Phullarwan Rajputs

In this post I will look the Phullarwan, a tribe of Rajput status found in two separate regions, a northern group in Sialkot and Gujrat, and southern group in Sahiwal. Like most blogs, I will first look at the British sources, then tribal traditions.

British Sources

As usual, I will start H. A Rose, an early 20th Century British colonial official who co-authored A Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North-West Frontier Province, which is one of the most comprehensive Glossary on the tribes of Punjab, and a good source on many Punjabi tribes. On the Phularwan, he gives the following description:

a sept of Surajbansi Rajputs found in Gujrat, claiming descent from Rajah Karan through their eponym. They also hold 12 villages in Sialkot where they claim Saroa, king of Delhi, as their ancestor and say that they were once called Saroa, but Phuloru, their eponym, came from Delhi in the reign of Firuz Shah and settled at Thirwan or Bhirwal in Jhang. Fifth indescent from him Bagah or Tanga escaped the destruction which threatened the tribe and fled to his grandmother. They intermarry with the Bhatti and Khokhar. They are found as a Rajput and Pushkarna Jat clan, both agricultural, in Montgomery.

Rose, Horace Arthur; MacLagan, Edward Douglas. A Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North-West Frontier Province. Volume 2, Lahore: Samuel T. Weston at the Civil and Military Gazette Press.

However, the earliest reference to the Phularwan comes in E. A Prinsep’s the Revised Settlement of Sialkot district 1865.

Tribal Traditions

Like most Punjabi tribes, there are a number of traditions as to the origin of the tribe. According to one tradition, they are Suryavanshi Rajputs, claiming descent Raja Karan of the Mahabharat, through Phulloru a descendant of the Raja. In Sialkot, they claim that their ancestor was Suroya, a king of Delhi, and say that they were once called Suroa. Phuloru, a descendent of the king, left Delhi and settled in the neighbourhood of Jhang, and the word phullarwan literally means Phuloru’s family. Bagah, a descendent of Phuloru, then moved to Sialkot. If the second tradition is correct, that would make the Phullarwan a branch of the Tomar Rajput tribe, who are said to be founders and first rulers of Delhi. Baba Bajwa of the YouTube channel Baba Bajwa, whose sources seem to be the tribal mirasi (genealogist) however gives a different genealogy. According to him, the Phularwan are Panwar, and not Saroya or Surjabansi. He gives the following genealogy.

Wacha (ancestor of the Surayvanshi tribes)

↓

Bhoj Raj (20th in descent from Wacha, and ancestor of most the Punjab Suryavanshi)

↓

Mulraj (10th in descent from Bhoj Raj, ancestor of the several tribes such as Dhudhi, Lak and Waseer tribes)

↓

Parmar (ancestor of the Agnivanshi Parmars or Panwars)

↓

Bhambori

↓

Soomra

↓

Luria

↓

Phalron (ancestor of the Phullarwan)

↓

Phullarwan

↓

Phuljee + Phulo + Phulkara

However most traditions speak of the tribe as being Saroya and not Panwar.

Distribution

The Phullarwan are found in Gujrat, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Sargodha, Okara, Kasur, and Sahiwal districts of Punjab.

In Faisalabad District, they hold three villages called Bootywali Jhaal, Chak No. 34 GB and Chak No. 35 GB near Jaranwala.

In Sialkot District, they hold 12 villages, including Phullarwan and Pindi Bhagoke.

In Sargodha District, the main village is Phullarwan.

In Gujrat District, Phullarwan is an important village.

In Sahiwal District, the main villages Phullarwan Wasal and Phullarwan Chiragh.

In Okara District, the main villages Phullarwan Wazirke, Jandowal, Kot Shah Mushtaq, Phullarwan Kamboh, Rukan Pura and Shams kay near Hujra Shah Muqeem.

In Lahore District, the main village is Phullarwan near Burki,

In Kasur District, the main villages are Lohlay Rajputan near Usmanwala and Bhoye Aasal near Kot Radha Kishan.

Ghag / Ghagh Jats

In this post, I will look at the Ghagh, sometimes spelt Ghag tribe of Jats, who who claim descent from Tomar branch of the Rajput. They are found mainly in Sahiwal, Chiniot and Jhang (Shorkot tehsil) Districts. This article was written with the assistance of the Ghag of Sahiwal District. The Ghagh are separate from the Ghugh tribe, who claim a Panwar / Parmar Rajput ancestry.

British Sources

As usual, I will start H. A Rose, an early 20th Century British colonial official who co-authored A Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North-West Frontier Province, which is one of the most comprehensive Glossary on the tribes of Punjab, and a good source on many Punjabi tribes. On the Ghagh, he gives a very basic description:

Ghag, a Musalman Jat clan (agricultural) found in Montgomery

The information simply confirms that the Ghag are a Jat tribe, found mainly in what was Montgomery, and now Sahiwal District, although a few also found in Chiniot and Shorkot Districts.

Tribal Origin stories

The following family tree was provided by Muhammad Newaz, the son of Khadim Hussain, miralam (genealogist) of the Ghags of Chiniot:

Raja Toor

↓

Bagh

↓

Anangpal

↓

Raja Ravilan/RaeVilan

↓

Kaliya

↓

Ghagh

↓ 

Panjan

↓

Dheer

↓

Hammayun

↓

Sattar

↓

Khan

↓

Habeeb

↓

Salabat

↓

Ghulam

↓

Akbar

↓

Gahra

↓

Sher

↓

Haitam

↓

Nawab

↓

Shakru + Mali + Kalu (all brothers)

It is worth mentioning here that in the family tree given by H. A Rose, Raja Ravillan is the father of the Chadhar, and this would make Ghag a very close relative of the Chadhar, rather than descendent.

However, another family tree of the Ghagh was made in 1954 by Bahadur Pehalwan, who belonged to the Chadhar tribe. According to him, the Ghagh are a branch of the Chadhar. He gave the following genealogy:

Chadhar (ancestor of the Chadhar Jats)

↓ 

Dheer

↓ 

Ameer

↓ 

Jhot

↓ 

Jakhar

↓ 

Makheer

↓ 

Kandh

↓ 

Peeth

↓ 

Mahipal

↓ 

Dhammi

↓ 

Lakhu

↓ 

Kot

↓ 

Manseeh

↓ 

Hari

↓ 

Weesa

↓ 

Ratta

↓ 

Tahrnoon

↓ 

Ghagh (ancestor of the tribe)

↓ 

Kalya

↓ 

Lakha

↓ 

Panjan

↓ 

Hammayun

This would make the Ghag a section of the Chadhar tribe. The Chadhar claim to be descended from the Tomar dynasty. According to this of the traditions, the Ghag are a branch of the Chadhar, thus descended from the Tomar, while according to the other tradition, they are separate from the Chadhar, but still descended from the Tomar. Despite of all the traditions, Ghag are widely considered locally among the Neeli Bar tribes as one of the branch of Chadhar due to their small percentage in population. Nevertheless, they are still a branch of the Tomar/Toor, if not from the Chadhar tribe. The famous Ghag Wala khoo and Ghagh chowk in Thana Bhowana, District Jhang are named after Ghagh.

Talking about Tomar, the clan themselves claim descent from the semi-mythical Chandravanshi dynasty[1], naming the Mahabharata warrior Arjuna among their forebears. During 8th-12th century, the Tomars of Delhi ruled parts of the present-day Delhi, Haryana, Western Uttar Pradesh, Gwalior and parts of Rajasthan. Much of the information about this dynasty comes from bardic legends of little historical value, and therefore, the reconstruction of their history is difficult. According to the bardic tradition, the dynasty’s founder Anangpal Tomar (that is Anangapala I Tomara) founded Delhi in 736 CE.

Anangpal Tomar’s real name was Raja Jaul, who also known as Bilhandev Tomar. According to Hari Harnivas Devdi, who was a renowned Indian scholar, in his book “Delhi ke tomars”, refers to Bilhandev Tomar as Veelandev, Rana Jaju and Anangpal -1, who established Delhi in 736. Bilhandev is therefore another name for Raja Ravilan/RaeVilan referred in the family tree. The bardic legends also state that the last Tomara King (also named Anangapal-II) passed on the throne of Delhi to his son-in-law Prithviraj Chauhan.

About the whereabouts of Ghag population, it has come to our knowledge from the miralam Muhammad Newaz, that there were three brothers named as Shakru, Mali and Kalu, who were descended from Ghag. The descendants of Shakru are in Chiniot, while the descendants of Mali are in Sahiwal, Chichawatni, and Iqbal Nagar and descendants of Kalu are in Shorkot.

Distribution

• In Sahiwal District, Ghagh are found in Chak 10, and Chak 14/L Iqbalnagar.
• In Jhang Chiniot, the same family is living in Chak 210 J.B Tarar, Tehsil Bhowana District Chiniot
• In Tehsil Shorkot, Chak No. 5  Ghag, Chak No. 15, 17 and 18 Ghag
• In Tehsil Kabeerwala District Khanewal, Chak 23 and 29 Ghag

---

[1] Upinder Singh (2004). The Discovery of Ancient India: Early Archaeologists and the Beginnings of Archaeology

Maral / Marral Jats

In this post, I will look at the Maral, or sometimes spelt Marral tribe of Jats, who are found mainly is South Punjab, and are Seraiki speaking. They should not be confused by the Marhal, who were historically found in eastern Punjab. Like most posts, I will first look at the British sources, then look at tribal traditions.

British Sources

The earliest reference to the Marral comes from E. B Steedman’s Report of the Revised Settlement of Jhang District 1874-80. He writes the following about them:

The Marrals at present time do not own a single village, yet in the past times they must have been an important tribe, for we constantly hear of them in local lore. They claim to be Rajputs, Chauhan of the Surajbansi race, and to have settled at Thatha Wara beyond Khiva in the Chiniot tehsil during the reign of Akbar. The Shah Jiwana legend makes them proprietors of the land where Shah Jiwana now stands. Probably they occupied the land between the Khiva Sials and Chadhars on the left bank, and also some lands on the right bank of the Chenab. A few families still live in Marralwala, but as hereditary tenants only.

Report of the Revised Settlement of Jhang District 1874-80 Civil and Military Press Lahore

E.B. Steedman was an Indian Civil Service officer who had spent his career based in Gujrat, Jhang, and Dera Ismail Khan in the last half of the 19^th Century and built extensive knowledge of this region of South Punjab. His account, that the Marral were Chauhan Rajput was followed up by a number of other sources. For example, Malik Muhammad Din author of the 1904 Bahawalpur State Gazetteer reinforced the Chauhan ancestry.

Malik was the first to refer to Marral being the nickname of the tribal ancestor, from the Seraiki marhna, to muffle. A very similar account was given by H. A Rose. Rose was an early 20th Century British colonial official who co-authored A Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North-West Frontier Province, which is one of the most comprehensive glossaries on the tribes of Punjab, and a good source on many Punjabi tribes. He has two entries on the Marral, one relating to the clan in Bahawalpur, where a section was settled, and other in Jhang.

Marral a, tribe found in Bahawalpur. Maral, its eponym, was a Chauhan who migrated from Delhi and settled in Sindh. He had three sons, but all their descendants are called Marals. Their mirasi give the following folk-etymology : A certain Chauhan was told by his astrologers that a boy would be born in a Chauhan family who would destroy his kingdom, so he ordered that all the children born to the Chauhan  should be killed, but Maral’s mother concealed him in a drum, and so he was named Maral (from marhna, ‘ to muffle,’) while the family fled to Sindh.

Rose, Horace Arthur; MacLagan, Edward Douglas. A Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North-West Frontier Province. Volume 2, Lahore: Samuel T. Weston at the Civil and Military Gazette Press.

He repeats Malik’s account of the Marral. He then has an entry on the Marral of Jhang:

The Marrral seemto have been once of far greater importance than now in the Jhang District, which is their home. They claim to be Chauhan Rajputs by origin, tind to have come to the Upper Chenab in the time of Akbar. They are a fine bold looking set of men, but with a bad reputation for cattle-lifting and are poor cultivators.

Rose, Horace Arthur; MacLagan, Edward Douglas. A Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North-West Frontier Province. Volume 2, Lahore: Samuel T. Weston at the Civil and Military Gazette Press.

Here he repeats Steedman’s account. But both accounts refer to two things, the Marral are Chauhan, and there ancestor had to leave Delhi, which was one of the capitals of the ancient Chauhan state.

Tribal Traditions

Like many Punjab tribes, there are a number of traditions. However, most Marral claim a Chauhan Rajput ancestry. Like Steedman, they name their ancestor Marral, whose family left Delhi as consequence of a threat and settled in Sindh and refer to the threat by the Chauhan Raja. In Jhang, the Marrals claim that they were a local power, whose independence was ended by Walidad Sial, who founded the Sial state in Jhang. According another traditions, they are a group of Chauhans that migrated from Panipat, in what is now Haryana in India to the banks of the Jhelum. But both traditions seem to suggest that there first place of settlement was Jhang, where after their overthrow, led to groups migrating to further south to Multan and Muzaffargarh.

Baba Bajwa of the YouTube channel Baba Bajwa, whose sources seem to be the tribal mirasi (genealogist) however gives a different genealogy. According to him, the Marral are Panwar, and not Chauhan.

Wacha (ancestor of the Surayvanshi tribes)

↓

Bhoj Raj (20^th in descent from Wacha, and ancestor of most the Punjab Suryavanshi)

↓

Mulraj (10^th in descent from Bhoj Raj, ancestor of the several tribes such as Dhudhi, Lak and Waseer)

↓

Chaluk Raj

↓

Sotrakh Raj

↓

Ra Sangli

↓

Ra Kathi

↓

Ra Sial, also known as Ra Shankar (ancestor of the Sial tribe)

↓

Hiraj

↓

Marral

↓

Moma + Mami + Nankota + Pira

This genealogy connects the tribe with the Sial, and make the Marral Panwar Rajputs. However, most Marral traditions make the tribe a branch of the Chauhan Rajputs, and not Panwar, with Marral’s three sons being Bhara, Jot and Sawand.

Marral Population According to the 1911 Census of Punjab

District / State	Population
Bahawalpur	880
Jhang	826
Total	1,706

Distribution

The Marral are found in south Punjab, mainly in Rajanpur, Rahim Yar Khan, Multan, Muzaffargarh and Jhang districts. Their villages in Rajanpur District include Jindo Marral and Phagan Marral. In Chiniot District, Marralwala, and Multan District, Khanpur Marral, Inyatpur Marral and Qasba Maral.

In Sindh, they are found in Kashmore and Ghotki districts. Rais Ahmed Bux Maral, Gaji Maral, Haji Alim Maral and Nihal Maral are important Marral villages in Sindh.