Talk:Minhas

Minhas Jats
Minhas is also a gotra of Jats. It may be added. Thanks. burdak 03:11, 3 July 2006 (UTC)

wrong information.Minhas is not Jats.Minhas is an off shoot of Jammuwal Dogra Rajput Maaz Minhas (talk) 19:07, 30 July 2022 (UTC)

Stop spreading wrong information about our clan Maaz Minhas (talk) 19:16, 30 July 2022 (UTC)

Merge proposal
Minhas and Manhas appear to refer to the same Rajput clan. The content of both articles appears to be intentionally similar. In this case, one article should be made into a redirect page that links to the other, but I'm not sure what the new article should be called. I'll effect the merger within a week or so, upon consensus or if there are no serious objections. Cheers. – Liveste 09:24, 3 October 2007 (UTC)

Ja, I think that's right. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sukhdev Singh Minhas (talk • contribs) 18:58, 4 October 2007 (UTC)

Minhas or Manhas is a same Rajput clans, no objaction. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sukhdev Singh Minhas (talk • contribs) 19:03, 4 October 2007 (UTC)


 * The articles have been merged under Minhas. I'll try to clean the article up soon, but some of the information needs to be verified. Cheers. – Liveste 03:45, 24 October 2007 (UTC)

How do you protect a page? Mersia 01:31, 23 October 2007 (UTC) Mersia

Factually Incorrect
This article has the same factually incorrect wishful thinking synthesis like the disputed article content at articles Sikh Rajputs and Mair Rajputs in claiming Sikh are Rajputs or vice-versa. This is kind of categorization is outright rejected by Sikh Guru Gobind Singh, however this article section claims his followers practices that and hint that in his presence. It not only makes factually incorrect but also baseless claims with unverifiable information. I've placed "factually incorrect/Disputed" tags on the specific sections of this article. Please see the talkpage of article Sikh Rajputs for more information and objecting to these tags. Please do not remove these tags before having a reasonable discussion and substantiating claims with accurate and reliable NPOV sources, Regards, --Roadahead (talk) 00:54, 17 September 2008 (UTC)
 * User named is following my edits in some sort of personal vendetta agenda and reverting/deleting my edits. Please be informed that you are not supposed to delete tags like the way you are doing (eg. [here] without leaving your opinion to the discussion that is already going on [here], [here] and [here]. If you feel you're an expert on the topic you should first take part in discussion and prove your points. Stop following my edits and keeping on reverting them. --Roadahead (talk) 16:29, 17 September 2008 (UTC)

How to you say, this information is disputed, have you any logic, information. If you have reliable information, Pl provide. otherwis you have no right to mark any artical as 'disputed'. explain what is disputed. In the adampur doaba gazetteers, you can find lot's of information about Daroli Kalan. This is a rubish.Sikh Rajput 13:03, 20 September 2008 (UTC)User:Sukhdev Singh MinhasSikh Rajput 13:03, 20 September 2008 (UTC)

Muslim and Rajput - A Contradiction?
Hi is not the term Rajput used to describe a person who defends Dharma (like a Knighthood is associated with Christianity), where Dharma is defined as Hinduism? So do Muslim Rajputs defend Hinduism against tyrants? Just Curious --Sikh- History 22:15, 31 January 2010 (UTC)
 * I pray that I as one of these, am doing that. But Dharma cannot refer to "hinduism" because Dharma refers to law, and Islam has a law where it claims to be the completion of law from above, and technically speaking... that's a moot irrelevant point to ask discussion for. It's like saying, do they no longer have this parental lineage just because they became muslim. That there's a contradiction of where "how dare my son/daughter become a muslim, he shall be kicked out of the family lineage" ... but there are no signs that happened. Faro0485 (talk) 21:51, 9 November 2011 (UTC)

Stubbing
I have stubbed this article again, Despite numerous maintenance templates requesting sources etc, and numerous contributions while those have been in place, nothing has been forthcoming. I have tried to source information myself, within the constraints of our WP:RS policy, and have had little luck. I do not deny the existence of the community but WP:V and WP:RS are core policies on Wikipedia. If anyone can provide statements that was verifiable per policy then that would be great. - Sitush (talk) 10:04, 28 September 2012 (UTC)
 * ...and again. I rather think this can be rebuilt but past experience of Indic caste articles suggests that in this instance the easiest way to do it is to start over. Per policies such as WP:RS and WP:PUFFERY, there was practically no viable content and the situation has been such for long enough. Please, let's join together to rebuild it as something befitting this project. There are plenty of other places on the web where people can publish what they believe to be correct without our requirements for verifiability etc. - Sitush (talk) 20:31, 3 October 2012 (UTC)

Old version of this article
We've had some problems over the last 24 hours or so from various people who want to reinstate content that previously existed in the article. That content was removed because the sources - where it was sourced at all - were not reliable, the phrasing was all wrong for an encyclopedia, etc. This is why we currently have a single-sentence, unreferenced stub. Obviously, such a stub is far from ideal but that is not in itself a reason to reinstate material that contravenes our policies and guidelines; for example, WP:V and WP:RS. At some point, I'll probably be able to expand the article myself but anyone can do so: there is no need to wait for me, probided that you comply with the aforesaid policies etc. Thanks. - Sitush (talk) 22:18, 3 January 2013 (UTC)

Edit request on 26 January 2013
2.50.4.170 (talk) 08:53, 26 January 2013 (UTC) Shakeel Ahmed

Punjabi Rajputs From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. The specific problem is: you name it, this needs it. Please help improve this article if you can. (November 2011) Punjabi Rajputs Regions with significant populations • Pakistan • India Languages

• Punjabi • Urdu Religion

• Islam, Hinduism & Sikhism Related ethnic groups

Rajputs; other Indo-Aryans

Rajputs were a dominant caste in Northwestern India, including the Punjab region, during the medieval period.

According to the 1911 census in British India, the total Rajput population in the Punjab was 1,635,578,[1] of which 1,222,024 (74.5%) were Muslim, 388,744 (24%) were Hindu and (24,810) (1.5%) were Sikh. The region straddles the border between India and Pakistan and contains the "Five Rivers" – the Beas, Ravi, Sutlej, Chenab and the Jhelum River – all of which are tributaries of the Indus river. The people of the area are known as Punjabis and their language is also called Punjabi. The main religions of the Punjab region are Hinduism, Islam and Sikhism.

Punjabi Rajputs are spread throughout Punjab region, with Muslim Rajputs being principally in Pakistani Punjab while both Hindu and Sikh Rajputs are mainly found in Indian Punjab. The division of population along religious lines can be traced to the 1947 partition of India. Contents

1 History and subdivisions 1.1 South Western Punjab 1.2 Pothohar Plateau 1.3 Central Punjab 2 Hindu Rajputs of Punjab 3 Jammu Region and Gurdaspur District 4 Himachal Pradesh 5 Martial traditions 6 Notable people 7 See also 8 References 9 External links

History and subdivisions See also: Major Muslim Rajput clans of Punjab, Muslim Rajput clans of Rawalpindi Division, Muslim Rajput clans of Lahore Division, Muslim Rajput clans of Multan Division, Muslim Rajput clans of Jalandhar Division, and Muslim Rajput clans of Ambala Division

The term Raja putra means the son of a Raja or king in Sanskrit.[2] In Punjab, the Rajputs can be loosely divided into five territorial groupings. The first grouping inhabited the territory that extended from the Yamuna valley to the Ghaghar, roughly what is the modern state of Haryana. Almost three quarters of them had converted to Islam, and these were referred to as Ranghar. They belonged mainly to the Chauhan and Tomar sub-divisions, which gave Delhi its most famous Rajput dynasties.

Next came the Rajputs of the south-west of Punjab, roughly the Seraiki speaking region comprising the modern Bahwalpur, Dera Ghazi Khan and Multan divisions. These tribes were hardly distinguished from the Jat clans in their neighbourhood, and for the most part belonged to the Bhatti of Jaisalmer and Bikaner, and their Panwar predecessors. The Rajput clans of the south-west had converted to Islam in their entirety.[citation needed]

The third group comprised the Rajput clans of the Salt Range, and the Pothohar Plateau, who were split into numerous clans, either descended from the Yaduvanshi dynasty of Kashmir, the famous Raja Salvahan of Sialkot, or the numerous Panwar tribes occupying the hills along the Jhelum River. Like the Rajputs of the south-west, these tribes had almost entirely converted to Islam. The only exception were some members of the Chib and Bhao tribes, found in Kharian, who had remained Hindu.[3]

The fourth group comprised the Rajputs of the Punjab Hills, the modern territory of Himachal Pradesh, Gurdaspur District and Hoshiarpur District. Some of these tribes are perhaps the most ancient of the Rajput tribes, the Katoch and the Pathania being the most famous, and were almost entirely Hindu, barring some clans of the lower hills, such as the Sulehria and Katil of the Katoch Clan, who had converted to Islam. The principalities of the Punjab Himalayas, were some of the oldest states in India.

The final grouping were the Rajputs of central Punjab, roughly the area of the Sandal Bar, Manjha, Malwa and Doaba. The Bhattis, Kharals and Sials predominated in the Sandal Bar, the Bhatti predominated in the Bhattiana region, the modern districts of Firozpur and Sirsa, and the Ghorewaha, Manj and Naru were found in the Sikh tract, who had held their own against the dominant Jat Sikh of the region.. In Amritsar and Lahore, the Rajputs were mainly Bhatti and Khokhar, with a sprinkling of Panwar and Chauhan. The Rajput clans were predominantly Muslim in this region, except along the borders with Rajasthan, where there were communities of Hindu Rajputs, such as the Shaikhawat and Rathore.[2] South Western Punjab

The term Rajput is very rarely used on its own by the tribes that are indigenous to south west Punjab. In the Bahawalpur Division, the distinction between tribes of Jat status and Rajput status is blurred. Tribes such as the Soomra, Samma, Daher, Kharal, Saharan, Marral and Ghallu are sometimes referred to as Jat, and sometimes as Rajput. The only exception are the Saharan, Johiya and Wattu, who in popular estimation are always considered Rajput. Along the left bank of the Indus, from Rahim Yar Khan District to Mianwali District, the term is rarely used by the tribes, with the notable exception of the Tiwana and Noon of the Thal Desert, and the Bhachar of Wan Bachran, in Mianwali. It is only when one reaches the Salt Range, that term Rajput comes into common usage. In the lands across the Indus, in the North West Frontier Province, the Rajput disappears completely, and their place is taken by the Baluch and Pashtun. In the Dera Ghazi Khan District, the only indigenous tribe that calls itself Rajput, are the Jamra, who use the title Jam, indicating Sindhi ancestry. Across the Indus, in Muzafargarh, the Khera Sial, Dhanotar and Panwar are the only tribes that claim Rajput tribes. In Bahawalpur District, the Samma and Soomra are the principal Rajput tribes.[4] The Rajput makes a reappearance in the valleys of the Jhelum and Chenab, where the Chadhar, Sial and Jappa are tribes claiming Agnivanshi descent. In the Sandal Bar, the Waseer, Kharal, Wahiniwal, Wattu and Saharan, are all major Rajput tribes, the first two claiming to be Agnivanshi, while the next two claim to be Chandravanshi, claiming a common origin with the Bhatti. But Saharan claim from Lord Rama and become Suryavanshi Rajput and use title Shah, Rana, Chaudhary, Malik, Mahar. The upper part of the Sandal Bar, and the Bhattiore area of Chiniot District was a stronghold of the Bhatti tribe. Further along the Jhelum river valley, the Khokhar and Bhatti founds in great numbers.

Along the valley of the Sutlej river, the Wattu, Johiya, Baghela, Lodhra and Kathia are the predominant tribes. In and around the city of Multan, the Khokhar and Bhatti clans such as the Mitru, Kanju, Bosan and Noon predominate.[4] Pothohar Plateau

The Pothohar Plateau and Salt Range is home to a large number of Rajput clans. The Rajputs are the largest ethnic group in the region, and are often referred to as the Rajah. The principal tribes are the Satti, Bhatti, Panwar, Minhas and Janjua. Many of these larger clans have splintered into numerous septs.[5][6] Central Punjab

The Rajput of central Punjab historically occupied a region extending from Faisalabad in the west to Patiala in the east. According to the traditions of the various tribes, they are connected with the Rajputs of Rajasthan. Their no historical records giving the account of the migration of the various Rajput tribes into the region. But tradition points the Ghorewaha to be the earliest inhabitants of the region. The Ghorewaha are said to be Kachwaha Rajputs, who emigrated from Rajasthan, during the period of Mohammed Ghori. Their original territory was the Beas Sutlej Doab. Other important tribes of this region are the Manj, Naru, Taoni, and Varya. In the districts of Amritsar and Lahore, the predominant tribes were the Ghumman, while in Sialkot District, the Rajputs of central Punjab met those of the hills. The Ghummans predominated in the plains, while the Sulehria, Minhas and Bhao were found in the hilly part of the district. In the south, the Bhattiana region, covering the modern Firuzpur and Sirsa districts, was home to the Bhatti, and related tribes such as the Dogar, Johiya, Mahaar, Naipal, and Wattu.[7] Hindu Rajputs of Punjab See also: Rajput clans of Lahore Division, Rajput clans of Jalandhar Division, and Rajput clans of Ambala Division Gulab Singh of Jammu and Kashmir (1792–1857) was the founder and first Maharaja of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir,

The Rajput clans of the what is now Himachal Pradesh, as well as the districts of Gurdaspur and Hoshiarpur remained Hindu. The Punjab Hill states were centres of some of the oldest Rajput states in India. The Hindu Rajputs of Gurdaspur and the Jammu region are referred to as the Dogras. Prior to the partition of India, Dogra settlements also extended to Gujrat and Sialkot, where there were settlements of Bajju, Bhao, Chib, Manhas, and Sulehria Rajputs.[8][page needed] Jammu Region and Gurdaspur District

The Rajputs of the Jammu border are confined to the hilly areas of Indian Punjab. They are classified on loose and ever shifting system of hypergamous grades. Thus in Jammu region, the Rajput are divided into four grades, with the Rajput of the first grade not giving wives to those clans who are considered not to be of the first grade, and so on. In addition to this division, they are also divided by the traditional division of Suryavanshi, Chandravanshi and Agnivanshi. Rajput clans of the Suryavanshi and Chandravanshi sub-divisions intermarry; and Chandravanshi clans intermarry with each other. Each grade takes wives from a grade lower than itself. The only exception are the Chattari Jamwal, who do not take wives from the Manhas, as both clans descend from a common ancestor. While the Rakwal only give their daughters to the Jamwal and Manhas.[9]

The Ambarai, Manhas, Chib, Bhao and Jarral intermarry with each other, and gives wives to the Rajput clans of the First Grade. While the Rakwal, Sulehria, Charak, Baghal, Langeh, Bojwal, Andotra intermarry, and give daughters to the Rajput clans of the first And Second classes, and receive daughters from the Rajput clans of the fourth class. In Gurdaspur District, the Hindu Rajputss are found mainly in the hilly regions, along the border with Jammu and Kashmir. Culturally, they are very close to the Dogras, and like them have a system of hypergamous marriages. The following are the main clans, shown under the two sub-divisions, Chandravanshi and Suryavanshi.

In Gurdaspur, the clans are divided into the kahri, or those who take wives and give wives to a particular clan, and the dohri or those who take wives and exchange wives with each other. The general rule in the community is that a higher clan should not give its daughter in marriage to a lower clan, but are allowed to take wives from the lower clans. Thus, the Tangral can take wives from the Katil, Lalotra and Kohal, and give wives to the Jarral, Sulehria and Indauria, the Kohal take wives from the Katil and Thakkar, and the Sulehria give wives to the Manhas, but take them from the Gahotra, Katil and Lalotra. This system of hypergamous marriage was discarded when the clans of the Jammu hills converted to Islam.[2] Himachal Pradesh

The Hindu Rajput of Hoshiarpur District and Himachal Pradesh are also divided into numerous tribes, which are sub-divided into numerous sects.

The Guleria, Sabaia, Dadwal and Jaswal are branches of the Katoch tribe, but now intermarry with each other.[10] Raja Brijmohan Pal Bahadur of Kutlehar, son of Raja Ram Pal Bahadur, CSI Martial traditions

The Nishan-e-Haider is the highest military award given by Pakistan. It is also known as or Hilal-e-Kashmir.[citation needed] It was established in 1957 after Pakistan became a Republic, however, it was instituted retrospectively back to 1947. It is awarded to military personnel, regardless of rank, for extraordinary bravery in combat.[11] The award is considered to be the equivalent of the Victoria Cross, the Medal of Honor and the Param Vir Chakra. Its exclusivity may be gauged by the fact that since it was established only 10 awards have been made, along with one equivalent award. To date all awards have been made posthumously. Of the 10 recipients, 9 have been from the Pakistan Army, one has been from the Pakistan Air Force. Five Rajputs was awarded Pakistan's top military honour, the Nishan-E-Haider.

Muhammad Sarwar Sawar Muhammad Hussain Major Raja Aziz Bhatti Rashid Minhas Major Shabbir Sharif

Notable people Question book-new.svg This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2009)

Raja Muhammed Sarfraz Khan played an important role in the local politics during belong to minhas rajput. Pakistan Movement Malik Khizar Hayat Tiwana He was elected to the Punjab Legislative Assembly in 1937 Feroz Khan Noon was Chief Minister of the Punjab ana he was elected as the seventh Prime Minister of Pakistan Dulla Bhatti was a famous legendary Rajput hero of Punjab Allama Mashriqi – Founder of the Khaksar Tehrik Chaudhry Aurangzeb Khan – was a famous Minhas Rajput during the British era. Rai Bhoe Bhatti – Founder of Nankana Sahib). Rai Bular Bhatti – his estate of over 100,000 acres (400 km2) in modern day Nankana Sahib District. Chaudhry Chaku Khan – the founder of Chakwal in 1525 C.E. He belong to Minhas rajput tribe . Raja Ghazanfar Ali Khan Khokhar – one of Pakistan's first Federal Ministers. Iftikhar Khan –He was famous Minhas rajput. He had been nominated to become the first local Commander in Chief of the Pakistan Chaudhry Aurangzeb Khan – he was given the title of Khan Bahadur for his services,also belong to Minhas rajput. Malik Umar Hayat Khan – An elected member of the Council of State of India. Raja Pervaiz Ashraf Prime minister of pakistan belong to pakhral minhas rajput of gujar khan. * farzana Raja PPP, MNA ,and chairperson of banazir income support programe is belong to Minhas rajput. *Mahreen Anwer Raja PPP,MNA,Minister belonge to Minhas Rajput from kahuta rawalpindi. * Raja Raiz Ahmed Khan ppp, PMA Punjab opposition leader is belond to Minhas Rajput. * Raja Nisar Ahmed khan ex-two time minister Azad Kashmir Assembly is belondge to famous Khakhreel Minhas Rajput tribe from khuiratta kotli AJK. * Dr. Mehmood Riaz(MLA overseer) ex-minister for information belong to pakhral minhas rajput of SENSA KOTLI AJK.


 * As you may know, Wikipedia strives to be an inclusive encyclopedia of all human knowledge. However, information on Wikipedia must represent the consensus view of multiple secondary sources. All of the information above needs to be verified before it can be added to the article. Please provide links to news articles, scholarly works or books that can be viewed online that confirm that the text above is correct. Abductive  (reasoning) 05:17, 27 January 2013 (UTC)
 * ❌ - This material is copy-paste from another Wikipedia article: Punjabi Rajputs, not new material, and much of it will not apply to this sub-group. A better approach to improving this article is to give smaller incremental well-sourced addtions you would like us to evaluate. -- Dianna (talk) 01:29, 28 January 2013 (UTC)

Last Edit on 25th May, 2014 is absolutely wrong
I am Ali and I am from Jhelum, Pakistan. According to the family tree and authentic documents we have, it is clear that Minhas or Manhas is a Rajput clan, which is an off-shoot of Jamwal Dogra Rajputs of Jammu. The ancestor of Minhas Rajput clan who's real name was Raja Malan Hans Dev or Raja Mal Hans Dev had 22 sons. One of his son, who was our ancestor, converted to Islam in 15th century during the era of Mughal Emperor Zahir-ud-Din Babur. He embraced Islam during his deer hunting trip some where near Jhelum or Chakwal.

Correct Maaz Minhas (talk) 19:06, 30 July 2022 (UTC)

Edit request on 11 September 2013
Please make this page unprotected. I want to add more information in this.

Rashid259 (talk) 15:28, 11 September 2013 (UTC)
 * Red question icon with gradient background.svg Not done: please be more specific about what needs to be changed. If you do not want to list the changes needed here, you may wait until your account is autoconfirmed, which means you have been a registered user for more than four days and have made more than 10 edits. At this point, you will be allowed to edit the article yourself. Dana boomer (talk) 20:02, 11 September 2013 (UTC)

{pp-semi-protected|small=yes|expiry=February 25, 2016}}

{{infobox ethnic group|
 * group= Minhas
 * image=
 * poptime =
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 * regions  = •India • Pakistan
 * langs =
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Minhas or Manhas are a Buttar community in India and Pakistan.

Notable people
Pilot Officer Rashid Minhas, the only Pakistan Air Force officer to receive the country's highest valour award, the Nishan-e-Haider. He is also the youngest person and the shortest-serving officer to have done so.

Semi-protected edit request on 20 March 2015
For a long time "Minhas" community on Wikipedia was described correctly as a Rajput community in the Punjab, Rajasthan and Jammu Kashmir region of India. They have traditionally followed Hinduism, Islam and sikhism. Please make the correction. Due to them being landowners, they are often confused with Jattss. For this reason many jatts would like to claim they are minhas, while minhas rajputs would not like to be called jatts. Kindly make the correction.

Singh rajindra (talk) 18:13, 20 March 2015 (UTC)


 * Red information icon with gradient background.svg Not done: as you have not cited reliable sources to back up your request, without which no information should be added to, or changed in, any article. - Arjayay (talk) 20:58, 20 March 2015 (UTC)

Alain Lefebvre source
I have just added this from Alain Lefebvre. It isn't the best of sources, being very much a passing mention in a study of a single village by someone who may or may not have questioned the claims made by the villagers regarding their origins. If nothing else turns up, I'd certainly not object to this article being sent to WP:AFD. - Sitush (talk) 01:09, 15 April 2015 (UTC)


 * I've just checked Questia for minhas rajput and for minhas jat. There are no relevant results there, nor using the same terms at JSTOR. Google Books has a lot of snippets but they are extremely repetitive, appear mostly to be passing mentions in lists and in many cases are quite obviously reprints of the British Raj ethnography/census reports. Of course, searching in this manner is not the be all, end all but I've also been keeping an eye out as I've been reading hundreds of sources over the last few years. I'm seriously questioning now whether coverage of this community is sufficient to meet WP:GNG. - Sitush (talk) 01:28, 15 April 2015 (UTC)

Requested move 2 August 2017

 * The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section. 

The result of the move request was: Moved. A discussion is not necessary for uncontested moves. Restoring original pages and deleting the new Minhas (let me know if you want a copy). --regentspark (comment) 03:46, 3 August 2017 (UTC) regentspark (comment) 03:46, 3 August 2017 (UTC)

Minhas (surname) → Minhas – to revert to the situation before I created the poorly sourced Minhas article, which Sitush who is acknowledged as one of our leading editors in this field considers inappropriate Noyster  (talk),  13:00, 2 August 2017 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 3 November 2022
Tahir Amin Manhas (talk) 12:58, 3 November 2022 (UTC)

Manhas are also found in Sagrawat village of Tehsil Darhal of District Rajouri, Jammu and Kashmir.
 * Red information icon with gradient background.svg Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. ScottishFinnishRadish (talk) 13:03, 3 November 2022 (UTC)

Publish in your article Tahir Amin Manhas (talk) 13:10, 3 November 2022 (UTC)

Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 24 July 2023
Minhas or Manhas or Minhas-Dogra (Urdu: منہاس) is a suryavanshi Rajput clan from the Jammu & Kashmir and Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent. It is an off-shoot of Jamwal-Dogra Rajputs, the founders of the city and state of Jammu and its rulers from ancient times to 1948 C.E. In antiquity of rule, which is generally considered a benchmark of royalty, they are second to none, but the great Katoch Rajputs of Trigartaand Kangra. Paying tribute to the antiquity of their royal lineage, Sir Lepel Griffin says, “These royal dynasties may have been already ancient when Moses was leading the Israelites out of Egypt, and the Greeks were steering their swift ships to Troy.”

Most members of this clan are Hindus and reside in the following states of India: Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Indian Punjab. However, a considerable number are Muslims (who inhabit Pakistan mainly in Pakistani Punjab and Azad Kashmir). Sikh Minhas mainly inhabit Punjab (India)). Minhas is also a Jatt gotra or clan. Jatt Minhas are called ‘Virk’.

Origins

Minhas Rajputs are Suryavanshis and claim descent from Rama a legendary king of Ayodhya. In Rajputana, their closest cousins are the Kachwaha Rajputs of Jaipur.

They trace their ancestry to the Ikshvaku dynasty of Northern India (The same clan in which Lord Rama was born. He, therefore is the ‘kuldevta'(family deity) of the Hindu Minhas Rajputs). Specifically, they claim descent from Kusha younger of the twin sons of Rama, hero of the Ramayana, to whom patrilineal descent from Surya is in turn ascribed.

A Raghuvanshi descendant of Raja Kusha, ‘Agnigarba’ who was living as a recluse, came to Nagarkote (Kangra, Himachal Pradesh), in the Shivalik hills. When the Raja of Kangra came to know about this person’s ancestry, he offered him the hand of his daughter and a part of kingdom. The river Ravi was then the boundary of Nagarkote. Agnigarba crossed it and captured some villages in the Kathua area and declared himself as sovereign king. After his death, his son Bayusharva (1500-1530 B.C.E) married the princess of Parole (Kathua). The princess was known as Erwan and she died young.

The Raja founded a city after her which is still found near Parole, though now a small village and at the ‘Samadhi’ of the queen, a `Mela’ (fair) is held at every `Baisakhi’ (13th or 14th of April) every year. Bayusharva extended the boundaries up to the river Ujh. Bayusharva’s great grandson, Bahulochan was enthroned after his death. He migrated from Erwan and built his fort on the banks of river Tawi.

Raja Bahulochan died in a bloody battle with Chadaras, Raja of Sialkot (Shayalkot) and his younger brother Jambulochan (1290-1320 B.C.E) ascended the throne. In those days the area beyond Tawi (the present city of Jammu) was used for hunting. Tradition has it that one day Jambulochan came to this area and while he was sitting behind a bush to ambush some bird or animal, he saw a lion ( a tiger in some accounts ) and a goat drinking water from the same pond. This peaceful coexistence encouraged him to found the city of Jammu, which some say is named after him.

One of his descendants, Raja Shaktikaran (1177-1200 B.C.E) introduced the Dogri Script for the first time. Another of his descendants, Jasdev founded the city of Jasrota on the bank of river Ujh, and another Raja, Karan Dev built a fort on the banks of the river Basantar. In the early centuries of the first millennium the area came under the sway of the Indo-Greeks, with their capital at Sakala (Sialkot).

His later descendants, the Dogras ruled over the state for hundreds of years till 1948 C.E, when the state of Jammu and Kashmir officially acceded to India. Maharaja Hari Singh Dogra was the last in the long list of the Dogra rulers of Jammu. The Dogras also ruled over the Kashmir Valley for three brief terms, twice for short periods around 1000 C.E and one last time when Maharaja Gulab Singh Dogra became the Maharaja of Kashmir after the fall of the Sikh Kingdom of Punjab following the Second Anglo-Sikh War in 1849 C.E.

Minhas and Jamwal Rajputs

All the descendants of Raja Jambu Lochan were called Jamwal Rajputs, until Raja Malan Hans Dev took up agriculture as a profession and left the throne to his younger brother, Raja Suraj Hans Dev. Rajputs in general and those in the Punjab hills in particular have had a strong prejudice against taking up agriculture as a profession and therefore Raja Malan Hans and his descendants were styled Minhas.

Since that time anyone in the Jamwal clan who took up agriculture or converted to Islam was called Minhas whereas the name Jamwal has been confined to the royal branch including the Maharajas of Jammu and Kashmir.

Alternate view point: Greek origin

It is likely that because the ancient Indo-Greek/Bactrian Kingdoms overlapped with Minhas territory Bactria, Gandhara the name originates from Minas or Minos the Greek god, son of Zeus and Europa who was king of Crete and many of the Aegean islands. Many of the Minas line may have travelled into Bactria & Gandhara with Alexander the Great and remained behind and inter-married with the local populations.

Additionally there are also large numbers of Minas in Armenia, Turkey, Persia, Russia and other Central Asian states. Often the Armenians and Turks use the name as Minasian (“of the Minas family”) or Minasyan.

Manhas could also possibly mean son of Man as “Manu”, “Manushya”, “Manav” and “Manas” are Sanskrit terms for “Man” while Manasi means “Woman”.

Gotra

The gotra of Minhas Rajputs is Bhardwaja.

Minhas history

Minhas Rajput The Minhas and Bhatti Rajput clans were extremely powerful during the time of the Hindu Shahi dynasty of Kabul and ruled over many small kingdoms extending from eastern Afghanistan through the Jammu/Sialkot areas of West Punjab and up to the Jalandhar/Kangra area of eastern Punjab. According to Farishta, during the second battle of Tarain between Prithviraj Chauhan and Mohammad Ghori in 1192, Chauhan’s left flank consisted of Hindu Pathan cavalry. It is said that this Hindu Pathan cavalry was led by a minhas raja from the northwest.

A famous Manhas/Minhas in history was Baba Chamliyal also called Duleep Singh Minhas, a warrior saint, whose Samadhi (place of cremation) is still visited by hundreds and thousands of Pakistanis and Indians each year in the month of June. The Mela (fair) which is held in honour of Baba Chamliyal, was celebrated for the 317th time on Thursday, June 22, 2006 as the man-made boundary between India and Pakistan lost its importance momentarily and people from both sides participated in the mela with vigour.

Banda Bahadur, the famous disciple of Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru and the founder of the Khalsa Brotherhood was born into a Minhas Rajput family in Rajouri in the Jammu region. Banda Bahadur was an accomplished warrior-general, who almost destroyed Mughalpresence in eastern Punjab and arguably created the first Sikh State.

Muslim Minhas Rajputs

In Punjab (Pakistan), the main concentration of Minhas Rajputs is in Chakwal, a town sixty miles south-east of the federal capital, Islamabad. In Chakwal, the Minhas Rajputs are called Mair-Minhas (also spelt Maair) after their ancestor, Raja Mair, a Jamwal prince who converted to Islam in 1190 C.E. According to the legend, Raja Mair (whose name before conversion was Raja Bhagir Dev) was son of the Raja of Jammu and had come to the Dhanni area (present day Chakwal) for hunting. He fell in love with a local Muslim Gujjar woman, converted to Islam and married her.

There are also reports that the title of Mair was given by Sikhs in recognition of the bravery of Chakwal’s Minhas in the Battle of Chillianwala in Second Anglo-Sikh Waragainst the British.

Mair Minhas Rajputs number around six thousand at present. The ‘Chaudhrials’ or the Talukdars reside in Kot Sarfraz Khan, Kot Chaudhrian and the old-Chakwal city; whereas other members of the tribe, the Zamindars occupy eighty four villages in Chakwal tehsil including Behkri, Dhudial, Badsahan, Bhoun, Murid, Sarkal-Mair, Chakral, Udhwal, Dab, Sutwal, Karhan, Chak Malook, Chak Norang and Bhagwal.

The city of Chakwal is named after their Chief, Chaku Khan who ruled the area at the time of Mughal King, Babar’s invasion. The Mughal emperor Zaheerudin Babur conferred upon him the title of Chaudhry and made him the Taluqdar (area administrator) over 84 villages of the Dhani country, which since then has been known as Dhan 84. The Mair-Minhas tribe rose to further prominence during the short rule of Sher Shah Suri who handed them the control over the adjoining territories, as far as Swan River in Potohar and Kahoon in the South.

However, After the Mughal King Humayun returned to India with the help of the Persians, he handed over the entire Potohar including Dhani to the Gakhars, who had helped him escape from India during Sher Shah’s revolt.

As written in the History of the Gakhars, “Kaigor Nama”, the Mair-Minhas tribe proved to be notorious subjects for the Gakhars and almost never paid their revenue, killed the Ghakkar ‘kardars’ repeatedly and escaped in the mountains whenever military operations were launched against them.Sir Denzil Ibbetson in his Punjab census report of 1881 describes them as ” ever masterful and always retaining their independence in a singular degree.”

The Mair-Minhas tribe again rose to power after King Aurangzeb’s death. They had supported his son Moazzam in his quest for power and in return he re-appointed their chief Gadabeg Khan as the Taluqdar and Chaudhry of ‘Dhan Chaurasi’. Their rule over Dhani continued during the Sikh era as one of their chiefs Chaudhry Ghulam Mehdi had invited Sirdar Maha Singh to this side of river Jhellum. Also, their Dogra cousins Raja Gulab Singh and Dhian Singh were very powerful in the Lahore Durbar, so the influence of Chakwal Chaudhrials during the sikh era was considerable and they were considered one of the biggest Muslim land holders of the era.

It was during that era that Dhani breed of horses became very popular and even Maharaja Ranjeet Singh’s personal horses were kept in the stables of the ‘Chakwal Chaudhials’.

In the Second Anglo-Sikh War at Chaillianwala in 1849, the Chakwal Chaudhrials were among the very few Muslim feudal families who supported the Sikhs. Consequently, after the defeat of the Sikhs all Jagirs and titles of the ‘Chakwal Chaudhrials’ were confiscated. They further disgraced themselves by making over a British Lady, Lady George Lawrence. As a result they even lost proprietary rights over One hundred and seventy thousand acres of cultivated land which they had colonised and owned for many centuries.

Due to their general good conduct in the mutiny of 1857, some of their rights were restored and small Jagirs were granted to their chiefs in Chakwal. Chief of the tribe Jehan Khan and later his son Aurangzeb Khan were conferred an ‘inam’ of Rs.312/- per annum and the title of “Raja Sahib” as a mark of hereditary distinction. The Chaudhrials of Kot Chaudhrian were able to get more concessions with the aid of Maharaja Gulab Singh and almost half of their original lands were regranted.

The Mair-Minhas tribe is almost entirely confined to the Chakwal District. However, besides Chakwal, there are a quite a few other Minhas (other than Mair-Minhas) villages scattered all over the province including the famous village of Sagri in Rawalpindi, and in Gujar Khan, Kahuta, Sargodha and Faisalabad. Some villages are also located in the state of Azad Jammu & Kashmir. The Mair-Minhas are also resided at village Nauroz Pur Tarar near Jalal Pur Bhattian in district Hafizabad.

There is also a considerable population of Minhas families in Sialkot in the districts of Rangpura and Heerawalapura. They are descendants of Hashim Minhas (1781), and his son Ghulam Mui-Din Minhas. However in Sailkot, they were largely engaged in the tailoring and clothing trades. Many of their descendants emigrated for economic reasons from Sialkot to the Middle East, UK and the US.

Top Military awards

Members of Muslim Minhas tribe have the honor of receiving top military awards both in British India and in Pakistan. Subaidar Khudadad Khan was awarded Victoria Cross, the first native Indian to receive this honour

Rashid Minhas was awarded Pakistan’s top military honor, the Nishan-E-Haider. He was also the youngest man and the only member of the Pakistan Air Force to win this coveted award. The Pakistan Air Force base at Kamra has been renamed in his honour

Martial traditions

Gen.M. Iftikhar Khan, a Minhas Muslim Rajput.The Mair Minhas tribe has a long martial tradition which has continued into modern times.Some of the most respected officers of the Pakistan Army including its first General, PA 1,

Muhammed Akbar Khan(Order of the British Empire), PA 2 General Muhammad Iftikhar Khan(designated to become the first C-in-C, but died in an aircrash) and PA 48 General Muhammad Anwar Khan (Pakistan’s first E-in-C) all hail from this clan. General Anwar is considered the father of Pakistan’s Corps of Engineers, and also served as Chairman OGDC. Subaidar Khudadad Khan(Victoria Cross) from the village of Dub, also belongs to the tribe. 84.70.195.134 (talk) 01:45, 24 July 2023 (UTC)
 * Red question icon with gradient background.svg Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. M.Bitton (talk) 19:02, 24 July 2023 (UTC)

Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 25 January 2024
Asif Ali Minhas, a Pakistani living in Austria famous HSE Trainer, social activist, Special Delegate in Pakistan of Lazarus Union, Vienna Austria with holding "Colonel" rank and founder of OSHTA Austria (Austria's first English Medium HSE Institute. 80.146.207.53 (talk) 16:01, 25 January 2024 (UTC)
 * Red question icon with gradient background.svg Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. Shadow311 (talk) 16:41, 25 January 2024 (UTC)

Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 27 June 2024
Country: India, Pakistan. Sarvan58 (talk) 06:42, 27 June 2024 (UTC)
 * Red question icon with gradient background.svg Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. Charliehdb (talk) 14:40, 27 June 2024 (UTC)