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Hussaini Brahmins are a sect within the Mohyal Brahmin community of the Punjab region.[1]
The Mohyal community comprises seven sub-clans named Bali, Bhimwal, Chhibber, Datt, Lau, Mohan and Vaid.
However, as consistent with their Hindu tradition, they have adopted non-Indic traditions. This has led to a small sub-set of the Moyhal community paying reverence to Islam, most notably to the third Imam Hussain.[2]
According to V. Upadhyaya[3] they were influenced by the Chisti Sufis. While they wear the yajnopavita and the tilak, they take alms from only the Muslims, and not from Hindus.[4] Some of them are found in Pushakar, Ajmer, where Mu'in al-Din Chishti is buried.[5] According to another tradition, Yazid's troops had brought Imam Husain's head to their ancestors home in Sialkot. In exchange for his head, the ancestor exchanged his own sons' heads.[6] Famous Hussaini Brahmins include the actor Sunil Dutt, Urdu writers Kashmiri Lal Zakir, Sabir Dutt, and Nand Kishore Vikram.[7]
Few families can still be found in parts of Iraq but most families of Hussaini Brahmins are now settled in Pune,[8] Delhi,[9] Chandigarh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu region in India. Sindh, Chakwal and Lahore in Pakistan and Kabul and South Afghanistan in Afghanistan. Some of them also observe Muharram every year.