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With the establishment of the a Asaf Jahi rule at Golkonda,
number of north Indian communities such as Kayasths, Khatris, Brahma-khsatriyas
and Marwadis had come and settled down in Hyderabad. Some of them had
accompanied Asaf Jah-I and were awarded high positions in the state administration.
Big and extensive jagirs were also granted to some of them for performing
meritorious duties. However, the other communities' like Marwadis, Gujrathis
and Jaiswals were mostly traders and dealt in various commodities. The
Gujratis were intitially timber merchants but later they took to precious
and semi precious stones. The Marwadis had settled in large numbers at
Begum Bazar and virtually controlled that market to meet the local requirements.
The Jaiswals came in two batches, one from the western and another from
the eastern parts of Uttar Pradesh. They however, excelled in the art
of liquor making and settled in the vicinity of the present Narayanguda.
They were given permits in lieu of an annual payment made to royal treasury
for collecting "Tadi" from the forest and also for making country liquor.
They not only excelled in it but later monopolized this trade and had
their shops all around Narayanguda. The area was later named after Narayan
Pershad, a leading member of Jaiswal community.
Nothing is known about the origin of the Jaiswal community. They were
however known as "Kalwars" in North India. It is likely that their ancestors
hailed from the town, 'Jayas' in Uttar Pradesh and hence came to be known
as 'Jayaswalas' or "Jayaswals" or "Jaiswals". The well known Sufi poet,
Malik Mohammad Jayasi also belonged to ancient town of Jayas.
This particular community was famous through out North India for its mastery
over their traditional trade since remote past.
The first known historical personality among Jaiswals at Hyderabad was
Ganga Ram whose name finds mention in the chronicles datable to 1796 AD.
The jaiswals community must have therefore come and settled down in Hyderabad
sometime in the middle of 18th century AD. Choudhry Ganga Ram and Choudhry
Bhavani Ram are said to have first started their excise business at Hyderabad.
Both of them were well-versed in the art of distillation of liquor. This
gave a boost to the Jaiswal community in Andhra and many more families
later migrated from Uttar Pradesh to the various regions of Telangana
and established their own trade.
In a short span of time the entire excise trade of the erst-while Nizam
State was monopolized by the Jaiswal community. They made huge profits
and amassed wealth which raised their social status and position amongst
the Hindu nobles of Hyderabad.
In 1723 the Nizam government established the excise department at Hyderabad.
A full fledged excise directorate came into existence in 1823 AD. Choudhry
Ganga Ram and Choudhry Bhavani Ram are said to have been invited by the
Nizam government sometime during this period to supervise and improve
the sick excise industry of the state. They were given life long rights
over many distilleries against the payment of annual revenue to the State.
They established their bhattis and shops in and around Narayanguda. Ram
Narayan Jaiswal, an illustrious scion of the Jaiswal community , owned
huge properties and the area was later named after him as Narayanguda.
In order to safeguard the interests of the flourishing Jaiswal community,
the Jayaswal Kalwar Mahasabha, Hyderabad was formed in 1923 AD. Madan
Lal, a descendant of Choudhry Bhavani Ram was the first President and
his son, Papa Lal was chosen as the first secretary of the Mahasabha.
Both the father and son continued to hold these posts and served the community
fir a long period of 25 long years. Later on, the Mahasabha was converted
into Andhra Pradesh Jaiswal Sabha which continues to function even today.
Another organization, Jayaswal Panchayat was formed in 1940 with Saligram,
a leading advocate and prominent Arya Samajist as its president and Babu
Ram Dayal as its secretay. This body continued to work for 27 years and
in the year 1967, it gave away to Jayaswal Pragati Samaj. Radhakishen
became the first president while Hand Kumar was appointed as the secretary
of the newly founded Samaj.
After the merger of the Hyderabad State into the Indian Republic in 1948,
the policy of the Andhra Pradesh Government changed as regards the excise
business. All rights of the Jaiswal community over the distilleries ceased
to exist. The auction of the liquor shops came into practice where anybody
could offer higher bid and own a shop. This deprived the members of the
Jaiswal community of their traditional business which they had been carrying
on for centuries. To offset this, the community paid more attention to
education and branched off into other professions. A number of educational
institutions, such as the Gayadeen Arya Kanya Pathashala and a good number
of trusts, such as the Munnalal Trust and Ram Narayan trust were established
which gave scholarships to the poor students to pursue their studies.
A number of community halls, such as Tuljha Bhavan at Kachiguda, Ganga
Pershad Raja Karan Dharamshala and Chunnilal Dharamshala at Secunderabad
were also built for the benefits of the community. Ram Narayan Jaiswal
Bhavan is yet another example.
The members of the Jaiswal community still follow their
age-old ancestral socio-religious rites and traditions, customs and manners
so as to maintain their identity. Some of the built temples such as the
Lala temple (Ranigunj), Gopal Mandir (Secunderbad) and the Lord Siva Temple
(Sadashivapeta) which further exhibits their religious zeal to keep their
faith alive. The annual festivals and the jatras were organized with full
pomp to celebrate their religious rites and worship.
The Jaiswal community also played a leading role to enrich the socio-cultural
and political life of the twin cities. They took an active parting the
liberation movements of Hyderabad and in the Telangana movement. They
were ardent supporters of the Arya Samaj movement in Andhra Pradesh. The
prominent leaders of Arya Samaj like Manasa Ram, Saligram and Pandit Raja
Ram Shastri belonged to the Jaiswal community. Their contribution to the
political field can also not be minimized. Heera Lal Mourya is one such
political leader who was later nominated as MLC on the state. At one time
there were seven municipal councilors belonging to this community. Even
today, some of the members of the Jaiswal community hold offices in Gram
Panchayats and Zilla Parishads of Telangana region.
Jaiswals also excelled in every field of social life.
For example, Dr C L Mouli and Dr Chandu Lal made mark in the medical profession.
Among the notable advocates the names of Narsing Pershad Jaiswal, Babu
RamDayal and Suresh Babu are prominent. In the field of education Prof.
G P Jaiswal and Prof. Vidya Sagar have brought laurels to the community.
Among the philanthropists and social workers, the name of Jeetlal Jaiswal
is outstanding. He was elected as the first president of All India Jaiswal
Mahasabha. Jeetlal was a multi-faceted personality and had a great sense
of humor which made him popular in all walks of social life.
The contribution of the Jaiswal community to the cinema industry of the
twin cities has been immense. Manohar Talkies, Deepak Mahal, Prashant,
select to name a few are owned by the members of Jaiswal community. It
need not thus be over-emphasized that the community played a meaningful
role to enrich the cultural fabric of the city of Hyderabad.
The Hyderabad of the Qutb Shahis and Asaf Jahis was cosmopolitan metropolis
wherein people from different directions came and settled here with their
divergent, socio-cultural traits and manners, myth and philosophy. The
people of every caste, creed and community have made their own contributions
in their own way and tried to enrich the colourful cultural fabric of
the city. It is the composite culture of the city which we call "Ganga-Jamuni".
It belongs to all those, irrespective of caste and creed, who inhabit
this great city.
The culture of the country is the most powerful and cementing force which
keeps its people united. The history and culture of a region, along with
its cultural institutions, drawing inspiration from the past, must guide
the present to shape a better and meaningful future. It was during this
period of British who followed the policy of "divide and rule", that the
links of our glorious culture of the past were broken. We became divided
in the name of caste and creed. It proved fatal to our national unity
and the feeling of fraternity. It is high time we revived our past culture
and restored its broken links so as to help the cause of national integration.
Hyderbad, which has been the home of different cultures,
traditions and values upheld by its heterogeneous population, can play
a leading role in strengthening the cause of mutual understanding and
brotherhood. It can be made possible only if and when we pledge ourselves
to stick to our ancient values and traditions to promote the high ideals
of humanity.
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