User:Choudhary Ahmad

The Arain (Urdu: آرائیں‎) are a Pakistani zamindars(landlord) tribe who are found mainly in the provinces of Punjab and Sindh. However, some of the Arains are also found in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but with very least population speaking Pashto and Saraiki, Specially in the Tank District of Dera Ismail Khan. They are also found in Delhi, Amritsar, Kanpur of Indian.

Families/ Surenames
Arains mostly use the family names (some former titles) of: Choudhary, Mian(Man of honour), Mehar(Masters),Ramay, Ramday(red-eyed solider),Kardar, Saleemi, Hijazi, Malik(Sharaqpuri Arains), Bhutta, Ghurki,  Alrai, Bhutto, Sardar.

Origins
The origin of Arain is uncertian. However, Arains (Urdu: آرائین) are descendants of Arab invaders to the Indian subcontinent. Sheikh Akbar Shah Khan Najeebabadi, an Indian historian of Islam, wrote that they entered India thru Debal, Sindh with Muhammad Bin Qasim in 92 Hijri, 712 AD. He refered to them as Ari-hai from Ariha (Jericho) which was Punjabized with a nasal sound to Arain. It is also believed that the word Arain is derived from the Arabic name Ar-Ra'i, "The shepherd", a title indigenous to Arabia. The historian and political scientist Christophe Jaffrelot, agrees with that and wrote that they are displaced farming communities who moved to Punjab from Sindh and Multan as Arab Muslim armies encroached.

Most Arains are very fair, and many have coloured eyes, and all of them are Muslims, which means that they could not be of Indian ancestary. Under the British Raj after the two Anglo-Sikh wars the Arains who were classified by the British as a non-martial race (at that time they were an almost exclusive agricultural caste of Muslim farmers and small land holders.) were brought into the Punjab to replace the Sikhs, who classified as a martial race were sought by the British as new recruits. Unlike many of the Muslims from Afganistan, who were slow to accept the change to the British educational system and the change from Persian to English, the Arains stressed the importance of education for their children, and with the wealth gained from their hard work they were soon dominating the legal profession in Punjab and as lawyers have found around the world, their move into politics was an easy one. Arain is the Largest and most populated Muslim Tribe of Pakistan and Subcontinent with Population of over 30 Million People approximately.

British Raj period
Arain were an agricultural caste of Muslim farmers and land holders, they owned thousand of acers of land. The British favoured them for their "hard work, frugality and sense of discipline".In pre-partition Lahore district they were the main Muslim-landowning group located close to the urban areas while in the rural areas of the districts Jats predominated. When the British wanted land developed in the Punjab after its annexation, the Arain were brought in to cultivate lands around the cities, and were one of the preferred agricultural castes to assist with the opening up of the agrarian frontier in canal colonies between 1885 and 1940.[7] The Arain received 86 per cent of the land that was allotted to Muslim agricultural castes in canal colonies. Subsequent development of towns and cities and increasing urbanisation resulted in the value of the land settled by Arain to rise significantly, and Arain families thus flourished. Education was prioritised with the new-found wealth and the Arain came to dominate the legal profession amongst urban Punjabi Muslims. Many used law to enter politics.

Notable family members
.
 * Shah Inayat Qadiri- a sufi scholar, saint and teacher of Bulleh Shah & Waris Shah.
 * Shaikh Saleem Al-Raee -Commander In-Chief of Muhammad Bin Qasim's Army.
 * Shaikh Habib Al-Raee- a sufisaint and son of Shaikh Saleem Al-Raee.
 * Mian Shah Din - First Muslim Judge in British India and president of All-India Muslim League.
 * Abdul Rashid(judge)- First Chief Justice of Pakistan. He Administered The Oath of Governor General of Pakistan From Muhammad Ali Jinnah. He was also Governor General of Pakistan in 1953.
 * Adina Beg- General and Ruler of Mughal forces.
 * Justice Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday - Judge of Supreme Court of Pakistan. He is the Son of Justice Muhammad Saddique, Brother of Chaudhry Muhammad Farooq Ramday Ex Attorney General of Pakistan and Chaudhry Asad-ur-Rehman Ex Federal Minister.He is also Uncle of Brigadier Anwar-ul-Haq Ramday Shaheed.
 * Sir Mian Mohammad Shafi (1869–1932) – Member Viceroy's Executive Council.
 * Mian Sir Muhammad Shah Nawaz – a politician in Punjab during the 1920s
 * Justice Sir Mian Abdul Rashid – first Chief Justice of Pakistan (1947)
 * Mian Iftikharuddin – politician, owner of Pakistan Times and Daily Imroz
 * Mian Muhammad Yusaf Manga – a noble zamindar who was appointed custodian of the Shalimar Gardens, Lahore by Mughals and received the title of 'Mian' from Mughal emperor Shah Jahan)
 * Jahanara Shahnawaz (1896-1979) – politician and Muslim League activist.
 * Mumtaz Shahnawaz (1912-1948) – political activist and author, who died in a plane crash at the age of 35 en-route to represent Pakistan at the UN General Assembly, the first woman in Asia to preside over a legislative session
 * Justice Mian Shah Din (1868–1918) – first Muslim judge in British India, poet, and writer
 * Chaudhry Muhammad Ali[12] Prime Minister of Pakistan 1955 to 1956
 * Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq[13] Sixth President of Pakistan
 * Mian Family Baghbanpura[14] An Arain family of Lahore
 * Qudrat Ullah Shahab The secretary to then president of Pakistan (in 60's) and author of "Shahab Nama".
 * Adina Beg[11] Governor of Punjab in 1758.
 * Wasim Akram A famous Pakistani international Crickter,well known as KING OF SWING.
 * Abdul Hafeez Kardar first Captain of Pakistan Cricket Team.
 * A. J. Kardar Pakistani film director, producer, screenwriter.
 * Abdur Rashid Kardar Pakistani and Indian film director.