Manj
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Manj (or Manjj) is a Rajput clan of the Punjab region of Northern India and Pakistan.
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[edit] Origin and History
The Manj say that they are a sub-clan of the Bhatti Rajputs and are descendants of Raja Salvahan (Salivahana), father of Raja Rasalu of Sialkot. Raja Salivahana, believed by some to be the twenty-sixth descendant of Sri Krishna, some 3100 years after him, had eighty-four sons. Among them were Tavesar, ancestor of the Tanwars, Ras Tavas, ancestor of the Taonis of Ambala, and Bisal, ancestor of the Bhattis. Rana Jundal, seventh in descent from Bisal, ruled Bhatner (present-day Hanumangarh in northern Rajasthan). His son, Achhal founded Jaisalmer. From him, are descended the Manj and Bhatti tribes.
Manj Rajputs held large swaths of territory in Patti area of Amritsar district north of the Satluj river extending towards Kasur. They were displaced from this area during the conquest of Mohamed Ghauri. They then moved across the Beas east of Harike and held an extensive tract of territory in Nakodar and Nurmahal areas of Jalandhar district, and also to the south of here across the Satluj in what is now Ludhiana district.
The Jalandhar traditions of the tribe state that Tulsi Das (Tulsi Ram), a Manj Rajput, was converted to Islam by Hazrat Makhdum Shah Jahaniya of Uch. Tulsi Ram assumed the name of Shaikh Chachu.
Some six-hundred years ago, in the thirteenth century, Shaikh Chachu and another Manj Rajput, Shaikh Kilchi, are said to haved settled at Hatur in the southwest of Ludhiana, from where their descendants spread into the surrounding areas.
The traditions also refer to the conquest of the tract by the tribe to the time of Ala-ud-din Khilji. However, as Shaikh Chachu died in 1383 A.D., it would appear that if the tradition has any foundation, Ala-ud-din Sayyid must be meant.
In the Ain-i-Akbari, the Manj are wrongly referred to as Main, a title which is said to belong properly to the Ghorewaha of Ludhiana.
After the dissolution of the Mughal Empire, the Manj Rais of Talwandi and Raikot ruled over an extensive territory south of the Satluj, till dispossessed of it by the Ahluwalia Sikhs and later by Maharaja Ranjit Singh.
Even earlier than this, the Manj Nawabs of Kot Isa Khan had attained considerable importance under the Mughals. North of the Satluj, the Manj never succeeded in establishing a principality; but they had a large tract of country in the southwest of the Jalandhar district, in areas such as Talwan, Nakodar, and Malsian, and held much of it as Jagirs under the Mughals, but were dispossessed by Tara Singh Gheba and the Sindhanwalia Sikhs. The Manj in Nabha claim to be descendants of Banni Pal, a descendant of Tulsi Ram (Tulsi Das or Shaikh Chachu), who flourished under Aurangzeb, and did much to allay the dissensions of the time. He earned many honors by military service and held charge of the Raikot State and a large part of the area later occupied by the Phulkian States (Nabha, Patiala, and Jind).
[edit] Geographical distribution
The Manj were the most widely distributed of all the sub-montane Rajputs. Pre-Partition, they were widely distributed across the Punjab region. But their strongholds were Ludhiana and its adjoining districts.
They were found mostly in the southwestern portion of Jalandhar and the northwestern portion of Ludhiana. Rawalpindi also had Manj Rajputs, but whether or not they were of the same stock as the Manj of Ludhiana and Jalandhar was doubtful.
After the Partition, many Muslim Manj families migrated to Punjab (Pakistan). Among them, was the Manjj family of Halwara, who were the landlords of Ludhiana. There are a few villages of Sikh Manj rajputs in Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Fatehgarh sahib districts of Punjab (India)
In recent years, many Manj Rajputs have migrated and settled in other countries, mostly in Hong Kong.
[edit] Religion
Today, the Manj Rajputs are mostly Muslims, though many remained Hindus after the time of Shaikh Chachu, and few are Sikh's in Indian Punjab, they still disallow karewa. Their genealogists live in Patiala.
[edit] Trivia
In the Kangri dialect of Punjabi, the word Manj is said to mean 'In the middle'.
[edit] Prominent Manjjs
- Rai Faqir Mohammed Khan, major in the British Army during World War II.
- Rai Abdul Ghafoor Khan, Ex-British Army major before the Partition of India in 1947.
- Adeel Hassan Manjj, Contact's ex-chief editor and owner of Faisalabad's biggest social networking portal.
[edit] See also
- Muslim Rajput
- Sardar Wali Mohammed Khan
[edit] References
- Excerpts from the 1883 and 1892 Census Reports by Ibbetson and Maclagan.
[edit] External links
- Information on the Bhatti Rajputs, with a specific section on the Manj
- Homie Khan's Namdar Page With Information On Manjj Rajputs
- The Casts In Pakistan Information on the Manjj Rajputs.
