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Who are Mohyals?
Mohyals are a class of Brahmins whose origin is shrouded in
mystery.
They are a distinct category of Brahmins who combine military knowledge
with wise learning and never pretended to do any priestly duties.
This militant Brahmin race is divided into seven clans known as
Datt, Bali, Chhibber,
Vaid, Mohan, Lau
and Bhimwal.
Any authentic history of their origin is not available. However, mention about them is made in historical
records from the earliest times. During the time of the British
East India Company , in the early part of
the last century, TP Russell Tracey made a serious effort
and wrote the history of this class , which was gratefully acknowledged
by the General Mohyal Sabha at Lahore on 30 June1911.
He mentions that the Mohyals are primarily a military class, divided
into seven clans claiming their origin from the Raj Rishis, who
figured long before the Mahabharat, they have been prominently associated
with the government of the country whether military or civil, in
the days of universal Hindu rules. They have also figured at some
early period of history in the affairs of Arabia, Central Asia Afghanistan
and Persia . At the time of his writing he states that they were
spread from Afghanistan, Punjab to Bihar. In UP and
Bihar they were known as Bhumihars. The Bhumihars also claim
their descent from Parshu
Ram from whom the Chibbers also claim descent.
Mohyals claim their origin from
the Raj Rishis who figured long before the Mahabharata. Being of
pre-vedic origin the ancient Mohyals paid homage to their spiritual
leaders like Parshu Ram. Their basic religion was the belief in
the laws of morality as enunciated by the sages Vyasa and Vashishtha.
The Mohyals claim that they are the progenies of the great Raj Rishis
who were distinctly different from the class of Brahm Rishis because
besides being high priests of spiritualism, they also wielded temporal
powers. In fact, Parshu Ram was the first Brahmin in history
to wear arms and to conquer territories.
There are other theories about the origin of Mohyals. They have
figured in Arabia as citizens and rulers of the land. They lived
in Arabia like free citizens. The word 'Misr' in the Arabic script
is inscribed on the antiques found in the possession of certain
Mohyal families.
Values
Mohyals are paragons of valor and virtuosity and are
always ready to sacrifice their lives for the sake of dharma or
the nation. They have fought determinately against fanaticism, religious
bigotry and social injustice. They have adapted themselves to the
successive rules of the Mughals, the Sikhs and the British with
no recorded instance of treachery.
Mohyals abhor 3 things : 'the taking of charity', 'the handling
of scales(trading)' and 'living a life of laziness'. Though numerically
unimportant, they are a stirring and enterprising race, and frequently
rise to prominence in the service of the government which they enter
in large numbers. They are remarkable among the Hindu population
in being hereditary agriculturists seldom practicing trade and specially
despising the life of indolence led by the ordinary Brahmin who
lives by charity and with whom the Mohyals, though admitting a common
origin, strongly object to be classed with. top
The word 'Mohyal'
The word Mohyal comes from the Prakrit form of the Sanskrit
word 'mahipal' and does not seem to be more than 6-7 centuries old.
With the passage of times, over the generations, a distinct class
of Brahmins arose who discarded the priestly vocation in favour
of administrative and military careers and became the ruling elite.
It was a custom in those days that government servants were paid
their wages in the form of land grants. The land given remained
with the recipient family in perpetuity which led to the evolution
of a new social order of the landed aristocracy. The Mohyals and
the Bhumihars of East-Up were an off-shoot of this phenomenon. The
word Mohyal is accepted as being the corrupted form of 'Mahiwal'
or 'Mahipal' meaning 'the owner of land'.
There is another interpretation of its being derived from the word
'Muhin'. 'Muhin' symbolizes the 7 castes into which the community
is divided. In ancient dialect 'Mohi' or 'Mahi' denoted land while
'al' meant respectable man. Mohyals were the masters of the land
and their deity was 'Hal Ram' alias 'Bal Ram' alias 'Bal Dev'. He
is the Aryan God of agriculture; in one hand he holds the plough
and in the other the pestle. top
Habitat
From times immemorial till the partition of Bharat in 1947,
the main habitat of the Mohyals was northern India, notably West
Punjab (now part of Pakistan) , the erstwhile NWFP and Jammu & Kashmir.
There were many districts like Rawalpindi, Jhelum , Gujrat , Sargodha
and Gurdaspur in West Punjab which had large concentration of the
community. There were villages in these districts in which a certain
caste of the Mohyals dominated and the place was known with that
caste as a suffix (e.g. 'Kanjrur Dattan', 'Tehi Balian' , 'Dera
Bakshian' and so on..). Kanjrur itself was a conglomeration of half
a dozen villages. Each one of them had a good number of Mohyals.
The river Ravi was regarded as the limit of Mohyal country as there
were very few Mohyals living on the east-side of the river.
In the ancient abodes, the 7 castes of the communities lived a closely
knit life. Many families shared a common terrace or a balcony and
their members lived on first-named terms with each other. In the
early decades of this century, when the reclaimed 'Bar' area was
being colonized many Mohyal families settled down in districts of
Shekhupura, Lyallpur and Montogomerry and became owners of large
agricultural farms and orchards. Lahore which was the seat of govt.
and center for education drew hordes of Mohyals and they distinguished
themselves in diverse professions. The city even boasted of a 'Kucha
Balian'. Many adventurous Mohyals became citizens of Kabul, Burma
and Nairobi. After 1947, Mohyals spread in all directions making
the whole of India their home. Outside the country, there are a
sizable number of Mohyals in UK, USA and Canada.
During the partition, the entire Mohyal community migrated to India
but 2 valiant families decided to stay on in their ancestral Karyala.
One was headed by Bhai Dalip Singh who was later shot dead by hired
Muslim goons. The other Bhai Jagat Singh continued to stay there.
He married a Brahmin girl of 'Pind Dadan Khan' whose parents also
refused to leave Pakistan. Their children are still living there.
top
Lifestyle
The Mohyals believed in the joint family system. The grandfather
was the chief patriarch and the grandmother, the source of all inspiration.
The women carried on with the traditions, observed fasts and represented
the family in the community weddings and mourning.
The birth of son was heralded with the firing of crackers. When
the boy was three years or five years old ,his Mundan (Jhand) was
performed. The festivity and feasting on this occasion were on a
scale next only to that of a wedding. A male lamb , with jet black
head and spotlessly white body, its head washed in water and smeared
with Vermillion and Curd was taken to a Jhand (prosopic spicigera)
tree. The lobe of its ear was pierced and with its blood a `tikka'
marked on the child's forehead. This was a symbolic baptism with
blood and ordained the child to endure the wounds that might be
inflicted in the battles to come. An earthen `diya' was lit and
a wicker basket, turned upside down, was placed on it. It was surrounded
by `thuthis'(earthen cups) The child in his bridal finery sat on
the basket, and after the ceremony Was over, he would trample on
the `thuthis', smashing them-signifying the crushing of the enemies.
The sacrificial lamb was then slaughtered in one blow. It was eventually
feasted upon, none but Mohyals being permitted to share it. It was
considered as `prasad' And even the women, howsoever rigid vegetarians,
had to take a morsel. Later on, some families substituted the lamb
with it's effigy made out of `halwa.'
In the case of Sikh Mohyals ,instead of Mundan, Kesh Gunthan or
coiffuring of hair was resorted to. The Jhand ceremony derived its
name from Jhand tree which was the focus of the function. When the
Pandavas were defeated by the Kauravas and exiled, they hid their
weapons in the hollow of the Jhand tree. Ever after, the tree has
been an object of worship by warrior tribes. These rites clearly
show that from the earliest days a Mohyal youth was impressed with
one object in life and that was that he was born to fight. The Mundans
are still performed with great pomp but are shorn of the traditional
rites.
Another auspicious ceremony in the life of a boy, before he grew
12 years old, was Yagyopavit. The function was performed in front
of the sacramental fire,accompanied by the chanting of Vedic hymns.
The sacred thread, made from spun wool, girdled the neck and the
loins of the child suggestive of the cross-belt of a soldier and
marked his anointment as a Brahmin. The thread was renewed Half-
yearly, at the time of the Navratra Ashtmi.
On all ceremonial occasions, Mohyals prepared Mitteran-da-Halwa,
which was distributed amongst the members of the clan. At the time
of a girl's marriage, the brother gave puffed rice to his sister
which she threw back over her head to symbolize that the bride will
flourish in her new environs as the rice does on transplantation.
Every Mohyal family had its own Purohit ,a Bhat and a barber (Nai).
The Purohit Solemnized all religious ceremonies, the Bhat used to
recite ballads recalling the valiant deeds of the family's ancestors
while the Nai was the traditional envoy for carrying messages.
The old Mohyals were very proud of the purity of their racial blood
and never courted marriages outside their own fraternal fold. A
divorce was never heard of. As they lived close to the battle scarred
frontiers, in areas dominated by the Muslims, there was a definite
stamp of the customs and ways of life of the Latter on Mohyals;
e.g. they were by and large meat-eaters, the shalwar was a common
dress of both men and women , Urdu was the medium of education.
But whatever the political and environmental compulsions, the Mohyals
faithfully preserved their racial identity, their social conventions
and their inherent graces. They are a self- respecting class and
resent injustice and insult.top
MOHYALS
AS WARRIORS
A Mohyal is a Brahmin
as well as a warrior. This paradox runs in every Mohyal family.
Their history is an unending saga of sacrifice and gallantry.
When Alexander the Great invaded India in 326 BC he was challenged
near Taxila by a mere chieftain. He was King Porus, a Vaid Mohyal.
After his encounter with Porus, Alexander met with more resistance
near Multan where the forces were predominantly Mohyal. Multan in
those days was the capital of Bali rulers. They engaged Alexander's
army in skirmishes in which many senior Generals died. The long
and bitter fighting forced Alexander to call of his dream of conquering
India and order a retreat.
The Mohyals also used their fighting prowess to uphold nobler values
of life. They shed their blood at Karbala in 681 AD to show their
solidarity with the Prophet's kin. In 1527, they were slaughtered
to the last man, just to safeguard the viriginity of a Khatri girl.
During the Mughal and Sikh rule, they were bestowed with titles
like Bakshi, Dewan, Mehta etc. in reward for their bravery. Maharaja
Ranjit Singh appointed many Mohyals to his famous Vadda Risala-the
Life Guards of the Lion of Punjab. During the British period, fifty
percent of the Mohyal commisioned officers, were decorated with
awards for their distinguished services.
After independence Mohyals have won laurels during the wars with
China and Pakistan. When the Military Academy results are published
Mohyals figure in large number amongst the successful candidates.
When gallantry awards are announced, they form a sizeable number.
top
COURTESY TITLES
All castes of Mohyals have the rare privilege of using certain titles
with their names that were bestowed on them by the Mogul and Sikh
rulers for their bravery and unimpeachable loyalty. These appellations
which are still in use are:- Bakshi, Bhai, Chaudhri, Dewan, Malik,
Mehta and Raizada. These epithets have a Persian connotation and
imply status.
'Bakshi' means benevolent,
'Chaudhri' means head of the family or village,
'Dewan' means a landlord,
'Mehta' means the in charge of finance/property
'Raizada' means a wise man or adviser.
The title of 'Bhai' was specially conferred on the Chibbers of Karyala
by the Sikh Gurus for their great sacrifices and devotion to dharma.
The Dewans (prime ministers) of all the ten Gurus were Chibbers
of Karyala. The title of Chaudhri was a mark of distinction of the
Datts of Kanjrur, Veeram and Zaffarwal. The title of Dewan was used
by the Datts hailing from Guliana and certain other places, Raizada
was used mostly by Balis and occasionally by Vaids. The prefixes
of Mehta and Bakshi are commonly used by the various castes of Mohyals.
As some of the titles currently used by the Mohyals are also used
by certain non-Mohyal communities, it is desirable to mention both
the courtesy title as well as the caste with the name, to clearly
denote the Mohyal identity. top
CASTES
A few centuries ago, the family of Mohyals was part of a
conglomeration of 52 castes although they fraternized with only
have a dozen castes apart from their own guild of seven castes.
Even in their own circle of seven castes, the Mohyals in the past
were rather cool towards the Laus and Bhimwals, in the matter of
marriages, but this attitude is now wearing off. The Mohyal community
was facing serious difficulty in finding matches for their children
in their own fraternity, even before partition. Somehow they were
able to manage the alliances amongst themselves and thus preserve
the genealogical purity of the clan. This was possible because the
community almost in its entirety lived in the Punjab, in formidable
strength in numerous mandis. However after partition, the demographic
map nderwent a change with only about 10% Mohyals left in the Punjab,
nearly 20% settled in Delhi, around 30% living in Haryana, Himachal
Pradesh and UP and the rest scattered in small numbers all over
the country and in foreign lands. As a result of these changes,
an already critical matrimonial problem confronting the Mohyal society
was further aggravated. This led to marriages being courted not
only with non Mohyal Brahmins but even with non-brahmins.
Some of the counterparts of the Mohyals in different states are:
Tyagis, Purohit, Vyas, Chitpavans, Mishra, Sinha, Bhaduri, Chakravart,
Ganguly, Goswami, Maitra, Sanyal, Dass, Iyers. top
References :
1. The History of Mohyals - A Legendary People
- by Shri P.N.Bali
2. The History of The Muhiyals - The Militant Brahmin Race of India
- by T.P.Rusell Stracey
Who
are Mohyals | Values |The
word Mohyal |Habitat | Lifestyle
Mohyals as Warriors | Titles
| Castes
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