Sihag

Sihag
Jat Clan
Location	Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi, Punjab, India, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Pakistan, Sindh
Varna	Kshatriya
Vansh	Suryavansha, Agnivansha, Nagavansha
Branches	Asiagh, Sehwag, Siyag, Siag, Suhag, Syag, Sehag, Siyak, Sihak, Syak, Sinhwag, Siwal, Bolan, Chautala
Language	Bagri, Haryanvi, Rajasthani, Hindi, Punjabi
Religion	Hinduism

Sihag (Siyag, Sehwag, Asiagh,or Siag) is a clan of Jat people found in Haryana, Rajasthan, western Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab region of India and Pakistan.^[1]

Origin

Sihag originally is a clan of Jats which is an Indo-Scythian tribal group.^[2]

History

The Sihags are mentioned in the Puranas and the Mahabharat. A 'Sihag' king offered a gift to Yudhisthira on his coronation.

Sihags are also known as rulers in Rajasthan then known as Jangladesh. Kot Khokhar in Mewar has been the capital of the Sihag rulers. Pahulkot has also been their capital. Some names of these Sihag rulers were Vir Rana, Dhir Rana etc. They are mentioned in the manuscript of genealogical tables in the possession of Gorakh Singh.

Asirgarh(meaning Fort of Asiaghs) is a site of an ancient fort situated in Burhanpur district of Malwa region in Madhya Pradesh, India. It is of interest that ancient name of Hansi in Hisar district of Haryana was also "Asirgarh".

Rulers in Jangladesh

Northern-most light pink coloured region is "Jangladesh". It includes the present-day districts of Bikaner, Churu, Ganganagar, and Hanumangarh.

The Sihags at one time ruled a part of the region then known as Jangladesh.

Table of Jat Kingdoms in Jangladesh:

Sihag Jats were rulers in North Jangladesh prior to the rule of Rathores. Jangladesh coincided with the princely state of Bikaner in Rajasthan. When Rathores under the leadership of Bika and Kandal were spreading their rule in Jangladesh, At that time about 150 villages were under the rule of Sihag Jats. "Chokha Singh Sihag" was their king and their capital was "Sui (Sihaggoti)".It is 12 mile north-east to Shekhsar in Lunkaransar district. Rawatsar, Devasar, Biramsar, Moteir, Dandusar and Gandeli were other famous towns in their state.There another capital was "Pallu" which is nearby Sui in Nohar district. It is said that earlier its name was Kot Kiloor which afterwards was renamed on the name of Pallu, the daughter of Sihag king.^[3]

Chokha Singh Sihag had war with Rathores but the Godara Jats and Delhi Sultanate had aligned with Rathores due to which Sihag's faced a defeat. Rathores had established good relations with the Delhi Muslim rulers and became powerful. The lack of harmony and coordination among other Jat rulers led to the defeat of Jat states in Rajasthan and established the Rathore Kingdom in 1488 AD.It has been known that even after defeat Sihag Jats didn't accepted Rathore's rule and hence were invited for conference. They were tricked by Rathors and made captive in the conference hall and ultimately burnt alive. The Jats claimed their right over the land which was under their possession, before the Rathores occupied it and this claim was inherited by their descendants, who used to divide the land among themselves for cultivation. In the early period of their conquest the Rathores could not exercise any definite claim on the land as landlords. However, it was possible only in the 17th century, due to internal rivalries among Jat people, Godaras surrendered.Later on most of Jat clans in Rajasthan had to accept Rathor's suzerainty in Mughal times due to the Rathores having allied with the Mughals.^[4][5]

Folklore

Once Godara king had sent his messenger to King "Chokha Singh Sihag" of Jangladesh to irritate king and provoke him to fight. So, that messenger went to Devasar village near Pallu. There is a pond in Devasar village where Chokha Singh ji used to take bath and meditated on its shore. Chokha Singh was meditating when that messenger reached him. The messenger reached him and said," I am a messenger of Godaras, give me some offerings". Chokha Singh replied, " If you want to have food, it will be prepared soon but I don't give offerings." As the messenger was ordered to say to Chokha Singh, he said,"What type of king you are?" On this, Chokha Singh took a handful of water and splashed it onto the messenger. Chokha Singh said," Take this and go away". But the messenger was astonished on seeing that the water had turned into gold Ashrafis. When the messenger returned to Godara king, he told them:-

"सियागां मैं सम्प घणों, दूजी जात न जोड़

सियाग चोखै दान दियो, छपन लाख करोड़ "^[6]

There's an old tale famous about Pallu (capital of Sihag's) in Rajasthan that, once there was a Jat King named Mungamdhadka. He married his daughter Pallu to Sahib named prince of Delhi but internally he didn't want to. Therefore he gave venom to Sahib in lunch who afterwords died in Delhi fort. After some time he guided his son for investigating whether Sahib is alive or dead but ironically Pallu herself killed her brother in anger. After this Jat said -

"जावै सो आवै नहीं, यो ही बड़ो हिलूर (फितूर)।

के गिटगी पल्लू पापणी, के गिटगो कोट किलूर ।।"

Notable Sihags

• Virender Sehwag^[7][8]
• Chaudhary Devi Lal^[9][10][11]
• Om Prakash Chautala^[9][10][11]
• Ajay Singh Chautala

References