Tarkhan
From Ramgarhia.Net
Tarkhan
The Tarkhan (pronounced Terr-khaan) ethnic tribe inhabits the Punjab area of Northern India and Punjab area of Pakistan.
They are a separate cultural and ethnic people that by historical tribal custom associate within their own Tarkhan community. Some are also found in Kashmir. Scholars such as H.A. Rose state that they are descended from the Saka tribes, and originally settled in Taxila. The Tarkhans are a minority in the Punjab, with numbers estimated at around 1,000,000 at least to 2,000,000 maximum.
Tarkhans have close ethnic and genetic relations with Jat, Khatri, Gujjar, Rajput, Kamboj and Lohar tribes.
Hindu Tarkhans are regarded to be of the Vaishya Varna (as they are artisans) and worship the Vedic deity, Vishwakarma. This is namely due to following the traditional Vaishya (Rathakara) 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 the Punjab region. Historically, Tarkhan occupations have included carpentry, landowning, farming, engineering, politics, science, medicine, and military.[2].
Tarkhans have served courageously 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.
Ramgarhia/Tarkhan tribes
The major Twelve Tarkhan tribes of the Punjab and the Northwest Frontier Province include
1) Jhangra - found in Delhi and Hissar 2) Dhaman - found in Karnal, Ambala, Jalandahar, Sialkot, Patiala, Nabha, Faridhkot and Firozpur. 3) Khattia - found in Karnal, Ambala, Jalandahar, Sialkot, Patiala, Nabha, Faridhkot and Firozpur. 4) Siawan - Jallandhar and Sialkot 5) Gade - Amritsar 6) Matharu - Ludhiana, Amritsar and Lahore. 7) Netal - Hoshiarpur 8) Janjua - Rawalpindia 9) Tharu - Gurdaspur and Sialkot 10)Khokar - Lahore, Rawalpindi and Multan 11)Bhatti - Lahore, Rawalpindi and Multan 12)Begi Khel - Hazara.
The carpenters of Sirsa are divided into two great sections: Dhaman Khati proper
These are two great tribes of the Lohars.
In Hushyarpur They are said to form a single caste called Lohar-Tarkhan, and the son of a blacksmith will often take to carpentry and vice versa; but it appears that the two castes were originally separate, for the joint caste is still divided into two sections who will not intermarry or even eat or smoke together, the Dhaman, from dhamna "to blow", and the Khatti from khat "wood". In Gujranwala the same two castes exist; and they are the two great Tarkhan tribes also .
In Karnal a sort of connection seems to be admitted, but the castes are now distinct.
In Sirsa the Lohars may be divided into three main sections; the first, men undoubted and recent Jat and even Rajput origin who have generally by reason of poverty, taken to work as blacksmiths;
secondly the Suthar Lohar or members of the Suthar tribe of carpenters who have similarly changed their original occupation; and thirdly, the Gadya Lohar, a class of wandering blacksmith not uncommon throughout the east and south east of the Province, who come up from Rajputana and the North West Provinces and travel about with their families and implements in carts from village to village, doing the finer sorts of iron work which are beyond the capacity of the village artisan. The tradition runs that Suthar Lohars, who are now Musalman, were originally Hindu Tarkhans of the Suthar tribe (see section 627); and that Akhbar took 12,000 of them from Jodhpur to Delhi, forcibily circumcised them, and obliged them to work in iron instead of wood. The story is admitted by a section of the Lohars themselves, and probably has some substratum of truth. These men came to Sirsa from the direction of Sindh, where they say they formerly held land, and are commonly known as Multani Lohars.
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 jassa singh came from the zamindars/landlord 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. [6]. 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.
