| Jatt Clan: Nijjar | |
| Distribution | Punjab (India) |
| Descended from: | Caucasian Avars |
| Branches: | None |
| Religion | Sikhism |
| Languages | Punjabi |
| Surnames: | Nijjar and Singh |
Nijjar is a surname found commonly among people of the Jatt clan from the Northern Indian state of Punjab. Most of the members of this clan are Sikhs by religion although there are many Sikh/Hindu/Muslim/Christian/Roman Catholic Nijjar's belonging to the Khatri/Rajput/Gujjar caste. Village historians say many Nijjar's changed their name to "Nayyar" under the suggestion of the British to distinguish themselves from Jatt Nijjars.
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The four Nijjar, also spelled Nijjher, "Nijhar" or Nijjer, and in a rare alternate spelling "Nijor", villages of Dianatpur, Masanian, Kathar and Dhepur were first settled by people from village of Domeli. Kapurthala district near Phagwara. They Most likely settled in the village of Dianatpur during the Mogul times around 1775 when the Sikh Missals [confederations] were also in the ascendancy. The forefathers of Dianatpur village used to say that two brothers from the village of Domeli used to bring their animals in the area for grazing and built huts to stay for months at a time. In due course they started cultivating the land and settled down and the village of Dianatpur came into being. It is said that the Nijhar families of Dianatpur, Kathar and Dhepur were tormented by the local Muslim jolahas [weavers]. The families invited the jolahas for a meal and surrounded them and set them on fire killing them. The place where this event took place was called “masan” and later on when people settled near the place the village was called Massanian.
Despite the Doab region being their ancestral homeland, some Nijjars owned vast amounts of agricultural land in Lyallpur, West Punjab, prior to the Partition of India and Pakistan in 1947. Partition brought great loss and suffering to the Nijjars of Lyallpur (as it did to many Sikhs in West Punjab at the time, who were forced to give up their homes and livelihood, in order to move to India). The Nijjars of Lyallpur moved back to the Doaba region after 1947. Today, their descendants can be found in Fatehpur and Chomon.
The Najjar are listed under Khatris by Ibbetson in A Glossary of The Tribes & Castes of The Punjab & North-West Frontier Province [1][2]
Nijjars are found mostly in the Doaba area of Punjab.Najka, Fatehpur, Chomon, Nijjaran, Behram Sarishta, Gobindpur, Kurali, Bhar Singh Pura, Raipur Arian, Massanian, Kathar, Diantpur, Nijjaran Di Pandori are among prominent villages (pinds) in district Jalandhar of Nijjars. Domeli. Kapurthala district near Phagwara is also a prominent village of Nijjars.The Nijjars were the most literate people during partition of India and Pakistan.They were espicially moved to Najka and PAndori Nijjaran
DIANATPUR - Village census 2001 No of Households 72 Total Population 349 Male Population 166 Female Population 183 Literate Population 259 Male Literate 125 Female Literate 134 Illiterate Population 90 Male illiterate population 41 Female illiterate population 49 Working Population 95 Population below 06 Male 22 Population below 06 Female 18
Both clans had contributed greatly in the Ranjit Singh army during Sikh empire rule in Punjab. During the 1800s the Nijjar and Deol clan were the first to own large amounts of land in the Punjab area with out getting taxed the districts included Lahore, Sialkot, and Lyallpur.