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Arain

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Arain
Raeen, Rain or Arai
Raeens or Arains, Lahore
EthnicityPunjabi
LocationPunjab,SindhandUttar Pradesh
LanguagePunjabi,Saraiki,Sindhi
ReligionIslam

Arain(also known asRaeen) are a largePunjabi Muslim[1]agricultural community with a strong political identity and level of organisation.[2][3]

At the beginning of the last century, they numbered around 1 million and were mainly rural cultivators and landowners concentrated in four districts:Lahore,Jalandhar,AmritsarandAmbala,all in theBritish Punjab province.[1]Following the1947 partition of India,they are now mainly present in thePakistaniprovinces ofPunjabandSindhwith a small population in parts ofIndian Punjab,Uttar PradeshandUttarakhand.

A self-conscious community,[1]several meetings were held to establish an organisation to represent the Arain community in the 1890s. Eventually, in 1915, Anjuman Ra’iyan-i-Hind emerged as such a body inLahoreand a national community newspaper, titledAl-Rai,was established.[4]

History

Origins

The historian and political scientistChristophe Jaffrelotbelieves that the Arain are displaced farming communities who moved to Punjab from Sindh andMultanasArab Muslim armies encroached;they originally practisedHinduismbut many later converted to Islam. He says that the community is related to theKambojandRajputcommunities mainly located in northern India and eastern Pakistan.[5]

Ishtiaq Ahmed,a political scientist who is also a member of the Arain community, acknowledges that some early Arain texts ascribe aSuryavanshiRajput origin, while others note aPersianone to reflect to others the status of being "conquerors". He believes that the Arains "are a mix of many ethnicities and races", similar to other "farming castes of the Punjab and Haryana".[6]

Medieval period

According to Ahmed, during theMughalandSikhperiods Arain held prominent positions, such as governors and army generals; he also believes that numerous names adopted by the community may indicate a tradition of military employment.[7]

Colonial period

During theIndian rebellion of 1857,Shah Abdul Qadir Ludhianvi, an Arain, led an uprising fromLudhianatoDelhiwhere he was killed. In the aftermath, the British viewed the Arain as a disloyal community, and categorised them as anon-martial castewhich denied them entry into theBengal Army.[7]Due to lobbying by the Arain community, in the early 20th century the Arain were officially re-classified as an "agricultural tribe", then effectively synonymous with the martial race classification.[8]

Traditionally associated with farming, when the British wanted land developed in thePunjab,Arain were brought in to cultivate lands around cities, and were one of the agricultural communities given preference to assist with opening up the agrarian frontier in theCanal Coloniesbetween 1885 and 1940.[9][10][11]Shahid Javed Burkisays that the British favoured the Arain for their "hard work, frugality and sense of discipline". The development of towns and cities and increasing urbanisation resulted in the value of the land settled by Arain to rise significantly, and Arain families flourished. Education was prioritised with the new-found wealth and Arain came to dominate the legal profession amongst urban Punjabi Muslims. Many used law to enter politics.[12]

During the colonial era, detailed decadal census reports covered the plethora ofcastes,subcastes and tribes that existed throughoutBritish India.Information regarding the Arains was highlighted in census reports taken fromPunjab Province.

"Arains are mostly Muhammadans. They have been declared an agricultural tribe throughout the Province with the exception of theRohtak,Gurgaon,Simla,Kangra,Jhelum,RawalpindiandAttockDistricts, where their number is very limited. Apparently a functional caste with a strong nucleus of converted Kambohs, some of whom still call themselves Kamboh Arains. There are still 1,186 Hindu Arains, mostly inPatiala(803) andKarnal(290), and the Kambohs have a sub-caste called Arain. The term is derived probably from Rain or Rahin, equivalent to Rahak (tiller of soil). ".[13]: 445 

— Excerpt from theCensus of India(Punjab Province), 1911 AD

Demographics

Numbers

In 1921, Arains formed 9,5% ofBritish Punjab's total Muslim population, up from 8,3% in 1901 and 6,6% in 1881.[14]

At the time of the2017 Pakistan census,Arains constituted the largest community of theLahore District,making up 40% of the district's total population or 4,45 million out of the total of 11 million back then, followed byKashmiris(30%).[15]

The Arainbiradariis particularly active in Lahore's industrial and commercial activities as well as in its politics.[4]

Religion

The 1881 Census of India detailed the Arain population was 795,032 in Punjab, of which 791,552 (99.56 percent) were Muslims, 2,628 (0.33 percent) were Hindus, 848 (0.11 percent) were Sikhs, and 4 (0.0005 percent) were Christians.[16][a]

As of 1931 Census of India, out of the total Arain population of 1,331,295 in Punjab, 1,330,057 (99.91%) were Muslims, 1,146 (0.086%) were Hindus, 67 (0.005%) were Sikhs and 5 (0.00038%) were Christians.[17]

Academic Ashish Koul, who specializes in the history of the group, has said of the Arains that they have been "a distinctive Muslim community with innately Islamic attributes."[1]

Diaspora

There are severaldiasporicArain communities in British towns and cities, such asManchester,GlasgowandOxford.[18]The tribe has its own organisation, Arain Council UK, which was established as Anjuman-e-Arains in the 1980s and renamed in 2008.[19]

BritishConservative PartypoliticianSajid Javid's family were farmers from the village ofRajananearToba Tek Singh,Punjab, from where they migrated to the UK in the 1960s; Javid speaks somePunjabi.[20][21]Javid was the firstBritish Asianto hold one of the BritishGreat Offices of State,being firstHome Secretary(2018–2019) and thenChancellor of the Exchequer(2019–2020).[22][23]

Notable people

Politics

Arts and literature

Entertainment

Sports

Military

See also

References

  1. ^abcdKoul, Ashish (3 December 2016)."Making new Muslim Arains: reform and social mobility in colonial Punjab, 1890s-1910s".South Asian History and Culture.8(1): 1–18.doi:10.1080/19472498.2016.1260348.ISSN1947-2498.
  2. ^"Arain".The Punjab Record: Or, Reference Book for Civil Officers (page 24) via Google Books website.1905.Retrieved17 January2023.
  3. ^Katherine Pratt Ewing (1997).Arguing sainthood: modernity, psychoanalysis, and Islam.Duke University Press. p. 145.ISBN9780822320265.
  4. ^abIbrahim, Muhammad (2009).Role of Biradari System in Power Politics of Lahore: Post-Independence Period(Thesis).
  5. ^Jaffrelot, Christophe(2004).A History of Pakistan and its Origins.trans. Beaumont, Gilliam. Anthem Press. pp. 154, 208.ISBN9781843311492.
  6. ^Ahmed, Ishtiaq (18 April 2006)."There is many a slip betwixt cup and lip".Daily Times.Pakistan. Archived fromthe originalon 15 July 2014.Retrieved15 June2014.
  7. ^abAhmed, Ishtiaq (15 December 2007)."An Arain freedom fighter".The News.
  8. ^Rajit K. Mazumder (2003).The Indian Army and the Making of Punjab.Orient Blackswan. pp. 104–105.ISBN978-81-7824-059-6.
  9. ^Ali, Imran (1979).The Punjab Canal Colonies, 1885-1940 (Ph.D. thesis).Australian National University. p. 29.doi:10.25911/5d74e7b3b71c9.
  10. ^Binay Bhushan Chaudhuri (2008).Peasant History of Late Pre-colonial and Colonial India, Volume 8.Center for studies in Civilization. p. 195.ISBN9788131716885.Retrieved11 February2015.
  11. ^Low, Donald Anthony(1968).Soundings in Modern South Asian History.University of California Press. p. 375.ISBN978-0520007703.
  12. ^abBurki, Shahid Javed (October 1988). "Pakistan under Zia, 1977-1988".Asian Survey.28(10): 1082–1100.doi:10.2307/2644708.JSTOR2644708.(subscription required)
  13. ^"Census of India 1911. Vol. 14, Punjab. Pt. 1, Report".1912.JSTORsaoa.crl.25393787.Retrieved16 August2022.
  14. ^Ibbetson,Report on the Census of the Punjab,vol. 1, 266 and v. 2, Tables I and III;Imperial Gazetteer of India Provincial Series on Punjab,v. 1, p. 48 and 50; J. T. Marten,Census of India, 1921,v. 1, part II, 40, 43, 162. See Tables VI and XIII.
  15. ^"District Profile".District Lahore -Government of Punjab.Archived fromthe originalon 27 November 2023.
  16. ^"Census of India, 1881 Report on the Census of the Panjáb Taken on the 17th of February 1881, vol. II".1881. p. 104.JSTORsaoa.crl.25057657.Retrieved7 April2024.
  17. ^Khan, Khan Ahmed Hasan.Census of India Punjab Part II Tables Vol. XVII, 1931.Civil and Military Gazette, Lahore. p. 283.Retrieved25 April2023– viaArchaeological Survey of India,New Delhi.
  18. ^Shaw, Alison (2000).Kinship and Continuity: Pakistani Families in Britain.Psychology Press. p. 121.ISBN978-90-5823-075-1.
  19. ^"About".Arain Council UK.Retrieved22 May2020.
  20. ^ab"British home secy belongs to TT Singh".The Nation.8 May 2018.Archivedfrom the original on 2 October 2019.Retrieved2 October2019.Newly appointed British Home Secretary Sajid Javed belongs to a Toba Tek Singh village.
  21. ^"'Did you ever think we'd be here today?' UK's Sajid Javid asks mother in Punjabi ".The Express Tribune.2 October 2019.Archivedfrom the original on 19 November 2019.Retrieved2 October2019.
  22. ^"Javid replaces Rudd as home secretary".BBC News.30 April 2018.Retrieved6 September2020.
  23. ^"Boris Johnson overhauls cabinet on first day as PM".BBC News.24 July 2019.Retrieved6 September2020.
  24. ^"Dina Arain: the master 'double game' player".
  25. ^Individuals and Ideas in Modern India: Nine Interpretative Studies. India, Firma KLM, 1982.
  26. ^LaPorte, Robert, et al. Pakistan under the military: eleven years of Zia ul-Haq. United Kingdom, Avalon Publishing, 1991.
  27. ^"After election debacle, Wattoo resigns as PPP's central Punjab president".Dawn (newspaper).14 May 2013.Retrieved11 April2021.
  28. ^"پاکستان کی خدمت کرنے والے 'روشن خیال' اینگلو انڈینز جنھیں بھلا دیا گیا".BBC News اردو– via BBC News website.
  29. ^"Anas Sarwar - First Muslim and Pakistani Who Elected leader of Scottish Labour Party".March 2021.
  30. ^The Arain Diaspora in the Rohilkhand region of India: A historical perspective: General History of Arain tribe of Punjab & Sindh with sociocultural background of the diaspora in Rohilkhand, India. N.p., Rehan Asad, 2017.
  31. ^Contemporary Problems of Pakistan. Netherlands, Brill, 1974.
  32. ^Encyclopaedia of Muslim Biography: I-M. India, A.P.H. Publishing Corporation, 2001.
  33. ^International Journal of Punjab Studies. India, Sage Publications, 1994.
  34. ^"Sonia Ahmed: Our Real Hero |".22 June 2021.
  35. ^Ahmed, Ishtiaq (2022).The Punjab: Bloodied, Partitioned and Cleansed.Classy Pub.On Tuesday, 3 May 2005, cricket legend and arguably one of the greatest left-arm fast bowlers of all times, Pakistan's Wasim Akram and his father Chaudhary Mohammed Akram, visited their ancestral village Chawinda Devi, Amritsar district. Chawinda Devi was a mixed village with Arain and Syed biradaris of Muslims and Sikh and Hindus constituting an equal population. Wasim's family belonged to the Arain section of Chawinda Devi.
  36. ^"Player Profile: Abdul Kardar".CricketArchive.Retrieved15 April2016.
  37. ^"The London Gazette".www.thegazette.co.uk.No. 2647. 24 May 1945.Retrieved23 April2024.
  1. ^Population excludes districts that would ultimately form part of theNorth-West Frontier Province.

Further reading

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