Odh (also written 'Od' or 'Oad') (pronounced [oᶑ]: Sindhi: اوڏ, Urdu: اوڈ) are a Muslim Rajput community and a tribe with origins in Sindh and Punjab in Pakistan and Rajasthan in India. The tribe has a distinct and unique history dating back thousands of years. They are considered to be of Muslim Rajput origin. However, not much is documented about this tribe. One of the earliest reference to Odhs is found in the poetry of Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai, who has praised Ods for their hard work and simplicity.[1]
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There are a number of traditions of the origin of this tribe. One of tradition relates to an ancestor by the name of Bhagirat.[2] Bhagirat vowed never to drink twice from the same well, and so he dug a fresh well everyday until one day he dug down and never came up. In honour of this ancestor, the Oad took working as navies.
According to another tradition, the ancestor of the Oad was Odang, a king of Orisa. They then migrated from Orissa to Rajasthan, and from their migrated to Sindh and Punjab. They claim their original name was Sagarbansi.[3]
The Ods are a large community spread over a large region with concentrations in Uttarakhand, Delhi, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana in India and in Sindh and Punjab in Pakistan. The Oads have been nomads for centuries since Mughals ruled South Asia, and were known in the South Asia as indigenous civil engineers, constructors of ponds, walls, structures, canals and embankments.
In Punjab, they are most numerous in Lahore, and along the lower Indus and Chenab, especially around the city of Multan.[4]
Those in Sindh, Haryana, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Rajasthan speak their own language called Oadki, which resembles Marathi and Gujarati with borrowings from Marwari and Punjabi. The Od of Punjab, Pakistan speak Punjabi, while those of Haryana speak Haryanvi.
The Hindu Oads are Shivites, and worship Shiva, as oppose to other Punjab tribes that are Vaishnavi. While those of Rajasthan, Haryana and Gujarat follow a number of local deities, as well as being Shivite.[2] Oads mainly worship their ancestors and lighten "Diya" on every Thursday.
During the reign of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir, many Oad converted to Islam. The Muslim Oads in Pakistan follow the strict Sunni Ahle Hadith school.
The Odh community consist of a number of exogamous clans which are known as gotras, and marriages are forbidden with in the clan. The following is a list of their main clans or gotras:
The independence of Pakistan and India has effectively divided the Odh in two distinct communities. In Pakistan, the Oads are Muslim, with the exception some Hindu Odhs in Sindh.
The Odh community in Pakistan remain associated with the building trade. A recent study made the following discovery: Narain Das Oad has played an important role in the history of the Odh of Sindh. He was born in the small town of Phulpoto in the upper Sindh near the town of Ratodero in Larkana District. He became the first graduate of Oad tribe in Sindh, and went on to become a lawyer and eventually a Judicial Magistrate.
In Delhi, the community claim to be Suryavanshi Rajputs, who emigrated from Marwar. They are found mainly in Mehrauli, Sanjay Colony and Bhatti Mines neighbourhoods. Their main clans in Delhi are the Dewat, Panwar, Bhatti, Sisodia, Majoka, Shrawan, (Rathod)Rathore, Chauhan, Kudawala(Bhatti) and Galgat. The community maintain its traditional occupation of digging canals or working in mines. They are an extremely marginal community, and child labour is fairly prevalent.[5]
In Rajasthan, the Oad claim descent from a Rajput king, by the name Sagar. They are found mainly in Alwar and Sri Ganganagar districts and divided into number of exogamous clans, namely the Kudawla, Gundali, Beeka, Soora, Kalhiya(Tanwar), Udesi, Galgat, Mudai, Gadai, Shrawan, Majoka, Yodha, Mangal, Nahar, Gagwani, Lola and Japlot. They are largely engaged in digging earth, construction of roads,Farming and masonry work. The Oad rajput speak Oadki among themselves and Hindi with outsiders, and are Vishnavi Hindus.[6]
In Haryana, the Oad mainly found in Panchkula, Hisar, Balawas village, Tohana, Ratia, Fathehabad, Sirsa, Panipat, Sonipat, Hansi, Karnal, Kaithal, Faridabad, Gurgaon and other parts of Haryana. In the History of Haryana Politic only Sh.Gyan Chand Galgat, who has been elected MLA twice from "Ratia" Constituency from [2004 to 2009] and again in [2009]. In District Hisar village namely "HAZAMPUR" 80% Oad Community resides in Tohana and also in many villages. In Haryana, the Education Level and living standard has increased too much but still more improvement needs. .[3]
In Punjab, according to the traditions of the Odh community, they are Rajputs of Udaipur, and were originally known as Ude, which became corrupted to Odh. Most of the East Punjab Odh have immigrated from territory that became Pakistan in 1947. They are found mainly in the districts of Ferozepur, Sangrur and Bhatinda. There traditional occupation was earthwork, digging wells and construction of roads. The community is endogamous, and maintain clan exogamy. There main clans are the Hadola Dao, Hansi, Chitada, Mahdwara, Tehil and Mikrani.[7] A number of Oad families of the Shrawan, Chauhan, Yodha clans have established themselves in Union Territory of Chandigarh'.