The Gujjar (Punjab )
This article is an extract from PANJAB CASTES SIR DENZIL CHARLES JELF IBBETSON, K.C. S.I. Being a reprint of the chapter on Lahore : Printed by the Superintendent, Government Printing, Punjab, 1916. |
Caste No. 8
The Gujars are the eighth largest caste in the Panjab, only the Jats, Rajputs, and Pathans among dominant castes, the mixed caste of Arains, and the Brahmans, Chamars, and Chuhras exceeding thcm in point of number. They are identified by General Cunningham with the Kushan or Yuehi or Tochari, a tribe of Eastern Tartars. About a century before Christ their Chief conquered Kabul and the Peshawar country ; while his son Hima Kadphises, so well known to the Panjab Numismatologist; extended his sway over the whole of Upper Pan jab and the banks of the Jamna as far down as Mathra and the Vindhyas, and his successor the no less familiar king Kanishka, the first Buddhist Indo-Seythian prince, annexed Kashmir to the kingdom of the Tochari. These Tochari or Kushan are the Kaspeinei of Ptolemy ; and in the middle of the second century of our lera, Kaspeira, Kasyapapura, or Multan, was one of their chief cities. Probably about the beginning of the 8rd century after Christ, the attacks of the White Huns recalled the last king of the united Yuchi to the west, and he left his son in charge of an independent province whose capital was fixed at Peshawar ; and from that tnne the Yuchi of Kabul are known as the Great Yuchi, and those of the Panjab as the Kator or Little Yuchi. Before the end of the 3rd century a portion of the Gujars had begun to move southwards down the Indus, and were shortly afterwards separated from their northern Ijrethren by Indo-Seythian wave from the north. In the middle of the .5th eentury there was a Gujar kingdom in south western Rajputana, whence they were driven by the Balas into Gujarat of the Bombay Presidency ; and about the end of the 9th century, Ala Khana the Gujar king of Jammu, ceded the present Gujar-des, corresponding very nearly with the the Gujrat district, to the king of Kashmir. The town of Gujrat is
said to have bven built or restored hy All Kluin Gujar in the time of Akbar. The grounds for Gcnieral Cunningham's identitication will be found in full detail at pages 61 to 82 of Vol. N. of the Areltasological Reports.
The present distribution of the Gujars in India is thus described by Gener al Cunning-ham : —
At the present day tho Gujars are found in great number-; in every part of the North West of india from the indus to the Ganges, and from the Hazara monntains to the Peninsula of Gujrat. They are specially numerous along the bank-5 of the Upper Jamna, near Jagadri and Ruriya, and in the Saharanpur district, which during the last century was actually called Gujarat. To the east they occupy the petty State of Samptar in Bandelkhnnd, and one of the northern districts of Gwalior, which is still called Gujargar. They are found only in small bodies and much scattered through out Eastern rajputana and Gwalior; But they are more numerous in the Western States, and specially towards Gujarat, where they form a large part of the population. The Rajas of Rewilrl to the south of Dehli are Gujars. In the Southern Panjab they are thinly scattered, but their number.-) increase rapidly towards tho north, where they have given their name to several imporiant places, such as Gujarnwala in the Rcchna-Doab, Gujrat in the Cliaj Doab, and Gujar Khan in the Sindh Sagar Doab. They are numerous about Jahlam and Hassan Abdal, and throughout the Hazara districts ; and they are also found in considerable numbers in the Dardu districts of Chilas, Kohli, and Palas, to the cast of the Indus, and in the contiguous districts to the west of the river.
In the Panjab they essentially belong to the lower ranges and sub-montane tracts ; and though they have spread down the Jamna in considerable numbers, they are almost confined to the riverain lowlands. In the higher mountains they are almost unknown.The fignres showing their distribution are given 166- in Abstract No. 83 at page 254*. Gujrat is still their stronghold, and in that district they form 13 1/2 per cent, of the total population. There alone have they retained their dominant position. Throughout the Salt-range Tract, and probably under the eastern hills also, they are the oldest inhabitants among the tribes now settled there ; but in the west the Gakkhars, Janjuas, and Pathans, and in the east the Rajputs have always been too strong* for them, and long ago deprived them of political importance. In the Peshawar district almost any herdsman is called a Gujar, and it may be that some of those who are thus returned are not true Gujars by race.^ But throughout the hill country of Jammu, Chibhal, and Hazara, and away in the Independent Territory lying to the north of Peshawar as far as the Swat river, true Gujar herdsmen are found in great numbers, all possessing a common speech, which is a Hindi dialect quite distinct from the Panjabi or Pashto current in those parts. Here they are a purely pastoral and almost nomad race, taking their herds up into the higher ranges in summer and descending with them into the valleys during the cold weather ; and it may be said that the Gujar is a cultivator only in the plains. Even there he is a bad cultivator, and more given to keeping cattle than to following the plough.
It is Impossible without further investigation to fix the date of the Gujar colonization of the lower districts. They are almost exclusively Musalman except in the Jamna districts and Hushyarpur, and th'y must therefore have entered those districts before the conversion of the great mass of the caste. The Jalandhar Gujars date their conversion from the time of Aurangzeb, a very probable date. The Firozpur Gujars say that they came from Daranagar in the south of India, that they moved thence to Rania in Sirsa, and thence again to Firozpur via Kasur. The Musalman Gujars of all the eastern half
On the other hand, Mr, Steedman is of opinion that the tigures for the Gujars of Eawal pindi are very much under the mark, and that many of them must have been returned as Jats, Rajputs, or perhaps even Mughals.
of the Province still retain more of their Hindu customs than do the majority of their converted neighhours, their women, for instance, wearing petticoats instead of drawers, and red instead of blue. It is noticeable that Gujrat is to the Gujars what Bhatner and Bhattiana are to the Bhatti, a place to which there is a traditional tendency to refer their origin.
The Gujaris a fine stalwart fellow, of precisely the same pliysical type as the Jat ; and the theory of aboriginal descent which has sometimes been propounded, is to my mind conclusively negatived by his cast of counten ance. He is of the same social standing as the Jat, or perhaps slightly in ferior ; but the two eat and drink in common without any scrapie and the proverb says : The Jat, Gujar, Ahir, and Gola are all four hail fellows well met.' But he is far inferior in both personal character and repute to the Jat. He is lazy to a degree, and a wretched cultivator ; his women, though not secluded, will not do field-work save of the lightest kind ; while his foiulness for cattle ex tends to those of other people. The dnference between a Gujar and a Rajput cattle-thief was once explained to me thus by a Jat : The Rajput will steal your buffalo. But he will not send his father to say he knows where it is and will get it back for Rs. 20, and then keep the Rs. 20 and the buffalo too. The Gujar will. The Gujars have been turbulent throughout the history of the Panjab, they were a constant thorn in the side of the Dehli Emperors, and are still ever ready to take advantage of any loosening of the bonds of discipline to attack and plunder their neighbours. Their character as expressed in the proverbial wisdom of the countryside is not a high one : A desert is better than a Gujar : wherever you see a Gujar, hit him.Again : The dog and the cat two, the Raugar and the Gujar two ; if it were not for these four one might sleep with one's door open :so The dog, the monkey, and the Gujur change their minds at every step ; and When all other castes are dead make friends with a Gujar.As Mr. Maconachie remarks : '^ Though the Gujar possesses two qualifications of a highlander, a hilly home and a constant desire for
- ' other people's cattle, he never seems to have had the love of fighting and
the character for manly independence which distinguishes this class elsewhere. On the contrary he is generally a mean sneaking cowardy fellow ; and I do not know that he improves much with the mareh of civilization, though of course there are exceptions ; men who have given up the traditions of the tribe so far as to recognize the advantage of being honest — generally.
Such is the Gujar of the Jamma districts. But further west his character would seem to be higher. Major Wace describes the Gujars of Hazara as a simple all-enduring race, thrifty and industrious, with no ambition but to be left alone in peace with their cattle and fields ; and many of them are fine men in every way.Mr. Thomson says that the Gujars of Jahlam are the best farmers in t he district (pcrliaps not exces sive praise in a district held by Gakkhars, Awans, and Rajputs), though the Maliar or Arain is a better market gardener ; and that they are quiet and industrious, more likeable than (Salt-range) Jats, but with few attractive qualities. Mr. Steedman gives a similar account of the Gujars of
^ Mr. Wilson, however, writes : The Gujar villages in Gurgaon have on the whole stood the late bad times better than those of almost otner caste — better than the Jats, and almost as well as the Anirs. Our Gurgaou Gujars are very little given to thieving, and I have rather a high opinion of them.
Rawalpindi, calling them excellent cultivators.'So the Gujars of Hushyar pnr are said to be a (quiet and well-behaved set.In Jalandhar Sir Richard Temple describes them as here as elsewhere of pastoral habits, but more industrious and less predatory than usual ;and Mr. Barkley writes : At present, after thirty years of British rule, they are probably as little given to crime as any other large class in the agricultural population. It is still generally true that they occupy themselves more with grazing than with agriculture ; but this is by no means invariably the case.'But in Firozpur again Mr. Brandreth describes them as unwilling cultivators, and greatly addicted to thieving,and gives instances of their criminal pro pensities. Thus it would appear that the further the Gujar moves from his native hills, the more he deteriorates and the more unpleasant he makes him self to his neighbours. The following description of the Gujars of Kangra by Mr. Barnes is both graphic and interesting : —
The Gujars of the caste of the same designation in the plain-;. There they are known as an idle, worthless and thieving race, rejoicing in waste, and enemies to cultivation and improvement ; but above and below they are both addicted to pastoral habits. In the hills the Gujars are exclusively a pastoral tribe, — they cultivate scareely at all. The Gadis keep flocks of sheep and goats and the Gujar'a wealth consists of buffaloes. These people live in the skirts of the forests, and maintain their existence exclusively by the sale of the milk, ghee, and other produce of their herds. The men graze the cattle, and frequently lie out for weeks in the woods tending their herds. The women repair to the markets every morning with baskets on their heads, with little earthen pots filled with milk, butter-milk and ghee, each of these pots containing the proportion required for a day's meal. During the hot weather the Gujars usually drive their herds to the upper range, where the buffaloes rejoice in the rich gi-a-s which the rains bring forth, and at the same time attain condition from the temperate climate and the immunity from venomous flies which torment their existence in the plains. The Gujars are a fine, manly race, with peculiar and handsome features. They are mild and inoffensive in manner, and in these hills are not distinguislied by the bad pre-eminence which attaches to their race in the plains. They are never known to thieve. Their women are supposed to be not very scrupulous. Their habits of frequenting public markets and carrying about their stock for sale unaccompanied by their husbands undoubtedly expose them to great temptations ; and I am afraid the imputa tions agahist their character are too well founded. They are tall, well-grown women, and may be seen every morning entering the bazaars of the hill towns, returning home about the afternoon with their baskets emptied of their treasures. The Gujars are found all over the district. They abound particularly about Jowala Mukhi, Tira, and Nadaun. There are some Hindu Gujars especially towards Mandi; but they are a small sect, compared to the Musalmans.
It has been suggested, and is I believe held by many, that Jats and Gujars, and perhaps Ahirs also, are all of one ethnic stock ; and this because there is a close communion between them. It may be that they are the same in their far-distant origin. But I think that they must have either entered India at different times or settled in separate parts, and my reason for thinking so is precisely because they eat and smoke together. In the case of Jat and Rajput the reason for differentiation is obvious, the latter being of lngher rank than the former. But the social standing of Jats, Gujars, and Ahirs being practically identical, I do not see why they should ever have separated if they were once the same. It is, however, possible that the Jats were the camel graziers and perhaps husbandmen, the Gujars the cowherds of the hills, and the Ahirs the cowherds of the plains. If this be so, they afford a classifica tion by occupatiou of the yeoman class, which fills up the gap between and is absolutely continuous with the similar classification of the castes above them as Brahmans, Banyas, and Rajputs, and of the castes below them as Tarkhans, Chamars, and so forth. But we must know more of the early distribution of the tribes before we can have any opinion on the subject. I have noticed in the early historians a connection between the migrations and location of Gujars and Rajpnts which has struck me as being more than accidental ; but the
Gujar Tribes
The Gujar tribes and clans appear to be very numerous, and apparently new local sub-divisions have sprung up in many places. Still the distribution of the main tribes for which I give figures on
the opposite page in Abstract No. 84 is far more general than is tbe case with other castes of equal importance. The figures only include 47 per cent, of the ^'• Gujars of the Province; but they comprise 69 per cent, of those of Gujrat, and probably include most of the great original tribes. The Khatana and Chechi far surpass the others in number.
