Banur : Garden of the Zaidi Ul Wasti

Tracing their lineage from Zaid bin Ali Zainul Abedin, the great-grandson of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), the Zaidi Syeds moved from Kufa around 200 AH. Settling in Wasit on the banks of the Tigris in Iraq, they came to be known as the Zaidi ul Wasti. An eminent descendant, Abdul Farah, came to Hindustan with the armies of Shahabuddin Ghuri. His sons and their progeny who subsequently settled in North-West Hindustan, are the Syeds of Banur, Barah and Bilgram. They served both the sultans of Delhi and the Mughal emperors with distinction, enriching society militarily, politically and culturally. Translated by Yasmin Qureshi from an unpublished Urdu manuscript, Hadiqa-i-Wastiya, circa 1940, this volume focuses on the genealogy of the Zaidi ul Wasti of Banur. It includes a brief history of Banur and introduces its prominent citizens. It also gives an account of the martyrdom of Zaid bin Ali and of the family and times when the Zaidis settled in Wasit. The narrative concludes before the Partition of India. The Postscript by Syed Zahid Hasnain (Odyssey of a Sailor, SAMA 2011) carries the thread further to after 1947, the year of Freedom and Partition.