Tarkhan (Punjab)

This article is about Tarkhan, a Northern Indian tribe. For other uses, see Tarkan (disambiguation)

The Tarkhan ethnic tribe inhabits the Punjab area of Northern India and Punjab area of Pakistan. Scholars such as H.A. Rose state that they are descended from the Saka tribes, and originally settled in Taxila. They are known to be of the same stock as the Jat and Lohar castes as they are a purely Indo-Scythian tribe. As the Tarkhans were not of the same Indo-Aryan lineage as the Brahmins, they were identified as an ethnic tribe, and therefore it is incorrect to call Tarkhan a caste, as it is an ethnic tribe. The Tarkhans are a minority in the Punjab, with numbers estimated at around 1,000,000 at least to 2,000,000 maximum.

History

Hindu Tarkhans are regarded to be of the Vaishya Varna (as they are artisans) and worship the Vedic deity, Vishwakarma.^[1] This is namely due to following the traditional Vaishya occupation of carpentry.

Sikh Tarkhans are more commonly known as Ramgarhias because of their reverence for the famous Misl leader, Jassa Singh Ramgarhia(1723-1803), who was a Tarkhan.

A very proud and fiercely independent people, they are amongst the wealthiest and most educated clans of India. Historically, tarkhan's occupation Carpentry.

Tarkhans have served couragously in crack Commando units of the Punjab and Sikh Regiments of the Indian Army, as well as brave fighter pilots and in the Navy. They were made famous on the silver screen in the Bollywood film, Border for their brave actions in the Battle of Longowal, a battle fought during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.

Tarkhan Tribes

According to Sir Denzil Ibbetson^[2], the major Tarkhan tribes of the Punjab and the Northwest Frontier Province include:

• Kalsi - Amritsar, Jalandhar and Ludhiana
• Begi Khel - Hazara.
• Bhatti - Lahore, Multan and Rawalpindi
• Dhaman/Dhiman - Ambala, Faridhkot, Firozpur, Jalandhar, Karnal, Nabha, Patiala and Sialkot.
• Gade - Amritsar
• Jhangra - Delhi and Hissar
• Khatti - Ambala, Faridhkot, Firozpur, Jalandhar, Karnal, Nabha, Patiala and Sialkot.
• Khokhar - Lahore, Multan and Rawalpindi
• Matharu - Amritsar, Jalandhar, Lahore and Ludhiana
• Mankoo - Amritsar, Jalandhar and Ludhiana
• Netal, Bharaj - Hoshiarpur
• Rooprai - Hakimpur, Jalandhar
• Seehra - Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Phagwara and Goraya
• Siawan - Jalandhar and Sialkot
• Tharu - Gurdaspur and Sialkot
• Virdi - Amritsar, Jalandhar and Ludhiana
• Ghatoura - Jalandhar

Ibbetson notes further that^[3]:

Tarkhans and Lohars

Lohars are blacksmiths. According to HA Rose and Denzil Ibbetson, Lohars are descended from Rajputs and Jats. Although considered a lower caste than Tarkhans, Lohars have been accepted into Tarkhan tribal affiliations.

^[4]Template:Quoter

This would explain why some Tarkhans/Lohars have similar surnames to Jats and Rajputs.

The Ramgarhia Misl

The founder of the Ramgarhia Misl was Khushal Singh of Guga village near Amritsar. Khushal Singh was succeeded, Nand Singh, who belonged to the village of Sanghani near Amritsar. He was succeeded by a much more enterprising and valiant man, named Jassa Singh, under whose stewardship the band assumed the status and the name of the Misl. He took over the floundering Misl and made it into one of the greatest fighting armies of the Punjab.

Hardas Singh

Hardas Singh, the grandfather of Jassa Singh, a carpenter by caste, was the resident of Sur Singh which is situated about nineteen miles east of Khem Karan, in the present district of Amritsar. Hardas Singh was initiated into the Khalsa faith by Guru Gobind Singh himself from whose hands he took pahul and fought some battles at the Guru's side. When Banda Bahadur organised the Sikhs to fight against the Mughals, Hardas Singh joined his followers and participated in most of the battles fought by him. He died in the battle of Bajwara AD 1715.

Jassa Singh

One of the known warriors from punjab jassasingh from the zamindars family. Bhagwan Singh, the only son of Hardas Singh, was of a still more adventurous disposition. He had also mastered the Adi Granth. He shifted to the village of Ichogil which lay about twelve miles east of Lahore. He preached the Sikh faith in the neighbouring villages. He was an intrepid soldier. Bhagwan Singh had five sons, named Jai Singh, Jassa Singh, Khushal Singh, Mali Singh and Tara Singh. In 1739, during the invasion of Nadir Shah Bhagwan Singh saved the life of the governor of Lahore at the cost of his own. To reward his brave deed the governor gave a village each to all of his five sons. The villages gifted were Valla, Verka, Sultanwind, Tung and Chubhal. Of these villages Valla came to the share of Jassa Singh. [5]. Ramgharia Sikhs today (often referred to as Tarkhans) derive this name from the very same aristocratic Jassa Singh Ramgharia, who was renowned for his bravery in battle.

The Ghallughara

When Prince Timur, son of Ahmad Shah Abdali, marched against Adina Beg, the latter retreated towards the hills to the north and Sardar Jassa Singh and his brothers left him and went to Amritsar, where they joined the forces of Nand Singh Sanghania. The younger brother of Sardar Jassa Singh was at this time killed in action with the Afghans near Majitha. After the terrible blow dealt to the Sikhs by Abdali, in the Battle of Ghallughara('Holocaust'), in which 17,000 Sikhs fell, the three brothers, Jassa Singh, Mali Singh and Tara Singh, with Jai Singh Kanhaiya (Leader of the Kanhaiya Misl), were reduced to the necessity of hiding in jungles and subsisting on whatever chance threw in their way. They had, however, the temerity to visit Amritsar to bathe in the sacred tank, and pillaged the suburbs of the city. When attacked by the Shah's troops they fired off their matchlocks and fled to the jungles. After the departure of Ahmad Shah, Jassa Singh with his brothers Mali Singh and Tara Singh, and Jai Singh Kanhaiya emerged from their jungle retreat, and collecting their followers ravaged the country far and wide, building forts and establishing military outposts. When Khawaja Obed, the Governor of Lahore, attacked the Sikh fort at Gujranwala, he was opposed by the united forces of the Ramgarhias and Kanhaiyas and the guns, ammunition and treasure left by the Governor were equally divided by the leaders of the two Misls.

Tarkhan Gotras (Clans)

Main article: List of Tarkhan Clans

Many Tarkhan clans are also cross-listed as Jat and Rajput, due to Tarkhans having the same racial lineage and racial type as these castes. It is not entirely clear in the case of many clans and surnames as to which subdivision of the Kshatriya caste they belong to. Eventually, Scythian, Parthian, Greek-Bactrian, and various other Central Asian tribal peoples (such as the Hephthalites, and the Tocharians or Yuezhi) were absorbed into the Kshatriya caste, given their warlike nature, and thus became one of the subgroups or in many cases, assimilated completely into older Indo-Aryan clans. It is probable that Aroras, Gujjars, Jats, Kamboj, Khatris and Rajputs, have varying degrees of both foreign and indigenous Indian stock. In many parts, it is largely due to familial tradition that some members of a certain clan dub themselves Rajput and others of the same clan are Arora, Gujjar, Jat, Khatri, Kamboj and Tarkhan. This is more often the case in the Punjab, where there was already a large indigenous Kshatriya population when the invading tribes arrived.

Tarkhan/Ramgarhia personalities

Main article: List of famous Tarkhans

Notes and References

1. ^ Prof Sahib Singh - Adhi Bir Barai - page 198
2. ^ H.A. Rose. A Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North-West Frontier Province.
3. http://www.punjabilok.com/land/origin_of_saka_race1.htm
4. ^ Patwant Singh. The Sikhs.
5. ^ Sir Denzil Ibbetson. Panjab Castes - page 313.
6. ^ Sir Denzil Ibbetson. Panjab Castes - page 313.
7. ^ Sir Denzil Ibbetson. Panjab Castes - page 312.

External links

1. http://www.ramgarhiakom.com
2. http://www.ramgarhiacounciluk.com