Virk
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Virk (Urdu: ورک ) is a Jat gotra or clan. The clan is spread across the Punjab region in Pakistan and northern India. The name is pronounced as "Veerk".
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[edit] Etymology
Prominent Virks
1 Nawab Kapur Singh Virk. 2 Baba Teja Singh Chuharkana 3 Sardar Sarvdeep Singh Virk I P S Director General Of Police Punjab
[edit] History
[edit] Virks in the Rig Veda
According to the Jat historian, Bhim Singh Dahiya's book "Aryan Tribes and the Rig Veda", a prince named Dasyave Vrika, is mentioned in the Rig Veda (Vlll/51/2, Vlll/55/1, Vlll/56/1). He can be identified with the Virk clan of the Jats and also with the Virk people in the Iranian history, who gave their name to the province of Varkania /Hyrcania in Iran.
[edit] Virks In Other Ancient Texts
As mentioned earlier, the name of one of the ancestors of the Virk gotra was Virk Vardhan. According to the Patanjali Bhashya (4.6-114), Ashtadhyayi (l-6-155), Mahabhasya( 4-2-154) and Kashikavarti (1-1-175), Raja Virk Vardhan built forts in:
- Kasrud (present-day Mandsor) in central India
- Shakil (Sialkot)
- Sosaph
- Dathaaprastha
- Naudipur
- Koak
- Kandewa
- Mula
- Pava Datt
- Karkar
- Virkgary.
According to Thakur Yugendrapal, the Virks are the Vahilkas (they are believed to be the founders of Bahawalpur) who are mentioned in the Mahabharata and who took one-sixth of the income of the King Shalya, who was the king of the Madras and ruled over Madradesa (modern-day Sialkot). In the 4th century AD, they had a powerful kingdom. They were the contemporaries of the Gupta rulers. According to Brij Indra Bhaskar, in 428 AD, the Virk rulers performed a big Yagya near Bayana and constructed a pillar, on which they mentioned themselves as Virks. Rock inscriptions of Yasodharman have been found in Mandsor. Their reign in Malwa came to an end in 46.
[edit] Physical Attributes
Historically , the Virks had unique physical attributes. In the history books, they have been described as tall, muscular, courageous and loyal. These physical and mental attributes made them ideal candidates for recruitment in the armies of various Kings and Maharajas. They served in the British Army, and still comprise a sizeable portion of the Pakistani and Indian armies.
[edit] Virks in the Punjab
[edit] Sheikhupura
According to the historians, the present-day city of Sheikhupura in the province of Punjab (Pakistan), was the site of Virkgarh till the Mughal emperor, Jahangir built the city of Sheikhupura. The epical ancestor of Virks, Raja Virk Vardhan, was a ruler of the area with its capital being the present-day city of Sialkot, Punjab (Pakistan). The eastern extent of his Raj included Jandiala in Amritsar (India) which, still, belongs to the Virks.
[edit] Muslim and Sikh Virks
Whether Muslim or Sikh? Virks always took pride in being members of the Great Jats. The majority of Virks on the western side of Punjab converted to Islam while the majority of Virks on the eastern side of Punjab converted to Sikhism. The famous Virk chieftan, Nawab Kapur Singh founded the Dal Khalsa and, later, divided it into twelve Misls. He belonged from the "Fyzallapur" village which remained his headquarters. This village was, later, renamed as Singhpur. The Misl that he headed was, consequently, known as the Singhpuria Misl.
[edit] Virks in the British Period
In Punjab (British India), the Virks held very high positions in the British Indian Army. Before the Partition of India, Sir Shahab-ud-Din, a member of the Punjab Assembly and Secretary of the Jat Sabha, was a Virk Jat who belonged to Tar village in Sialkot.
[edit] Virk Jats Today
Today, one can find Virk Jats on both sides of the Punjab. In Punjab (Pakistan), a majority of Virks live in the Sheikhupura district. Virks still control the city of Sheikhupura (the ancient Virkgarh) both, politically and economically.
[edit] References
- Ram Swarup Joon: History of the Jats, Rohtak, India (1938, 1967)
- History of Sandalbaar: Virk and Others
