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The Jinnahs : Irony of History
The life, political career, and personal beliefs of Mohammed Ali Jinnah, Founder of Pakistan, have always been a matter of debate within Pakistan and among expatriate Pakistanis, who often seem to struggle with the “ideology of Pakistan”(often the idea of Pakistan itself), its values, culture, history, and the much contested “national narrative” of Pakistan which had been refined and redefined over a series of alternating civilian regimes and military dictatorships. But, as the title indicates, this article is about ‘The Jinnahs’ and not Mr. Jinnah himself. His family heritage is interesting given the context of his Political work and its repercussions.
As is the case with many of the Indian Muslims, their surnames names are either the Hindu surnames/community names that they retained after converting to Islam or alterations of the same under Persian/Turkic/Arabic influences or a direct adoption of Persian surname in most cases by claiming descent. A small percentage but significant number of Indian Muslims claim direct descent from Persian, Central Asian and Arabian tribes (immigrants, soldiers, administrators), whose surname usually indicates tribal affiliation in the respective regions of origin (with exceptions in people with Persian origin). The surname ‘Jinnah’, for some reason, doesn’t figure in anyone of these usual categories.
Mr. Jinnah’s biography reads “Jinnah was born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai, in a Gujarati-speaking “Jinnah family” in Wazir Mansion, Karachi in Sindh, a region within the Bombay Presidency of British India(or in the town of Jhirk).” ‘Jinnah Family’ however, didn’t exist until Mr. Jinnah and his brothers adopted his father’s nickname (slightly altered) as their surname.
The story of The Jinnahs goes like this according to a popular story about the origin of ‘The Jinnahs’: M.A. Jinnah’s grandfather, Premjibhai Thakkar (Gondal, Gujarat), entered into the trading of fishes on coastal town Veraval (Gujarat), against the customs of Lohana community which he belonged to. This led to the ban of his family from the community for violating the customs of the same. He made enough money in the fish trade and requested the Lohana community of the place to let his family back in to the community, since he had decided to discontinue the fish business. But, the Lohana leaders did not accept his request and family was never admitted back in to the community. He reacted to this by adopting a different religion, Ismailism(Shia sect). Names of all his sons were also changed after the conversion. His Skinny son was called Zino (dublo / patalo as in Gujarati). He was also called ‘Ziniyo’ by elders in the family. This nickname remained the same, even after the conversion. Thus Jinnah’s Father became Jinnahbhai Poonja and his(Jino)'s son opted Jinnabhai (then just Jinna and later Jinnah) as his family name.
The other story which is found in official biography of Mr. Jinnah claims that Jinnah’s Grandfather hails from a Rajput family and converted along with his family in early 19th century. But, the history of Lohana community makes the first story more plausible.
The Lohana community claims that they are a branch of 'Rathor' clan of Kshatriyas or Rajputs. The name ‘Lohana’ came in to being when Rathors changed their name after they got miraculously saved from being massacred by taking shelter in an iron fort (‘loh’ Sanskrit for Iron/metal). After this they changed their names to Loh-rana, from which the name Lohana comes. They started to put ‘Loh’ also before the towns and kingdoms founded by them, as such Lohargadh, the old name of Lahore in what is today Pakistan (Another source of the word could be as a derivative of ‘Lavnam’, one of the 18 grades of Kshatriya, ultimately derived from Lava, the son of Rama, Lahore's initial name is said to be ‘lavpuri’
. Lohanas ruled many ancient kingdoms.
In the 7th century, a Buddhist ruler named Agham Lohana ruled a part of Sindh and was Governor of Brahmanabad and contemporary of Chach of Alor. We find frequent mention of Agham Lohana in Chachnama and the city of Agham Kot (Sindh, Pakistan) is said to be named after him. The sea around was also known as Lohana Darya (Darya means sea). Chach of Alor defeated and executed Agham Lohana in the battle of Brahmanand and married his widow and also married his niece to Agham lohana's son Sirhind. Further, Chach is said to have laid restrictions on Lohana and Jat tribes from wearing headgear and carrying weapons. The discrimination of Lohanas lead to their decline from ruling or warrior class and conversion into traders in Sindh. In other parts of India, such as Punjab, Lohanas continued to rule until Islamic conquests of various regions under their control succeeded. The decline of Lohanas can be traced to the fall of Lohargadh(Lahore) to Muslim Invaders in 13th century and Lohanas fled to various places in Sindh, Kutch, Saurashtra, Rajasthan.,
In 12th century Sindh, which had fallen under Muslim rule after Muhammad bin Qasim, the Hindus were increasingly pressurized to either convert to Islam or face persecution and were living in constant fear. It was around this time, that Uderolal, who is revered as Jhulelal (by Sindhis), Dariyalal (by Gujaratis and Kutchis) and Zinda Pir (by Muslims) who was born in a Hindu Lohana family of Nasarpur in Sindh, took upon the mantle of Lohana and Hindu leadership. Uderolal showed his miraculous powers and preached Muslim chief Mirkshah, and initiated him into the true meaning of religion that Allah and Ishwar are one and same. Uderolal, thus won the freedom of religion for Hindus from the Muslim rulers and devoted the rest of his life to spiritual and community service. Today Uderolal is revered as Jhulelal, the patron saint of Sindhis and also considered to be as Pir and revered as Jinda Pir, as such, both Hindus and Muslims visit the site of his Samadhi. The Lohanas after Dariyalal took the samadhi for almost two centuries Hindus and Lohanas remained fearless but later again due to their Hindu identity being discriminated and increasingly threatened in Sindh and they began to migrate mainly towards Kutch and Saurashtra.
In the 14th Century, Ismaili Dai' Pir Sadardin converted many Gujarati Lohanas to Ismailism. As Lohanas were worshipers of Shakti (Energy/Power), in order to convert them Ismaili missionaries made certain modifications in their doctrines. Before the arrival of the Aga Khan from Persia to India in the 19th century, Khojas retained many Hindu traditions, including a Vaishnavite (Hindu) belief in the Dashavatara as they believed ‘Ali’ was his last avatar. They gradually used the title Khoja (Khwaja) and Memon. In the later part of 19th century and 20th century many Khoja Ismaili families converted to Twelver Shi’ism. Most notable among them is M.A. Jinnah himself.
Both of the stories about the origins of the ‘Jinnah Family’ claim that Mr. Jinnah's Grandfather had converted to Ismailism in early 19th century. So, the Jinnah Family, as it appears, is actually a Thakkars Family of Lohana community, who in a struggle to save their culture and traditions and to escape persecution, migrated to Gujarat but did not adopt Ismailism during the period of missionary work of Ismaili Dai' Pir Sadardin in Gujarat. They were later abandoned by the very community for not going by the customs. They adopted (or had to adopt) a different religion (the change their family had tried to escape from) and had to abandon the culture and traditions they tried to keep or live with.
Ironically, the members of this very family(Fathima and Mohammed Ali Jinnah) were the most influential in the founding of a country in the rigid lines of Religion and selective History, which resulted in more such migrations and rapture of families and communities, on a scale perhaps is unprecedented in the history of mankind.
The life, political career, and personal beliefs of Mohammed Ali Jinnah, Founder of Pakistan, have always been a matter of debate within Pakistan and among expatriate Pakistanis, who often seem to struggle with the “ideology of Pakistan”(often the idea of Pakistan itself), its values, culture, history, and the much contested “national narrative” of Pakistan which had been refined and redefined over a series of alternating civilian regimes and military dictatorships. But, as the title indicates, this article is about ‘The Jinnahs’ and not Mr. Jinnah himself. His family heritage is interesting given the context of his Political work and its repercussions.
As is the case with many of the Indian Muslims, their surnames names are either the Hindu surnames/community names that they retained after converting to Islam or alterations of the same under Persian/Turkic/Arabic influences or a direct adoption of Persian surname in most cases by claiming descent. A small percentage but significant number of Indian Muslims claim direct descent from Persian, Central Asian and Arabian tribes (immigrants, soldiers, administrators), whose surname usually indicates tribal affiliation in the respective regions of origin (with exceptions in people with Persian origin). The surname ‘Jinnah’, for some reason, doesn’t figure in anyone of these usual categories.
Mr. Jinnah’s biography reads “Jinnah was born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai, in a Gujarati-speaking “Jinnah family” in Wazir Mansion, Karachi in Sindh, a region within the Bombay Presidency of British India(or in the town of Jhirk).” ‘Jinnah Family’ however, didn’t exist until Mr. Jinnah and his brothers adopted his father’s nickname (slightly altered) as their surname.
The story of The Jinnahs goes like this according to a popular story about the origin of ‘The Jinnahs’: M.A. Jinnah’s grandfather, Premjibhai Thakkar (Gondal, Gujarat), entered into the trading of fishes on coastal town Veraval (Gujarat), against the customs of Lohana community which he belonged to. This led to the ban of his family from the community for violating the customs of the same. He made enough money in the fish trade and requested the Lohana community of the place to let his family back in to the community, since he had decided to discontinue the fish business. But, the Lohana leaders did not accept his request and family was never admitted back in to the community. He reacted to this by adopting a different religion, Ismailism(Shia sect). Names of all his sons were also changed after the conversion. His Skinny son was called Zino (dublo / patalo as in Gujarati). He was also called ‘Ziniyo’ by elders in the family. This nickname remained the same, even after the conversion. Thus Jinnah’s Father became Jinnahbhai Poonja and his(Jino)'s son opted Jinnabhai (then just Jinna and later Jinnah) as his family name.
The other story which is found in official biography of Mr. Jinnah claims that Jinnah’s Grandfather hails from a Rajput family and converted along with his family in early 19th century. But, the history of Lohana community makes the first story more plausible.
The Lohana community claims that they are a branch of 'Rathor' clan of Kshatriyas or Rajputs. The name ‘Lohana’ came in to being when Rathors changed their name after they got miraculously saved from being massacred by taking shelter in an iron fort (‘loh’ Sanskrit for Iron/metal). After this they changed their names to Loh-rana, from which the name Lohana comes. They started to put ‘Loh’ also before the towns and kingdoms founded by them, as such Lohargadh, the old name of Lahore in what is today Pakistan (Another source of the word could be as a derivative of ‘Lavnam’, one of the 18 grades of Kshatriya, ultimately derived from Lava, the son of Rama, Lahore's initial name is said to be ‘lavpuri’
. Lohanas ruled many ancient kingdoms.In the 7th century, a Buddhist ruler named Agham Lohana ruled a part of Sindh and was Governor of Brahmanabad and contemporary of Chach of Alor. We find frequent mention of Agham Lohana in Chachnama and the city of Agham Kot (Sindh, Pakistan) is said to be named after him. The sea around was also known as Lohana Darya (Darya means sea). Chach of Alor defeated and executed Agham Lohana in the battle of Brahmanand and married his widow and also married his niece to Agham lohana's son Sirhind. Further, Chach is said to have laid restrictions on Lohana and Jat tribes from wearing headgear and carrying weapons. The discrimination of Lohanas lead to their decline from ruling or warrior class and conversion into traders in Sindh. In other parts of India, such as Punjab, Lohanas continued to rule until Islamic conquests of various regions under their control succeeded. The decline of Lohanas can be traced to the fall of Lohargadh(Lahore) to Muslim Invaders in 13th century and Lohanas fled to various places in Sindh, Kutch, Saurashtra, Rajasthan.,
In 12th century Sindh, which had fallen under Muslim rule after Muhammad bin Qasim, the Hindus were increasingly pressurized to either convert to Islam or face persecution and were living in constant fear. It was around this time, that Uderolal, who is revered as Jhulelal (by Sindhis), Dariyalal (by Gujaratis and Kutchis) and Zinda Pir (by Muslims) who was born in a Hindu Lohana family of Nasarpur in Sindh, took upon the mantle of Lohana and Hindu leadership. Uderolal showed his miraculous powers and preached Muslim chief Mirkshah, and initiated him into the true meaning of religion that Allah and Ishwar are one and same. Uderolal, thus won the freedom of religion for Hindus from the Muslim rulers and devoted the rest of his life to spiritual and community service. Today Uderolal is revered as Jhulelal, the patron saint of Sindhis and also considered to be as Pir and revered as Jinda Pir, as such, both Hindus and Muslims visit the site of his Samadhi. The Lohanas after Dariyalal took the samadhi for almost two centuries Hindus and Lohanas remained fearless but later again due to their Hindu identity being discriminated and increasingly threatened in Sindh and they began to migrate mainly towards Kutch and Saurashtra.
In the 14th Century, Ismaili Dai' Pir Sadardin converted many Gujarati Lohanas to Ismailism. As Lohanas were worshipers of Shakti (Energy/Power), in order to convert them Ismaili missionaries made certain modifications in their doctrines. Before the arrival of the Aga Khan from Persia to India in the 19th century, Khojas retained many Hindu traditions, including a Vaishnavite (Hindu) belief in the Dashavatara as they believed ‘Ali’ was his last avatar. They gradually used the title Khoja (Khwaja) and Memon. In the later part of 19th century and 20th century many Khoja Ismaili families converted to Twelver Shi’ism. Most notable among them is M.A. Jinnah himself.
Both of the stories about the origins of the ‘Jinnah Family’ claim that Mr. Jinnah's Grandfather had converted to Ismailism in early 19th century. So, the Jinnah Family, as it appears, is actually a Thakkars Family of Lohana community, who in a struggle to save their culture and traditions and to escape persecution, migrated to Gujarat but did not adopt Ismailism during the period of missionary work of Ismaili Dai' Pir Sadardin in Gujarat. They were later abandoned by the very community for not going by the customs. They adopted (or had to adopt) a different religion (the change their family had tried to escape from) and had to abandon the culture and traditions they tried to keep or live with.
Ironically, the members of this very family(Fathima and Mohammed Ali Jinnah) were the most influential in the founding of a country in the rigid lines of Religion and selective History, which resulted in more such migrations and rapture of families and communities, on a scale perhaps is unprecedented in the history of mankind.
