Punjabi Musalmans
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LIST O F AU TH O RITI ES CONSULTED ‘ ’ Pu nabi M l ans bv H . j u s a m Cap tain amilton The Gazetteers of the P unj ab and North Western F ro ntier Province . 8 1 IQ 19 31 Censu s Repor t 1 9 I, 190 , “and . ’ ‘ ’ Tod s Raj asth an . DS ’ ‘ ’ H n. Th o m pson s istory o f I d ia ’ ‘ ’ t ne s H . no Elph i s istory of Indi a 7 ’ ‘ ’ ind le s V Mc G r Ancien t Ind ia "6 A ’ ‘ and U ars H and books an Raj puts , nJats J G l ossary of the Tr ibes a d Ca stes of the na W F Pu j nb and North estern rontier Provi ce . ‘ ’ The Gypsi es o f Ind ia by Macke ri tch ie . ‘A H i st ory of th e 1Asi a ’ by N . Elias and PRINT ED B Y : MU H AMMAD S AEED S H EI KH AT A CCU R AT E PR I NTE RS ND U BL ISAED BY IM FOR B K H L A P H T H E OO O U S E , A H OR E . Th e aim in pro du ci ug th i s book i s to p u t i nto a n easi ly accessib le form and as much in form ati v e as p oss i ble concerning the history , custo m s etc of t h e p eop le o f Punj ab who h ave s h embraced I sl am . Thi book gives t e origin and hisntory o f almost all t h e imp or t an t P u jab i Tribes . P ublisher CONTENTS Chap ter I P ab Mu alman unj i s s . Chap ter II S ke tch o f the History of t he na Pu j b . Chap ter 111 f History o Isl am. Chap t er I V Cus toms and Ceremonies of t he P ni Mu salman u j ab s . Ch ap t er V Di stri bu tion of Tribes —S hort ns P M Accou t of unj abi usa lman Tri bes . Chap ter VI A Bre if Account of Cis Ind us P n athans a d Tribes p eculi ar to F P Hazara D istrict N W. and , ak in to Pathans . PUNJABI MUSALMANS Chap ter I ans The term Punjabi Mu salm roughly describes those Muslim Classes and Tribes which are to be found in F P that p orti o n of the Punjab and North West rontier ro vince which lies between the Indus and the S utlej Rivers to the South of the main H imalayan Range . This includes P H azara District , p ortion of Jammu and oonch (Kash H . mir territo ry ) , and the ill Tracts of Rawalp indi District P u na f i M u sa l m n no a s . nD i r Ma i i v i 2 . F o u s o s j b l ans Punjabi Mu sa m may be classed under four main heads . ( i ) l . Raj puts i . ( i) 2 . Jats ii i 3 . ( ) . Gujars v 4 . (i ) . Others P 3 . The history of the unjab until the commence n in . 1 ment of the Muhammadan i vasions A D . 001 i s r fragmentary and incomp lete , interrup ted by long p e iods of which we have no definite record . Certain incidents stand out as reco rded facts a nd establish historica l land a marks . Between these , nations , races and dyn sties ap p ear and disapp ear , leaving but faint traces of thei r existence to be u nravelled by the Archaeological exp erts from their coins and inscrip tions on stone and brass . o P na i Mu a l 4 nf u m anr b r i T i s . O gi j b s e . Most Punjabi Musalman tribes trace their origin to M period s p rior to the uhammadan invasions , others claim fanciful or mythical ancestors , while the remainder are satisfied that they came into the country with the M . uhammadan conquerors The traditions of their past are , as ‘ ’ a rule , handed down by the tribal miras is who record in song the exp loits of their heroes . These bard s keep the tribal genealogical tree , the roots of which extend back to some legendary hero : in so me cases even to Adam . In the absence of more satisfactory record s we h ave t generally to accep t these statements , where hey are not a t variance with the opinion of eth nologic al authorities . In chapter V there is a short account of each tribe , based on these sou rces o f information . Only those tribes s - or u b tribes are d e alt with which are of some intere s t . Below is t he description of the four main divisions mentioned in p aragra ph 2 . 5 R A J PU T S 1 A a n f a t . R r O i i no 0 y r g jp u s l I ‘ ’ n 1 h a s All Raj puts claim Aryan origin a d this cla m been accepted a s correct by m os x ethnological a uthorities . - Their common birth dates back , however , to so remote ‘ now R u t , a describes races a , past that the term j p - c laima e f , , which are most dis similar . The e fects of time tn and political v icissitudes have wrought great changes 1 W the various branches of the race . e now find the Raj puts R a th an of j pu a differ greatly from the Raj puts of South ern Punjab and these again from the Raj puts of the P North West portion of that p rovince . I n unjab thenre a are many types of the race , distinguished from one other by their mora l and p hysica l characteristics , and v p ossessing , in arying degrees , the qualities which make good soldiers . The Aryan descent of all Rajp uts cannot be said to have been establish ed beyond disp ute , and it is p robable th e Sc th ian‘ r that some , at least , of Rajput tribes are of y o H n P u origin . It seems likely that most of the unjabi Musal man Raj puts are sprung from this source , fo r they belong “ — ” “ A nic lar . chiefly to the g u or Fire born tribes These are generally considered to have been Scythian warriors who assisted the Brah mans in the ir final struggle with the ‘ B udd hists , and were admitted into the ra nks of the twice ’ H born as a reward for their services to ind uism . The ‘ ’ - d is tin ntitle Fire born was bestowed o n them in order to g ish them from the original Raj put races which claim ” descent from the Sun and Moon . The word Raj puts is derived as follows The Aryans h aving settled down in the lands they had won from the Dravid ians , the aboriginal race, v n l imp roved in ci iliz ation and by a p rocess of atural se ec tion grad ually resolved themselves into three classes l B arkm an ( ) The , or p riestly class . 2 . Ks hat ri a t . e ( ) The y , , Raj p ut or governing and M and military caste , comp osed of the aharajas their warrior kinsmen and comp anions , who se d uty it was to fight , rule and administer j ustice , and protect the community in general . 3 Vais i a i a ( ) The y , or trading and agr cultur l caste , now rep resented by the Bunnia . 4 R a u a S i a l G r a e jp t oc d . R a u t The jp therefore re presented the aristocracy , and the word imp lies this d isti nction to this day . So much s o is the case that Raj put in the Punjab has come to a me n a social grade rather than an ethnological t erm . The decennial censuses show h o w many tribes e nd eav ou r to substantiate their claim to high social p osition by ‘ ’ returning themselves as Raj put , numbers of whom have h J a t no title to that distinctio n. Others ave fallen to status owing to their non - observance of those social l aws recognised as necessary for the retentio n o f their p osition as Ra u M J a t j p ts . any tribes have both a Rajp u t and a a nd branch , while others rank a s Raj p uts in one district Jats in another . nS o clearly is th i s social p ositi o n of the R aj p u t reco i se d g , that it is common to find men add ing the word Rajp ut b to the name of their tribe , even when the tri enis wel l known to have no claim whatever to Rajp u t origi it imp lies that the man considers himself to be of Rajp ut status . P r i d e o f R ace o r T r i b P nM The u jabi usalman Raj p ut as a Rajp ut has what “ ’ may b e called a p ride of tribe of which he is most ance tenacious and which he maintains by strict ad h e r to h is H e the rules which gov ern marriage customs .