History of Dungra

Services in Dungra

TRAVELLING FROM DUNGRA TO SURROUNDING VILLAGE;

There was no bus route to Dungra either you go by Ox driven craft by Horse riding or on foot to Kosamba, Panjroly, and Hansot. On foot people used to go to kosamba by Bara talao   baan, khar then via Amod dadar to Talchadi and to Kosamba. By bell gadi it was also this route via the parab in the khar where now the bus stopof Amod patia. For going to Hansot we used to travel on foot via Parvat to Sunav from where by bus to Hansot or by Bell Gadi via Sisodra Rohid via Asta to Hansot.

 

Once when I was about 14 year old I was coming from Hansot via Ankleshwar then to Kosamba by evening train reaching Kosamba at 5.30 pm., it was a Kali Chaudas night...I was all the time running to pass Amod’s dadar before sun set, but by reaching the gate of Amod before entering dadar it was complete dark. As you know that on the write hand side there were huge trees and on dadar there were Chani Bordies. It was very scary. Soon I heard ringing of ghanti from on coming a fellow with couple of baldias. He was brother Imam and just to give me comfort he said doesn’t worry there are some govalia near the baan and talao. When I reached at the pond there was no body. At last I reached at home by 7.30 or 8 pm. My sister kulsum and father was surprise to see me on that kali raat of kali chaudas because of the MASAN a burning place for dead and it was too dreadful to pass through in dark.

 Once an incident happened with Gulam Raja who was coming through one dark night and saw a small boy was crying. He went near and picked him up to get him to town thinking he might have been lost. But to his surprise that boy was getting bigger and bigger. Poor Raja ran like a hare. On his way he met brother Nizam and asked him the reason of his running. He said I had all the time made my horse to run but this was the first time I was running like a horse.

 

When I was eight years old I was coming from our bara khet towards a talab crossing all the khets in between, but when I reached at the kairda of balumama he was then working with his son Gani and Karima in his kairda.My foot suddenly stepped on a big snake lying in the grass on the border (Sairah) I suddenly screamed and balumama came running towards me ‘’what happened’’.I said the snake is there but the snake went in a hole I was so scared that when I reached home I had a very high temperature. US KE BAAD MERE BAWA NE MUJHE CHADAR URAA KE SULAA DIYA.  

 

In 1947/48 Kosamba was under Gaekaward control and other areas were under British Raj. There was a shortage of grains in gaekaward area and the police were on the guard all around kosamba to control the smuggling of grains. People from dungra were smuggling the grain via Se-Talao where the big Banyan tree was there. Once Germania, Shaikhu, Ramla Boot, Issa, Raja MOR, Ismail Sindhi were planning to carry wheat from sarthan for selling it to kosamba market. This plan was known to dublas of sarthan, so they went in disguise of police and hiding some where near the place from where they were passing. On hearing the on coming of baladia gadi they came out and stopped them. They all ran in panic leaving behind bags of wheat. Raja gulam was shouting those were the dublas of sarthan and they were not the police. It was too late and those dublas ran away with whatever they could grab. Those people went back to sarthan giving back what was left. They then with empty handed passing by the village of sisodra where they were stopped by the police party but on seeing nothing was there they let them pass. Bhai Bashir was in police service and I remember that once he came from Bharuch in his police uniform with a rifle in his hand to escort our people to Kosamba if any body would like to have grinding of

 

 

Jawar ata from chakki in Kosamba.

 

From our small village when its population in the year 1936 was 100 only as it was witnessed by me from my birth certificate obtained 5 years ago from Hansot ‘s mamaletdar office the following persons were in  various service as under:-

 

POLICE SERVICE: - Mastan c.i.d, Bashir Bhai, Karim mama, Hussein Gulab and Sultan shah son of Rehman shah sain. Apart from this Rehman’s family were Police Jamadar that is why their family is known as jamadar family in those days of british raj.

 

RAILWAY SERVICE; - Abdullah Munshi, Abdul Rashid, Bashir Amir Jamadar, Al Nasser Nizamuddin, Shamsuddin and Mastan. And Mehmood Abbas

 

TEACHER: - Hussein Munshi was the pioneer and he was the first teacher in dungra. Mohammad Abbas (Balu bapu) and Rasool Abbas in Tanzania.

 

POST MASTER: - Ibrahim Rehmatullah Malek.

 

HUSSAIN MALEK;- He was a custom officer in Dar-as-salam, his three sons Mohayuddin was a doctor in Karachi as well as in Saudi Arabia, his other son Mohammad was a lawyer and a judge in Karachi and his younger son Mehmood was Chartered Accountant. His grandson Arshad Mehmud and Mrs. Arshad are Doctors in USA.  And Mrs.Najma Malek is a professor at Karachi University. While Mumtaz G.H.Malik is a Dentist in Karachi.

 

BANKERS: Abdul Kader was a senior vice president of Habib Bank Karachi and executive in other private bank in Karachi.  His son Nafis is with National Allied Bank. Abdul Samad was a Manager of Habib Bank in London as well as at BCCI while his son Rizwan is a senior vice president in city bank and other son Arif is a vice president in Bank of America.   Iqbal and his brother Salahuddin in Habib Bank at Karachi. Yakub Abbas at Bank of Baroda in India.

 

CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT;- Liaqat Mohammad in U.K  Also trading as AMPS INTERNATIONAL LTD. Dealing in CDs and DVDs packaging..

 

DRIVING SCHOOL: - Irfan A.Samad Driving Instructor in London.

Interior Decorator and Building work: Abdul Hafiz with his son attached with this occupation in London.

Several other boys are in private service or factory workers

RESULT OF OUR KHOJ FOR PAST OF DUNGRA BY AMEERUDDIN (KALU) WITH ABDUL KADER (MUNNA) AND SALAMATULLAH.

 

Behind the village Aneeta and in between Umrachi and Panjroli there is a creek a channel. The sandy soil was fertile enough to have nice orchard of palm trees and dates getting Talphari and Dates (raw khajoor). Also near by Mango trees full of juicy and tasty fragrant smell spread all around with cool breeze blowing over the channel. Organic fresh vegetable were grown for daily consuming.

At the bank of channel small tribe of Shaikh families were living. This area called GORAT.

 

Why they were living far from the towns the reason might be an availability of water from the channel as said earlier Zindgi hay isi se mitti main Yehi aabe hayat hota hay, Yeh Na ho to bhala

Hayat kahan, Aab aabe hayat hota hay       .

 

 

Necessity is the mother of invention i.e. zaroorat ijad ki maa hoti he. Therefore due to lack of other amenity of living they had no other alternative but to pack up with their belonging leaving behind the memories of their first settlement and to shift to place of Dunger which was renamed to Dungra. Where the kabarstan was already there and a dargah of Baba Sayed Murad (R.A).

 

Baba Sayed Murad (R.A) had other two brothers they were Ganj Sayed Baba (R.A) at Pandvai and other one Mohammad Sayed Baba (R.A) at Telwa

 

As per our khoj we have gathered that at a place of ruins there is still a Banjara pir dargah survived in spite of heavy flood from KIM KHADI. It is in the same condition and no harm has received on account of overflow of channel and floods.

 

There is a saying from local people of Aneeta that whenever their children or animal got sick or lost they vow and it is fulfilled with the blessing of Banjara pir.

 

Accordingly on the other side of this khadi towards Panjroli there is another dargah called Dudhia pir which is looked after by the adivasies of panjroli and getting blessing from Dudhia pr ( Allah knows the best ).

 

To some distance a Gangeshvar Mahadeo temple is situated and opposite to it there is a Well and near by a VAV. The tendency of this vav is such that once a year the water gets MITHA otherwise it remains KARWA for whole year. Over many years this vav was built by banjaras. Paniharies were fetching water where an old lady appeared asking water for drinking  but her demand for water refused therefore she cursed and said whenever this day will come you will get mitha pani but for other days of the year it will remain karwa.

 

Since those days once a year people from surrounding villages goes there for YATRA an annual gathering or a fair or yatra was called GANGNATH. Once I had been there in the year 1944/45 with my father Rehmatullah accompanied with Bana seth with his children. I remember we had eaten bhajias and sevchevda and mumra over all garam garam jalebies (maza AA Gaya tha) that were the days.

 

My father was selling RAYAN on lorry and was hawking in a poetic way:-

Rayan  to  rati  aavi  ne  manma  jhola  khati aavi  Ah  tajo  mal  tadake  jaye  ne  basi  mal  kutra  khaye. It was very wonderful

 

Now from the last 20 years there is no celebration of yatra. The beauty of olden days had gone with their elders.

 

Where they were celebrating yatra that place was under Mandir trust of panjaroli but it was then sold to brick making company. This company have made a pit every where for quarry and now there is no trace of any ruins (inna lillahe va inna ilehe rajeoon)

 

India is a land of farms of peasants cultivating their ancestral lands mainly by family labour. Most former tenants acquired the right to purchase the lands they tilled. All the states instituted programs in India to force landlords to sell their farms, with mutual understanding between landlords and tenants... It was a policy of Sarkar to gift the land to social workers namely BHANGI, HAJAM, VASAVA, VANTANIA OR MULLAH. Therefore under this policy about 33 BIGA Zamin was acquired by these people, but for the prevailing circumstances these land were tilled by the few people. One of the cherished slogans of Kisan Movement “Land for tiller” and in the absence of those people it was obvious to keep in possession of that land they tilled...      .