West Punjab

Arts & Culture Culture, Arts, Literature & Linguistics
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As many of you know Pakistani Punjab is divided into regions where certain tribes predominant. Basically Punjab is Jatt/Rajput in composition. On a local level there might be some rivalries between Rajputs & Jatts but I think that it is truly a local phenomenon. I was always curious to see what regions are the different tribes in the majority. On a personal level, my family originates from Attock, a wonderful town on the banks of the Indus (Abasin). The town is in the region called ilaaqa chach which is largely populated by Hazros, who speak Hindko (comprising 50% of the population), while the rest are more or less evenly split between Rajputs and Pakhtuns. I know that as Rajputs, we have always looked at Northern Punjab as our base, with Rawalpindi and Islamabad (natives) being Rajputs.

I think the article below will be useful in recognizing the different tribes of each district. I found this article at a Punjabi message board, so linking it is very difficult, although I can definately give directions to those interested for more.

Source: Punjabi Talk

**Jatts and Rajpoots **

Jatts are probably around 35 - 40% of Punjab’s total population. The Jatt heartlands around Lahore are probably around 50% Jatt.

Rajputs are around 10-15% of Punjab’s total population. The Rajput heartlands around Rawalpindi-Mirpur are probably around 40-50% Rajput.

Rajputs are concentrated in Pindi and the surrounding hill regions. While Jatts inhabit the Punjab plains. The only Rajput clans to be found in significant numbers in the plains are the Bhatti and Kokkhar.

A rough division of the districts of Punjabi speaking areas by dominant tribe/caste follows.

The Rajput clans:

Rawalapindi-Potohar:

Gakkhar(The most powerfull of all Rajput clans in Pakistan)
Januja
Khattar
Chib

Mirpur-Potohar (AJK):
Chib
(The Pindi-Mirpur area is the centre-of-power of the Rajput clans of Pakistan. Most of Pakistan’s soldiers come from this region.)

Chakwaal:
Minhas

Southern Hazara:
(Pakthunkhwa)
Satti (Gujjar clans also strong in this region)

Lahore and other districts of central Punjab:
Bhatti
Khokkhar

The Jatt clans:

Sahiwaal (and Faislabad, Toba Tek Singh etc):
Tiwana
Kharral
Wattoo

Sargodha/Shahpur:
Gondal

Chakwaal:
Gondal

Gujurat:
Baswaal
Gondal(around Mandi Bahawaldeen)
Minhas

Mirpur-Potohar (AJK)
Bangyaal

Sialkot and Narowaal:
Ghumman
Bajwa
Sandhu

Jhang:
Sial

Muzzafargarh and Multan:
Khar

Jhelum:
Tharthaal

Lahore and other districts of central Punjab (or Majha) i.e. Gujranwala, Kasur etc:
Tarraar
Warraich
Cheema
Gill
Bhutta
Chattha
Ranjha

Of course members of the above clans can be found everywhere and this isn’t a comprehensive list by any means, - there are many Jatt clans not mentioned.

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RajputFury, looks like this cultural/geneological stuff fascinates you as much it fascinates me. The info. you posted is very helpful and interesting but I have one question.

My family originates and has its base in Chakwal…which is in northern Punjab. I am Awan from my dad’s side and Rajput (Janjua) from my mom’s. Curious to know where Awans, who are a landowner variety, fit into the picture. Any idea?

:sunny:

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:k:

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Moona :slight_smile: yes, this stuff is just fantastic to do research on. Glad I found someone else who can appreciate it. Chakwal is heavily Rajput and a great area to visit. The origins of Awans can be classified as Jats or Rajputs depending on the location of the tribe and the occupation. Since you mentioned that your parents come from N.Punjab they are both likely to both be Rajputs. As you know, the different tribes tend to get so mixed and matched that Jats are classified as Rajputs and vice versa. The thing with Awans is that since they have become so promienent, they are being classified as a separate group these days, but originally they are branched off of the Raj/Jat groups. The Nawab of Kalabagh is considered to be the leader of the Awans. Gen. Cunningham did a field survey in Punjab for the brits and I have forwarded his opinions.

Janjuas :k: one of the major Rajput tribes. Both my parents are Bhattis.

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RajputFury :eek: My father is Bhatti (me too) and my mom’s Minhas… Rajputs.

Thanks for the info.

(Can you explain me something, I have seen Sikhs from India with Bhatti surname / tribe, are they also Rajputs and were our ancesters of Sikh religion before becoming Muslims ? )

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RajputFury, thanks for the feedback. I never knew that Awans were anything other than "Awan," know waht I mean??? I was always told by my dadi and dada everytime we'd go back to visit that Awans are a prominent Aryan caste that has its origins in Persia and that they trace their roots to that region, namely, ancient Persia. Now the fascinating thing is that my dadi and dada's relatives in a village close to Chakwal are so fair (with freckles and all) with light eyes and light hair that to me it seems quite feasible that there is some truth hidden in their statements after all. Now on my nani and nana's side, who are Rajput, everyone is mash'allah quite attractive also, but my relatives' skin coloring is light-medium or medium, for the most part. Interesting stuff!

:Pretty:

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I always thought Rajputs were the Hindu warrior class-how do we get Pakistani, Muslim rajputs?

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by mo_best: *
I always thought Rajputs were the Hindu warrior class-how do we get Pakistani, Muslim rajputs?
[/QUOTE]

they converted to Islam at some point, mainly during the Moughal era

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Saadia :slight_smile: Glad to know your also 100% Rajput..

To answer your question, yes Sikhs with Bhatti surnames are also Rajputs. Although the vast majority of Sikhs are Jats, meaning that they used to probably live in the Plains of Punjab before Pakistan was created. Now for the ancestor part, it can get tricky. Ok I’ll try to give you a simplified history: Rajputs were originally Scythians from the Steppes of Central asia, they were known to be nomadic type warriors (like the mongols). When they settled in India (and Pakistan) they become rulers and large landowners, they were Sauras (mean Sun worshippers), not Hindus or Buddhists like the majority of people. After that some converted to Hinduism, when Islam came a large portion converted to it. Sikhism, is a relatively new religion and it gained converts from the Hindus. In fact, there is almost no record of Rajput Muslims converting to Sikhism. So finally, while SOME Sikhs may have converted to Islam, but by in large, they remained intact. Again not 100% on this but most likely our ancestors converted from Pagan Sun worshipping to Islam.

Hope that answers your question. Sorry for giving you the whole history, but I wanted to make sure you had a realistic answer.

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by moona: *
RajputFury, thanks for the feedback. I never knew that Awans were anything other than "Awan," know waht I mean??? I was always told by my dadi and dada everytime we'd go back to visit that Awans are a prominent Aryan caste that has its origins in Persia and that they trace their roots to that region, namely, ancient Persia. Now the fascinating thing is that my dadi and dada's relatives in a village close to Chakwal are so fair (with freckles and all) with light eyes and light hair that to me it seems quite feasible that there is some truth hidden in their statements after all. Now on my nani and nana's side, who are Rajput, everyone is mash'allah quite attractive also, but my relatives' skin coloring is light-medium or medium, for the most part. Interesting stuff!

:Pretty:
[/QUOTE]

Moona :)

I know exactly what you mean! Awans have branched off from Rajputs for a while now and they have began to see themselves as distinctly different. As for what your dadi and dada said, they may be partially right. In my earlier message I gave a brief history of Rajputs, so the situation for Awans applies as well. The Scythians were nomadic meaning their subtribes could be found in Persia or Central Asia, however the anthropologists point their origins to the Caucasus. So when your grandparents may have said is partially true, because Rajputs are certainly NOT Aryans, but are originally Caucasian. Scythians look very different from Aryans facial feature wise but the skin color is light for both.

Now to switch to your nani and nanas side, the difference in skin color might be due to various reasons including the level of non-rajput mixture, environmental considerations. I have seen a pretty wide range of Rajputs from very fair to medium, and it depends on the level of mixing with non-rajputs. Most 100% Rajputs tend to be on the lighter end, and depending on how much you can go back in history, you can probably trace out the non-rajput factor...Just wanted to add that light or dark..It's not a big issue.

Another issue that comes to mind regarding Awans is that since they branched off pretty early, they may have maintained a greater "purity" in blood by marrying within the tribe. I mean for us Bhattis, it wasn't an issue to marry someone from Minhas (I'm talking back in history) because we were "all" Rajputs.

Moona ji, maybe I'll send you a pic of me and my family sometime to prove my point :)

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RajputFury, thanks again for the interesting observations...sure a pic of you and your family would be nice to see.

:)

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RajputFury, thanks so much for the detailed explaination. Its allways good to know your roots. I mean wow sun worshippers to muslims, never thought of that.

Good to see that you are so well informed. :)

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by RajputFury: *

Saadia :) Glad to know your also 100% Rajput..

[/QUOTE]

I know, my grandparents and parents take pride into being Rajputs but for me its only my roots and not something which makes me 'higher' or 'better' than others.

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Interesting, RF, you should go into sociology!
I am curious, I was always told that Lahore was dominated by the arian biradri. But the article says, that Lahore is dominated by the Jatt biradri?

My understanding of the biradri system in Punjab is not very clear, what exactly are the stereotypes? I can guess the Rajput one obviously, but what about the rest?

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Hold your horses Moona, :hehe:

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Muzzaffargarh and Multan: khar<<

what a joke!

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Hold your horses Moona

... both of them.

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Roman, please let's not go off-topic if you don't have anything constructive to add. Your 1-liners tend to be quite tasteless I might add.

:o

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*RajputFury, thanks so much for the detailed explaination. Its allways good to know your roots. I mean wow sun worshippers to muslims, never thought of that. *

Your welcome :) Yea, my motivation began with "searching for my roots" and it just ended up expanding to doing research on the Punjab province and eventually to all of Pakistan. We have a unique heritage and I am not ashamed of the fact that there are Rajputs of different religions. Interesting thing is that I see the tendency of Pakistanis claiming foriegn origin, because somehow that makes them better or more Muslim. Well if you look back in history, Rajputs were second to none in bravery, and sure our ancestors may have converted, but who here can say that their ancestors didn't do the same?

I know, my grandparents and parents take pride into being Rajputs but for me its only my roots and not something which makes me 'higher' or 'better' than others.

No ofcourse we're not talking about "higher" or "better." I mean I take pride in the fact that my ancestors lived and many times died for what they believed in...I hope to live by that principle.

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Interesting, RF, you should go into sociology!
I am curious, I was always told that Lahore was dominated by the arian biradri. But the article says, that Lahore is dominated by the Jatt biradri?

Appreciate the kind words Zakk :) Sociology doesn't pay the bills and finance excites the capitalist me.

According to the article, and with discussions with the author, the consensus is that Jatts are more predominant in the plains. Thus, the
original residents (think of say 1850s) were Jatts. The Arains are mostly East Punjabis who migrated to Lahore after the Partition. Arains were more predominant in Haryana, E.Punjab states of old-India. Interesting tidbit, Zia-ul-Haq was an Arain. Lahore is very much a multi-ethnic city with many Arains, Kashmiris, Gujars who migrated there after Pakistan was created. Nawaz Sharif and family are Kashmiris by way of East Punjab who setlled in Lahore after Pak. was created. Just thought I'd drop a few famous names to point out migration patterns.

*My understanding of the biradri system in Punjab is not very clear, what exactly are the stereotypes? I can guess the Rajput one obviously, but what about the rest? *

Zakk :) I would get in trouble if I started naming stereotypes because they can get quite nasty and in many instances are not true. I can, however, give you a broad overview: W. Punjab has 5 groups Rajputs, Jats, Awans, Gujars and Arians. Although many of them are linked, like the Awans to Rajputs/Jats, they traditionally held different roles in Punjab. Rajputs the landowner/warlords, Jats the landowners/agriculturalists, Awans businesspeople, Arains the small farmers, Gujars the shepherders. Those classifications are no longer accurate because people from each tribe are in education, business, military etc. Zakk I am sure you can draw parallels to the stereotypes Pashtun tribes hold against each other and that is why to minimize the hatred regarding steretypes.

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moona, that hurts. You didn’t have to be that rude to me.:teary3: