Narur
Encyclopedia
Narur, also known as Naroor or Naror, is a large village in Punjab
, situated 19 km from Phagwara
. The area is 183 hectares with a population of 2485.
Neighbouring villages include Panchhat
, Jalwehra
, Nangal-Thindal-Chairan, Bhagana, Nasirabad, Randhirgarh, Mayopatti, and Rampur Khalyan.
Sikh Rajputs
, along with a number of Brahmin and Muslim families.
According to the village folklore, Narur was founded by a Jaswal
prince hailing from Amb, capital of Jaswan
, which is located in present day Himachal Pardesh. The prince was hunting in the area and fell in love with a local girl, said to be from a nearby village Ajnoha. The two eventually married and founded the village.
It is told by the village elders that when the Kapurthala Maharaja sent his soldiers and tax collectors to Narur, the Jaswals threw rocks at them and fought them otherwise, as briefly hinted at above. The soldiers were pushed back and returned to Kapurthala without making any collections.
The Punjab government eventually failed to suppress the agitation and Pratap Singh Kairon came to Narur. In an effort to appease the villagers, the government opened the primary and middle schools in the village. Since then the villagers have held an annual mela in memory of the five shahids who gave up their lives.
Punjab (India)
Punjab ) is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani province of Punjab to the...
, situated 19 km from Phagwara
Phagwara
Phagwara is a city and a municipal council in Kapurthala district in North India, in the central part of the Punjab.-Location:Phagwara lies on the Delhi–Amritsar national highway No.01 and is also served by the rail link between Delhi and Amritsar. It is located between the two big cities of...
. The area is 183 hectares with a population of 2485.
Neighbouring villages include Panchhat
Panchhat
Panchhat, commonly known as Panshta, is a village in Phagwara Tehsil in the Kapurthala District, Punjab. The nearest city, Phagwara, is about away. To reach Panchhat one must travel about on the Hoshiarpur-Phagwara Road and then travel about on the link road to Panshta...
, Jalwehra
Jalwehra
Jalwehra, commonly known as Jalerha, is a village in Hoshiarpur, Punjab. Its population in 1991 census was 657. Its area 1.35 square kilometres. The surrounding villages are: Panchhat, Narur, Nasirabad , Toderpur, Nanglan, Thindlan & Chairan. The nearest road is Panchhat-Phagwara which is 2 km...
, Nangal-Thindal-Chairan, Bhagana, Nasirabad, Randhirgarh, Mayopatti, and Rampur Khalyan.
Demographics
Narur residents are mostly JaswalJaswal
Jaswal is a Chandravanshi Rajput clan found predominantly in Northern India.The etymological origins of the word Jaswal can be traced back to the Kingdom of Jaswan that was founded around 1170 CE in present day Himachal Pradesh....
Sikh Rajputs
Sikh Rajputs
Sikh Rajputs are the followers of Sikhism belonging to the Rajput Ethnic group. Rajputs are a warrior clan. According to the 1901 British census of India, there were 20,000 Rajput converts to Sikhism....
, along with a number of Brahmin and Muslim families.
History
Narur is named after Nar Chand, one of the sons of Mian Mota, who was a Jaswal prince from the Punjab hills.According to the village folklore, Narur was founded by a Jaswal
Jaswal
Jaswal is a Chandravanshi Rajput clan found predominantly in Northern India.The etymological origins of the word Jaswal can be traced back to the Kingdom of Jaswan that was founded around 1170 CE in present day Himachal Pradesh....
prince hailing from Amb, capital of Jaswan
Jaswan
Jaswan was a precolonial Indian state centred at Rajpura, in modern-day Himachal Pradesh. It was founded in 1170 by Raja Purab Chand, a scion of the ancient royal family of Kangra. It remained a bastion of the Sikh Empire for most of its history....
, which is located in present day Himachal Pardesh. The prince was hunting in the area and fell in love with a local girl, said to be from a nearby village Ajnoha. The two eventually married and founded the village.
Peasant agitation against malba tax
As noted in the Kapurthala gazetteer of 1984, "In 1938-39, there was a peasant agitation against malba tax, which was being charged at the rate of six per cent of the land revenue. People refused to pay the tax and lambardars expressed their inability to do anything in the matter. The situation became quite grave at village Narur which was described as the storm centre of the agitation. The agitation won a partial victory when the Maharaja granted relief to the tune of rupees thirty thousand out of a total sum of rupees sixty five thousand."It is told by the village elders that when the Kapurthala Maharaja sent his soldiers and tax collectors to Narur, the Jaswals threw rocks at them and fought them otherwise, as briefly hinted at above. The soldiers were pushed back and returned to Kapurthala without making any collections.
The Kisan Sabha protests against the Betterment Levy Tax of 1950s
In 1952, before the completion of Bhakra canal system, the Punjab Government armed itself with a legislation to impose betterment levy, with the aim of meeting all the expenditure on canal system through this tax. According to this legislation, the basis of this tax was to be fifty per cent of the increase in price of land due to the Bhakra canal irrigation system. There were protests throughout the state and hundreds of people were arrested in false cases of encounters with the police. On March 10, 1959, Pratab Singh Kairon, the Chief Minister of Punjab, made a statement in state assembly that the communists were trying to take over the state. The next day, on March 11, police surrounded Narur, which was cited as one of epicenters of revolt, and started firing. Five people, including a woman, laid down their lives.The Punjab government eventually failed to suppress the agitation and Pratap Singh Kairon came to Narur. In an effort to appease the villagers, the government opened the primary and middle schools in the village. Since then the villagers have held an annual mela in memory of the five shahids who gave up their lives.
Notable persons
- Baba Yakh Ji: A highly revered figure in the village, Dhan-Dhan Shri Baba Yakh Ji was a contemporary of the seventh SikhSikhA Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
GuruGuruA guru is one who is regarded as having great knowledge, wisdom, and authority in a certain area, and who uses it to guide others . Other forms of manifestation of this principle can include parents, school teachers, non-human objects and even one's own intellectual discipline, if the...
, Sri Guru Har RaiGuru Har RaiGuru Har Rai was the seventh of ten living Gurus of the Sikhs who became Guru on 8 March 1644 following in the footsteps of his grandfather, Guru Har Gobind, who was the sixth guru. Before he died, he nominated five year old Har Krishan, his youngest son as the next Guru of the Sikhs...
Ji. It is said that the villagers approached the GuruGuruA guru is one who is regarded as having great knowledge, wisdom, and authority in a certain area, and who uses it to guide others . Other forms of manifestation of this principle can include parents, school teachers, non-human objects and even one's own intellectual discipline, if the...
while he was staying at a nearby village Bhungarni and asked him to visit Narur. The GuruGuruA guru is one who is regarded as having great knowledge, wisdom, and authority in a certain area, and who uses it to guide others . Other forms of manifestation of this principle can include parents, school teachers, non-human objects and even one's own intellectual discipline, if the...
responded by saying that there was no need for him to visit Narur because a holy man Yakh was already present among them.
Main religious places in Narur
- Dhan-Dhan Shri Baba Yakh ji
- Dhan-Dhan Shri Baba Ghaha Singh Ji
- Daadi Mahatti ji
- Gurdwara Nanga Sahib
- Gurdwara shahid ganj
- Shri Ravidaas Gurdwara
- Lord Shiva Mandir
- A Muslim dargaah
- Gurdwara Kalgidhar sahib ji