Jatt Clan: Nijjar
Distribution	Punjab (India) 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...
Descended from:	Caucasian Avars Caucasian Avars Avars or Caucasian Avars are a modern people of Caucasus, mainly of Dagestan, in which they are the predominant group. The Caucasian Avar language belongs to the Northeast Caucasian language family ....
Branches:	None
Religion	Sikhism Sikhism Sikhism is a monotheistic religion founded during the 15th century in the Punjab region, by Guru Nanak Dev and continued to progress with ten successive Sikh Gurus . It is the fifth-largest organized religion in the world and one of the fastest-growing...
Languages	Punjabi Punjabi language Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by inhabitants of the historical Punjab region . For Sikhs, the Punjabi language stands as the official language in which all ceremonies take place. In Pakistan, Punjabi is the most widely spoken language...
Surnames:	Nijjar and Singh

Nijjar is a surname found commonly among people of the Jatt

Jat people

The Jat people are a community of traditionally non-elite tillers and herders in Northern India and Pakistan. Originally pastoralists in the lower Indus river-valley of Sindh, Jats migrated north into the Punjab region in late medieval times, and subsequently into the Delhi Territory,...

 clan from the Northern Indian state of Punjab

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...

. Most of the members of this clan are Sikh

Sikh

A 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"...

s by religion although there are many Sikh/Hindu/Muslim/Christian/Roman Catholic Nijjar's belonging to the Khatri/Rajput/Gujjar caste. Village historians say many Nijjar's changed their name to "Nayyar" under the suggestion of the British to distinguish themselves from Jatt Nijjars.

History and origin

The four Nijjar, also spelled Nijjher, "Nijhar" or Nijjer, and in a rare alternate spelling "Nijor", villages of Dianatpur, Masanian, Kathar and Dhepur were first settled by people from village of Domeli. Kapurthala

Kapurthala

Kapurthala is a city in Punjab state of India. It is the administrative headquarters of Kapurthala District. It was the capital of the Kapurthala State, a princely state in British India. The secular and aesthetic mix of the city with its prominent buildings based on French and Indo-Saracenic...

 district near 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...

. They Most likely settled in the village of Dianatpur during the Mogul times around 1775 when the Sikh Missals [confederations] were also in the ascendancy. The forefathers of Dianatpur village used to say that two brothers from the village of Domeli

Domeli

Domeli is a village and union council of Jhelum District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is part of Sohawa Tehsil,.- References :...

 used to bring their animals in the area for grazing and built huts to stay for months at a time. In due course they started cultivating the land and settled down and the village of Dianatpur came into being. It is said that the Nijhar families of Dianatpur, Kathar and Dhepur were tormented by the local Muslim jolahas [weavers]. The families invited the jolahas for a meal and surrounded them and set them on fire killing them. The place where this event took place was called “masan” and later on when people settled near the place the village was called Massanian.

Despite the Doab region being their ancestral homeland, some Nijjars owned vast amounts of agricultural land in Lyallpur, West Punjab, prior to the Partition of India and Pakistan in 1947. Partition brought great loss and suffering to the Nijjars of Lyallpur (as it did to many Sikhs in West Punjab at the time, who were forced to give up their homes and livelihood, in order to move to India). The Nijjars of Lyallpur moved back to the Doaba region after 1947. Today, their descendants can be found in Fatehpur and Chomon.

The Najjar are listed under Khatri

Khatri

Khatri is a caste from the northern Indian subcontinent. Khatris in India are mostly from Punjab, region but later they migrated to regions like Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Jammu, Uttarkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Balochistan, Sindh and Khyber...

s by Ibbetson in A Glossary of The Tribes & Castes of The Punjab & North-West Frontier Province

Distribution

Nijjars are found mostly in the Doaba area of Punjab.Najka, Fatehpur, Chomon, Nijjaran, Behram Sarishta, Gobindpur, Kurali, Bhar Singh Pura

Bhar Singh Pura

Bhar Singh Pura is a village in Punjab, India. It is located within the district of Jalandhar, close to Phillaur . Some nearby villages include Apra, Bansian, Nagar, Thalla, Raipur and Dayalpur. It is one of the medium sized villages in Punjab...

, Raipur Arian, Massanian, Kathar, Diantpur, Nijjaran Di Pandori are among prominent villages (pinds) in district Jalandhar

Jalandhar

Jalandhar is a city in Jalandhar District in the state of Punjab, India. It is located 144 km northwest of the state capital, Chandigarh...

 of Nijjars. Domeli. Kapurthala

Kapurthala

Kapurthala is a city in Punjab state of India. It is the administrative headquarters of Kapurthala District. It was the capital of the Kapurthala State, a princely state in British India. The secular and aesthetic mix of the city with its prominent buildings based on French and Indo-Saracenic...

 district near 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...

is also a prominent village of Nijjars.The Nijjars were the most literate people during partition of India and Pakistan.They were espicially moved to Najka and PAndori Nijjaran

DIANATPUR - Village census 2001
No of Households 72
Total Population 349
Male Population 166
Female Population 183
Literate Population 259
Male Literate 125
Female Literate 134
Illiterate Population 90
Male illiterate population 41
Female illiterate population 49
Working Population 95
Population below 06 Male 22
Population below 06 Female 18

Nijjar and Deol Clan

Both clans had contributed greatly in the Ranjit Singh army during Sikh empire rule in Punjab. During the 1800s the Nijjar and Deol clan were the first to own large amounts of land in the Punjab area with out getting taxed the districts included Lahore, Sialkot, and Lyallpur.

Other sources

• Max Arthur Macauliffe: A History of the Sikhs; Vol. I, Princeton, 1963.
• Bakshish S. Nijjar: History of the Babar Akalis; Jalandhar, ABS Publications, 1987.
• Bakshish S. Nijjar: Indian Punjab; Jalandhar, ABS Publications, 1985.
• Balbir S. Nijjar: Census Records and Family History (Pre-Partition to 2000)