Kala Gujran
Encyclopedia
Kala Gujran is a town and union council
of Jhelum District
in the Punjab Province
of Pakistan
. It is part of Jhelum Tehsil
, and is located at 33°10'48N 72°57'59E with an altitude of 467 metres (1535 feet).
Kala Gujran is near Jhelum City. Pakistan Tobacco Company
is based at Jada which is a suburb of Kala Gujran. Until its recent demise the Fauji Mill complex was a major employer in the area, it used to produce cloth for export and distribution all across Pakistan.
There is an annual Daand Mela (Bull race fair) held in the outskirts of Kala Gujran in Jada. Held in March every year it is an established event dating back many hundreds of years, It is held in collaboration within a circuit of melas including kantrili
and Chakmal in Gujrat
in its importance. It has been a significant market town and Gujjar stronghold since ancients times with the Hindu and then the Sikhs rulers leaving their marks in the town. If you look around the old bazaar you will still find relics of these ancient cultures.
In particular the area surrounding the old school has lakes locally known as the five sisters, so called as they drained into each other with five pippal trees planted in line. There were five ancient but important Hindu temples mandirs on the site, abandoned and subsequently destroyed during partition. The leading temple had a traceable underground tunnel leading directly to a covered "kooh" (Persian water wheel irrigation system in an outpost agricultural settlement) on the towns northbound outskirts, along the Chak Jamal Rd. This was reputedly run by a powerful courtesan presumably to afford safe passage for the chieftains or priests during times of conflict. There are reports of some local "koohs" having tablets of stone at the bottom with carvings dating back many hundreds of years.
There are also planted Sacred Fig
(Ficus religiosa)"Pippal" trees in a line going all the way from Kala Gujran up to what is now known as the Mangla Fort affording an identifiable safe route passage all the way to the fort at Mangla
also known as Ramkot
. It is not known if the passages could be traced from Rohtas
or Tilla Jogian
to Mangla forts but part of it most definitely passes from Kala Gujran to Mangla. In Tilla Jogian and ancient ramkot
now mangla
there are also similar lakes or tanks that drain into each other. The elders and historian bards of the Kala Gujran locale speak of many people even in recent times having their ears pierced in line with what has been happening in the Tilla Jogian and Kala Gujran areas for centuries. The lakes and the school are currently in a very dilapidated and neglected state the mandirs have gone with the only trace being left is a few marble foor tiles. In common with most of region - little thought being given to the preservation of its rich and important cultural history. The sporting traditions with the kara or annual bull race is still kept very much alive, in recent years it has been preserved and promoted by the Pakistani Diaspora based in the UK.
The Gujjars of the area have variously been described as a problematic but powerful tribe in particular the Tikri Gujjar clan. They have an interesting history and genetic lineage, traceable back to Georgia
and Salauddinsaladin
. The tribe had some admirable and historically important battles against Christianity alongside their chiefSaladin
in the crusades
of the Middle Ages. It is of some notoriety that the infamous Saddam Hussain shares the same lineage having originated from Tikrit
in northern Iraq. The lineage can also be traced to the courts at Ajmer
Sharif in India. There are numerous references to the Tikkri Gujjars being an important tribe in the area and beyond with many towns and regions named after the tribe.
There were significant Sikh and Muslim Gujjars from this area leading in the nearby Battle of Chillianwala
. Fought during the Second Anglo-Sikh War in the Chillianwala
region of Punjab. The battle was one of the bloodiest fought by the British East India Company
. It was a strategic check to immediate British ambitions in India and a shock to British military prestige. In essence the British got a thoroughly good beating forcing them to retire with tails withdrawn. They however returned with numerous reinforcements and carried out wholesale massacres in the city of Gujrat making the Chenab run red. They subsequently set up a battalion in Jhelum and named it "the city of soldiers"
The Battle of the Hydaspes River
was fought by Alexander the Great in 326 BC against the Hindu King Porus (Pururava in Sanskrit) on the banks of the Hydaspes River (Jhelum River) In those days Kala Gujran would have been the favoured large city in the area. The Paurava kingdom of King Porus was situated here and many elite trained personnel would have been conscripted from Kala Gujran or Kamboja. The Hydaspes was the last major and most costly battle fought by Alexander.[15] King Porus and his Tikri Gujjar men put up a fierce resistance against the invading Macedonian army which won the admiration and respect of Alexander.[16] Although victorious, Alexander's exhausted army mutinied soon after, when he made plans to cross river Hydaspes (Beas River), and refused to go further into India.
Ancient vedic texts describe the area as being part of Kamboja kingdom, dominated by Hun warrior classes excelling at hand to hand combat, horsemanship and a mercenary attitude. The war horses of Kamboja were famous through all periods of Indian History. In the great battle fought on the fields of Kurukshetra, the fastest and powerful horses of Kamboja were of greatest service. There is significantly mention that the people were distinctly different to the rest of the kingdom in their appearance, stature, physical prowess, dress religious beliefs and practises, further reference and conjecture to the Huns or Aryan theories as described in history. This also cross references with ancient and recent historical battles and famous or infamous individuals with direct lineage to the Gujjar Tikkri clans.
Indeed the Gujjars were once the most influential group and chieftains of Kala Gujran (hence the name). It is of no surprise then that the British when they did take over the region decided to not allow the Gujjars to join the military or civil service citing them as unreliable, unfit and associated very strongly to the criminal and mercenary Thuggee
gangs. Going so far as to criminalise them with the introduction of Criminal Tribes Act
of 1871. A rather nefarious concept given the area is famously known as the land of martyrs and warriors and many specialised as mercenary fighters. When it was eventually repealed and the Gujjars were allowed to join the ranks they were instrumental during the 1857 uprisings, indian mutiny.
During subsequent periods the Gujjars in this area did not take advantage of the political process being easily manipulated by puppet regimes instilled by the colonial British rulers to tactfully divide and rule the princely states. A process so deeply engrained that relics of it still create problems to this day. The following celebrities were born in this town;
Union Councils of Pakistan
A sherwan or village council in Pakistan is an elected local government body consisting of 21 councillors, and headed by a nazim and a naib nazim...
of Jhelum District
Jhelum District
Jhelum District is in the Punjab province of Pakistan. According the 1998 census the district had a population of 936,957, of which 31.48% were urban. Jhelum is known for providing a large number of soldiers to the British and later to the Pakistan armed forces due to which it is also known as...
in the Punjab Province
Punjab (Pakistan)
Punjab is the most populous province of Pakistan, with approximately 45% of the country's total population. Forming most of the Punjab region, the province is bordered by Kashmir to the north-east, the Indian states of Punjab and Rajasthan to the east, the Pakistani province of Sindh to the...
of Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. It is part of Jhelum Tehsil
Jhelum Tehsil
Jhelum Tehsil is an administrative subdivision of Jhelum District in Punjab province, Pakistan. The tehsil is subdivided into 27 Union Councils and is heaquartered at the city of Jhelum.-History:...
, and is located at 33°10'48N 72°57'59E with an altitude of 467 metres (1535 feet).
Kala Gujran is near Jhelum City. Pakistan Tobacco Company
Pakistan Tobacco Company, Jhelum
Pakistan Tobacco Company Limited was incorporated in 1947 immediately after independence, when it took over the business of the Imperial Tobacco Company of British India which had been operational in the South Asia since 1905...
is based at Jada which is a suburb of Kala Gujran. Until its recent demise the Fauji Mill complex was a major employer in the area, it used to produce cloth for export and distribution all across Pakistan.
There is an annual Daand Mela (Bull race fair) held in the outskirts of Kala Gujran in Jada. Held in March every year it is an established event dating back many hundreds of years, It is held in collaboration within a circuit of melas including kantrili
Kantrili
Kantrili is a small village in Jhelum District, Punjab province, Pakistan. http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&q=kantrili&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl32.993403,73.719807Each year in the third weekend of February a famous mela is held there...
and Chakmal in Gujrat
Gujrat
Gujrat is a city in Pakistan. It is the capital of Gujrat District and the Gujrat Tehsil subdivision in the Punjab Province. People living in Gujrat refer to themselves as Gujratis, which sometimes leads to confusion with people from the Indian state of Gujarat which adjoins Pakistan...
History
Kala Gujran is strategically located on the route of the old GT road and predates the city of JhelumJhelum
Jhelum or Jehlum may refer to:* Jhelum, a city in Pakistan on the banks of the Jhelum River* Jhelum District, an administrative division in Punjab, Pakistan surrounding the city of Jhelum...
in its importance. It has been a significant market town and Gujjar stronghold since ancients times with the Hindu and then the Sikhs rulers leaving their marks in the town. If you look around the old bazaar you will still find relics of these ancient cultures.
In particular the area surrounding the old school has lakes locally known as the five sisters, so called as they drained into each other with five pippal trees planted in line. There were five ancient but important Hindu temples mandirs on the site, abandoned and subsequently destroyed during partition. The leading temple had a traceable underground tunnel leading directly to a covered "kooh" (Persian water wheel irrigation system in an outpost agricultural settlement) on the towns northbound outskirts, along the Chak Jamal Rd. This was reputedly run by a powerful courtesan presumably to afford safe passage for the chieftains or priests during times of conflict. There are reports of some local "koohs" having tablets of stone at the bottom with carvings dating back many hundreds of years.
There are also planted Sacred Fig
Sacred Fig
The Sacred Fig, Ficus religiosa, or Bo-Tree , Peepal is a species of banyan fig native to India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, southwest China and Indochina...
(Ficus religiosa)"Pippal" trees in a line going all the way from Kala Gujran up to what is now known as the Mangla Fort affording an identifiable safe route passage all the way to the fort at Mangla
Mangla
Mangla town is located in Mirpur District, Azad Kashmir at the border with Jhelum district Punjab, with Jhelum river making the boundary. Mangla is an ancient town and is slated to be named after Mangla Devi. It is also the site of crossing of river Jhelum by Alexander forces facing Raja Porus...
also known as Ramkot
Ramkot
Ramkot may refer to:*Ramkot Fort*Ramkot, Nepal...
. It is not known if the passages could be traced from Rohtas
Rohtas
Rohtas can refer to:*Rohtas, Pakistan, a village located in Rohtas Fort, Pakistan*Rohtas Fort, Pakistan*Rohtas District, a district in Bihar, India*Rohtas Plateau in north-western Bihar...
or Tilla Jogian
Tilla Jogian
Tilla Jogian is the highest peak in the Eastern Salt Range in Punjab, Pakistan. At 975 meters above sea level, it is about 25 km to the west of Jhelum city and 10 km west of the model village of Khukha. The view from the top of Tilla is highly rewarding...
to Mangla forts but part of it most definitely passes from Kala Gujran to Mangla. In Tilla Jogian and ancient ramkot
Ramkot
Ramkot may refer to:*Ramkot Fort*Ramkot, Nepal...
now mangla
Mangla
Mangla town is located in Mirpur District, Azad Kashmir at the border with Jhelum district Punjab, with Jhelum river making the boundary. Mangla is an ancient town and is slated to be named after Mangla Devi. It is also the site of crossing of river Jhelum by Alexander forces facing Raja Porus...
there are also similar lakes or tanks that drain into each other. The elders and historian bards of the Kala Gujran locale speak of many people even in recent times having their ears pierced in line with what has been happening in the Tilla Jogian and Kala Gujran areas for centuries. The lakes and the school are currently in a very dilapidated and neglected state the mandirs have gone with the only trace being left is a few marble foor tiles. In common with most of region - little thought being given to the preservation of its rich and important cultural history. The sporting traditions with the kara or annual bull race is still kept very much alive, in recent years it has been preserved and promoted by the Pakistani Diaspora based in the UK.
The Gujjars of the area have variously been described as a problematic but powerful tribe in particular the Tikri Gujjar clan. They have an interesting history and genetic lineage, traceable back to Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
and Salauddinsaladin
Saladin
Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb , better known in the Western world as Saladin, was an Arabized Kurdish Muslim, who became the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and founded the Ayyubid dynasty. He led Muslim and Arab opposition to the Franks and other European Crusaders in the Levant...
. The tribe had some admirable and historically important battles against Christianity alongside their chiefSaladin
Saladin
Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb , better known in the Western world as Saladin, was an Arabized Kurdish Muslim, who became the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and founded the Ayyubid dynasty. He led Muslim and Arab opposition to the Franks and other European Crusaders in the Levant...
in the crusades
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
of the Middle Ages. It is of some notoriety that the infamous Saddam Hussain shares the same lineage having originated from Tikrit
Tikrit
Tikrit is a town in Iraq, located 140 km northwest of Baghdad on the Tigris river . The town, with an estimated population in 2002 of about 260,000 is the administrative center of the Salah ad Din Governorate.-Ancient times:...
in northern Iraq. The lineage can also be traced to the courts at Ajmer
Ajmer
Ajmer , formerly written as Ajmere, is a city in Ajmer District in Rajasthan state in India. Ajmer has a population of around 800,000 , and is located west of the Rajasthan state capital Jaipur, 200 km from Jodhpur, 274 km from Udaipur, 439 km from Jaisalmer, and 391 km from...
Sharif in India. There are numerous references to the Tikkri Gujjars being an important tribe in the area and beyond with many towns and regions named after the tribe.
There were significant Sikh and Muslim Gujjars from this area leading in the nearby Battle of Chillianwala
Chillianwala
Chellianwala is a town and union council of Mandi Bahauddin District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is located at 32°39'0N 73°36'0E at an altitude of 218 metres and lies to the north-east of the district capital Mandi Bahauddin...
. Fought during the Second Anglo-Sikh War in the Chillianwala
Chillianwala
Chellianwala is a town and union council of Mandi Bahauddin District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is located at 32°39'0N 73°36'0E at an altitude of 218 metres and lies to the north-east of the district capital Mandi Bahauddin...
region of Punjab. The battle was one of the bloodiest fought by the British East India Company
British East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
. It was a strategic check to immediate British ambitions in India and a shock to British military prestige. In essence the British got a thoroughly good beating forcing them to retire with tails withdrawn. They however returned with numerous reinforcements and carried out wholesale massacres in the city of Gujrat making the Chenab run red. They subsequently set up a battalion in Jhelum and named it "the city of soldiers"
The Battle of the Hydaspes River
Battle of the Hydaspes River
The Battle of the Hydaspes River was fought by Alexander the Great in 326 BC against King Porus of the Hindu Paurava kingdom on the banks of the Hydaspes River in the Punjab near Bhera in what is now modern-day Pakistan...
was fought by Alexander the Great in 326 BC against the Hindu King Porus (Pururava in Sanskrit) on the banks of the Hydaspes River (Jhelum River) In those days Kala Gujran would have been the favoured large city in the area. The Paurava kingdom of King Porus was situated here and many elite trained personnel would have been conscripted from Kala Gujran or Kamboja. The Hydaspes was the last major and most costly battle fought by Alexander.[15] King Porus and his Tikri Gujjar men put up a fierce resistance against the invading Macedonian army which won the admiration and respect of Alexander.[16] Although victorious, Alexander's exhausted army mutinied soon after, when he made plans to cross river Hydaspes (Beas River), and refused to go further into India.
Ancient vedic texts describe the area as being part of Kamboja kingdom, dominated by Hun warrior classes excelling at hand to hand combat, horsemanship and a mercenary attitude. The war horses of Kamboja were famous through all periods of Indian History. In the great battle fought on the fields of Kurukshetra, the fastest and powerful horses of Kamboja were of greatest service. There is significantly mention that the people were distinctly different to the rest of the kingdom in their appearance, stature, physical prowess, dress religious beliefs and practises, further reference and conjecture to the Huns or Aryan theories as described in history. This also cross references with ancient and recent historical battles and famous or infamous individuals with direct lineage to the Gujjar Tikkri clans.
Indeed the Gujjars were once the most influential group and chieftains of Kala Gujran (hence the name). It is of no surprise then that the British when they did take over the region decided to not allow the Gujjars to join the military or civil service citing them as unreliable, unfit and associated very strongly to the criminal and mercenary Thuggee
Thuggee
Thuggee is the term for a particular kind of murder and robbery of travellers in South Asia and particularly in India.They are sometimes called Phansigar i.e...
gangs. Going so far as to criminalise them with the introduction of Criminal Tribes Act
Criminal Tribes Act
The term Criminal Tribes Act applies to various successive pieces of legislation enforced in India during British rule; the first enacted in 1871 as applied mostly in North India The Act was extended to Bengal Presidency and other areas in 1876, and finally with the Criminal Tribes Act 1911, it...
of 1871. A rather nefarious concept given the area is famously known as the land of martyrs and warriors and many specialised as mercenary fighters. When it was eventually repealed and the Gujjars were allowed to join the ranks they were instrumental during the 1857 uprisings, indian mutiny.
During subsequent periods the Gujjars in this area did not take advantage of the political process being easily manipulated by puppet regimes instilled by the colonial British rulers to tactfully divide and rule the princely states. A process so deeply engrained that relics of it still create problems to this day. The following celebrities were born in this town;
- Mirza Mohammad Ibrahim, Labour Leader
- Inder Kumar GujralInder Kumar GujralInder Kumar Gujral served as the 12th Prime Minister of India. Gujral was the first PM to govern exclusively from the Rajya Sabha; , only he and Manmohan Singh have done so.-Early life:...
, former Prime Minister of IndiaPrime Minister of IndiaThe Prime Minister of India , as addressed to in the Constitution of India — Prime Minister for the Union, is the chief of government, head of the Council of Ministers and the leader of the majority party in parliament... - Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh AuroraJagjit Singh AuroraLieutenant General Jagjit Singh Aurora was the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Command of the Indian Army during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971...
of the Indian ArmyIndian ArmyThe Indian Army is the land based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. With about 1,100,000 soldiers in active service and about 1,150,000 reserve troops, the Indian Army is the world's largest standing volunteer army...