Labana

Not to be confused with Lavana.

Portrait of three unidentified people of the Labana tribe of Lahore, ca.1862–72

Lubana (also spelled Lubana, Labana, Lavana, Lubhana; lit. 'salt trader') is a merchant and transportation community in India engaged in maritime trade and land trade which includes trading and transportation of goods like saltpetre, silk, diamonds, etc. In the Punjab region, during socio-economic reforms, Labanas overwhelmingly became agriculturists. The Labanas of Punjab and Haryana are mostly Sikhs and Hindus and speak mainly Punjabi or Hindi.

Etymology

The Luvanas are from the direct lineage of god rama’s son luv Later in 1400’s they overwhelmingly became a maritime trading community. They traded between india, central asia europe and Africa. They traded silk, gold, diamonds, spices, grains, cotton, potassium, hand made weapons etc. They started leaving merchant work and shifted to agriculture profession during British raj. They have great contribution to build sikh khalsa raj. Baba Banda singh bahadur is a great luvana warrior. Bhai mani singh, Bhai Baz singh, bhai Bachitar singh, Baba makhan shah lubana, Nadu shah are other great names of luvanas who sacrificed their lives for human rights. Luvanas are among the richest communities of india, europe and America.

List of Lubanas

Main article: List of Labanas

Baba Makhan Shah Luvana/Lobana, Baba Banda singh Bahadur, Shaheed Bhai Mani Singh Ji, bhai Baz Singh, bhai Bachitar singh, bhai Mansukh ji, raja dhavaj, , bhai Nadu shah etc.

See also

• Lubanki dialect
• Lavana

External links

• Tribune article on Labanas