Muslim Rajputs

Rajputs (Urdu: راجپوت) were the rulings clans of India during the classical period, i.e. 8-13th century. The term Rajput is traditionally applied to the original Suryavanshi, Chandravanshi and Agnivanshi clans.

Gen.Asif Nawaz. A Janjua Muslim Rajput

While a majority of the Rajputs are Hindu, many well known Rajput clans did convert to Islam from the 13th century due to Sufi missionaries which gained momentum in India after the migration of Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti of Ajmer to India. It is estimated that nearly 25 million Pakistanis belong to Rajput ancestry.

The Rajput kings of all faiths have generally been liberal in terms of religion, a few of them were enthusiastic supporters of Jainism (For example Chalukya Kumarapala) and Buddhism (for example Gahadvala Jaichandra) and Islam. The Hindu emperor Raja Jayapala Shahi's kingdom of the 10th century had Muslim traders and settlements. Raja Mal Khan of Malot employed Brahmin Mohyal generals of the Bhimwal and Bali tribes (well known and illustrious Brahmin warrior clans). The Jarral dynasty of Rajaur had a sizeable Hindu population and also employed many high ranking Hindu administrators.

Muslim conquest of South Asia

At the time of arrival of Islam, the north and west region South Asia region was ruled by Rajput clans. The Rajputs and Muslim armies fought many battles for the control of South Asia. Mahmud of Ghazni destroyed the power of Rajputs in western South Asia in 1010 CE. Muhammad Ghori in 1191 conquered Delhi after defeating last defense of Rajputs and established the Muslim empire by the 12th century. In 1206. Qutb-ud-din Aybak declared himself the first Sultan of Delhi.

Many Muslim Rajput clans aided the Mughal conquest of India by taking part in the imperial armies. It must also be mentioned here that Hindu Rajputs also took part in these conquests as allies and even took part in marriage with the Mughals such as the Kachwaha Rajput Clan of Jaipur.

Conversion to Islam

Many Rajput clans had converted to Islam during the early 12th Century and since conversion have remained loyal to their faith. Rajputs were converted to Islam by the Muslim Sufis missionaries. The Muslim Sultanate and later Mughal dynasty encouraged the martial Rajput clans to convert to Islam. This practice of converting to Islam continued into the 19th century period of the British Raj.

Some Rajput communities like the Meos remained partially converted until the early part of the 20th century, and they continued to follow both Hindu and Muslim practices.

These conversions were done openly and hence attracted criticism from the other Hindu Clans. Despite the anger of their Hindu peers, the Muslim Rajputs remained steadfast and loyal to their faiths and there exists no record of any Muslim Rajput clan converting back to Hinduism after accepting Islam.

There is an interesting case of this happening up until the recent British Raj era of India's history which established a precedent in their government. In "Rulers of India, Lord Lawrence and the Reconstruction of India Under The Crown" by Sir Charles Aitcheson, K.C.S.I., M.A., LL.D.(Clarendon Press 1897,V p117) stated that in the state of Rajgarh, the ruling Rajput Chief began to show a tendency towards Islam and got into difficulties with his Hindu caste peers over this. This occurred during the period of Sir John Lawrence’s Viceroy period. His open following of Islamic traditions had infuriated his peers and feelings were so strong against him that he chose to abdicate the royal throne and retire to his new found faith. The subsequent inquiry against him however showed that he was a good ruler and no misgovernment was charged against him and his subjects were satisfied with his rule. A year later this Rajput chief openly declared the Kalima (Muslim affirmation of embracing Islam) and renounced the Hindu faith. His sons also joined him. This case established for the British Raj the precedent that no leader or ruler can be replaced simply because of his change of creed. Regardless of the feelings of his peers, it was the quality of his rule that mattered.

Beliefs and Customs of Muslim Rajputs

Muslim Rajputs believe that being a Rajput is a matter of blood and martial upbringing, which is not exclusive to Hinduism alone. Islam's ideal of a Mujahid replaces the Hindu Kshatriya ideal and deny that it is a religious title at all. Although proud of their ancestry, they also do not overly romanticize their ancestry which is forbidden in Islam as a sign of egoism.

A custom during these conversions was to adopt a new name to reflect their change of faith. Many a Rajput king changed their names, but did retain their ancestral lineal titles and tribal names. This sense of identity has never been lost and Islam did in fact support and recognize tribal identity as opposed to caste based superiority.

A noteworthy point here is that by converting to Islam, the Muslim Rajputs now renounced the Varna system of caste hierarchy. Islam dictates that one is not superior to another except through piety and nobility of deeds. This point of meritocracy over aristocracy also led to a great shift in change of marital policies.

Hindu Rajput code dictates that Rajputs cannot marry outside of their caste and only marry amongst other Rajputs. According to Islam it was preferred custom for a Prince can marry in royalty (note: this only applies to clans with political power). However, tradition of marriages into only one group or clan was disliked by the prophet Muhammad (pbuh). The Muslim Rajputs therefore started to marry from other dominant Muslim tribes of non Rajput ancestry. This was to continue the tradition of royal marriages without prejudice to Rajput affiliation. This was further realized when some major Rajput clans of Punjab intermarried into other clans of foreign descent. However, some Muslim Rajputs still follow the custom of only marrying into other Rajput clans only, such as some (not all) branches of the Bhatti, Janjua, Chauhan, and Rathores.

Titles

Many Muslim Rajputs were conferred titles by the Mughal Emperors such as Nawab (governor), Khan, Malik (Royal),Chaudhry and Mirza i.e. Prince of the blood. It was not uncommon for such titles to continue down the line of descent. Although the majority of Muslim Rajputs use Raja as their ancestral title, some did adopt the Persian title of Mirza instead of Rajput to distinguish their Muslim identity from their previous Hindu one as it is a Persian word meaning prince of the blood.

Rana, Rai, Rao, Raja, Khan,Chaudhry, Khanzada are titles often used by Rajput Muslims. Some Muslim Rajput clans were given imperial titles by the Mughals, such the Jarral Rajputs given the title of Mirza by Shah Jahan and the Tanoli Janjuas of Amb receiving the title of Nawab's of the state.

The title of Chaudhry was conferred on the chiefs of the Muslim Minhas Rajputs in Chakwal by the Mughal Emperor Babur and is used by some clans who were conferred this prestigious office.

The title of Sultan has been also conferred to some Muslim Rajputs such as the Janjua Sultan of Watli.

Major Muslim Rajput Clans

• UP: Malkhana (Gaud and Jayaswal)
• Haryana: Mev (Laldasi, Khanzade), Ranghar (Tanwar/Tomer)
• Punjab: Bhatti, Punwar, Chauhan, Minhas, Tiwana, Noon, Joiya, Chib, Gheba, Jodhra, Janjua, Sial, Chadhar, Wattu, Khokhar, Gehlot, Kasvaal, Ranial.
• Rajasthan: Quayam Khani (Chauhan). Lalkhani (Badgujar),
• Gujarat: Mole Islam (Girasia)
• Sindh: Mahar/Maher (Surajvanshi), Bhutto, Deshwali (Agnivanshi), Sama (Bhati), Sodha (Parmar), Tonwar (Bhaiya, Tannu), Sithar (Rathore) etc.
• Azad Kashmir: Jarral, Kalyaal, Khakha, Chibh.

The Mughal princes had some maternal Rajput blood. Both Jahangir, Shahjahan and Bahadur Shah Zafar had Rajput mothers.

Distinguished Muslim Rajputs

In Pakistan:

• Malik Khizar Hyat Tiwana (Prime Minister of Punjab)
• Malik Feroze Khan Noon (Prime Minister of Pakistan)
• Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (President/Prime Minister of Pakistan)
• Benazir Bhutto (twice Prime Minister of Pakistan)
• Sardar Ghulam Muhammad Khan Mahar (Federal Minister)
• Abdul Sattar Laleka (Federal Minister)
• Sardar Ali Muhammad Khan Mahar (Chief Minister of Sindh)
• Ghaus Bux Khan Mahar (Federal Minister)
• Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan Rajput (Vice Chancellor, Mehran University of Engineering and technology)
• General Tikka Khan Janjua
• Major General Muhammed Akbar Khan(P.A.1), First Muslim General of British Army & later Pakistan Army
• General Muhammed Iftikhar Khan (Minhas) (Died in Air crash 1949)
• General Muhammed Anwar Khan (Minhas)(First Engineer in Chief of Pakistan Army)
• General Iftikhar Janjua
• Lieutenant General (retd.) Mohammad Tariq
• General Asif Nawaz Janjua
• Brigadier (retd) Amir Gulistan Janjua
• Khan Bahadur Raja Faqir Ullah Khan Jarral
• Khan Bahadur Malik Zaman Mahdi Khan Janjua
• Nawab Salahuddin Khan. (Tanoli Janjua
• Ms Tehmina Janjua-Pakistan's Permanent Representative to the United Nations
• Major Raja Aziz Bhatti
• Pilot Office Rashid Minhas
• Rameez Hassan Raja
• Rana Naved-ul-Hasan
• Prof. Rao Muhammed Akber
• Lieutenant General(retd)Rao Farman Ali Khan
• Ramiz Raja- Pakistan International Cricketer retd.
• Sirdar Ghulam Abbass Khan Minhas (Provincial Minister) District Nazim Chakwal
• Raja Muhammed Sarfraz Khan Minhas MLA Chakwal 1929-1958
• Raja Allahdad Khan Minhas Chief Secretary, NWFP
• Raja Ahmad Khan Minhas Chief Secretary, Baluchistan
• Raja Riaz Ahemad Khan Minhas MPA Pakistan Peoples Party
• Raja Pervaiz Ashraf Minhas General Sec. Pakistan Peoples Party
• Dr. Gulfraz Khan Minhas, Former Chairman OGDC

North America:

• Riasat Ali Khan (1933 – 2003)
• Dr. Ali Rajput, O.C., S.O.M.

United Kingdom:

• Amir Khan (boxer) Olympic silver medalist 2004.

See also

• Meo
• History of Rajputs
• Rajput
• Janjua
• Jarral
• Minhas
• Sindhi people
• Ranial Rajputs

References

• Maclagan Ibbetson, H.A. Rose: A Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North-West Frontier Province (3 vols)
• Bingley, A.H: Handbook on Rajputs. Delhi: AES, 1986
• Annals and antiquities of Rajasthan or the Central and Western Rajput States of India by James Tod
• The early history of Rajputs: (750 to 1000 A.D.)

External links

• Leading Tribes of Punjab
• Rajputs in Pakistan
• Meos
• Traditions of Punjab
• Sikh Rajput in Punjab/Haryana
• Sufi Currents and Civilization in the Islamic Courts
• Jarral Rajputs