Sodhi

Sodhi is a Khatri clan of Punjab (India).

Sodhis are considered to be landlords and can be found all over North India mainly in Punjab.

Sikh Gurus

Seven of the Sikh Gurus (from Guru Ram Das to Guru Gobind Singh) belonged to the Sodhi surname.

In his autobiography, Vichitra Natak Guru Gobind Singh gives an account of the origin of the Sodhi clan. Sodhi Rai son of Kusha, son of Lord Shri Rama, moved to Sanadh region where he married the king's daughter. His descendants moved to Madra Desh (now called Punjab), and came to be called Sodhi.[1] Descendants of other son, Lava, Of Lord Shri Rama populated city of Lahore (now in Punjab) and came to be called Lavana, Labana, Luwaar, Luvar, etc. It is believed that descendants of these two children of Lord Rama come to rule every 500 years. After the rule of Kusha's descendants, the 'kingdom' was passed down to descendants of Lava.

In Sikhism, after the death of Guru Har Krishan there was much speculation on who would be the next Guru. At the time of confusion, 22 members of the Sodhi dynasty thought they should be the next Guru. In the end it was concluded that Guru Tegh Bahadur was the next Guru, he went on to further spread the Sikh's principle of total rejection of caste system.

Other Sodhis in Indian history

  1. Sodhis of Anandpur: Anandpur was founded by Gulab Rai, first cousin to the 10th Guru. From his brother Sham Chand's four sons, Nahr Singh, Udai Singh, Khem Singh and Chur Singh, the branches of Anandpur Sodhis the Bari, Dusri, Teesri and Chauthi Sarkar are descended. They held a Jagir worth Rs. 10000 in Patiala and a Jagir of Rs. 4750 in Faridkot.
  2. Sodhis of Kartarpur:[2] descended from Ram Das, third son of Guru Arjun. Rama/Ramay is a family name of sodhi caste.
  3. Sodhis of Faridkot: descendents of Baba Prithi chand. Most of them later on joined forces of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and were sent to Kashmir. Their descendents can still be found in large numbers in Kashmir.
  4. Sodhi's of Guru Har Sahai- these are the descendents of Guru Ram Das ji whos successor Jiwan Mal ji founded thi village. The Sodhi's of Guru Har Sahai are the administrators of this village including Guru Hardip Singh Sodhi, MLA Rana Sodhi, etc.

See also

References