Mangral Rajputs

In this post I shall look at the Mangral (Urdu: مہنگرال، منگرال) tribe of Rajputs, sometimes also pronounced as Mahngral, Mangarpal, which is found mainly within the boundaries of Pakistani and Indian administered Kashmir. In particular they are found in what was once the Kotli Tehsil of Mirpur District, now a separate district, and parts of northern Punjab. Indeed, the tribe are closely associated with the history of the town of the Kotli, which was said to be founded by their ancestor Raja Mangar Pal. The Mangrals ruled the Kotli State in what is now Azad Kashmir until 1815, when it was incorporated into the State of Jammu by the Sikh ruler Ranjit Singh. They are in essence a Chibhali tribe and have much in common with both the Domaal and Kamlak clans. I will start off by looking at references made by British sources, followed by the account of the tribe in Mohamad Din Fauq‘s Tareekh Aqwam Poonch and finally tribal traditions.

British Sources

British sources say very little on the Mangral. We have a brief mention of them by J. M Wikely, author of a military recruitment manual, the Punjabi Musalmans. He writes the following:

Male population.About 4,500.

Mangrals are of good social position and are found chiefly in the Kotli tahsil of the Mirpur district in Jammu. There are a few serving in the Indian Army and some pensioned Indian Officers of the tribe have been in the Frontier Force. They are sometimes known as Mangral Gakkhars but appear to have no real connection with the Gakkhars except that they will not give their daughters to any other tribe.

Wikely simply confirms that the tribe is found in Kotli, and may be possibly connected with the Gakhars. Although the tribe has no connection with the Gakhars. A more detailed account of the tribe is giving in the book Tareekh Aqwan Poonch by Mohammad Din Fauq.

The Mangral origin account in the Tareekh Aqwam Poonch

Fauq was a historian of Kashmir, and adjacent regions such as Poonch, and wrote extensively on history, folklore and geography of the old Jammu and Kashmir State. According to Fauq, the tribe gets its name from a Mangar Pal. Third in descent from Mangar Pal was Sahns Pal, who converted to Islam. Sahns Pal is said have founded the town of Kotli, which the seat of their principality. Sahns Pal had four sons, three of whom remained in Kotli, while the eldest Daan Khan’s descendants moved to Poonch. Third in descent from Daan Khan was Gaggar Khan, after whom the village of Gagnara in Kotli is named. Gaggar Khan had three sons, Zar Bux Kha and Lakh Baras Khan who descendants are settled in Kotli, while Fateh Khan’s descendants include many families settled in Bagh District.

According to Fauq, when the Kotli principality was annexed by Ranjit Singh, the Sikh ruler in 1815, Kotli together with Poonch were given as a jagir to Dhiyan Singh, one of the two Dogra brothers. His brother Gulab Singh became the founder of the state of Jammu and Kashmir. As the Mangral lost power, many moved to the Pothohar region.

Tribal History

Like many tribal groupings in Azad Kashmir, nothing definite is known about their origins. But all their traditions refer to Mangar Pal as the ancestor, as already referenced by Fauq, and their founding of Kotli. However, Hutchinson and Vogel, authors of the Punjab Hill States contradict this:

Kotli was founded about the fifteenth century by a branch of the royal family of Kashmir. Kotli and Punch remained independent until subdued by Ranjit Singh in 1815 and 1819 respectively.

History of the Punjab Hill States by J. Hutchison & Jean Philippe Vogel ; Publisher, Superintendent Government Print., Punjab, 1933

However in local tradition, the city of Kotli is connected with the Mangral. The Mangral tribal traditions make them Chandravanshi Rajputs, descended from the ancient race of the Yadavas or Yaduvanshi, the clan of Krishna. Raja Mangar Pal, was the son of Hani Dev who migrated to present day Sialkot from the Jangladesh region of northern Rajasthan in the Twelfth century A.D. Prior to the mid-15th Century Jangladesh was a wild barren area. It was subsequently conquered by Rao Bika a Rathore Rajput and since then has been known as Bikaner. Hani Dev settled at the royal court of Kashmir in Sialkot, whilst his brother Nirmal Dev continued to live in Jangladesh. Following the death of his father, Raja Mangarpal moved to Kashmir where he ruled the states of Kotli and Poonch (now divided between Pakistan and India).  Raja Hani Dev was the son of Raja Aori Pal, who was the son of Raja Cchatar Pal, who was the son of Raja Burj Pal. The ancestral line of the Mangral Rajputs goes back in time through the Yaduvanshi lineage of Chandravanshi Rajput. .

Rajah Sarfraz Mangral, who wrote his tribal traditions in a book A New History of Mangral Rajputs, gives the list of the five sons of Raja Sehns Pal as follows:

1.         Raja Tatar Khan

2.         Raja Daan Khan

3.         Raja Janib Khan

4.         Raja Murtatab Khan

5.         Raja Qandahar Khan (died without issue)

All the Mangral families trace their descent from these five. Daan Khan also appears in the account giving by Fauq. Below is family tree taken from Sarfraz Mangral’s book:

By Raja Sarfraz A Mangral (USA)             Raja Burj Pal
                                                 |
                                            Raja Chhatar Pal
                                                 |
                                            Raja Aori Pal
                                       __________|_________
                                       |                  |
                                 Raja Hani Dev        Raja Nirmal Dev
                                        |
                               * Raja Mangar Pal( The ancestor Of Mangral Rajputs)
                                        |
                                 Raja Hindu Dev
                                        |
                                *Raja Sehns Pal( Converted To Islam)
             ____________________________|_________________________________ 
            |                |             |              |               |
     Raja Daan Khan   Raja Tatar Khan  Raja Qandhar Khan Raja Janib Khan Raja Muratab Khan
            |                |         
     Raja pareetam Khan 
            |
     Raja Sara Khan
            |
     Raja Musahb Khan
        _____|___________________________________________
        |                   |                      |
     Rai Gagar Khan        Raja Sawa Khan        Raja Autam Khan 

Raja Sehns Pal Khan is to have established the city of Sehnsa which is now one of the larger towns in the Pakistan administered Kashmir. According Sarfraz Mangral, the tribe was invited to settle in Kotli by the Gakhar rulers of the region around the early 11th Century. They first established residence in Malot (near to modern day Mirpur) and then at Kobara. They had also established the first Mangral village called in the region called Nikka Tranna. On hearing of the arrival of Raja Sehns Pal in the area and because of the noble lineage of the Mangrals, the local Hindu tribes united and rallied around Raja Sehns Pal and swore allegiance to him. This led to the foundation of the Kotli State.

Raja Sehns Pal fought a battle alongside the Turkic-Muslim conquerors of India, Mu’izz ad-Din Muhammad ibn Sam and his General Qutb-ud-din Aybak (who went on to become the first Sultan of Delhi) in which they defeated the Gakkhar king Mang Khan Ghakhar. Raja Sehns Pal then gained control over a very large area which became the states of Kotli and Poonch. The first capital of the Mangral’s was then established at a place called Saila, the ruins of which remain to this day. In honour of his grandfather, Raja Sehns Pal then built a residence on the banks of the river Poonch which he called Kotli Mangrallan (Kotli meaning fort and therefore Kotli Mangrallan meaning the fort of the Mangrals). Raja Sehns Pal embraced Islam under the guidance of the Sufi Saint Hazrat Mastan Wali Shah Ullah.

Mangral rule over Kotli lasted for approximately four centuries until they were defeated by the army of the Sikh leader Ranjit Singh. The Mangrals led by Raja Shah Sawar Khan initially defeated the Sikh forces in two battles (1812 and 1814), though at very high cost in loss of life. However, the Sikh army returned in 1815 with 30,000 soldiers and a final battle ensued. Having lost many fighters, the Mangrals agreed to a compromise, giving up control of their city (then based in Baraali near modern Kotli) to Ranjit Singh. The rural areas remained under the control of various Mangral families as jagirs from the Jammu Raj, and they continued to be the landowners and collectors of tax revenues.

Mangral Rajput population of Jammu and Kashmir according to the 1911 Census of India

District	Population
Mirpur	5,937
Poonch	539
Reeasi	429
Other Districts	122
Total	7,027

In 1911, almost all the Mangral were found in the Kotli Tehsil of Mirpur District, with the remaining in Poonch and Reasi, in the later mainly in Rajouri tehsil. The last official count of Indian castes was conducted by the British in their census of India of 1931. At the time they recorded 4,500 adult-male Mangrals. While according 1911 Census, there were 2,309 Mangral in Rawalpindi District.

Distribution

In Kotli District, Mangral are found in Anohi, Barala, Baratla, Chak Toor, Chouki, Dannah, Fatehpur Dhiari, Galohatian, Garhoota, Gagnara, Kathar, Khuiratta, Sarsawa, Sehnsa, and Ser Mandi. And in Bagh District, they are found in the Azad Pattan area, which is a historic crossing on the Jhelum, Bhantani and Dhara Bhanakha.

Mangral’s in Rawalpindi are found in the village of Kamalpur in Gujarkhan Tehsil. There are also three Mangral villages in Kahuta Tehsil, namely Band, Galli and Jewra. In Kallar Syedan, the Mangral are found in Marigala Mangral, Nandna Mangral and Sihali Umar Khan,

Mekan Rajputs

In this post, I will look at Mekan, a tribe of Rajput status, found mainly in Sargodha, but also in Chakwal, Jhelum and Mandi Bahauddin districts. The Mekan claim descent from the Panwar Rajputs, and I will ask the reader to look at my post on the Hon tribe, which gives some background to the Panwar. Like all post, I start off with British sources, and then move on tribal and oral sources.

British Sources

The earliest reference to the Mekan comes from the Revised Settlement Report of Shahpur (modern Sargodha) District 1866 co-authored by G. Ouseley and W.G. Davies. They write the following about them:

Although the authors are not explicit in the Panwar ancestry, they connect the Mekan with the Dhudhi, Hurgan and Jhammat, all well known tribes of Panwar ancestry. The first British writer to make explicit reference to Panwar ancestry of the Mekan was H. A Rose, author of an encyclopaedia on tribes and castes of the Punjab. He wrote the following about them:

A small tribe classed as Jat (agricultural) and said to be of Panwar origin, and sprung from the same ancestor as the Dhudhi. They occupy the Shahpur bar lying to the west of the Gondal territory and are also found in smaller numbers in Jhelum and Gujrat. They are a pastoral and somewhat turbulent tribe.

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

Like Ouseley and Davies, Rose connects them with the Dhudhi tribe, who are well known tribe of Panwar Rajput. M. S Leigh author of the 1917 Shahpur Gazetteer, gives the following description:

Generally, the British authors emphasized the tribe as pastoral, but also large landowners. Bhai Khan, the Mekan chief at the time of the settlement report of 1861, founded the village of Kot Bhai Khan, where the family of the Mekan chiefs still resides. I shall now look at their tribal traditions.

Oral Traditions

They claim descent from the Panwar (Parmar) Rajputs, and spring from the same ancestor as the Dhudhi tribe, Mekan being one of the sons of Dhudhi. The tribe claims to have settled in the Thal, after the end of Arab rule in Sindh (in the 11^th Century), when the Hindu king of Kanauj, a Parmar Rajput took possession of the Thal region, and settled his kinsmen, the Mekan. They then established a state based in the town of Mankera, now in Bhakkar District, which covered much of the Thal, and lasted for five hundred years, until the state was destroyed by invading Baloch. According to one of their traditions, the Mankera state was founded by a Raja Singh, who belonged to the royal house of Kannauj, and said to have accepted Islam during the time of the Sultan of Delhi, Ghias-ud-din Balban, courtesy of Baba Farid Ganj Shakr. Towards the end of the fifteenth century, the Baloch from Makran flocked into the country in and around Mankera, and subsequently ruled this state for the next three hundred years. The Mekans that settled in the Kirana Bar, and became pastoralist, like the other tribes of the Bar. They, occupied a compact territory in the Kirana Bar, lying to the west of Gondal territory, although a smaller number are also in Jhelum and Gujrat districts..

Mekan population according to the 1911 Census

District	Population
Shahpur	5,435
Jhelum	1,229
Total Punjab	6,664

Most of the Jhelum District Mekan were split between what is now Chakwal district and Jhelum district.

Distribution

There present territory now forms part of Sargodha, Khushab,and Mianwali districts, although as already mentioned, there are smaller broken settlements in Jhelum, Gujrat, and Mandi Bahauddin districts. In Pothohar, in Jhelum / Chakwal region, the Mekan form an important tribal community. The Mekans form the majority of the population in Kot Bhai.Khan union council of Sargodha. Their villages in Sargodha District include Behak Maken, said to have been first village founded by the Mekans when they moved to the Bar, Abu Wala, Chakrala, Deowal, Gondal (Shahpur Tehsil), Mochiwal, Okhli Mohla, Sultanpur Meknawala, Jalpana, Dera Karam Ali Wala, Chak No 88 N.B,Chak No 142 N.B, Nihang Chak 71 NB Chak 74 NB, Chak 10 N.B,  Chabba Purana, Faiz Sultan Colony in Shahpur Tehsil, Kot Bhai Khan, Kot Pehlwan, Aqal Shah, Kot Kamboh, Wadhi, Kot Shada, Gul Muhammad Wala and Verowal in Bhera Tehsil and Sher Muhamadwala in Bhalwal Tehsil. Across the Jhelum, Mekan are also found in Mohibpur village in Khushab District.

Outside this core areas, in Jhelum District, there most important villages are Chautala (Jhelum Tehsil) , Ranial Phulan (Sohawa), Chak Mujahid (Pind Dadan Khan Tehsil) and Tobah (Pind Dadan Khan Tehsil), while in Chakwal District, important Mekan villages include Mangwal, Vero, Lakhwal, Thanil Kamal, Dingi Zer, Dhoke Dhabri (almost evenly divided between Gondal and Mekan), Chak Bhoun, Dhoke Maykan near Thoa Bahdur and Ghugh (which largely a Ghugh Jat villages, but home to several Mekan families). The Mekan Jats in terms of population form the most important Jat clan in Chakwal.

While in Gujrat District, they are found in village Mekan in Kharian Tehsil, and in neighbouring Mandi Bahaudin District, there main villages are Kot Baloch, Kakka, Lassouri Kalan, Lassouri Khurd, Mekan, Pandowal Bala, Thathi Mureed and Thatti Bawa.

Sahi Jats

In this post, I will look at the Sahi tribe of Jats, who are concentrated in Mandi Bahauddin and Sialkot districts, with their villages also found in Gujrat and Jhelum districts. Like all post, I start off with British sources, and then move on to tribal and oral sources.

Written Sources

The most detailed account on the Sahi was written by 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 glossaries on the tribes of Punjab, and a good source on many Punjabi tribes. He writes the following:

sometime pronounced Chhahi in Ludhiana. A Jat tribe which, like the Sindhu, claims descent from a Solar Rajput who went to Ghazna with Mahmud, and returned to found the tribe, settling on the Ravi near Lahore. They are found in any numbers only in Gujrat and Sialkot and in the latter district have two septs, Mutren descended from Golai and Dehru from Asi, the two sons of Bhan, son of Sahi. Hindu Sahi are said to avoid marriage with the Jajja and Sindhi, and Musalman Sahis to avoid it with the latter tribe only.

The Sahi are also found as a Jat clan (agricultural) in Multan, Shahpur and Amritsar, and in Montgomery they are described as a clan of the Kharrals, to which Mirza, the hero of the legend of Mirza, snd Sahiban, belonged.

I believe Rose is wrong about the Mirza Sahiban legend, as the legend is connected with the Sahi Kharals, who have no connection with the Jat Sahi tribe. According to Rose, the Sahi are Suryavanshi Jats and have a common ancestor by the name of Daggu with the Sandhu tribe. He gives the following family tree:

While Rose makes Sahi and Sandu have a common ancestor, Ghulam Akbar Malik in Tareekh Jat says that Sahi was a son of Sindhu, hence they are a branch of the Sandhu tribe.

Tribal Sources

I will now look at the oral sources on tribal origin. Baba Bajwa, relying mainly on Mirasi records gives the following genealogy:

Mul Raj (ancestor of the Agnivanshi tribes)

↓

Chau Maan (ancestor of the Chauhan tribes)

↓

Sahi

↓

Gorad + Sahuwal + Sehole + Raan + Thind

According to this genealogy, Sandhu was tenth in descent from Garod, and not Sahi’s brother. However, most traditions make Sahi and Sandhu brothers. The Mandi Bahauddin Sahi have a tradition that a Sultan of Delhi settled them between Gujjar and Warraich Jats in the district to act as a buffer between the two warring tribes. There are now 14 villages of the Sahi in the region.

Muslim Sahi population According to the 1911 Census of India

District	Population
Gujrat	3,736
Sialkot	1,786
Gujranwala	1,050
Lyallpur	805
Total	7,377

About the half the Sahi population was found in Gujrat District, according to the 1911 Census. Most of these Sahi villages are now located in Mandi Bahauddin district, although there are still seven villages in Gujrat. The Sahi in Lyallpur were all settlers from Gujrat and Sialkot.

Distribution

Sahi Jats are found mainly in Sialkot, Gujranwala, Mandi Bahaudin, Gujrat and Jhelum districts. The city of Daska in Sialkot was founded by the Sahi Jats, and there are thirteen Sahi Jats villages located close to Daska including Jandu Sahi, Jassarwal, Kotli Chambwali, Kulla Nikka, Mandranwala, Peroke, Rajoke, Satheke, Sohawa, Tittowali. The other area with large Sahi presence is in Mandi Bahauddin district, where the Sahi are found in Ainowal, Bhikki, Bumbli, Dhok Daud, Dhok Murad, Dhok Nawan Loke, Dhok Saharan, Dhudrai, Ghanian, Haria, Kot Hamid Shah, Lasuri Khurd, Kanianwala, Shumari, Suleman, Tibbi Malowal, Thathi Mureed, Wara Chamian. In Gujrat, they are found in Kot Shamas and in Jhelum, Sahi are found in the villages of Taur, Sahi and Wagh.