The Arain, Baghban, and Maliar
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. |
Baghban
The word Baghban Is the Persian equivalent of the Hindi word Mali, and means simply a gardener. But It Is commonly used for the Arain in the west of the Panjab ; and even as far east as Jalandhar there are two villages of the same name, of which the one which Is held by Arains Is often distinguished by the addition of BdgJihdndn to Its name. Unfortunately the Peshawar divisional officer has Included those who returned themselves as Arain or Maliar under Baghban, and I cannot give separate figures for them. The Baghbans of the Rawalpindi division are discussed below.
Arain
The Arains, are they are called on the Jamna Rains, are probably a true caste In the Satluj valley and throughout the Eastern Plains. But In the western half of the Panjab excepting on the Satluj, the word seems to be used for any market-gardener. Mr. Steedman writes: Arain, Rain, Baghban, Mali, and Maliar are in J hang and Rawalpindi a very mixed body of men, the names denoting occupation rather than caste, and are invariably held in very low repute.The Maliar of the Rawalpindi division for the most part returned their clan as Janjua, Qutbshahi (Awan), Khokhar, or Bhattl, though some of them give what are apparently true Arain clans, such as Wahand. Table VNI A gives no Arains or Baghbaus in the Rawalpindi district, but the fact is that by an unfortunate error, not detected till after the tables were in print, the Maliars of Rawalpindi and Jahlam were entered as Maniars under Caste No. 47. I have added them to the figures for Baghban in the Abstract, and it follows that all the Rawalpindi and Jahlam Baghbans of the Abstract were returned as Maliar, and not as Baghban. So too, the figures for Muzaffargarh and the two Derahs are very imperfect, as Abstract No. 72 on page 224'* shows that some thousands of Arains or Maliars in those districts returned then caste as Jat. On the whole it would appear that ^Mnliand Arain are time castes in the eastern half of the Province, but that in the Western Panjab, Arain, Maliar, and Baghban are commonly used as mere names of one and the same occupation. The detailed clan tables, when published, will throw much light upon the real affinities of these three castes.
The Arains are found in great numbers throughout the northern, central; and western portions of the Eastern Plains and throughout the Ra walpindi and Multan divisions ; but west of Lahore the name must be taken to refer, except on the Satluj, to an occupation rather than a caste. Their strongholds are the Jalandhar, Amritsar, and Lahore divisions, and more especially the districts of Jalandhar and Lahore and the State of Kapurthala where they form respectively 17 4, 103, and 16*3 per cent, of the total popu lation. They are admirable cultivators, skilful and industrious, but like all vegetable growers of low standing among the cultivating classes. Where, however, they are found in very large numbers their position is higher, as there they are general cultivators rather than market gardeners. They are almost without exception Musalmans, and would appear to be a true Panjab tribe, to have come from the neighbourhood of multan, and to have some affinity mth the Kamboh. Mr. Purser writes : The Arnins of Montgomery know nothing of their origin. They claim to be Surajbansi Rajputs, and to have come up to this district from the Dehli part of the country. They are usually supposed to be Mahomedan Kambohs, and the latter undoubtedly came from the west, so it is likely the Arains did too. This is rendered more pro bable by the fact that the Arains of Saharanpur are said to have come from Afghanistan. They do not seem to have got much below the Lahore border.
Their chief divisions are Gahlan, Chandor, Chachar, Sindhu, and Barar.'I find that the Arains of Firozpur and Lahore also trace their origin from Uchh or Multan, and are supposed to be akin to the Kamboh. In Sirsa the Satluj Arains meet those of the Ghaggar. They two do not intermarry, but the Arains of the Ghaggar valley say they were Rajput living on the Panjnad near Multan, but Were ejected some four centuries ago by Saiyad Jalal-ud-din of Uchli. They claim some sort of connection with Jaisalmer Till the great famines of 1759 and 1788 A.D. they are said to have held all the lower valleys of the Choya and Ghaggar, but after the latter date the Bhattis harassed the Sumras, the country became disturl^ed, and many of the Arains emigrated across the Ganges and settled near Bareli and Rambur. They marry only with the Ghaggar and Bareli Arains. The Satluj Arains in Sirsa say that they are, like the Arains of Lahore ajid MIontgomcry, connected by origin with the Hindu Kambohs. Mr. Wilson thinks it probable that both classes are really
Kambohs who have become Musalmans and that the Ghaggar Arains emigrated in a body from Multan, while the others moved gradually up the Satluj into their present place. He describes the Arains of the Ghaggar as the most advanced and civilised tribe in the Sirsa district, even surpassing the Sikh Jats from Patiala ; and he considers them at least equal in social status with the Jats, over whom they themselves claim superiority. The Arains of Firozpur, Ludhiana, Ambala, and Hissar also trace their origin from Uchh or its neighbourhood, though the Hissar Arains are said to be merely Mahomedan Malis.
Of the Arains of Jalandhar Mr. Barkley says that they are commonly believed to be descended from Kambohs, and that even those who are ashamed of so commonplace an origin are not prepared altogether to disclaim the relationship, but state that the Kambohs are the illegitimate and they the legitimate descendants of a common ancestor. He further states that they are settlers from the south, that none of their settlements are much older than 250 years, and that their original country is said to extend from Hansi to Multan, while those of the Jalandhar Arains whose history he has traced have come from the direction of Hissar. The Jalandhar Arains themselves say they are descended from Rai Chajju of Ujjain who held the whole of the Sirsa district in year ; while the Karnal Rains also trace their origin from Sirsa.
On the whole it would appear probable that the Arains originally camefrom the lower Indus and spread up the five rivers of the Panjab ; and that at an early stage in their history a section of them moved up the Ghaggar, perhaps then a permanent river flowing into the Indus, and there gained for them selves a position of some importance. As the Ghaggar dried up and the neighbouring country became more arid, they moved on into the Jamna dis tricts and Cis-Satluj tract generally, and perhaps spread along the foot of the hills across the line of movement of their brethren who were moving up the valleys of the larger rivers. Their alleged connection with the Malis is pro bably based only upon common occupation ; but there does seem some reason to think that they may perhaps be akin to the Kambohs, though the difference must be more than one of religion only, as many of the Kambohs are Musal man.
Abstract No. 86 on the opposite page^ shows some of the largest Arain clans. I have included under the head Arain 987 persons who have returned themselves as Bhohar, which I am informed is an Ai-ain clan. Of these 850 were in Multan, 34 in Montgomery, and 103 in Muzaffargarh.
