Iranian Heritage in Bengaluru: Stories of Resilience and Culture bengaluru news
Dr. Zahra Hosseini is fascinated by the story of her father, Syed Hossein Hosseini, who at the age of 12 left his hometown Yazd due to famine and came to India on foot from Iran with a large group. He traveled approximately 3,500 kilometers on foot in six months, and to survive on the journey, he took up carpentry and masonry work wherever possible. Many of them later settled in cities like Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad, where they established Irani cafes and restaurants.Many Iranian cafes are located on corner plots because such places were once considered unlucky by locals, making it cheaper and easier for expatriates to rent or buy them. “The Iranians used their intelligence and captured corner areas that were considered bad,” says Dr. Hosseini.He believes that ‘Iranian tea’ was born out of the shared evening gatherings of his father and his friends and relatives. She attributes its uniqueness to the brewing method and the use of pure milk and good tea powder. “They use a special kettle. The uniqueness of ‘Iranian tea’ also comes from a long brewing process. With Parsi diary milk and quality tea powder, it becomes the perfect tea,” she says. While originally spice-free, modern versions include saffron and cardamom for added flavor.Dr. Hussaini, who was born and brought up in Mumbai, runs a dental clinic in RT Nagar, Bengaluru, and has developed a kit for early detection of oral cancer, which is highly prevalent in rural India. Iranians settled in Bengaluru more than a century ago and contributed to its development, turning it into a garden city and creating historic properties such as Lalbagh. “He acquired substantial properties, established charitable endowments and played a role in shaping the city’s landscape,” says Mirza Mohammad Mehdi, a 79-year-old Bengaluru resident of Iranian origin who works as a consultant with Prestige. The Iranian community in Bengaluru has grown from about 2,000 people in earlier decades to about 30,000–40,000 today, of whom about 10,000 are of Iranian descent, influencing the social and architectural fabric of Bengaluru. Members of the Irani community served as prime ministers and governors for royal families such as the Wodeyars. Richmond Town resident Rebab al-Karimi’s great-grandfather, Agha Eli Askar, came to India in 1824 with his two brothers with 300 Arab horses to sell to the British. Al-Karimi says, “He found a father figure in Sir Mark Cubbon, who served as Commissioner of Mysuru, and he also loved horses. He was also very friendly with Mummadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar, the then Maharaja of Mysore, who appreciated good horse meat.” Oscar’s grandson Sir Mirza Ismail was the Prime Minister of Mysuru State during the reign of Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV. Akbar Mirza Khaleli, a resident of Sankey Road, was ambassador to Iran and Italy and high commissioner to Australia, while pediatrician Dr Mirza Sajjad Hussain supported Iranian patients in the Iran-Iraq war before settling in Bengaluru. Iranian students studying in Bangalore University and city colleges gave the city a cosmopolitan look. growing concerns Dr. Hosseini lost his father at an early age, but his ties to Iran remain intact. They have had sleepless nights after the US-Israel attack on Iran. “Many of my close relatives, including my sister and her family, still live in Tehran and Karaj,” says Dr. Hosseini, who held an Iranian passport until the ninth grade and later became a naturalized Indian citizen. She frantically called them as the war began and was dismayed to realize that they could not be contacted. “The internet was shut down for security reasons,” she recalls. Dr. Hosseini says, Iran was brutally attacked and bombed, that too during Ramadan. She adds, “They deliberately chose to attack us when we were physically weak, when we were fasting and praying.” Like Dr. Hosseini, Mohsen Ali Shirazi, a fifth-generation Iranian with roots in Shiraz (southern Iran), also frequently checks up on his relatives in Iran. “A few weeks ago, there was a bomb blast near our new house in Iran, which was built by my wife, a civil engineer,” says Shirazi, who runs Active Arena, a sports center in Marathahalli, Bengaluru. Shirazi came to India in 1994 and completed his bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Christ College, Bengaluru. He speaks Hindi and English fluently. protests not allowed Shirazi complains that Iranian expatriates are not allowed to protest against the US–Israeli war on Iran. “We are also not allowed to put up banners displaying photographs of revered religious scholars at private functions held in residences and prayer rooms,” he says. Citing a recent incident he says: “A few hours after the confirmation of the assassination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on February 28, about 2,500 members of our community gathered at Masjid-e-Askari, a mosque in Richmond Town, to mourn his death. The police initially refused permission, later gave permission after negotiations, but a few days later filed an FIR against 17 people, including an MLA.” Remembering Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (centre) during a visit to Bengaluru in 1981.
A prominent Iranian businessman based in Sadashivnagar, who did not want to be named, recalls hosting Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during his 1981 visit to India. He picked her up from the airport and kept her at his house in Sadashivnagar for three days. “People will suggest naming my house after Khamenei after the visit,” he says. Sharing anecdotes about Khamenei’s humility and piety, he says that Khamenei asked to prepare only one dish to avoid inconvenience, requested to be woken up at a specific time for the meeting, and slept on the carpet using his turban as a pillow and his cloak as a blanket. Khamenei’s assassination has devastated Shirazi. He says, “It is difficult to recover from loss. Even if I lose my children, my heart will not be broken.”gallery
Dr Zahra HussainiShe holds two patents, runs a dental clinic in RT Nagar, and has a high-profile clientele including cricketers.
Mohsin Ali ShiraziFifth generation Iranians identify as Indians of Iranian ethnicity. About 200 years ago, his great-grandfather and his friends and relatives came to India by ship via Mangaluru as horse traders, and supplied the Shiraz breed prized by the British. Shirazi says, they sold their horses in Kunigal and then moved to different parts of India.
Rebab-Al-KarimiHis family is originally from Shiraz in southern Iran. His great grandfather Agha Ali Askar Shirazi came to Bengaluru in 1824 with his two brothers with 300 Arab horses to sell to the British. Al-Karimi’s mother, now 90, has written a book titled ‘Agha Eli Askar’.