Monument and memorial, Sherpur
Mazar of Sher Ali Gaziশের আলী গাজীর মাজার
- Time needed
- Half an hour; a few hours at the urs.
The grave of the last Gazi zamindar of the Sherpur pargana, the man the district is named after, at Gazir Khamar about 10 km from town; an urs with a village fair every 1 Falgun.
At a glance
- Who
- Sher Ali Gazi, last Gazi zamindar of Sherpur pargana, early 1700s
- Urs
- 1 Falgun, mid-February, with a fair
- From Sherpur town
- About 10 km, at Gazir Khamar
About
The Gazi family, who traced themselves to Isa Khan's line through the Gazis of Bhawal, took over the Dash Kahonia pargana in the early seventeenth century. Sher Ali Gazi was the last of them, ruling at the start of the eighteenth century for about twenty-one years and, in the Nawabi period, more or less on his own terms; the pargana was renamed Sherpur after him, and the name passed to the town and then the district. He was buried at Giddapara Fakir Bari in Gazir Khamar, and the grave became the dargah people know as Gazir Dargah.
It is a simple country shrine, kept by the family of the khadims, with a mosque and a courtyard under big trees. The day to come is 1 Falgun, around the middle of February, when the annual urs fills the grounds with pilgrims and vow-makers of every faith from across the region and a fair of sweets, toys and household goods spreads over the fields around.
Getting there: A CNG or auto from Sherpur town to Gazir Khamar, about 10 km.
Things to do
- Come on 1 Falgun for the urs and the fair.
Good to know
- Cover your head and remove shoes at the grave; the khadims will show you where to stand.
