Hussaini Brahmin

Hussaini Brahmin is a Mohyal Brahmin community of the Punjab-region.

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.

According to V. Upadhyaya 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. Some of them are found in Pushakar, Ajmer, where Mu'in al-Din Chishti is buried. 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.

Few families can still be found in parts of Iraq but most families of Hussaini Brahmins are now settled in Pune, Delhi, 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.

A sect of Bhumihar Brahmins in the Muzaffarpur district of Bihar also claim ancestry from Hussaini Brahmins and take part in Muharram each year.