In Chakwal, the Minhas Rajputs are called Mair-Minhas (also spelt Maair) after their ancestor, Raja Mair, a Jamwal prince who converted to Islam in 1190 CE. According to the legend, Raja Mair (whose name before conversion was Raja Bhagir Dev) was son of the Raja of Jammu and had come to the Dhanni area (present day Chakwal) for hunting. He fell in love with a local Muslim Gujjar woman, converted to Islam and married her. According to the census of 1931, their male population was 7800. The Chaudhrials or the Talukdars reside in Kot Sarfraz Khan, [[Kot Choudrain|,Behkri, Dhudial, Badsahan, Bhoun,Mohra Kudlathi, Murid, Punjain Shariff, Sarkal-Mair, Udhwal, Chakral, Oudherwal,Dab]],Mohra Sheikhan, Mohra Korechisham, Kotha Abdal, Chatal, Sutwal, Karhan, Chak Malook, Chak Norang and Bhagwal. The city of Chakwal is named after their Chief, Chaku Khan whose father, Raja Sidhar ruled the area at the time of Mughal King Babars invasion. The Mughal emperor Zaheerudin Babur conferred upon Raja Sidhar, the title of Chaudhry and made him the Taluqdar (area administrator) over 84 villages of the Dhani country, which since then has been known as Dhan 84. The Mair-Minhas tribe rose to further prominence during the short rule of Sher Shah Suri who handed them the control over the adjoining territories, as far as Swan River in Potohar and Kahoon in the South. However, after the Mughal King Humayun returned to India with the help of the Persians, he handed over the entire Potohar including Dhani to the Gakhars, who had helped him escape from India during Sher Shahs revolt. As written in the History of the Gakhars, Kaigor Nama, the Mair-Minhas tribe proved to be notorious subjects for the Gakhars and almost never paid their revenue, killed the Ghakkar kardars repeatedly and escaped in the mountains whenever military operations were launched against them. Sir Denzil Ibbetson in his Punjab census report of 1881 describes them as ever masterful and always retaining their independence in a singular degree. The Mair-Minhas tribe again rose to power after King Aurangzebs death. They had supported his son Moazzam in his quest for power and in return he re-appointed their chief Gadabeg Khan as the Taluqdar and Chaudhry of Dhan Chaurasi. Their rule over Dhani continued during the Sikh era as one of their chiefs Chaudhry Ghulam Mehdi had invited Sardar Maha Singh to this side of river Jhellum. Also, their Dogra cousins Raja Gulab Singh and Dhian Singh were very powerful in the Lahore Durbar, so the influence of Chakwal Chaudhrials during the Sikh era was considerable and they were considered one of the biggest Muslim land holders of the era.
Posted on: Sat, 01 Nov 2014 19:53:28 +0000
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