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History of Punjabis

When Ghaznavid governor of Hindustan territories, Ahmad Niyaltigin (Turk) rebelled, Sultan Masud (reign 1030-1041) sent a Hindu General, Rai Tilak to take care of the problem. Tilak in fact volunteered for this role and was happily accepted for being a native of Hindustan. Tilak’s army was composed of his fellow Hindus who upon entering Lahore, captured Niyaltigin’s Muslim followers and cut off their hands to spread terror which lead to many desertions. Niyaltigin took to flight, who was eventually caught and killed by the Jats who had an agreement with Tilak. Sultan Masud would invite Tilak to the Ghaznavid court along with the head of Niyaltigin. Lastly, besides being Hindu, Tilak was not a high born, but a son of a barber and his rise in Ghaznavid ranks was based purely on merit [1].

The Hindu section of Ghaznavid army was used as a counter balance Turkish commanders who were disposed as they would not sympathize and cause a rebellion. Of the many examples, when Sultan Masud cornered his uncle Yusuf Subuktigin by arresting him in a fortress, the cavalry responsible for the transport was Hindu (or Sawar-i-Hindu).

Besides the army, Hindu vassals also supplemented Ghaznavid forces in times of need. Rais and Rana are two names that appear when in 1151, Sultan Bahram Shah intercepted Ghurid, Alauddin. These are not anomaly as there were Hindus in Ghaznavi service as well both in the army and administration, according to Seljuk Vizier’s Siyasatnama we discover that the Ghaznavid army had Turks, Hindus, Khurasanis, Arabs & Ghurids that were kept separately for better cohesiveness and to benefit from each group’s ethos which individually contributed to diversity. The leader of the contingent was addressed with the title Sipahsalar-i- Hinduan and were utilized in Ghaznavid battles against Ilak Khan in Balkh & against Khanids. [2]

It is pertinent to mention that Hindu slaves had become so cheap after the fall of Punjab based Hindu Shahi dynasty which the Ghaznavids subdued that even sanitation workers were able to afford one in those days. Of course then there is the infamous sacking of Hindu temples. Then again the objective here was never to negate the exploits of Mahmud Ghaznavi in India, but the underlying point here is forced conversions in Punjab to which we find no reference and the service of Hindus in the upper echelon of Ghaznavid state machinery & Muhammad Bin Qasim’s administration only prove that there was no systemic attempt at forcing Islam on non-Muslims. [2]

Another thing to add is that the non-Muslim involvement in state affairs only grew with subsequent rulers, for example at one point the Grand Vizier of Mughal Empire was a Punjabi Hindu by the name Rai Todal Mal during Akbar’s reign, unarguably the peak of Mughals.

If we look at entire Hindustan the overwhelming majority is still non-Muslim, it was the basis of demanding Pakistan as a way to prevent living under a Hindu majority. As mentioned earlier if conversions were forced then surely states like Bihar would be Muslim majority considering that is where all these Muslim rulers based themselves. In Punjab specifically, in 1941 census just over half (53.2%) of Punjab’s population was Muslim, Hindus at 29.1% and Sikhs at just 14.9%. Yet previously in 1881 the census recorded Muslims at 47.6%, Hindus at 43.8% and Sikhs at 8.2%. [3]. And according to this same 1881 census half of Jatt population did not even convert to Islam even after a thousand plus years of the Religion’s presence in Punjab. [4]
A fascinating passage.

Punjabi Fighters of Border Action Team after a Raid on the Indian Gorkha Patrolling team
They never existed, according to Pakistani comments when these teams were mentioned in Indian media reports.
 
After the British Indian army was reorganised following the failed 1857 sepoy mutiny, Punjab emerged as the chief recruiting pool for the imperial armed forces. British colonialism began to eulogise Punjab as ‘our Prussia’ and Victorian racial ideology cultivated Punjabis as a ‘loyal military race’. By the time European armies began to mobilise in summer 1914, the ‘Punjabisation’ of the Indian armed forces was complete. Over a million Indians would serve overseas in WWI – with Punjab contributing the lion’s share of recruits.
You might want to read that well-known military analyst AHA on this subject. His being a Hindu from India should not prevent his views being read.
 
Mean of you.

I take it that when you were deciding to post this, you were chuckling over Alexander probably being between 5' and 5'4" in height.

@Sainthood 101
A fascinating narrative.
The conquest of Multan was welcomed by the non-Hindu groups particularly the Jats (not-Hindu)

It is important to note, Jats were not Hindus.
In your opinion, or according to your reading, what were the Jats?
 
Mean of you.

I take it that when you were deciding to post this, you were chuckling over Alexander probably being between 5' and 5'4" in height.

@Sainthood 101
A fascinating narrative.



In your opinion, or according to your reading, what were the Jats?
Tribes of Sindh who started settling Punjab than haryana, than Hindustan slowly over hundreds of years

Afaik or what I have read at the time they were animist, athiests or thier practices were off the chart, disorganized that they can't be fitted into an organized religion

Some Hindus say every thing is Hindu, or definition of Hinduism is all ancomosing - from that angle probably Hindu
But from that angle he is probably talking about they were not following Vedic/brahminic traditions followed in Hindustan - they had Thier own spirits, gods, societal structure etc etc (ofcourse later down the line centeries later they started accepting mainly Hinduism, than Islam and last Sikhism- in the end Thier old spirits, gods died out(I am hesitant with "gods" cause I even heard some people say they were athiests but did ancestor/spirit worship)

Maybe @Talwar e Pakistan can correct me
 
@Sainthood 101
A fascinating narrative.
The conquest of Multan was welcomed by the non-Hindu groups particularly the Jats (not-Hindu)

It is important to note, Jats were not Hindus.
In your opinion, or according to your reading, what were the Jats?
Tribes of Sindh who started settling Punjab than haryana, than Hindustan slowly over hundreds of years

Afaik or what I have read at the time they were animist, athiests or thier practices were off the chart, disorganized that they can't be fitted into an organized religion

Some Hindus say every thing is Hindu, or definition of Hinduism is all ancomosing - from that angle probably Hindu
But from that angle he is probably talking about they were not following Vedic/brahminic traditions followed in Hindustan - they had Thier own spirits, gods, societal structure etc etc (ofcourse later down the line centeries later they started accepting mainly Hinduism, than Islam and last Sikhism- in the end Thier old spirits, gods died out)

Maybe @Talwar e Pakistan can correct me
I need to think about this one, too.
 
Battle for Sirsa town b/w the small Panjabi polity of Bhattiana & the British in 1803. The Anglo commander was slain, & his army routed by the Panjabi Bhatti cavalrymen. The British btw were at their height during this period. It wasn’t often they lost pitched battles.
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All punjabies are mixture of following ethnic stocks,and their proportions vary in different castes:
1.Kamboj/Kamboh -They were neolithic iranian people.Apart from Kamboh caste ,most Arain are also predominately from this stock.Pathans,especially yusufzai,also have kamboh blood.
2.Aryan -They migrated around 5000 years from central asia when Kamboh and dravidian stocks were already living in south asia.Khatri/Arora caste represents this stock.Pakistani Sheikhs,Sudhans,Satti,most Syeds,most of upper caste Sairikis/Sindhis,Memons are from khatri/aryan stock.They are more mixed with kamboh stock.
3.Saka -They were scythian people who migrated from central asia around 2600 years ago.Jats are one major caste of this stock.
4.Dravidian -They were oldest native to south asia.Musali/Valmiki/Majhbi Sikh are from this stock.
All castes of Punjab are mixture of these major stocks.Also none of these stocks are identical to original,they are mixed with each other in various proportions depending upon region.
Also mongol(mughal) admixture is more prevalent on pakistani side.
 
All punjabies are mixture of following ethnic stocks,and their proportions vary in different castes:
1.Kamboj/Kamboh -They were neolithic iranian people.Apart from Kamboh caste ,most Arain are also predominately from this stock.Pathans,especially yusufzai,also have kamboh blood.
2.Aryan -They migrated around 5000 years from central asia when Kamboh and dravidian stocks were already living in south asia.Khatri/Arora caste represents this stock.Pakistani Sheikhs,Sudhans,Satti,most Syeds,most of upper caste Sairikis/Sindhis,Memons are from khatri/aryan stock.They are more mixed with kamboh stock.
3.Saka -They were scythian people who migrated from central asia around 2600 years ago.Jats are one major caste of this stock.
4.Dravidian -They were oldest native to south asia.Musali/Valmiki/Majhbi Sikh are from this stock.
All castes of Punjab are mixture of these major stocks.Also none of these stocks are identical to original,they are mixed with each other in various proportions depending upon region.
Also mongol(mughal) admixture is more prevalent on pakistani side.
Umh really wasn't interested in eugenics, races etc as thread is mostly about "history"
But ok ..
 
I am sure sakka Scythian etc are lies. Present day Pakistani Punjab has 3 types of majority are those who don't claim any foreign ancestry second largest group are Punjabi balochs. They have large population in western parts of Punjab like bhakkar layyah muzafargarh DG khan rajanpur and third group is those who clsim arab ancestory like syeds but their population is much lower than the other two. And kuch Punjabi speaking pathan bhi hain but I think unki population kam ha
agreed first are ofcourse the native clans, second Kashmiris,Pashtun, Baloch khels and tribes (Baloch are actually more recent and came during British era by removal of native clans and wider demographics shifts in that region)- Niazis, attaulah easakhelvi comes to mind for Pashtun, our current cm and couple other governors etc Baloch-punjabi and than some syeds, abbasis etc

I don't know about sycthian, Martian, pluto that's just some internet thing
 
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I am sure sakka Scythian etc are lies. Present day Pakistani Punjab has 3 types of majority are those who don't claim any foreign ancestry second largest group are Punjabi balochs. They have large population in western parts of Punjab like bhakkar layyah muzafargarh DG khan rajanpur and third group is those who clsim arab ancestory like syeds but their population is much lower than the other two. And kuch Punjabi speaking pathan bhi hain but I think unki population kam ha
Their is enough evidence - ancient texts,archeological,and genetical.Dravidian castes like musali(many are christian) have high concentration of H haplogroup.They are native.Haplogroup R originated in steppe area(central asia).
Baloch came from north-west iran,ethnically related to kurds and assimilated various other groups in sairaiki belt.There are many jats among baloch.
Sakazai(saka+zai) means children of saka is major pasthun division in Afghanistan and Pakistan.Sakazai tibes like Gillzai,Mandozai,Birakzai etc have counterparts among jats -Gill,Mand,Virk etc respectively.Sakazai are also found among baloch.2500 years ago north-west afghanistan was known as Sakastan.North Afghanisstan is still called Jat Bamiyan by local hazara population.Even today north-east province of Iran is Gilan(means of Gills,even in punjabi) and north-west district of Afghanistan is Takhar - a saka tribe.
 

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