Ancestors
Our Ancestor in Kashmir - Qazi Mir Mohammad Ali Bukhari
Our family traces back its origin to Qazi Mir Mohammad Ali Bukhari. He came to Kashmir during the reign of Sultan Zainulabidin Budshah (1420 - 1470 AD) as a guest of the king. In the royal court his rank and status was high. He had a great say in the affairs of the Government. He was the controller of Madrassas and keeper of Sharhi-Mohamedi. God had bestowed all bounties on him. Having a say in religious affairs he was made Qazi of the state and he used to issue religious dictums.
According to the old historical records of the Jamia Masjid in Srinagar, Kashmir, Sultan Zain-ul-Aabidin (Budshah) took extraordinary interest in the development and decoration of Jamia Masjid during his reign. He played a distinct role in turning the Mosque into a center of learning and preaching for Muslims. An Islamic institution of learning was started on the northern side of the Mosque in which besides Islamic literature, Holy Quran, Hadith, Arabic and Persian languages, Sanskrit, as Shastri Basha was taught. Qazi Mir Mohammad Ali Bukhari was appointed as the Director of this institute and a portion of revenue yielding land allocated to it met its financial requirements.
The descendants of Qazi Mir Mohammad Ali Bukhari were Mir Qazi Sikandar Shahdad, Nizamuddin Shahdad and Mir Qazi Ibrahim Shahdad. During the last part of the 18th century, one of his descendants, Mir Ghulam Qadir Shahdad used to live in Bul Bul Lanker locality of the city of Srinagar. He was in business. His great grandson, Haji Mir Mohammad Shahdad had six sons. Thus our family grew in size in the 20th century and spread to other parts of Srinagar as well as to the rest of the world.
According to the knowledge of Mir Mohammad Maqbool Shahdad, Qazi Mir Mohammad Ali Bukhari is buried in the Gojwara area near the Jamia Masjid in Srinagar.
Haji Mir Mohammad Shahdad
All the "Shahdads" of today, those living in Kashmir, and those living in the rest of the world are the direct descendants of Haji Mir Mohammad Shahdad. Haji Mir Mohammad Shahdad lived in the later half of the 19th century and the early part of the 20th century. He had six sons: Haji Mir Ahmedullah Shahdad (d 1956), Haji Mir Abdul Ali Shahdad (d 1944), Haji Mir Ghulam Rasool Shahdad (d 1984), Khwaja Mir Ghulam Hassan Shahdad (d 1993), Haji Mir Abdullah Shahdad (d 1978) and Khwaja Mir Ghulam Mustafa Shahdad (d 2021).
Haji Mir Mohammad Shahdad used to visit frontier areas of Ladakh and Kargil in connection with his business and was as such also famous as Tibet Baqal or Merchant of Tibet. He used to live with his sons in Bul Bul Lanker in downtown Srinagar. The old ancestral house was a beautiful building situated at the banks of the river Jehlum in the heart of Srinagar. By the standards of those days, this family is said to have a high standard of living in Srinagar. In appearance, Haji Mir Mohammad Shahdad is said to resemble one of his great grandsons, Mir Bashir Ahmed Shahdad. During those days, as was the local custom, he would wear a turban.
During the rise of the Ahl-i Hadith movement in Kashmir in the early 1920s, Haji Mir Mohammad Shahdad was appointed as the first President of the organization Anjuman Ahl-i Hadith Jammu and Kashmir. These were tough times for the family as most of the people in Kashmir were against the purist teachings of the Ahl-i Hadith people and their strong emphasis on the Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet. Our family members were not allowed to pray in the mainly Hanafi mosques of Srinagar, following which a number of Ahl-i Hadith mosques were established in Srinagar.
Haji Mir Mohammad Shahdad died in 1345 Hijri (1926 A.D.). After his death the family continued to live in the ancestral house in Bul Bul Lanker for some more years. His sons greatly advanced the name of the family and were highly involved with the community. His eldest son Haji Mir Ahmedullah Shahdad was a member of the Legislative Assembly and is said to have led the family through the golden age in our stay in Bul Bul Lanker. A writer of Kashmir has mentioned his wealthy status in his writings while referring to him as "Ahmed Joo Shahdad".
The Six Sons and Their Descendants
The 20th century saw a major expansion of the family of Shahdad. Haji Mir Mohammad Shahdad had six sons and through these sons emerged extended families that eventually settled down in different parts of Srinagar, leaving their ancestral home in Bul Bul Lanker. This was for the first time in the history of our family when we no longer lived as a single family. The sons of Haji Mir Ahmedullah Shahdad moved to Zal Dagar (Khader Bandar) and lived there for almost fifty years until they all moved to Nishat. Recently, the grandchildren of Mir Abdul Ghani Shahdad and Mir Mohammad Shafi Shahdad, the two sons of Haji Mir Ahmedullah Shahdad, moved to America. The sons of Haji Mir Abdul Ali Shahdad moved to different localities, with Mir Ghulam Nabi Shahdad moving to Hawal, Mir Ibrahim Shahdad moving to Barzulla and Mir Farooq Shahdad also moving to Barzulla. Haji Mir Ghulam Rasool Shahdad along with his younger son, Mir Nazir Ahmed Shahdad moved to Rajbagh and his elder son Mir Mohammad Maqbool Shahdad moved to Boulevard. The sons of Mir Mohammad Maqbool Shahdad later on moved to different parts of Srinagar and the rest of the world, with Mir Khursheed Ahmed Shahdad moving to Harwan, Mir Maqsood Ahmed Shahdad moving to Shalimaar and Mir Idrees Ahmed Shahdad moving to America. All the grandchildren of Mir Mohammad Maqbool Shahdad moved to America. The sons of Khwaja Mir Ghulam Hassan Shahdad used to live in Bul Bul Lanker for a long time untill they moved to the other parts of the city with Mir Mohammad Hafeez Shahdad living in downtown area, Mir Mushtaq Ahmed Shahdad and Mir Ghulam Nabi Shahdad living in Bal Garden and Mir Zahoor Ahmed Shahdad living in Bemina. The sons of Haji Mir Mohammad Abdullah Shahdad moved to different parts of the city with Mir Ghulam Mohammad Shahdad and Mir Mumtaz Ahmed Shahdad living in Shivpora, Mir Nisar Ahmed Shahdad living in Nishat and Mir Rafiq Ahmed Shahdad living in Hyderpora. Khwaja Mir Ghulam Mustafa Shahdad continued to live in Bul Bul Lanker alongwith his two sons, Mir Tariq Ahmed Shahdad and Mir Ajaz Ahmed Shahdad.