Mair Rajputs

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Mair Rajputs or Maid Rajputs is the name of a Hindu Punjabi caste in India from amongst the Punjabi Rajputs. They are Hindu by religion and comprise of the warrior race of Rajputs who had originally migrated hundreds of years ago from the regions of Ajmer-Merwara and Rajputana with the movement of the armies that brought Rajput rule over Punjab, many in other times due to Islamic invasions on their homeland of Ajmer-Merwara (in present day Rajasthan) and had settled down in Punjab several hundred years ago^{[citation needed]}.

During the ensuing prolonged period of lasting peace thereafter^{[citation needed]} when they could not be supported by the armies and could not find any work as warriors or in other times when many chose not to enlist in Muslim armies who had come to rule after many successive invasions on India, those Hindu Rajputs who came to be known as Mair or Maid Rajputs in Punjab chose to work as Sunars to survive. "Sunar" is a Hindi word for Goldsmith and Jeweler, (Sunyara is the word for them in local Punjabi language) in India, a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and also at the same time is a businessman specializing in selling gold, silver, other precious metals including precious stones and jewelry / ornaments crafted from these. In time it soon became a well known fact thereafter, locally in Punjab, that the profession and business of "Sunars" was monopolized and run by Hindu Rajputs who had slowly become a subcaste of the Punjabi Rajputs by then and became known as "Mair Rajputs".

[edit] History

With the partition of India in 1947 into India and Pakistan the Indian state of Punjab was also split in two. Hindus and Sikhs including Mair Rajputs living in the portion of Punjab that was given to the newly created Muslim country of Pakistan had to leave by force to save themselves from communal slaughters and forceful conversion to Islam, many of them fled their ancestral homeland now in Pakistan in a complete destitute state and had to start life afresh in India. All their ancestral land, property and wealth was left behind in what was now Pakistan. ^[1]

Life was tough for the refugees including the Mair Rajputs at the beginning after partition; they had to live in a destitute state in refugee camps in India before they were allotted specially constructed houses in the Refugee colonies by the government of India. Many of them settled in Delhi and other parts of India after partition.^{[citation needed]}

Today they are again a very successful clan of people and have brought pride for their families and country by excelling in all walks of life, many of them joined the Armed Forces^{[citation needed]}. The British recruited from this clan too from amongst the Rajputs for their Rajput Regiments due to their famous Rajput warrior bloodline and today the Indian Army continuous this tradition.^{[citation needed]}

A small percentage of them still continue to do business and practice as Sunars however majority of them were abruptly shocked to find that in portions of India outside Punjab where they had to migrate to (after the partition of India), the profession of Sunars was considered as something practiced by the lowest in the Hindu caste system known as the "Shudras / workers" who were still considered "untouchables" by some. Mair Rajputs in their recent history having been craftsmen working with Gold and precious metals, the Indian government gave them the classification of OBC (Other Backward Classes) clubbing them with other lower caste Sunars and craftsmen in the newly independent India giving them the option of using their OBC status to make use of special quotas and privileges set aside for them in higher education and government employment etc. to enable them to better their situation but as Rajputs they would be classified under Forward class with no additional privileges. Mair Rajputs are of the warrior cast "Kshatriya" which is the second highest cast in India after the learned "Brahmins". "Kshatriya" or the Rajputs are the ruling cast of India, a cast of Warriors and Kings / Rajas. Thus the Mair Rajput families after having migrated out of Punjab (the portion that was given to create the Muslim country of Pakistan) to India during partition in 1947 were embarrassed to mention their family craft and business as that of having known to be that of Sunars in the most recent past. They instead preferred to call themselves as "Punjabi Rajputs", which is of course also true and hid any association to Sunars / Goldsmiths / Jewelers. Many had already left practicing as Sunars many generations ago and entered other professions especially after higher education was more readily available.

Today the Mair Rajputs not only live in India but have migrated and settled down all over the world and are doing very well for themselves in all fields, many Mair / Punjabi Rajput associations have cropped up all over the world specially in UK, USA and Canada^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] Hinduism, Sikhism and Punjabi Hindu Rajputs

The factual accuracy of this article is disputed. Please see the relevant discussion on the talk page. (March 2008)

Punjabi Hindus hold Sikhism in high regard, many Punjabi Hindus not only in India but worldwide today visit their local Gurudwaras regularly and adhere to the preaching’s of the Guru Granth Sahib. Sikhism is traditionally seen as a religion of warriors who were protectors of Hindus and Dharma against marauding Islamic invaders who sought to convert Hindus to Islam by lethal force and against oppressive Mughal government and religious extremism of Mughal Emperors and specially that of Aurangzeb.

There has been a long standing practice in Punjab^{[citation needed]} which still continuous where Hindu families give their first born son to the Guru to be baptized as a Khalsa Sikh and join the Guru’s army of protectors^{[citation needed]}. This practice started when Guru Gobind Singh in 1699 asked the Hindu families^{[citation needed]} to give him their eldest sons to help raise the new Khalsa Army to protect Dharma and all against Mughal tyranny and forced conversions to Islam. As it is the Hindu religious duty of every Kshatriya including every Rajput to bear arms and protect society and the Dharma, local Punjabi Hindu Kshtriya families including Rajputs living in Punjab keenly supported the Guru and offered him their eldest sons all too willingly and the tradition continued hence many Punjabi Rajput families too have been giving their eldest sons to be enrolled in the Guru’s Army and baptized as Khalsa Sikhs. Thus there are many Hindu, Punjabi Hindu Rajput and Punjabi Hindu Mair Rajput families whose kin are proud followers of Sikhism today with their eldest sons as baptized Khalsa Sikhs. Thus there are many Sikhs who call themselves "Sikh Rajputs" today and still use Rajput family names.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

1. ^ Talib, Gurbachan (1950). Muslim League Attack on Sikhs and Hindus in the Punjab 1947. India: Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee. 

[edit] Further reading

• Blunt, E.A.H. The Caste System of Northern India. Delhi: S. Chand & Co., 1969.
• Chattopadhyaya, Brajadulal. The Making of Early Medieval India. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1994.
• Ibbetson, Sir Denzil. Panjab Castes. Lahore: Superintendent, Gov't. Printing, Reprint 1916 (from 1883 original of 1881 census).
• Jain, Kailash Chand. Ancient Cities and Towns of Rajasthan. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1972.
• Rose, H.A. A Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North-West Frontier Province. Lahore: Civil and Military Gazette Press, 1914.
• Saggar, Balraj. Who's Who in the History of Punjab: 1800-1849. New Delhi: National Book Organisation, 1993.
• Singh, K.S. National Series Volume VIII: Communities, Segments, Synonyms, Surnames, & Titles. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1996.
• Srivastava, Ashirbadi Lal. The History of India: 1000 A.D.-1707 A.D. Jaipur, Shiva Lal Agarwala & Co., 1964.
• Tod, Lt. Colonel James. Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, Vol. 1 (1829), Vol. 2 (1832).
• Walker, Benjamin. The Hindu World: An Encyclopedic Survey of Hinduism. New York: Frederick Praeger, 1968.
• Talib, Gurbachan (1950). Muslim League Attack on Sikhs and Hindus in the Punjab 1947. India: Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee. 
• "The Mair Rajputs of Punjab" by Mr. Rajesh K Verma
• Chapter on "The Meds" from the book (available online): "The History of India as told by its own Historians. The Muhammadan Period", by Sir H. M. Elliot, Edited by John Dowson; London, Trubner Company; 1867–1877 Chapter on "The Meds" From the online version of this historical book, check all three pages of this chapter & Also see page: NOTE (C.).—ETHNOLOGICAL. Native Opinions on the Aborigines of Sind.

[edit] External links

• The Mair Rajputs of Punjab
• Rajputs Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition; 2005
• Rajput Encyclopedia Britannica; 1911