Re: Arain Caste?? Help solving the mystery?
There is NO Middle East or Iranian Origin
H.A. Rose,'Castes and Tribes'; pg.13
Arain,Rain(the latter form prevails in the Jumna valley) is a term which has at least two distinct meanings:in the Sutlej valley and throughout the eastern plains the Arains form a true caste,but in all the rest of the two Provinces the term is applied to any market-gardener and is synonymous with Baghban,Mali,Maliar,and even Jat in the South West Punjab.We are now concerned with the Arains as a caste.
Almost to a man Muhammadans and strongly inclined to orthodoxy,the Arains claim to be immigrants from Uch and have some affinities with the Kambohs.On the other hand some of the Arain and Hindu Saini clan names are identical,and those not always merely names of other and dominant tribes.From Uch they migrated to sirsa and thence into the Punjab.
In Sirsa the Sutlej Arains meet those of the Ghaggar.The two do not intermarry,but the Arains of the Ghaggar valley say they were Rajputs living on the Panjnad near Multan who were ejected some four centuries ago by Saiyad Jalal-ul-din of Uch.The Sutlej Arains in Sirsa say that they are,like the Arains of Lahore and Montgomery,connected by origin with the Hindu Kambohs who have become Musalmans.He describes the Arains of the Ghaggar as the most advanced and civilized tribe in Sirsa district,even surpassing the Sikh Jats of Patiala;and he considers them at least equal in social status with the Jats,over whome they themselves claim superiority.The Arains of Ferozepore,Ludhiana,Ambala and Hissar also trace their origins from Uch or its neighbourhood,though the Hissar Arains are said to be merely Muhammadan Malis.
On the whole it would appear probable that the Arains originally came from the lower Indus and spread up the five rivers of the Punjab;and that at an early stage in their history a section of them moved up the Ghaggar,perhaps then a permanent river flowing into the Indus,and there gained for themselves a position of some importance.Their alleged connection with the Mallis is probably based only upon common occupation;but there does seem some reason to think that they may perhaps be akin to the Kambohs,though the difference must be more than one of religion only,as many of the Kambos are Musalman.
The Arains,apart from their orthodoxy,differ little in their customs and dress from the Muhammadans generally.In Multan they prefer the blue majhla or waistcoat to the white."