sheikhpura	Sheikhpura	525,502	37,755	7%
37	Buxar	Buxar	1,402,396	86,382	6%
38	Lakhisarai	Lakhisarai	802,225	35,378	4%

Sum total of this table is 14,780,500 Muslims out of 83.0 millions total population in 2001 census, hence Muslims were 17.81% of total population in Bihar. In 2011 census, total population grew to 103.9985 millions, of which 18.964% or 19,922,048 were Muslims. During 2001-2011, Muslims grew by 33.433%, while non-Muslims grew by 23.537%. District-wise break up by religions for 2011 is not available.

Diaspora

During the Partition of India in the summer of 1947 many Bihari Muslims migrated to Pakistan (West and East). The majority went to West Pakistan and settled down in the Province of Sindh, especially in Karachi and are mainly classed under Muhajirs. Those that went to East Pakistan (modern day Bangladesh), played a significant role in Bangladesh Liberation War and are termed as Stranded Pakistanis.

A large number of Bihari Muslims also went to various European colonies, such as Mauritius, Fiji, Natal, South Africa, Trinidad, Guyana, Suriname and Jamaica as indentured labourers in the 19th and 20th centuries.

See also

•Stranded Pakistanis

•Pathans of Bihar

External links

• The Forgotten People: Bihari Refugees of Bangladesh, UCANews