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The Arains are historically exclusively Muslim. Their origins are uncertain, with some members of the community claiming a connection with the Rajputs. Others, with whom the historian and political scientist Christophe Jaffrelot agrees, believe that they are probably displaced farming communities who moved to Punjab from Sindh and Multan as Muslim armies encroached. Jaffrelot also believes the community to be related to theKamboj.[2] Ishtiaq Ahmed, who is a political scientist like Jaffrelot and also a member of the Arain community, acknowledges that some early Arain texts ascribe a Persian origin and others a Suryavansha Rajput descent. He says that the modern-day Arain claims to be of Arab descent are based on the community's uniform belief in Islam and almost-entire adherence to the Sunni sect of that religion, which is a trait they share with the early Arab invaders under Muhammad bin Qasim. Ahmed says that "The Arab-origin claim can be simply a re-orientation towards a (perceived) greater status as conquerors and 'original' Muslims" and that he personally thinks that "like the other farming castes of the Punjab and Haryana the Arains are a mix of many ethnies [sic] and races."[3]
A study of blood types, published in 2005 and intended "to find out the frequency of ABO and RhD phenotypes in different ethnic groups and casts of Pakistan", concluded that "There is no statistically significant difference of ABO and Rh-D distribution among various ethnic groups and casts, O is the most common blood group except in Arains where B is the most common and O is less common. Further ethnic based studies are required to confirm."[4]
Arain - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Arain (Urdu: آرائین) are descendants of Arab invaders to the Indian subcontinent. Akbar Shah Khan Najeebabadi, an Indian historian of Islam, wrote that they entered India thru Debal, Sindh with Muhammad Bin Qasim in 92 Hijri (711CE). He refered to them as Areehai from Arreha (Jericho) which was Punjabized with a nasal sound to Arain. It is believed the word Arain is derived from the Arabic name Ar-Ra'i, "The shepherd", a title indigenous to Arabia.
Most Arains are very fair, and many have coloured eyes, which means that they could not be of Indian ancestary. This is more true because of the fact that even today Arains don't like to marry outside their clan. Even highly urbanised Arainsdo not like to marry "outsiders", resulting in Arains being the purest race in the subcontinent, Arains claim Arab descent, based upon the fact that nearly all Arains are Sunni Muslims as was Muhammad Bin Qasim. Large Number of Arainscan be also found in Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Pakistan and other Countries. Under the British Raj after the two Anglo-Sikh wars the Arains who were classified by the British as a non-martial race (at that time they were an almost exclusive agricultural caste of Muslim farmers and small land holders.) were brought into the Punjab to replace the Sikhs, who classified as a martial race were sought by the British as new recruits. Unlike many of the Muslims from Afganistan, who were slow to accept the change to the British educational system and the change from Persian to English, the Arains stressed the importance of education for their children, and with the wealth gained from their hard work they were soon dominating the legal profession in Punjab and as lawyers have found around the world, their move into politics was an easy one. Arain is the Largest and most populated Muslim Tribe of Pakistan and Subcontinent with Population of over 70 Million People.
Arain people - SikhiWiki, free Sikh encyclopedia.
Arain History
The Arain are an agricultural caste settled mainly in the Punjab (Pakistan), with significant numbers also in the Sindh [citation needed] (Pakistan). They are chiefly associated with farming (market gardening), traditionally being small landowners or zamindars.
Word Arain
Many of the Arains of Punjab claim descent from Rai Jaj, the grandson of Lava, the founder of Lahore. Jaj was ruler of Sarsa territory and on that account was called a Rae; and his descendants became known as Rain, hence Arain .the Jalandhar Arains claim descent from Rai Bhuta, fifth in descent from Raja Karan (q.v.), and were settled in Uch (in Multan). Bhutta is one of the important clan of the Arains which is also shared by Rajputs and the Jatts. Bhutto is another variant of Bhutta. The Arains of Sahiwal point out that they were Surajbansi Rajputs, originally settled around Delhi. Arains of Ghaggar valley are also said to have been formerly Rajputs living on the Panjnad near Multan. The Arains of Hissar also claim Rajput descent.
Some Arains also claim Aryan descent from the ancient Iranians. A large section of people in Saraswati river basin, in both India and Pakistan, still call themselves Aryans. Some say that the Arain are the descendants of the nomadic Aryans who had invaded North India around 1500 BCE. Some people of Pakistan like to believe that the Arain were the Iranian tribal people with agriculture and sheep rearing profession who came to and settled in North India. They derive term Arain from Arya => Aryan => Arayan = Arain. Numerous Punjabis, both in India and Pakistan, claim descent from the Indo-Iranian Aryans. Ex-President of Pakistan Zia-ul-Haq was Arain.
Some writers like Ahmed Abdulla of Pakistan and Syed Abdul Quddus of India etc have distorted Rai Jaj of Mr Purser to Rai Chajju and, have also connected him erroneously to Ujjain in Malwa, rather than the Sarsa of the Arain traditions. Further, both these writers have also erroneously related Rai Chajju (Rai Jaj of Mr Purser) to Raja Karan, the supposed ancestor of the Kambohs/Kambojs of Jalandhar (Punjab), but curiously enough, they have not furnished any evidence to prove the relationship between Raja Karan and Rae Jaj ( or Rai Chajju?)
Languages
They tend to speak different languages, including but not limited to Urdu, Punjabi, Pothohari, Seraiki, Sindhi, Hindko, and Pushto depending on their place of residence.
Religion
The Arain are overwhelmingly, if not entirely, Muslim. The only specific data found on the subject is from the Joshua Project, which shows them to be 97% Muslim a proportion much greater than the other agricultural castes of the Punjab (the Jats, Gujjars and Rajputs, which are 53%, 55%, and 31% Muslim, respectively).
Some believe that Arain are descendants of Arab invaders to the Indian subcontinent. They think Arain came from Areeha (Jericho, Israel) with Muhammad Bin Qasim in 92 Hijri (711 AD).Muhammad Hayaat Madni was a Commander in Muhammad Bin Qasim's Army - 711 AD as held in the family tree of famous Arain Mian Family Baghbanpura. Reference to their lineage is made by the famous Indian Historian of Islam, Akbar Shah Khan Najeebabadi, who declared that they entered India thru Debal, Sindh with Muhammad Bin Qasim. He declared them Areehai from Arreha (Jericho) which was Punjabized with a nasal sound to Arain. These highly-specific claims are nevertheless viewed by some as a desire for claiming an unbroken practice of Islam through the ages, for the sake of current prestige.
Destiny of the Tribe Raeen
Muhammad Sharif, a UK based Indian historian, writes in "Destiny of the Tribe Raeen" that they started coming to Sindh (Iraq-i-Ajam) in 46 Hijri (666 AD) at the end of Orthodox Caliphate. They belonged to the Banu Sama (Saama or Samma) sub-tribe of Banu 'Amir (Aamir or Amer) tribe of the larger clan Aal-i-Adnan (The House of Adnan) through Hawazin. This Sama dynasty had a long list of Rulers in Sindh, Multan, Uch and Kach, 14 of whom became famous. It had three distinct off shoots and some historical tribes which are mistaken to be local Balochs or Dravidian Sindhis such as Zardari, and Hangaro also belonged to this sub-tribe. Raeen and not Arain are the people who took their name from famous Sama ruler Jam Raeena. Jam Raeena (Raeedun or Raideena) also known as Mulla Raeena was grandson of Sultan Awadh who was son of Jahankaran from Abreeha sub-caste of Sama. He ruled Kachh and then Sindh. There are 9 distinct sub-castes of Samma tribe which are specific only to Raeen till this date viz Nain, Sair, Qadria, Chachar, Chanan, Bahmani, Miana, Laman, and Khambrah. These are pure Sarsawal Raeen. Other Samma sub-castes are variably known as Multani Raeen or Baloch or Local Sindhi or even Abro viz Jhumrah, Zohabdari, Bali, Halpota, Phulpota, Sarangi and Hangaro. Sub-sub-castes are however in hundreds and one can find from ones revenue record.
Ranking
There are four or five main rankings (not sub-castes) which refer to the wealth held by the Arain namely Mian, Malik,Chaudery and Mehar or Mahar. The rankings among Arain are not birthrights (such as those among other castes) and one can freely ascend/descend according to changes in personal wealth. Arain have multitudes of gotras, or sub-clans, many of them bear names that indicate soldiering as a profession. For example: Ghalar, Gahgeer and Goheer (ferocious horse of armoured corps), Gatku (fencer), Kavali (soldier patrolling while others rest), Basroo (observation post), Bahman (brave, uncontrollable or insurmountable), Bhaila (alms-keeper who walks with the commander when he is giving away alms after a victory), Daulay (those who got land in return for military services), Khatora (spy), Ramay (archers), Rattay (bloody, red, ferocious fighters), Ramday (red -eyed soldiers), Labanay (an army column equipped with batons), Jatalay (victors), Qutub Shahi: (soldiers or their offspring who accompanied Qutubuddin Aibak), Sappal (marksmen), Bahalwan (driver of a chariot), Mudh and Mundh logisticians supplying logistics and reinforcement to the army), Teerandaz (archers), Katarband (users of katar, a weapon used by ancient armies, Wagi (Owner of large herds of animals especially buls/cows), Spal or Aspal (possessing horses from Persian Asp meaning horse) and Bhutta/Bhutto (dwellers of high places).
Blood Group
A study by the Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences on blood types of the major ethnicities in the Punjab showed that O is the most common blood group (among all ethnicities), except among the Arain where B is most common, the difference being statistically significant. Whilst not proof of non-local ancestry, it does illustrate a difference between the Arain and the other castes inhabiting the Punjab. More research would be needed to determine in greater detail the caste's migratory provenance.
The Arain during the British Raj
The Arain land holders should not be confused with the more gentrified zamindars such as the feudal Rajput landlords of vast holdings. Polo, partridge shoots and tea parties were therefore not associated attributes. Neither were the more negative and profligate practises such as "...dancing girls, drunken evenings listening to poetry, or numerous marriages...". When the British wanted land developed in the Punjab after its annexation, Arain were brought in to cultivate lands around the cities, forming irrigated colonies[30]. The Arain were so favoured for their "hard work, frugality and sense of discipline". Subsequent development of towns and cities and increasing urbanisation resulted in the value of the land settled by Arain to rise significantly, and Arain families thus flourished. Education was prioritised with the new found wealth and the Arain came to dominate the legal profession amongst urban Punjabi Muslims. Many used law to enter politics.
The Arain were classified as a "non-martial race" by the British, a classification deemed arbitrary and based on prejudices prevalent at the time (see martial race). Actually Arain was a much better martial race as is evident from their history. For example Shah Abdul Qadir Ludhianvi, a great freedom fighter, was able to drive out the British from Ludhiana, during the 1857 War of Independence which the British Colonialist prefer to call mutiny. Interestingly he was one of the few Muslim fighters to have taken up arms against the Colonialists. He took his forces to Panipat and from there to Chandni Chowk in Delhi, but was defeated and martyred fighting. Maulana Sani's theory was that because Shah Abdul Qadir was an Arain the British later put a ban on that tribe from being employed in their Indian army.
Either Tughlaq or Mahmood Ghaznavi sent a horse-mounted army comprising of Awan and Arain from Jalandhar and Anbala under the command of Imam Ali-ul-Haq, an Arain,to capture the rioting town of Sakala near Jammu. Imam captured the town and converted many people to Islam. The town was named Aspalkot which changed to Spalkot and later Sialkot. Imam was martyred in a skirmish and buried in the city. The people who came with him were called Aspal or Spal arain. This sub-tribe also settled in Gujrat and Wazirabad.arain in boloch in daddar in bolochistan.
Arain HistoryThe Arain are an... - Anjuman-e-Araian Jhuddo Zone | Facebook
Punjab's reputation as a loyalist province, which provided the British Indian Army with soldiers and a solid socio-political support base in the form of a dependent landed class, has eclipsed its rather variegated history, which includes heroic tales of resistance to occupation and foreign rule throughout the ages. Thus, for example, Raja Porus, who ruled a principality in northern Punjab in the ancient period, gave stiff resistance to the invading armies of Alexander the Great, but was defeated by the Greeks near Jhelum in 326 BC. The Khatris of Punjab claim him among their ancestors.
According to Kalpana Sahni -- daughter of the famous Rawalpindi-born, Government-College-Lahore-educated Bollywood actor, the late Balraj Sahni, the Khatris of Behra to which their family belongs -- trace their ancestry to Porus. She has narrated this story on the authority of another famous Punjabi Khatri family with a connection to Government College, Lahore, and to Bollywood: Chetan Anand, the noted late Indian filmmaker and elder brother of evergreen, matinee hero Dev Anand.
Then, there is the story of Dulla Bhatti, a Muslim Rajput who led a rebellion against the Mughals during the reign of Akbar. His story has been rendered in both poetry and prose. Rai Ahmed Khan Kharal, claimed both by Muslim Rajputs and Jatts, who took up arms against the British from western Punjab during 1857, is another hero in that tradition.
Closer to our own times, the legend of Bhagat Singh, a Sikh Jatt, has only grown bigger with time, and several Bollywood pictures have been made on that theme. The Kambohs take pride in Udham Singh from their caste who shot dead Sir Michael O'Dwyer, the Punjab governor who originally gave orders for harsh action at Jallianwala, on April 13, 1919. The actual carnage had been ordered on the spot by General Dyer.
However, one great freedom fighter from Punjab whose heroic struggle has not been given proper recognition is Shah Abdul Qadir Ludhianvi. His direct descendant, Maulana Habibur Rahman Sani, who is currently the chief imam of the main Friday Mosque in Ludhiana, in east Punjab, provided me detailed information on him in an interview recorded on Jan 4, 2005, in the courtyard of the mosque.
Maulana Sani's grandfather, Maulana Habibur Rahman, was one of the founders of the Majlis-e-Ahrar, a movement of anti-imperialist nationalist Muslims, who returned to India after spending one day in Lahore in August 1947, arguing that thousands of Muslims remained in east Punjab and they should not be abandoned. That is how that family remained in Ludhiana.
My attention to Maulana Sani was drawn by Baldev Raj Verma, owner of Naseem Hosiery in Ludhiana, whose father, Hansraj, was on the famous Japanese ship, Komagata Maru, in 1914 chartered by Punjabis, mainly Sikhs, to get to Canada. They were refused entry. It resulted in the emergence of the Ghadar Party and the first anti-colonial struggle in early 20th century in Punjab.
Mr Verma informed me that a famous Muslim family of freedom fighters from Ludhiana still lived in the town centre and were in charge of the main mosque, where thousands of Muslims congregated every Friday to pray. Ludhiana is the major industrial city of east Punjab. Indeed workers from all over India come and work there, among them a very large numbers of Muslims from UP and Bihar.
Maulana Habibur Rahman Sani informed me that his family belonged to the Arain biradari (patrilineage). His great, great grandfather, Shah Abdul Qadir Ludhianvi, was the first in Punjab to take up arms against the English East India Company in 1857. He collected a large fighting force, which included Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs, that drove the English out of not only Ludhiana but also Panipat. He then headed to Delhi with his men to support Bahadur Shah Zafar. He fell fighting along with thousands of others at Chandni Chowk in 1857.
In British records Ludhianvi is described as a fiery speaker who exercised considerable influence on the people in that region. Some reports incorrectly describe him as a Gujjar. In any event, the British deprived his family of their property and subjected them to other forms of persecution. The Arains in general were branded as a dangerous group, their lands were confiscated and they were excluded from recruitment in the army; hence their classification as a non-martial group.
However, his descendants continued to support revolutionary struggles and both the Ghadar Party and later Bhagat Singh's associates were aided by them. They also helped Subhash Chandra Bose cross Punjab safely into the North-West Frontier Province. The Tribune, Chandigarh, of Jan 7, 2001, carried a story on the anti-imperialist services of that family.
It is worth remembering that the British adopted similar harsh measures against the Bengalis and Biharis, and some tribes and castes from UP that took part in the Uprising of 1857. They were also declared unfit for military service. Therefore, excluding Arains from the army was consistent with British policy on rebellious tribes and castes.
However, in the ancient, Mughal and Sikh periods, Arains had held prominent positions, such as governors and army generals. Many gotras, or sub-clans, of the Arains bear names that indicate soldiering as an occupation. For example: Ghalar, Gahgeer and Goheer (ferocious horse of armoured corps), Gatku (fencer), Kavali (soldier patrolling while others rest), Basroo (observation post), Bahman (brave, uncontrollable or insurmountable), Bhaila (alms-keeper who walks with the commander when he is giving away alms after a victory), Daulay (those who got land in return for military services), Khatora (spy), Ramay (archers), Rattay (bloody, red, ferocious fighters), Ramday (red -eyed soldiers), Labanay (an army column equipped with batons), Jatalay (victors), Qutub Shahi: (soldiers or their offspring who accompanied Qutubuddin Aibak), Sappal (marksmen), Bahalwan (driver of a chariot), Mudh (logisticians supplying logistics and reinforcement to the army), Teerandaz (archers), Katarband (users of katar, a weapon used by ancient armies) and Bhutto (dwellers of high places).
It would be interesting if some filmmaker in Pakistan could depict the saga of Shah Abdul Qadir Ludhianvi on the silver screen. It would be important to contact his family in Ludhiana for more details, but more importantly the script should remain faithful to the true legacy of that great man. He was by no means a religious fanatic, although he described his struggle against the British as jihad. He was a patriot who joined hands with all communities in the first major struggle against the colonial takeover of the subcontinent.
An Arain freedom fighter
So many articles about Arain people, so I wanted to ask you guys. Who are we Arain?
Are we from Arabs, Hindus, Iranians, Rajputs. or indigenous people of Pakistan, like the Jatts?
I am curious.
@LoveIcon @Akheilos @Psycho Pakistani @oye_natta @Chak Bamu @Donatello @Ghareeb_Da_Baal, @Zarvan @DESERT FIGHTER @qamar1990 @kbd-raaf
At the end of the day, I really don't give a shit, but still I am curious. Most of my family members do not look like indics. Even in Punjabi our family name is Buggas which means whites, even though some of my family is not white. I am very curious about Arains, because jatts, gujjars, awans, and butts all have an origin, but Arain identity seems to be a mystery.
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