Tergon18
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The 'martial' or 'agricultural' tribes of Punjab were only fully formalised in the Punjab Land Alienation Act of 1900. The motive behind this new act was stated by C.L Cupper, British official in 1896:
'Punjab lies on the rear of any British army operating in Afghanistan and in the path of any army invading India from that region.
A very large proportion of the flower of the Indian army is recruited from that region. The spirit and tradition of the fighting races of this part of British India is is neither dead nor sleeping. Before our day tribal lands were won and held by physical force. Remove, even temporarily, the superintenting pressure of British rule and the restitution of lands lost under our system will be sought by violence....It is of supreme political importance that if our rule should ever be permenantly or temporarily in danger in this part of British India, we should have on our side the great agricultural tribes that still hold the country that they should not be seeking in our downfall or difficulties, an oppurtunity to recover their ancestral lands.'
This is what a British government official, identified only as 'Calvert' had to say about them later on:
'The agricultural tribes are generally distinct, easily defined bodies, posessing valuable martial qualities whicu endow them significant political importance. To secure their contentment and prosperity has for nearly 70 years the main object of the administration..'.
A district by district classification was published. The agricultural tribes included
Ahirs (1,922), Arain (915), Awan (9,409) Baluch (430 + 1,827 Hill Baluchis) Dogar (?) , Dogras (14,307), Gakhar (1,934), Gujar (2,478 Muslim + 423 Hindu) Janjua (see Musulman Rajput) , Hindu Jaats (5,114), Sikh Jats (18,017) Kamboh (338), Khattar (247) Khokhar (see Musulman Rajput) Labana (2,206) Mahton (486), Mughal (1,967) 'Musulman Jat' (2,918) Pathan (20,750 + 1,360 'Punjabi Pathans'), Qureshi (426), Hindu Rajputs (1,372), Musulman Rajputs (15,099 + 2,019 Ranghars) Saini (808), Sial (see Musulman Rajputs), Syed (1,223), Thakur (?).
The significance of agricultural tribes is that ones so notified were synonomous with the 'martial races' which the army almost always recruited from.
The numbers have been taken from Annual Class Returns, 1925.
Also, I'd like to say here that I don't think that we should believe in these colonial labels and designations, however I have seen that a lot of people argue about which tribes were listed as 'martial' or whether or not there tribe was listed as such and a there has been a lot of debate about this topic hence I decided to publish the entire list. It should be noted that I am not encouraging belief in such dated terms but merely from a historical point of view, presenting some facts about the past. This has been taken from Rajmohan Gandhi's (Mahatma Gandhi's grandson) book, The Indian Army and the Making of Punjab. It is worth a read for any one interested.
https://books.google.com.pk/books?id=O4Wop9vwS9sC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
'Punjab lies on the rear of any British army operating in Afghanistan and in the path of any army invading India from that region.
A very large proportion of the flower of the Indian army is recruited from that region. The spirit and tradition of the fighting races of this part of British India is is neither dead nor sleeping. Before our day tribal lands were won and held by physical force. Remove, even temporarily, the superintenting pressure of British rule and the restitution of lands lost under our system will be sought by violence....It is of supreme political importance that if our rule should ever be permenantly or temporarily in danger in this part of British India, we should have on our side the great agricultural tribes that still hold the country that they should not be seeking in our downfall or difficulties, an oppurtunity to recover their ancestral lands.'
This is what a British government official, identified only as 'Calvert' had to say about them later on:
'The agricultural tribes are generally distinct, easily defined bodies, posessing valuable martial qualities whicu endow them significant political importance. To secure their contentment and prosperity has for nearly 70 years the main object of the administration..'.
A district by district classification was published. The agricultural tribes included
Ahirs (1,922), Arain (915), Awan (9,409) Baluch (430 + 1,827 Hill Baluchis) Dogar (?) , Dogras (14,307), Gakhar (1,934), Gujar (2,478 Muslim + 423 Hindu) Janjua (see Musulman Rajput) , Hindu Jaats (5,114), Sikh Jats (18,017) Kamboh (338), Khattar (247) Khokhar (see Musulman Rajput) Labana (2,206) Mahton (486), Mughal (1,967) 'Musulman Jat' (2,918) Pathan (20,750 + 1,360 'Punjabi Pathans'), Qureshi (426), Hindu Rajputs (1,372), Musulman Rajputs (15,099 + 2,019 Ranghars) Saini (808), Sial (see Musulman Rajputs), Syed (1,223), Thakur (?).
The significance of agricultural tribes is that ones so notified were synonomous with the 'martial races' which the army almost always recruited from.
The numbers have been taken from Annual Class Returns, 1925.
Also, I'd like to say here that I don't think that we should believe in these colonial labels and designations, however I have seen that a lot of people argue about which tribes were listed as 'martial' or whether or not there tribe was listed as such and a there has been a lot of debate about this topic hence I decided to publish the entire list. It should be noted that I am not encouraging belief in such dated terms but merely from a historical point of view, presenting some facts about the past. This has been taken from Rajmohan Gandhi's (Mahatma Gandhi's grandson) book, The Indian Army and the Making of Punjab. It is worth a read for any one interested.
https://books.google.com.pk/books?id=O4Wop9vwS9sC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
