Patiala

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Maharaja Bhupinder Singh Patiala
Maharaja Bhupinder Singh Patiala

Patiala ( Hindi:पटियाला, Punjabi: ਪਟਿਆਲਾ) is a city in the Punjab state of India. Patiala district is one of the famous princely cities of erstwhile Punjab. Forming the south-eastern part of the state, it lies between 29°49’ and 30°47’ north latitude, 75°58’ and 76°54' east longitude.

Contents

Eminent personalities

Patiala is home town of many eminent personalities like cricketers Navjot Sidhu, Mohinder Amarnath, Reetinder Sodhi, Bollywood Stars Jimmy Shregill, Om Puri, Punjabi Singers Gurdas Mann & Harbhajan Mann, Jet Airways Chairman Naresh Goyal & above all Sq Ldr Rakesh Sharma, first and only Indian till date in space and so on.

History

Patiala was an important Jat state in Punjab. Its area was 5932 sq. mile and annual income Rs 1,63,00,000/-. [1]The early history of the founders of Patiala state is more myth and mystery than reality, the rulers of the erstwhile states of Patiala, Nabha and Jind trace their ancestry to Jat sardar Chota Phul. Apparently the appellation of dynasty "Phulkian" is derived from their common founder.

One of sons of Phul Chota, Ram Singh was baptized and blessed by Guru Gobind Singh. His sons Ala Singh assumed the leadership in 1714 when Banda Bahadur was engaged in the fierce battle against the Mughals. A man with vision and courage, Ala Singh carved out an independent principality from a petty Zamindari of 30 villages. Under his successors, it expanded into a large state, touching the Shivaliks in north, Rajasthan in the south and upper courses of the Yamuna and Sutlej rivers while confronting the most trying and challenging circumstances.

In the middle of the eighteenth century, Baba Ala Singh, unlike many of his contemporaries, displayed tremendous shrewdness in dealing with the Mughals, Afghans and Marathas and successfully established a state which he had started building up from its nucleus Barnala.

In 1763 Baba Ala Singh laid the foundation of the Patiala fort known as Qila Mubarak, around which the present city of Patiala developed. After the Third Battle of Panipat in 1761 in which the Marathas were defeated, the writ of the Afghans prevailed through out Punjab. It is at this stage that the rulers of Patiala began to acquire ensigns of royalty. Ahmad Shah Abdali bestowed upon Ala Singh furm and banner, and the title of Maharaja of Patiala. After his death, his grandson Amar Singh succeeded and received the title of Raja-I-Rajaan. He was also allowed to strike coins.

After forty years of ceaseless struggle with the Mughals, Afghans and Marathas the borders of the Patiala state witnessed the blazing trails of Ranjit Singh in the north and of the British in the east. Bestowed with the grit and instinct of survival, making the right choice at the right time the Raja of Patiala entered into a treaty with the British against Ranjit Singh in 1808, thus becoming collaborators in the empire building process of the British in the sub-continent of India. The British treated the rulers of Patiala, such as Karam Singh, Narinder Singh, Mahendra Singh, Rajinder Singh, Bhupinder Singh and Yadvindra Singh with respect and dignity.

Maharaja Bhupinder Singh (Reign - 1900 to 1938) gave Patiala a prominent place on the political map of India and in the field of international sports. This included his dog kennels and he and the Maharaja of Jind were equally interested in a range of dog breeds. His son Yadvindra Singh was among those Indian princes who readily came forward to sign the Instrument of Accession, thus facilitating the process of national integration. In recognition of his services, he was appointed the Rajpramukh of the newly established state of Patiala and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU), from its founding in 1948 until its merger with Punjab in 1956. The downtown area of Patiala is Adalat Bazaar, which means 'the court corridor', because this was used as the administrative building by one of the caretakers, before the King had reached the age of majority.

Jat clans in Patiala

Jat Sikh Clans and Their Population in Selective Districts of Punjab Handbooks [2] [3] [4] prepared by British military officers for the recruitment of Sikhs into the British Indian Army contain information on the location of Jat clans and their respective population in various districts of Punjab. Therefore, this section (basically based on these documents) presents various Jat clans and their respective population projected by B S Dhillon. [5]

Patiala (state during the British period) In 1911, 30 per cent of the Patiala state population was made of the Jats. Major Barstow [5], on page 110 wrote, "Patiala Jats mostly claim Rajput origin and appear to have migrated from Jaisalmer (in modern Indian state of Rajasthan south of Punjab) around the middle of the 16th century".

  • Sidhu (138,000): This is the largest clan and the Royal family of the former Patiala state belonged to this very clan.
  • Chahil (64,500): This clan owns many villages around the town of Bhikkhi as well as it holds several scattered villages in the sub-districts of Fategarh, Narwana, Bhawanigarh, Amargarh.
  • Dhaliwal (54,000): It appears that this clan has settled in this area around 12th or 13th century A.D. from Jaisalmer (in the modern Indian state of Rajasthan) and claims Rajput origin [5]. Dhaliwals are mainly to be found in the sub-districts of Bhatinda and Bhikhi and their important septs are Mani, Rureka, Ramana, Udi, and Dina.
  • Mann (48,000): This clan has given their name to many villages for example, Manwala, Man Khera, and Man-sa.
  • Dhillon (31,500): This clan claim its descent from "king Karn" and the Dhillons are mainly to be found in the sub-district of Govindgarh as well as in scattered villages of sub-districts Bhikhi and Fatehgarh.
  • Gill (45,900): This clan is quite numerous in the sub-districts of Bhikhi and Rajpura and its sept "Jhala" holds 11 villages in the subdistrict called Sahibgarh.
  • Dhindsa (7,950): This clan also claims its descent from "King Karn" and during the Mughal period in India, the Dhindsas migrated from the Sirsa area of the modern Indian Province of Haryana bordering Punjab. Dhindsas are mainly to be found in the subdistrict of Amargarh where they own many villages, also their presence is visible in the sub-districts of Rajpura, Patiala, and Ghanaur.
  • Randhawa (6,960): This clan holds two villages in the sub-district of Sahibgarh and the village of Mimsa in the Sub-district Amargarh.
  • Sarah or Sarai (19,800): This clan is mainly to be found in areas around Anahadgarh and Karmgarh and it claims to have founded the villages of Kalanwali in Sirsa and Kaleke near Dhanaula.
  • Pawania (4,560): This clan claims to have migrated from the Hissar district of the modern Indian state of Haryana and owns 4 villages in the sub-district of Sunam.
  • Ghumman (15,600): This clan owns 11 villages around Bhawanigarh and Ghumana in the Rajpura sub-district and one village in the Patiala sub-district.[6]
  • Bains (3,012): This clan claims Tur Rajput origin and have migrated from the Delhi area. The clan holds many villages in the sub-district of Narwana as well as some in the Sub-districts of Sunam and Patiala.
  • Mangat (5,400): This clan holds 6 villages in the sub-district of Sahibgarh.
  • Sandhu (34,500): This clan claims to have migrated from the Amritsar area of the Punjab in the 16th century A.D. and holds villages in the sub-districts of Barnala, Bhatinda, Rajpura, Ghanaur, and Amargarh.
  • Sekhon (10,500): This clan holds the villages of Bakshiwala (Sunam sub-district), Kaulgarh (Pail sub-district), Kanhgarh (Bhikkhi Sub-district), Kishangarh (Bhikkhi subdistrict) and Karmgarh (Anhadgarh sub-district).
  • Mahil (2,169): This clan also claims its origin from the Tur Rajputs and came from the Delhi area. The clan owns four villages: Shahpuri Khurd and Kalan, Namol (all of these three in Sunam sub-district), and Khanpur (in Dhuri sub-district).

Reference

  1. ↑ Dr Mahendra Singh Arya, Dharmpal Singh Dudi, Kishan Singh Faujdar & Vijendra Singh Narwar: Ādhunik Jat Itihasa (The modern history of Jats), Agra 1998
  2. ↑ Barstow, A.E. (Major), The Sikhs: An Ethnology, reprinted by B.R. Publishing Corporation, Delhi, India, 1985, pp. 105-135.
  3. ↑ Bingley, A.H. (Captain), Handbooks for the Indian Army: Sikhs, compiled under the orders of the Government of India, Printed at the Government Central Printing Office, Simla, India, 1899, pp. 29-37.
  4. ↑ Falcon, R.W. (Captain), Handbook on Sikhs for the Use of Regimental Officers, Printed at the Pioneer Press, Allahabad, India, 1896, pp. 81-103.
  5. ↑ History and study of the Jats. By Professor B.S Dhillon. ISBN-10: 1895603021 or ISBN-13: 978-1895603026. p.123
  6. ↑ History and study of the Jats. By Professor B.S Dhillon. ISBN-10: 1895603021 or ISBN-13: 978-1895603026. p. 126

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