| Tribal Settlement
The population of the Punjab being heterogeneous consists of various tribes
and classes. Members of each village or patti claim descent from a common
ancestor, and even today in every village one clan dominates.
There are various tribes and clans settled in the Punjab. Among them Jats,
Khatris, Aroras, Brahmans, Vaishas, Sainis, Kambohs and Sansis are the
most prominent. The Jats of the Punjab are further divided into various
clans, each one of which is found concentrated in groups of villages.
The most important clans of Jats in Malwa are Sindhus and Sindhu
Brars. From the Sindhu clan sprang up the great Phulkian families of Patiala,
Nabha, and Jind, and from the Brars the ruling family of Faridkot, which
ruled the native states later merged into Punjab. The Bhullar, clans of
Jats, who claim to have sprung from the 'jata' or matted hair of Mahadev,
are also concentrated mostly in Malwa. The principal Jat clans of Majha
are Dhillon, Randhawa, Chahil and Sindhu. The Sindhus and Gills, who claim
descent from the Raghobasi branch of the Suryvanshi Rajputs, are mostly
settled in the Amristar and Jullandur districts. In the Doab districts
the main Jat clans are Randhawa, Bains, Sandhu and Gill.
Among the non-agriculturist tribes of the Punjab, the
Khatris, the Aroras, and the Vaishas are the most significant ones. Most
of them are engaged in trade and commerce. The Khatris are sub-divided
into many groups, the most significant among them being the Dhaighares,
the Charzatis, the Punjzatis, the Chhezatis, the Sarins, the Bahris and
the Khakhrains. The Bedis and the Sodhis belong to the Bunjahi tribe.
Bedis are mostly found around Dera Baba Nanak and Gurdaspur, while the
Sodhis are settled mostly at Anandpur and Hoshiarpur. In west Punjab,
before the partition , the khatris were mostly concentrated in the Jhelum
and Rawalpindi districts and the Aroras in Multan and Derajat Division,
but now both are spread almost all over the Punjab. Sainis and Kambohs
are primarily cultivators. The Sainis are mostly found in Jullundur, Hoshiarpur,
Gurdaspur and Rupar and the Kambohs is Patiala, Jullundur, Kapurthala,
Amristar and Ferozepur. The Kambohs of Doab claim their descent from Raja
Karan.
The
Sansis are vagrant tribes and seldom settle for long in one place. They
are found in considerable numbers in Ludhiana, Amristar and Gurdaspur.
The Nat-Bazigars also wander about with their families and never settle
down at one place. |
