The Vaids

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 treachously 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 exacavations over here, which were carried ut by Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1830, have yeildeda 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 allaince 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 persued by Mahmud who in his develish 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. Throughtout 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 accampanied 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, devasted his state and made him flee to the jungles. In the ensuing confusoin Bhim Pal was set free.

In 1019, Tirlochan Pal declared war on Mahmud on the mountainous terrian 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 wre 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 thenselves 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 antogonists.

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 occssion 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 recognise 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 devlish 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.