Behrampora Rafiabad
By :Tariq Ahmad Malik
The model village Behrampora is also known as “the Gate Way Of Rafabad”. The village is situated to the North-West of “Apple Town Sopore” at the distance of eight kilometers. Its co-ordinates are 34*,19’,43” N ,and 74* ,23’,57”E. The village is inhabited (in 2012) by more than six thousand people. The village is spread on one and a half square kilometer area. The village has nine mohallas under two panchayat halqas.- Behrampora “A” ,and Behrampora “ B”.The village has 257 acres of common land.
Behrampora, as legend has it, was founded by a Muslim Saint Behram Sahab in the second half of the Sixteenth Century. This saint was the contemporarian of the world famous Kashmiri saint Hazrat Makhdoom Sahab(1456-1509). Behram Sahab was destined with a long life, and enjoyed the privilege to be the witness to the era when Kashmir had the pride of having its own rulers. Behram Sahab lived to see the rulers like those of Muhammad Shah( 1493_1528), and Nazuk shah(1529-30).He, however missed the rule of Yousf Shah (the last ruler of Kashmir) very marginally. As history has it , Yousf Shah ruled Kashmir uptil 1586 A.D. before falling to the conspiracy of Mughals. Since then Kashmir could never fnd its self rulers.
Behram Sahab lived a very simple life. He had least inclination towards worldly pleasures. He lived on the Northern bank of the Pohru Nallah. He was, however, very avid of mulberry fruit. For the entre fruit season the saint would take himself ferry to the southern bank of the Nallah where a 257 acre mulberry orchard would stretch its hem to welcome the pious saint .As legend has it, the saint had erected a thatched hut amid the mulberry orchard on a table shaped piece of land. This hut would act as his abode during the rough course of the weather. During his stay in the hut people would come to seek blessing from him. There would always be a good rush of devotees. Many devotees became his permanent disciples and erected their huts around the hut of Behram Sahab. Soon a habitaton was formed . The kashmiri term for habitaton is ‘Pur’. Thus the habitaton came to be known as Behrampur in 1550’s A.D. The saint did ,however, choose Yunsoo (a habitaton on northern side of Nallah Pohru) as his final restng place where his grave is stll an inspiraton for the local community. The place where Behram Sahab is believed to have erected his thatched hut is now a permanent grave yard in Ganie Mohalla infront of the mosque.
Behrampora has now lost its much hyped common land to the developmental programmes.There are dozens of school buildings on it.There are many play fields, a hospital building, an animal husbandry building, a Community Hall, and two panchayat Ghars erected on the chest of the erstwhile mulberry orchard.One can see now only ten to twenty mulberry trees hither and thither around these structures .This stands testmony that the mulberry orchard of 1800 canals was the pride of the village up till 1991 A.D.
The village presents a nice scenery .It has metalic roads running in its interiors . The structures on either side of the road lends it a look of a developed market site. The village has now a good count of public buildings. There is a Government Higher Secondary school, a private high school, three middle schools and a religious madrassa.Thus the children have an easy access to schools. The villagers live in perfect harmony. The village has its own Village Welfare Commitee which keeps the menaces in check and undertake developmental Initiatives .The village Auqaaf Commitee looks afer the village institutions like those of shrines, Eidgah, mosques, and grave yards.
The sons of this proud village are very enterprising .The transiton from traditonal agriculture to the modern techniques is quite visible in Behrampora.One can find villagers ploughing their farm land with tractors, spraying their orchards with diesel motors and ferrying their agricultural produce in load carriers. The village has many poultry farms which supply the poultry to the diferent markets of the area. The milk producton of the village is tremendous. The retailers sell in totality more than two thousand liters of milk and four hundred liters of curd every day.
The village has nearly fifty contractors to carry on the works of JKPCC, R&B,and PWD departments. They are always seen building metallic roads, hospital and school buildings, drainage systems and link roads of the village. They are well equipped with bulldozers, load carriers and mixers.
The transport sector of Behrampora deserves a special menton .One can see the passenger vehicles of Behrampora plying on every road of RafiAbad.But for the transport of Behrampora the upper reaches of RafiAbad would have been craving to see the road connectvity even in this twenty first century. During the first half of the twenteth century ,Behrampora was very famous for its artisans. The village was virtually a colony of gold smiths. Though 95% of the artsans have had a transiton from the craft, yet the remaining 5% have consolidated their positon in the field. Now the gold smiths of this village are having monopoly in almost all the markets of RafiAbad.One can find the jewellery of this village stalled in Sopore,Watertgam,Dangiwatcha,Behrampora,Kralgund and Seelu.The trustworthiness of these jewelers is the matter of great pride for the village.
The village fruit growers have had many strides in their field. A good percentage of them have excelled in the field,and have installed shops n Fruit Mandi Sopore.They have proven themselves into trustworthy and potential buyers of apple fruit.The hawkers of Behrampora lend the village the early excitement. Rising with the skylark these early birds are seen loading their horse-carts with kitchen-wares, vegetables, fruits, and junk, and exposing the nearby habitatons to the music of horse hoops .They return to their storages by twilight and add charm to the crowded hours of the village .
The topography of Behramp[ora is matchless. Surrounded by apple orchards on either side, the village presents a glorious look .In the west of the village, there is a beautful Sports Stadium overlooked by two huge water tanks. There is a much decorated eidgah and the shrine of Dedmoj Sahiba adjacent to the Sports Stadium. One can see the bright face of Govt Higher Secondary School Behrampora glowing across the fence of the stadium. In the east of the village there is a New Type Primary Health Centre building promising the visitors with sound health.The northern side of the village is an expanse of greenery where a dozen teams of children enjoy playing diferent games. The village has also a beautful sports field in its south. Thus this village of landscapes have every merriment to offer to the villagers.
There is a lot more to speak of about this beautful village-Stories of landmarks of educated youth, stories of the compettition in educaton, stories of the outlook of the new generaton ,and the like .This writer has simply initated to unravel these stories so that the budding writers may pick up the thread and glorify this village with their write-ups.
So, dear readers, let’s work together to help our village grow on modern lines. Lets keep honing our internal pull and make ourselves the more responsible sons of this proud village--- Long live Behrampora.
