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The other purpose of this website is to imbibe a feeling of pride and brotherhood among mohyals; which we lack by nature. Why ? b’coz we all are kings (I think like this) and kings don’t like to sit in commoners sphere. Give this name to friends, near and dear ones and make them aware of our community.

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Some of Lowe Mohyals were in commanding positions in Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s laskar army

The Lau or Lowe first appeared in the epoch of the Ramayana, rishi Vatsa and and rishi Vasishtha, the Raj Gurus of King Dashratha was their progenitor. They derive their Vats & Vashishtha gotra from the name of the those rishi ancestor.

There is another school of thought that traces the origin of the Lau caste to Lav, the son of Ram. But this assumption appears irrelevant because ama was a kshatriya whereas the Mohyals are brahmans. We do not come across any Lau veteran or see the trail of any event connected with this clan till the closing of the tenth century. It was around 997 AD that a ruler named Bijaipal appeared on the scene.To perpetuate his name he built a new town called Bajwada in district Kangra. This place later became the prestigious Dheri of the Lau sect. Bijaipal had two sons, Lopal and Bhopal. On the death of his father Lopal ascended to the gaddi. King Lopal was an ambitious man, who conquered new territories and extended his kingdom up to Multan. Lodhra was another stronghold of the Laus and was most probably founded by King Lopal. Two warrior tribes, Langas and Lohanas who had a strong racial affinity with the Laus inhabited the surrounding territory.

The Langas are believed to have ruled over Multan and were expelled from there by the troops of the Mughal king Babar. The Lohanas had their  regency in Brahminabad and had marital relations with the Chhibbers. Both these sects later converted to Islam. After the death of King Lopal his son Vishav Rai became the titular head. He earned a great name for his sagacity and valour. In 1191 when Raja Jaichand convened the Rajsu Yajna in Kannauj, he invited prominent Hindu rulers and leaders of the Brahmin community including Mohyals. Seven patriarchs represented the Mohyal community from the seven different castes and the honour of representing the Lau family fell on Rai Inder Sain Lau. The Lau dynasty continued to prosper in Bajwada for nearly 300 years till it was uprooted by the tyrannical reign of Aurangzeb. He had challenged the Sikhs in a bid to subjugate them, but met with fierce resistance. He tried to enlist the support of the Laus against the Sikhs but they did not oblige him and stood shoulder to shoulder with their compatriots. This roused the monarch’s ire and he sent a big force to crush them. In the disastrous battle the microscopic Lau community, and their prized possession of Bajwada were obliterated.

The surviving Laus fled to different parts of Punjab. Their main concentration, however, was in a village called Kauntrila in district Rawalpindi. The Laus by themselves constitute about 10 % of the Mohyal community. Mohyal Saraswat Brahmans are ardent followers of their saint ancestor Sidh Shyam Lau, whose resting-place is situated on the eastern bank of the river Jamuna near the old railway bridge.

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Mohan Mohyals

Mohans are the descendants of Rishi Kashyap from whom they get their Kashyap gotra.He was the fabled founder of the  Kashmir region. A long line of the Rishis descendants was devoted to the worship of snakes and enjoyed supremacy in Kashmir. The tribal Nagas of the north east and the north Indian brahmin castes of Nag, Nagar, Nagpal etc are said to be their offsprings.

After the conclusion of the Mahabharata war,Ashvasthama went into exile and one of his associates was named Mohan.Some Mohyal historians consider him to be the initiator of the Mohan sect.

Kashmir was the homeland of the Mohans, so it could be possible that its original rulers were the ancestors of these people. According to the accounts left by the Chinese traveller Hieun Tsang, there was a long reign of brahmin kings over Kashmir in the ancient times.

The Mohans ruled this land for 253 years, from 602 AD to855 AD.

It started with Durlabh Drohin who was a stable keeper in the court of Bala Ditya, the king of Kashmir. The king married him to his only daughter and made him hier to his throne, as he had no son. When Bala Ditya died in 602 AD, Durlab Drohin succeeded him. Shortly after his coronation he celebrated his second marriage, this time with the daughter of Raja Chach, the Chhibber ruler of Sind. From this marriage he got a son, Virambhak, whom he proclaimed as hier. Virambhak’s third son Lalita Aditya ascended to the throne in 699 AD and ruled for 36 eventful years. He extended his dominion upto Konkan in the south after conquering Kanauj, Malwa and Gujarat. He was an ambitious man and he founded a new city called Lalitapur where he built a majestic sun temple.

After the death of Lalita Aditya, there was chaos and half a dozen rulers changed hands in a period of ten years, till a great monarch named Jeaped rose on the scene. He ruled with great distinction for 43 years from 746 Adto 789 AD. He brought fame and glory to to his reign and was credited with extensive conquests of new territories including Nepal.

With the demise of king Jeaped, the glory and grandeur of the Mohan’s dynastic rule in Kashmir waned and whittled down. His son and half a dozen incumbents who followed him squandered away their of the family kingdom and led to its distintergration. The rule of the Mohans was finally wraped up in 855 AD.

The early history of the Mohan clan was documented in the form of a book called Pothi Rai Seegadh. A later version appeared at the turn of the century under the title of Jang Nama Mohan.

Russel Stracey’s history of the Mohans starts from the time of their migration to the holy city of Mathura. Curiously, Mathura at different times became the camping ground of almost castes of Mohyals. Being the divine fortress of peace, it offered ready shelter to those who were driven to its portals in distress or struck by calamity, as was often the case with the Mohyals. They became luckless fugitives, time and again, due to political turmoil or following attacks. Morover as militant Brahmins, they were called upon to defend the holy city against the barbarians and the iconclasts.

In the fourteenth century Bhagwan Dass made Mathura his home. He had three sonsnamed Gokul, Mathura Dass and Hari Kishan. Hari Kishan later on shifted to Benaras. His son Abnashi Ram went on a pilgramage of the holy Ganga and Yamuna and reached as far as Delhi. At Delhi he won the favour of Amir Timur who appointed him as his Dewan. The two sons of another Mohan dignitary Maya Dass were made commanders of the royal army.

When Timur departed from Delhi after defeating Mahmud Tughlaq and ravaging Delhi,he appointed Sultan Mohammed Khan as the surrogate ruler. It was during his reign that Dewan Hira Nand and Dewan Rai Mohan rebuilt the town of Dhankote on the bank of the river Sind.

Dhankote on Sind was the ancient home of the Mohans. It suffered an eclipse when Raja Sukhpal Mohan of Peshawar converted to Islam during the raid of Mahmud Ghazni on India. Mahmud’s son Sultan Masood ousted the Mohans after capturing Dhankote They lived in the hills in unsettled conditions under the shelter of the Gakhars and later shifted to the plains.

MAMDOT
Rai Thakur was a famous Mohan during the period of Ala-ud-din Khilji. His son Jaswant Rao adopted the Muslim faith in 1306 and became a favourite of the ruler. He was able to arrange grant of a big jagir in Mamdot for the five sons of his deceased brother. Mamdot became a prestigious Dheri of the Mohans and a nostalgic symbol of the entire clan.

Babar, the first Mughal king, appointed an eminent Mohan Harjas Rai as his Dewan. This was a period of glory of the Mohan family as several members of clan shot into limelight and were conferred with titles and jagirs. Mamdot in district Ferozepur remained the bastion of their power.

In a short time Mamdot became such a stronghold of the Mohans that Humayun sent a large force to curb their power. The Mohans proved too formidable and he had to employ a large army. The Mohans fought from their family fort in Mamdot but were outnumbered. In a savage war they were totally wiped out. The only ones to survive were an aged family patriarch Baba Sahib and his son Sobha Ram Thakur. Sobha Ram was taken prisoner and deported to Delhi where he was posted as manager to the royal household. He distinguished himself in his job and was promoted to a higher rank in the imperial court. At this very time the Datts living in Veeram were in great trouble as they were being persecuted by the Jats who had confiscated their lands. The aggrieved Datts approached Baba Sahib for help. He urged his son

Sobha Ram to take necessary action. Sobha Ram headed a big force and punished the Jats. He recovered all the captured land of the Datts from them. At this turn of events, out of gratitude a leading Datt offered his daughter’s hand in marriage. Sobha Ram accepted but with the condition that the marriage would be celebrated at their ancestral town of Mamdot. Eventually he arranged the marriage of that girl with Baba Sahib, as he was anxious to save his clan from extinction. Two sons begotten from this marriage are regarded by some as the forerunners of the subsequent generations of Mohans. Baba Sahib bequeathed to his descendants to make a suitable donation on the occasion of marriage or other celebration, to perpetuate the memory of his son. His wishes are carried out to this day and Mohan families offer a lota and some eatables on all festive occasions.

The Mohans of Pind Dadan Khan are regarded as the direct descendants of Baba Sahib while those of other places as having descended from the relatives of those who survived the mayhem at Mamdot. The Mohans were decimated to such an extent in the holocast at Mamdot that they have still not recovered thier old strength and constitute only 5% of the total population of the community.

The following gruesome episode is described in the Pothi of Seegadh Rai, the chronicle of the Mohans.

When Mohammed Shah was the king of Delhi (1719—1748 AD) Sadhu Ram was his Dewan. He had a very handsome grandson named Jai Ram. The king forced him to marry his daughter after converting him to Islam. This step was greatly resented by the Mohans and they challenged the king to a war. In the battle the Mohans defeated the Mughal army, said to be two lakh strong, and imprisoned their commander. This incited the ire of the king and so to avenge the humiliation he ordered a big army to attack Mamdot. The Mohans fought a pitched battle under the command of their popular leaders Govind Ram and Mathura Dass. Their valour in this war became a part of the folklore and was sung by the family bards for generations. Being woefully outnumbered, the Mohans were totally annihilated and only a few elderly people like Dewan Sadhu Ram survived the disaster.All the women plunged to death in yhe raging pyres. A few men who could escape from the inferno fled to other places. According to the Seegadh Pothi 2088 Mohan men and women perished in this carnage. After this  grim tragedy, the Mohans led a bereaved and haunted existence for a long time.

Jai Ram after his conversion to Islam was known as Thakur Sahib alais Khizer. On learning of the blood shed at Mamdot he was greatly distressed at the thought of his family being obliterated. As he himself had been ostracised from Hinduism, he met his grandfather Sadhu Ram in Lahore and induced him to marry again for the preservation of the clan.  Thus the Mohan clan was saved from extinction due to the initiative and exertions of Jai Ram.  To honour the memory of this saviour, Dewan Sadhu Ram enjoined on his offsprings to offer an earthern carafe at the time of all marriages and this tradition is kept alive by the Mohans to this day.

In modern times, Mehta, Balmukund, Mohan (1871-1969) was a skion of the historical Mohan family of Mamdot.

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Both the Datts and Vaids are regarded as the descendants of Dronacharya, the Commander- in chief of the Kauravas in the battle of the Mahabharata. The gotra of the Vaids is Dhanvantri. There is a legend in the Bhagavat Purana that during Amrit Manthan, the churning of the oceans by the demigods and the demons, fourteen ratnas were ferreted out and the last one to emerge was Dhanvantri, carrying Amrita, the elixir of life. He was a genius of medicines who founded Ayurveda and classified it into eight parts.

Actually Dhanvantri gotra did not originate from any brahm-rishi but was used over the ages as a surname by the Brahmins who practised Ayurveda. The Hindus observe the birthday of Dhanvantri as Dhan-Teras, on the eve of Diwali.

The origin of Vaids can be traced to nearly 600 years before Christ when Kidar Sharma, whose antecedents ar not known, ruled in Kannauj. After him, Raja Kanwar Pal who was probably a kinsman established a dynastic rule in Kannauj, which lasted for many generations. He himself ruled for 64 years till 520 BC and his kingdom extended upto the river Jhelum in the Punjab. He is credited with being a blue blooded Vaid Mohyal by all Mohyal scholars.

Kanwar Pal was succeeded by his son Got Pal who built a city named Goti Pal on the bank of the river Jhelum. His reign was marked by friendly relations with the rulers of Iran and there was mutual exchange of trade and army personnel between the two countries. He ruled for 50 years and was succeeded by his son Sajan Pal.

Sajan Pal was a staunch Buddhist who had no heart in the affairs of the state. His apathy led to the dismemberment of the kingdom, which his forefathers had consolidated up to the river Jhelum. After his death his son Bodh Pal, popularly known as Raja Porus ascended to the throne. He ruled over the area called Chaj Doab ( between the rivers Jhelum and Chenab ) and a part of Doaba Sind Sagar flanking the west of Jhelum.

Alexander, the king of Macedonia, crossed the Indus in 327 BC with the ambition of conquering the whole of India. He got a bloody nose in the very first encounter with Raja Hasti, who ruled over the land between Khyber and river Attock called Gandharva. Hasti was killed during a siege of his palace, which lasted for 30 days. Alexander secured a difficult victory and proceeded further. He had an easy walk over of Taxila whose monarch Ambhi not only surrendered without offering any resistance but even joined hands with Alexander to fight his old adversary, Porus. Another ruler Shashi Gupat also made common cause with the invader.

Porous was completely isolated and none of the neighbouring rulers came to his help. So he lost the war but his brave spirit won the heart of Alexander. He was so impressed with his gallantry that, as a tribute he returned the entire conquered land back to Porus. Porus was treacherously slain by a Greek commander while he was asleep. His two sons had already been killed in the war so the reigns of the goverbment passed on to his brother Manak Rao. Manak Rao was an ineffectual ruler but he made a mark by building a new city at Manakyala near Rawalpindi where the mortal remains of Porous were cremated. The excavations over here, which were carried out by Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1830, have yielded a large amount of coins, copper and brass vessels. They have also laid bare the plinths of houses, layout of streets and edifices of big temples.

After Manak Rao there is a gap of eleven centuries and we do not know what happened to the family of Vaids. IT was in the ninth century that a new generation of Vaid rulers rose like a phoenix from the ashes of their forefathers. The foremost in the line was Raja Bachan Pal who ruled for 50 years. His empire touched Afghanistan, which was also under the sway of a Mohyal ruler in those days.

Raja Jai Pal who ruled from 951 to 1002 AD was a distinguished king. His capital was at Ohind and his writ ran all over northen India, from Kashmir to Multan. In 977 AD, Nasir Uldin Subkutgin, the slave king of Ghazni stormed into India and after conquering Sind and ransacking Multan, advanced to Lahore. He was challenged by Jai Pal who drove him back to Ghazni. To avenge his defeat Subkutgin mounted a second attack on Raja Jai Pal, deploying a very big force. Raja Jai Pal suffered an ignominious defeat inspite of the reinforcements provided by friendly rulers of Kannauj, Kalinjar and Ajmer. After the death of Subkutgin in 997, his son Mahmud Ghazni made his first independent assault on Jai Pal in 1001 AD. A pitched battle took place in Peshwar in which nearly 15,000 Hindu soldiers of Jai Pal were killed and he along with 15 other members of the royal family including the crown prince Anand Pal were taken prisoners. They were later set freeon payment of a ransom of 2 1/2 lakh dinars. An aged and confused Jai Pal, feeling disgraced by successive defeats mounted a funeral pyre and sacrificed himself to the gods.

The new Vaid king, Raja Anand Pal, inherited the throne as well as the war of retribution with Mahmud Ghazni in 1002. He called a convention of Hindu rulers of Kannauj, Kalinjar, Gwalior, Ujjain and Ajmer and urged them to forge an alliance against the common foe. His campaign roused so much patriotic fervour amongst the people against the enemy that a men volunteered for recruitmentin the army while the women donated their ornaments to help the cause. The noted historian Dr. Ishwari Prasad says: ” The forces of race, relegion and patriotism were arrayed against Mahmud like never before for the preservation of Hindu culture and civilization.”

With a powerful army at his command, a spirited Anand Pal lost no time to launch a blistering attack on Mahmud at Ohind in 1009. He pushed the tyrant beyond the river Sind and recovered all the territory that his father had lost. However at the crucial moment the elephant of Anand Pal, having been severely wounded on his trunk by a poisonous arrow, became delirious and ran away from the battle areana. His soldiers thought that the king was retreating so they threw down their weapons. After loosing the war, Anand Pal escaped to Jammu. He was perused by Mahmud who in his devilish march blasted and plundered many towns. The monumental temple at Nagarkot was his special target. He reduced it to shambles and also looted the wealth of the adjoining Bhim fort. Anand Pal shifted his capital to Nandana at Balnath but did not live to see its glory and was succeeded by his son Tirlochan Pal.

Tirlochan Pal was a real trailblazer. Throughout his reign he was up in arms against the marauder Mahmud. He fought three wars against him in 1013, 1014 and 1019 AD. Al-Biruni, the Arab schlor who accompanied Mahmud to India, paid glowing tributes to his valour and sagacity. Around this time Tirlochan Pal had a tiff with Raja Chander Rai of Sharwa state, with whose daughter his son Bhim Pal was engaged. When the wedding party reached the host town in 1018, they were all treacherously made prisoners by Chander Rai. Tirlochan Pal himself escaped as he had stayed behind in Lahore to guard his capital from Mahmud. It so happened that instead of invading Lahore, Mahmud directed his fury on Chander Rai, devastated his state and made him flee to the jungles. In the ensuing confusion Bhim Pal was set free.

In 1019, Tirlochan Pal declared war on Mahmud on the mountainous terrain of Poonch and this time he had the backing of the Mohyal ruler of Kashmir. He and his men were held in seige for nearly a month in the fort of Lohar Kot. They made repeated strikes on Mahmud’s garrison posted outside the fort, decimating it every time, till Mahmud and his men were compelled to quit and run to Ghazni. In their dash, they lost their way in the jungle and were overtaken by a severe snowstorm, which further crippled them.

In retaliation, Mahmud attacked Balnath and it’s fort Nandana where the small force of Tirlochan Pal was no match to his brute numbers. Disaster was inevitable. Countless men were massacred while women in their hundreds immolated themselves by jumping into the sacrificial fire. The episode is known as the carnage of Pir Tapak. Building a memorial in honour of the dead sanctified the place in Tehsil Pind Dadan Khan.

Bhim Pal was coronated as the next ruler in 1021 in the fort of Lohar Kot from where his father had delivered deadly blows to Mahmud. The fort was still under continuous attacks from the monster. Bhim Pal was able to pay back in the same coin in the earlier stage but ultimately his resistance crumbled. He lost the city of Lahore as well as the state of Punjab, a territory that his forefathers had held for 13 generations. Overwhelmed with grief on the turn of fate, he died prematurely in 1026. This marked the end of the ruling Brahmin dynasty of Shahiyas who are regarded as the original version of the Vaid sect.

After the passing away of Bhim Pal his wife and two sons, Rudra Pal and Dwar Pal, sought asylum in Kashmir. The king Anant Dev looked after their needs. He made Rudra Pal the general of his army. Both Rudra Pal and Dwar Pal died at an early age. Anant Dev also passed away in 1063 AD. This created a power vacuum leading to anarchy and ultimately liquidation of the empire. Asumati, wife of Rudra Pal, along with her infant son, Jyesht Pal, migrated to her parental home in Jallandhar. Here too she had no relief as her father was killed soon after in a coup engineered by his Muslim antagonists.

When Basal Dev, the kind hearted ruler of Ajmer, came to know the fate of the exiled prince and his mother he offered them refuge in his state. He also bestowed on them the jagir of Bhatner.

When Anang Pal, son of Jyesht Pal, grew of age he consolidated his power in Bhatner. He was the 15th ruler in the line of succession. He was a great exponent of Ayurveda and he once cured Maharaja Prithviraj Chauhan who was suffering from a deadly ailment. As a reward Prithviraj gifted him yet more land in Bhatner. This fuelled in Anang Pal the urge to take up arms in order to recover his ancestral kingdom from the usurpers. He mobilised a large force and attacked Lahore in 1179. He laid seige of the fort and from its precincts carried on a fierce war for six months till he captured the city. The bloodshed witnessed on this occasion was made immortal in the shape of Shahid Ganj monument in Lahore.

According to P. N. Oak, the noted historian and research scholar, Anang Pal originally built the famous Red Fort at Delhi in the 12th century.

When Anang Pal died in 1180, the Muslim militants recaptured Lahore. The kins of Anang Pal took his minor son, Gorakh Rai to their ancestral state of Bhatner. He was crowned in 1181. He became a leading light in the court of Prithviraj Chauhan, the king of Delhi and Ajmer.

Raja Jai Chand convened his famous Rajsu Yajna at Kannauj in 1191 with the object of expelling the Muslims from India. Prithviraj was a special invitee to this function, which was attended by many ruling chiefs of the period. Its seven eminent men represented the Mohyal community, one from each caste of its constellation. They were: Gorakh Rai Vaid, Rai Tirlok Nath Bali, Rai Midder Dev Datt, Rai Narsing Dev Chhibber, Rai Takhan Dev Mohan, Rai Inder Sain Lau and Rai Kailash Dev Bhimwal. However, the ill fated convention failed to achieve its goal due to the clash of Prithviraj and Jai Chand whose old rivalries came to the surface over – riding national interests. Prthviraj had abducted Sanyogta, Jai Chand’s daughter, from a crowded Swyambar. When he ascended to the throne of Delhi, Jai Chand refused to recognize him as a sovereign and made a rival claim. This breach occurred at a crucial time when a series of invasions of Mohammed Ghori were looming in he horizon. Ghori had captured the empire of Mahmud Ghazni after his death and was now poised with the same devilish designs to conquer India.

Ghori made his first strike at Sirhind in 1191 where Prithviraj inflicted a crushing defeat and pushed him back by 40 miles in a severely wounded condition. After this victory Prithviraj started leading a luxurious life and lost his grip on the administration of the state. Ghori made his second assault in 1192 with a cavalry of 1,20,000 men. Prithviraj was defeated and Ghori occupied Delhi as well as Kannauj, Benaras, Gwalior and Ajmer. This marked the commencement of the Muslim rule in India. In the war with Ghori, the valiant GorakhRai was also killed.

After the death of Gorakh Rai, his two minor sons Ganesh Dev and Brahm Dev fled to safer places. Ganesh Dev went to the east and his descendants established the state of Bettiah in Bihar and founded the dynasty known as Jaitheriyas, a sect of the Bhumihars. Brahm Dev along with his mother and other relatives moved to the north and settled in the hilly tract of Shimla. One oh his heirs named Shiv Datt, who lived in Jammu, later resurrected the lost glory of the Vaid clan.

In 1398, Timur after plundering Delhi and carrying cartloads of booty and hundreds of Hindu prisoners marched past Jammu on his way to Samarkand. He was intercepted by Raja Maldev of Jammu and forced to set free all Hindus in his custody. In his fight with Timur, Shiv Datt displayed unusual gallantry and a pleased Maldev made him governor of Samba. Eventually, Samba became the imperial capital of the Vaids like Bhera and Karyala of Chhibbers and Khadi of Balis. The Vaids belonging to Samba were considered a classy lot.

His son Ganpati succeeded Shiv Datt. A long line of successors who were all mediocre men and made no mark in thier times followed him. Then came an illustrious man Raja Auo Dev who earned a lot of fame and laurels. He was an outstanding exponent of Ayurveda in the tradition of the founder of his pedugree, the legendary Dhanvantri. He was appointed as Raj Vaidya in the court of the Maharaja of Jammu. Auo Dev shifted to Jammu while his son Morar Das looked after the state of Samba.

Some offsprings of Auo Dev left Jammu and moved to Mirpur and Lakha Singh Vaid led the exodus. His progeny Jawala Singh Vaid was known for having killed a notorious dacoit of Gujranwala. He also saved the life of Maharaja Gulab Singh when Sultan Khan of Rajouri attacked him. Rz. Hari Chand Vaid, the noted author of Gulshan-e-Mohyali ( published in 1923 ) was a scion of the same family.

Rajouri in Jammu state was a citadel of the Vaids in the past. A king named Prithvi Pal built many forts, the most famous being on the hilltop of Preet Pal whose ruins are still visible. His son, Madan Pal conquered the outlying areas of the Punjab. The ruffian Sher Afghan murdered the last king named Auna Pal in his sleep. Many Vaids were massacred in the battle. After this episode, the sun set on this bastion of power of the Vaids. Many Muslims living in this region and known as Jaraj were originally Vaids.

Raizada Mool Raj Vaid was the commanding officer of the Maharaja of Jammu. He was equally well known for his proficiency as a physician. He cured the wife of Gakhar chief Sultan Lashkari Khan at Takht Pari. He requisitioned the servives of Mool Raj from the Maharaja and offered him a jagir of 25 villages as a reward for having treated his wife. After the death of Mool Raj, his grandson Mani Ram became the owner of his jagir.

During the Sikh rule, Ram Sahai held a distinguished position and was confered a jagir, which he continued to hold till the time of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. But soon the British rule started and all the jagirs were confiscated.

During the closing years of the 18th century there was great turmoil in the Punjab due to confrontation between the Muslims and Sikhs. It was at this time that some Vaids left their native Sialkot and landed in Benaras. Although seperated from their ancient habitats over the past two centuries they have maintained their links. They continued to visit Lahore, Pindi and Jammu to perform marriages of their children in the Mohyal community. Some of them have adopted the surname of Sinha with their names.

Dera Bakshian in District Rawalpindi had the distinction of producing a galaxy of Vaids who brought glory to the Mohyal community.

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The history of the Chhibbers (also spelled as Chibber) is a saga of sacrifices time after time—from Raja Dhir, the king of Sind in the 7th century to Bhai Balmukund of the modern times. The only parallel in Indian history is, perhaps that of the militant Peshwas in Maharashtra. With illustrious pre-historic ancestors like Bhrigu, Jamdagini and Parshu Ram, they have a very rich and ancient heritage. They derive their gotra from their celestial forefather, Rishi Bhrigu, and share it with the valiant Chola kings (10th century) of the south.

There are indications in old textbooks that the Chhibbers lived in Mathura around 250 BC. In the 7th century AD Rai Narsingdev, a Chhibber patriarch was Dewan in the ruling principality of Mathura. He had two sons named Rai Chach and Nahar Singh. After the death of Narsingdev, his sons became disenchanted with Mathura and migrated to Sind. In Sind, Rai Chach got a job in the court of Raja Sahsi. Raja Sahsi discerned his latent qualities and appointed him as his prime minister. When Sahsi died without leaving any heir to succeed Him, his queen who was secretly in love with Rai Chach, kept the news of his death a closely guarded secret to pre-empt intrigues of the many aspirants to the throne. She later married Rai Chach and proclaimed him as the new ruler.

Rai Chach is considered to be the founder of the Chhibber sect and was the first to use the appellation of Chhibber with his name. Chhibber is believed to be derived from the Sanskrit word `Shivi Var’, meaning a righteous person

Raja Chach died in 674AD after a glorious rule of forty years. His son Raja Dhir took over in 687AD But the peace in his kingdom was shattered by the invasion of the Caliph of Baghdad. He sent his nephew Mohammed Bin Kasim who laid siege to his fort The Raja fought with his back to the wall as his kingdom was in total anarchy. -The Jats sided with the invaders, his trusted councilor, Ilafi, switched over to his co-religionists and even the Brahmins revolted.. Kasim and his men murdered innocent men, converted people to Islam at the edge of the sword, desecrated and burnt sacred Hindu and Buddhist shrines

Sind was lost due to internal dissensions and selfish traitors. Kasim’s next target was Multan and he then reached Kannauj – all in one year.

The exodus of the Chhibbers from Sind took place at about the same time as that of the Datts from Arabia .

After the fall of Sind, the descendants of Raja Dhir moved to Punjab. They were helped in their rehabilitation by the king of Delhi and established themselves in different places.

Timur Lang invaded India in 1398. While on his way to Delhi, he pillaged and plundered Dipalpur and Bhatner, the stronghold of the Chhibbers, and indulged in carnage reminiscent of the killer Mahmud Ghazni. The people fled from here. The Chhibbers fled to Bikaner but finding no means of livelihood migrated to Ujjain. The Brahmin king treated them with great hospitality but for some unknown reason they shifted to Jaunpur

Praga Sain (1507—1638) laid the foundation of Karyala, which remained the home of the Chhibbers for 450 years till the partion of India in 1947. When northern India came under the sway of the spiritual renaissance of Guru Nanak, Praga became a disciple of the Guru and was thenceforth known as Baba Praga. Because of his deep devotion, he became a member of the inner court.

After the death of Guru Nanak, Baba Praga became the power behind the throne during the period of the next five Gurus: Angad, AmarDass, Ram Dass, Arjun Dev andHar Govind. He was the Raj Guru for their instalation ceremonies. He helped Guru Arjun Dev

In the composition of of the Adi Granth. In the year 1638, at the age of 131 , he was called by Guru Har Govind to fight against Shah Jahan. Although crippled with age, he responded to the call and fought with Paindey Khan , the Governeor of Lahore. Paindey Khan along with a large number of soldiers were slain in the battle. Baba Praga himself was greiviously wounded while fighting near Kartarpur and died on return to Karyala. He was truly the ‘Bhishma’ of the Mohyal community. His Mausoleum stands on the outskirts of Karyala and another memorial was raised in Kabul at the site of the ‘Char Bagh’. His memory has been honoured by naming the cross section beyond Sarai Guru Ramdas on the periphery of the Golden Temple complex at Amritsar as Chowk Pragdass.

After the expiry of Baba Praga his son Durga Dass was annointed as the new Diwan of Guru Har Govind and he continued to hold that office upto the time of Guru Har Rai the seventh Guru. On his death , his son Lakhi Dass was annointed to the same post but he died soon afterwards and Bhai Durgamal held that position till he reign of Guru Har Kishan.

Guru Teg Bahadur founded the new township of Anantpur in Bilaspur state on the bank of the river Sutlej in 1665. Bhai Mati Dass (son of Bhai Durga Mal) carried on the administration from there on behalf of the Guru. He also acted as the chief priest of the Vaishnav Foundation at Karyala whose missionaries worked all over Punjab, NWFP, Afghanistan and Iran.

Under the despotic rule of Aurangzeb, the Hindus were subjected to insufferable indignities : they were forced to pay a discriminatory tax (Jazia), their temples were demolished with impunity and mosques built in their place, their sacred threads were snatched from their body and burnt and masses of people were forced to convert to Islam. After witnessing these scenes, Guru Teg Bahadur went on a visit to Bihar , Bengal and Assam with a very heavy heart. It was during these travels that Guru Govind Singh was born at Patna on 26th December 1666. The Guru was still at Patna when he received a distress call from Bhai Mati Dass in Anantpur about the deteriorating condition in the North, particularly in Kashmir , where the Hidus were groaning under the attrocities perpetuated by its Governer, Iftikhar Khan. The Guru rushed to Anantpur and from there proceeded to Kiratpur to console his people and inspire courage in them. On his return journey in June 1675 accompanied by Bhai Mati Dass, Bhai Sati Dass, Bhai Dayala, Bhai Gur Ditta and a retinue of about 500 followers, he camped at Ropar before going to Agra. While in Agra Guru Teg Bahadur along with his devotees was captured and escorted to Delhi under the survelience of 1200 mounted soldiers to face trial for sedition against the King. At Agra Guru Teg Bahadur parted with his precious ring and shawl to get some sweets for his hungry followers. It is believed that the confectioner from whose these sweets were purchased reported to the police who were in search of the Guru. This led to his arrest.

At Delhi, in a moch trial, the Qazi offered them 2 options viz. to embrace Islam or to pay with their lives. In response, they unanimously agreed to die rather than barter away the faith of their forefathers.

3 saintly men were tortured to death in most savage manner on 3 consecutive days. Bhai Mati Dass was bolted between 2 planks of wood and bifurcated into 2 from top to trunk with a saw by a commander Altaf Khan on 9th November 1675. It is stated that when the execution began, Bhai Mati Dass started reciting the Sukhmani Sahib and the voice continued to come from the 2 parts of his body till the prayer was completed.

Bhai Dayala was scalded to death in a cauldron of boiling water on 10th November 1675.

Guru Teg Bahadur was beheaded in cold blood under a banyan tree (the trunk of the tree and well near-by where he took bath are still preserved), opposite to Sunheri Masjid near the Kotwali in Chandni Chowk where he was lodged as a prisoner on 11th November 1675.

His head was carried by Bhai Jeeta to Guru Govind Singh at Anantpur while the body was retrieved by Lakhi Shah who carried it in a cart of hay and cremated it by burning his hut. At this spot the Gurdwara Rikab Ganj stands today. Later on Gurdwara Sis Ganj was built at Chandi Chowk at the site of Guru’s martyrdom.

In recognition of the devotion and supreme sacrifice made by Mati Dass, Guru Tegh Bahadur bestowed the title of Bhai on him. In course of time all Chhibbers belonging to the village of Karyala adopted this title.

Even after the death of Bhai Mati Das his descendants carried on the fight against the tyrannical Muslim rulers. Bhai Sahib Singh (nephew of Bhai Mati Dass), was picked up Guru Govind Singh to be his Dewan. He fought a tumultous war with Hatai Khan and killed a large number of his soldiers. Ultimately, he fell to the blows of his enemy near Beas and was cremated on the bank of the river by Guru Govind Singh. Impressed by the bravery of Bhai Sahib Singh, Guru Govind Singh sent a reward of one horse and Rs.500 to his son, Bhai Gurbaksh Singh, in 1704. He also sent a letter of eulogy, dated 12 Bhadon Samat1761, signed in his own hand and written with the tip of his sword This citation is preserved by his progenies as a priceless souvenir. Bhai Gurbaksh Singh was appointed as the next Dewan.

When Guru Govind Singh proceeded to the Deccan Gurbaksh Singh retired to Amritsar.At the time of the invasion of Ahmed Shah Abdali, his bandits made an onslought on the Golden Temple and let loose an orgy of loot and mayhem. The Sikhs were hounded out killed on the streets and a reward of Rs.10 yo Rs. 15 per head was offeredfor their slaughter. In the street battles the aged Bhai Gurbaksh Singh was done to death.

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The Datts

Datts (Also spelt Dutts) are the descendents of Rishi Bharadwaj and derive their Gotra from his name. Some consider Gaj Bhavan, the grandson of Rishi Bharadwaj to be the real founder of their clan.

The word Datt is derived from the simple hindi words ‘daata’ meaning a charitable person. Some interpreted it as a deformation of the word ‘aditya’ which means sun in sanskrit. As there is a Datta surname amongst the Bengalis who are Kayasthas and not Brahmins, traditional Mohyals prefer ‘Dutt’ or ‘Datt’ instead of ‘Datta’.

The origin of Datts is also traced to a chieftan named Datt who accompanied Alexander the great as an envoy of Raja Porus. However on the way, Alexander fell seriously ill and died at Babylon. Datt along with his followers drifted to Arabia and settled at Harya Bunder. With the passage of time, there emerged a viable community of Datts in Arabia and in the subsequent era, they became rulers of small dominions in that country.

At the time of the war at Karbala,fought in 681 AD, which led to the divide of the Muslim race intoSunnis and Shias, Rahib Sidh Datt was a highly esteemed figure of Arabia due to his close relations with the family of Prophet Mohammed. When Ali, the fourth Caliph,( the son-in-law of the Prophet) was murdered his younger son,Hussain, came out to oppose the new Caliph,Yazid-ibin-Movia. The vastly superior forces of Yazid, at Karbala surrounded his force consisting of 200 men. In the war, when no Muslim king came to his help, Rahib fought on the side of Hussain and sacrificed his seven sons in the bloody war. Hussain was fatally wounded by Shamer, the commander of Yazid, and died of thirst in the desert on the tenth day of Moharram. Rahib chased the murderers as they ran with the severed head of Hussain, upto Kufa. Later, the head was carried to Damascus and finally buried with the rest of the body at Karbala.The Shia disciples of Imam Hussain and the valiant Datts did not lay down their arms till they saw the end of Yazid who could rule for just 40 days. Later on, when the Sunnis let loose an orgy of vendetta on the Shias and the followers of Rahib, the latter who was already overwhelmed with grief due to the slaughter of seven sons, left Arabia in 728 AD and migrated to Afghanistan via Iran and Turkistan.

The kith and kin of Rahib on their arrival in India were received with great hospitality by the native mohyals. After wandering over places, they settled near Nankana Sahib in district Sheikhupura in Pakistan. It was here that in the closing decades of the 10 th centuty that an interesting incident took place involving one peer called Wahun-a trickster chess player, and Shiv Datt-the helmsmam of the Datts. Wahun was known for his knack of invariably winning the games. According to a bet fixed by him, the loser would either pay the price with his head or embrace Islam. In this wasy he converted a large no of Hndus to Muslim faith till he met his match in Shiv Datt. He challanged the peer to a game of chess and defeate him three times in a row, thereby claiming the heads of his wife and 2 sons as per the stakes. However out of sheer magnanamity, Shiv Datt pardones their life. When Wahun came to know that one of the ancestors of Shiv Datt had sacrifised his 7 sons for the sake of the Prophet in the battle of Karbala, he took a solemn vow that in future he would never convert any Hindu by coercion to Islam. It was on this occasion that the peer echoed the famous words ‘ Wah Datt Sultan, Hindu ka dharam musalman ka iman ‘.

After some time, Shiv Datt along with a long no of followers left Nankana Sahib and moved to Dipalpur where they all lived in peace and harmony until Mohd Ghazni attacked Dipalpur in 101 AD and uprooted them from there. The Datts migrated to Raja Anandpal. When Anandpal and his successor passed away, Mohd Ghazni captured Lahore.

For almost 5 centuries, the Datts lead a maverick life. It was in 1527 AD, durinng the reign of the moughal empror that Rai Pun Dewan who was an offspring of Shiv Datt defeated and killed Rai Meen and after capturing the territory of Pathankot, founded his capital at Paniad, situated between Gurdaspur and Dina Nagar.

Provoked by this dsaring victory of Rai Pun, Babar incited the governer of Lahore to attac Puniad and provided him with the troops of royal army. The governer had his own grouse against Datts as he had fallen in love wirth a Marwah girl and wanted to marry her but she had sought the protection of the Datts. A large force was deployed to attack Puniad, but they were thrice repulsed and routed by the Datt defenders. Ultimately, due to the trechory of a cook who had been bribed by the invaders, the whole Datt garrison was caught unaware. They were completely unarmed while taking meal on a cotton field when the army swooped on them. In the ensuing battle, the men were hounded and slaughter while the women commited Sati.

In this tragic war, the Datt clan was annihilated to the last man. Only two infant boys named Shah Swarup and Dholan, escaped because they had gone to live with their maternal grandparents at Samba near Jammu.The horrible episode of Panniad so touched the suscepibilities of the Datts that their future generations never touched any food at Paniad, nor spent a night there. As the carnage took place on a Thursday, that day of the week is consdered inauspicious by the Datts and they do not wash clothes or start any new project on that day.

When Babar’s son Humayun fell mortally ill in 1530 and the physicians declared him beyond cure, astrologers were summoned to the royal court. They unanimously declared that the prince was under a curse of retribution due to the bloodshed of the Datts of Paniad and his life could only be saved by propititing the surviving members of the exterminated clan for divine mercy. After a long seach,Shah Sarup and Dholan, were traced at Samba. They were brought to the presence of the dying Humayun and implored to pray for his life. In return they were offered the gift of land covered by their running horses in a perod of 24 hours. In this way, Shah Sarip got 13 villages in ditrict Gurdaspur while Dholan received some villages in district Sialkot In course of time, Kanjrur and Zaffarwal became strongholds of the Datts.

True to the prediction of the fortune tellers, Humayuns life was also saved. Like the Marathas who had Maharani Laxmibai, the Mohyals too had their heroine in Karmu Mai Dattani. Shortly before the rule of Maharaja Ranhit Singh (1792-1839), Sardar Jaimal Singh was the head of the Kanhya Missal in Amristar. Missal was a squad led by a powerful personality and there were a dozen Missals at that time. They were later consolidate by Maharaja Ranjit Singh to become the supreme ruler of Punjab. Jaimal Singh appointed Mai Karmo as the chief of Katra Kanhiyan. The intrepid lady held her court in the open, in a jostling market square in Amritsar which is known by her name till today viz. ‘Karmo Ki Deodi’. She was a terror to the local ruffians and used to administer justice without any fear or favour. She once took part in a battle wearing the coat of arms. The seal of her high office is believed to be still in the possession of his progenies.

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The Balis

It is believed that the great theologian Rishi Prashar, grandson of Rishi Vashishtha and the guru of the Surya-vanshis, was the progenitor of the clan.

When the Balis first appeared on the scene is not clear but there are indications that their kith lived in great numbers in Multan before the dawn of the Christian era. Their ancestors under the pseudonyms of Bala, Kathi and Raos fought a savage war with Alexander the Great near Multan, in 326 BC. In one of the encounters he was struck by a powerful meter long arrow that pierced his coat of arms and lodged in his chest.

In the Mohyal histories published in Urdu by Hari Chand Vaid (1923) and by Chuni Lal Datt (1955) there is reference to the rule of Balis in Gujarat, lasting nearly 300 years. A galaxy of eleven kings is said to have held the throne with Vallabhipur as their capital. The link between the Balis and the ruling family of Vallabhipur in Saurashtra is not very clear but their Bali connection cannot be ruled out considering the popular belief that the Balis enjoyed a sort of supremacy in west Rajasthan and Sind at that time. There were many princely states of the Balis in Multan and bordering on Rajasthan, so it was possible that the royal families of Vallabhipur courted alliances with these Bali potentates. The Arabs overthrew Vallabhipur in 766 and the Balis migrated to Rajasthan and settled at Bally near Sirohi.

According to the chronicler Farishta, an Indian king named Bali attacked Kabul in 687AD and at that time the Brahmins ruled time the entire territory up to the Khyber Pass.

Mathura was the home of the Balis as it was to the Chhibbers.

Jhelum in Jammu State was the capital of the Balis for many generations.

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The Bhimwals are the least in number – they are just 3.5% of the entire Mohyal population. The patriarch saint of this clan was Rishi Kausalya and they get their Koshal gotra from his name.

According to Mohyal historian Rattan Chand Vaid, author of Islah-e-Mohyal, the founder of the Bhimwal family was Raja Nand. The crumbling ruins of his Nandana fort are still there in the Baganwala village in Tehsil Pind Dadan Khan, distt. Jhelum. When Mahmud Ghazni raided Nandana fort he plundered it. In the killings that followed the Bhimwals were annihilated and the few who survived migrated to the town of Makhiala, in the nearby salt ranges. With the passage of time, this town became a flourishing center of the Bhimwals and they were the ruling aristocracy there. In the book Garjak Nama by Parma Nand Bali, it is stated that members of the Janjua tribe made a blistering attack on Makhiala and ousted the Bhimwals from their homeland. The place was razed to cinders and untold numbers of Bhimwals were killed.

After the misfortunes of over a century, the scene shifted to Mathura, the haven of Mohyals in distress. When Kutab-ud-din Aibak attacked Mathura in 1195 he expelled the ruling family headed by Raja Dhrupet When the royal family went into exile, they had in their entourage two Mohyal noblemen-Rai Trilok Nath Bali and Rai Bam Dev Bhimwal. Some Mohyal scholars say that it was Bam Dev who was the real forefather of the Bhimwal sect, the founder of Makhiala town and the bestower of Bhimwal surname on them.

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