The killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has placed under the spotlight a quaint village in Uttar Pradesh's Barabanki district where the paternal grandfather of Ruhollah Khomeini, Iran's first Supreme Leader, was born.

Given the village's ancestral link to Iran's Islamic regime, the death of Khamenei in the Israel-US attack is particularly devastating for the residents of Kintoor, who have announced a week-long mourning.

Khomeini had chosen Khamenei as his successor before his death in 1989.

Khomeini's paternal grandfather Syed Ahmad Musavi Hindi was born in Kintoor, located 40km west of Barabanki and 87km from Lucknow. In his 20s, Hindi went to Iran and Iraq on a pilgrimage with some of his family members in 1834 and settled in Khomein in Iran's Markazi province.

The villagers claim that Hindi was not happy with British rule and left the country. Khomeini was born there in 1902.

Syed Nihal Ahmad Kazmi, who claims he is a descendant of Hindi, said: “Syed Ahmad Musavi Hindi was a freedom fighter and kept fighting the British in India till he left the country. The British government didn’t let him return after he went to Iran on a pilgrimage in 1834. Ruhollah Musavi was born there. He earned religious training and later became the ayatollah."

Kintoor has over 30 Shia families who believe that their ancestors came to India from Iran. Later, a couple of families undertook pilgrimages to Iran and Iraq and settled there.

Syed Rehan Kazmi, who claims to be the great-grandson of Khomeini, said: "He is worshipped by the Shia community across the world. His decisions are considered the verdict of the Almighty. The village is mourning the death of Khomeini’s successor. We are deeply hurt by whatever happened in Iran.”

Syed Hussain Zaidi, another resident of Kintoor village, said: "Hindus and Muslims live in peace and harmony in Kintoor. We all believe that Khomeini and later Khamenei worked for humanity."

Rakesh Kumar, another resident, said mourning meetings were being organised in the village every day. "We want peace to return in Iran. The villagers have decided to put up black flags atop their houses and desist from celebrating Holi," he said.

AMU funeral prayer

Members of the Muslim community held a funeral prayer for Khamenei on the lawns of the Aligarh Muslim University Students Union compound amid tight security, with speakers urging the Centre to offer condolences to the cleric's family.

The funeral prayer in absentia was preceded by slogans of Shia-Sunni unity and addresses to the gathering, where several speakers asserted that Khamenei had attained "martyrdom and aroused a wave of sympathy beyond the borders of his own country".