Arain

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Template:Short description Template:Pp Template:Pp-30-500 Template:Use Pakistani English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox tribe

Arain (also known as Raeen) are a large Punjabi Muslim[1] agricultural community with a strong political identity and level of organisation.[2][3]

At the beginning of the last century, they numbered around 1 million and were mainly rural cultivators and landowners concentrated in four districts: Lahore, Jalandhar, Amritsar and Ambala, all in the British Punjab province.[1] Following the 1947 partition of India, they are now mainly present in the Pakistani provinces of Punjab and Sindh with a small population in parts of Indian Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

A self-conscious community,[1] several meetings were held to establish an organisation to represent the Arain community in the 1890s. Eventually, in 1915, Anjuman Ra’iyan-i-Hind emerged as such a body in Lahore and a national community newspaper, titled Al-Rai, was established.[4]

History

Origins

According to Denzil Ibbetson, he finds it probable that the Arains have some affinity to the Kamboj whilst also noting that some of the Arain and Saini clan names are identical, he also notes that it is probable on the whole that the Arains migrated from Uch, Southern Punjab, furthermore stating that they claim a connection with Jaisalmer.[5] However according to other sources from the British Raj, the Arains have little connection with the Saini's and that this tradition came from both having a common occupation.[6] Denzil Ibbetson also states that the Arains along the Sutlej river and the East Punjab plains form a 'true caste' meanwhile in the West Punjab plains, the word Arain was often associated with anyone in the market gardening occupation.[7] Furthemore, he notes that where the Arains were more populous, such as in Lahore, Jalandhar and Kapurthala, the Arains would take a higher position as general cultivators rather than market gardeners.[8]

Ishtiaq Ahmed, a political scientist who is also a member of the Arain community, acknowledges that some early Arain texts ascribe a Suryavanshi Rajput origin, while others note a Persian one to reflect to others the status of being "conquerors". He believes that the Arains "are a mix of many ethnicities and races", similar to other "farming castes of the Punjab and Haryana".[9]

Medieval period

According to Ahmed, during the Mughal and Sikh periods Arain held prominent positions, such as governors and army generals; he also believes that numerous names adopted by the community may indicate a tradition of military employment.[10]

Colonial period

During the Indian rebellion of 1857, Shah Abdul Qadir Ludhianvi, an Arain, led an uprising from Ludhiana to Delhi where he was killed. In the aftermath, the British viewed the Arain as a disloyal community, and categorised them as a non-martial caste which denied them entry into the Bengal Army.[10] Due to lobbying by the Arain community, in the early 20th century the Arain were officially re-classified as an "agricultural tribe", then effectively synonymous with the martial race classification.[11]

Traditionally associated with farming, when the British wanted land developed in the Punjab, Arain were brought in to cultivate lands around cities, and were one of the agricultural communities given preference to assist with opening up the agrarian frontier in the Canal Colonies between 1885 and 1940.[12][13][14] Shahid Javed Burki says that the British favoured the Arain for their "hard work, frugality and sense of discipline". The development of towns and cities and increasing urbanisation resulted in the value of the land settled by Arain to rise significantly, and Arain families flourished. Education was prioritised with the new-found wealth and Arain came to dominate the legal profession amongst urban Punjabi Muslims. Many used law to enter politics.[15]

During the colonial era, detailed decadal census reports covered the plethora of castes, subcastes and tribes that existed throughout British India. Information regarding the Arains was highlighted in census reports taken from Punjab Province. Template:Quote

Demographics

Numbers

In 1921, Arains formed 9,5% of British Punjab's total Muslim population, up from 8,3% in 1901 and 6,6% in 1881.[16]

At the time of the 2017 Pakistan census, Arains constituted the largest community of the Lahore District, making up 40% of the district's total population or 4,45 million out of the total of 11 million back then, followed by Kashmiris (30%).[17]

The Arain biradari is particularly active in Lahore's industrial and commercial activities as well as in its politics.[4]

Religion

The 1881 Census of India detailed the Arain population was 795,032 in Punjab, of which 791,552 (99.56 percent) were Muslims, 2,628 (0.33 percent) were Hindus, 848 (0.11 percent) were Sikhs, and 4 (0.0005 percent) were Christians.[18]Template:Efn

As of 1931 Census of India, out of the total Arain population of 1,331,295 in Punjab, 1,330,057 (99.91%) were Muslims, 1,146 (0.086%) were Hindus, 67 (0.005%) were Sikhs and 5 (0.00038%) were Christians.[19]

Academic Ashish Koul, who specializes in the history of the group, has said of the Arains that they have been "a distinctive Muslim community with innately Islamic attributes."[1]

Diaspora

There are several diasporic Arain communities in British towns and cities, such as Manchester, Glasgow and Oxford.[20] The tribe has its own organisation, Arain Council UK, which was established as Anjuman-e-Arains in the 1980s and renamed in 2008.[21]

British Conservative Party politician Sajid Javid's family were farmers from the village of Rajana near Toba Tek Singh, Punjab, from where they migrated to the UK in the 1960s; Javid speaks some Punjabi.[22][23] Javid was the first British Asian to hold one of the British Great Offices of State, being first Home Secretary (2018–2019) and then Chancellor of the Exchequer (2019–2020).[24][25]

Arain clans

Clan Population
1881 census[26]
Jatali 33,267
Gehlan 33,187
Bhutta 32,603
Chandor 27,506
Ramay 24,401
Nain 21,924
Bhatti 16,688
Multani 13,893
Chachar 10,616
Dhange 10,251
Hansi 9712
Bhedu 8836
Janjua 8108
Bahman 7120
Dhudhi 6628
Goher 6263
Malani 6250
Galru 4485
Ghalar 4363
Wahand 2815
Balgoria 2809
Munda 2298
Qutb Shahi 557

Arain clans not listed on the census but have been noted by British Raj era authors:[27]

Notable people

Politics

Arts and literature

Entertainment

Sports

Military

See also

References

Template:Reflist Template:Reflist Template:Notelist

Further reading

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Template:Ethnic and social groups of the Punjab

  1. ↑ a b c d Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
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  5. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  6. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  7. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  8. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  9. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  10. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  11. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  12. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  13. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  14. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  15. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1". Template:Subscription required
  16. ↑ Ibbetson, Report on the Census of the Punjab, vol. 1, 266 and v. 2, Tables I and III ; Imperial Gazetteer of India Provincial Series on Punjab, v. 1, p. 48 and 50 ; J. T. Marten, Census of India, 1921, v. 1, part II, 40, 43, 162. See Tables VI and XIII.
  17. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  18. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  19. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  20. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  21. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  22. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  23. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  24. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  25. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  26. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  27. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  28. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  29. ↑ Individuals and Ideas in Modern India: Nine Interpretative Studies. India, Firma KLM, 1982.
  30. ↑ LaPorte, Robert, et al. Pakistan under the military : eleven years of Zia ul-Haq. United Kingdom, Avalon Publishing, 1991.
  31. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  32. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  33. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  34. ↑ The Arain Diaspora in the Rohilkhand region of India: A historical perspective: General History of Arain tribe of Punjab & Sindh with sociocultural background of the diaspora in Rohilkhand, India. N.p., Rehan Asad , 2017.
  35. ↑ Contemporary Problems of Pakistan. Netherlands, Brill, 1974.
  36. ↑ Encyclopaedia of Muslim Biography: I-M. India, A.P.H. Publishing Corporation, 2001.
  37. ↑ International Journal of Punjab Studies. India, Sage Publications, 1994.
  38. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  39. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  40. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  41. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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