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History of Punjabis

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interesting take on porous

Ancient university of Taxila reconstructed (near Islamabad/Rawalpindi)
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From the Huns to the Turks the age of cavalry dominated the life scene. Many Rock carvings in Central Punjab show men riding, even standing on horse back and brandishing their swords and shooting arrows.

Pakistan - History Through The Centuries by Dr Ahmad Hasan Dani

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@Sainthood 101

https://twitter.com/x/status/1492442529828163584
 
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I do not wana brag about it but the Punjabis are the reason that Indian forces are on a constant fear and depression in IOK , in all the major attacks Punjabi Mujahids of the south Punjab and central Punjab had inflicted heavy damage to them like just recently in Poonch. This is the reason they out of Fear label every Pak mujahid and Army official as Punjabis .

In an intercepts regarding Poonch assault we heard one of their Officer asking about his ground soldiers about who the fighters are and he said " Punjabi hain to bachk kay ye gardan katay gay "
 
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Zarrar Alvi said:
I do not wana brag about it but the Punjabis are the reason that Indian forces are on a constant fear and depression in IOK , in all the major attacks Punjabi Mujahids of the south Punjab and central Punjab had inflicted heavy damage to them like just recently in Poonch. This is the reason they out of Fear label every Pak mujahid and Army official as Punjabis .
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Jasrath Khokhar, rebel forever.​

The last one thousand years of Punjab’s political history is that of resistance and grit and Jasrath Khokhar is another name in the line of men that rose in revolt against foreign invaders. He was the son of Shaikha Khokhar, chief of the Khokhar tribe and ruled between Ravi and Chenab. Tabaqat-i-Akbari describes them “being Hindus by descent they had become converts to Islam”. The Khokhars are some of the earliest converts to Islam because they came under the influence of Baba Farid (1173-1266) according to Ali Asghar Chishti, who wrote Jawahar-i-Faridi while on a pilgrimage to the shrine in 1652.

The document also mentions a list of marriage alliances between indigenous clans and heads of shrines, Jasrath Khokhar is mentioned as father in law to Shaikh Faizullah. Interestingly, he is referred to as Malik Jasrath Khokhar, symbolizing political clout. These marriage alliances allowed shrine families to practice social and material influence on tribes capable of raising small armies of their own, which lead to being patronized by the Delhi Sultanate. This process also connected the various tribes of Punjab with the center (Delhi), the Pakpattan (West Punjab) Chishti shrine for instance played a prominent role especially during the Tughlaq era and the dynasty founder Ghazi Malik was a visitor even during his days as a Khilji governor.

Couple things to note are firstly, Tarikh-e-Firishta calls Jasrath Khokhar, a Gakhar. Secondly, in the Pakistani context, the heavily read Indus Saga by Aitzaz Ahsan makes the same error. However, it is essential to point out that Jasrath was a Khokhar and both Gakhar and Khokhars are different tribes of distinct origins.

There is no information available on Jasrath Khokhar’s early life. His story begins with Timur’s invasion where he resisted the Turco-Mongol with a thousand troops on his side. His father Shaikha Khokhar was later killed by Timur’s grandson Pir Muhammad and Jasrath was made prisoner and taken back to the Persian city of Samarkand (now in Uzbekistan). The details regarding the incident are not clear, but it is said Jasrath escaped from Samarkand and made his back to his homeland and takeover the leadership of the Khokhar tribe.

Kashmir Affair:

The Sultan of Kashmir, Ali Shah left the administration to his brother Shahi Khan to go on a trip to Jammu, however, when he returned, his brother Shahi Khan had usurped him. Ali Shah with the help of local chiefs regains his throne & Shahi Khan finds himself exiled in Sialkot. There he asks Jasrath Khokhar to help him to the throne of Kashmir & in 1420 Sultan Ali Shah is defeated by Jasrath Khokhar. Whether, Sultan Ali Shah died in captivity of executed by Jasrath is unclear.

Shahi Khan would then proclaim himself as Zain-ul-Abidin and go on to rule Kashmir for FIFTY years. This victory would earn Jasrath Khokhar large amount of booty and a favour with a king who would finance his future ventures. The 15th century courtier of Mubarak Shah of Delhi Sultanate in his account Tarikh-i-Mubarik Shahi describes “Jasrath Khokhar was an imprudent rustic. Intoxicated with victory, and elated with the strength of his forces, he began to have visions of Delhi”.

Aspirations for Delhi:

The death of Sultan of Delhi Sultanate and founder of Sayyid dynasty, Khizr Khan (reign 1414-1421) would encourage Jasrath Khokhar to march towards Delhi. He had also been joined by a new rebel, Tughan Rai who was formerly Ludhiana’s Emir, but his territories were taken away due to his rebellion. The order of business started with sacking Ludhiana and besting Rai Firoz Main, the main Ludhiana governor at Talwandi (near modern day Ludhiana, Indian Punjab). After taking over Ludhiana, Jasrath now moved on to Sirhind on June 22, 1421 which was being held by Sultan Shah Lodi. Jasrath was unable to take this fort and the siege had to be cut short due to rain. This gave Sirhind Emir, Sultan Shah Lodi time to bring reinforcements and call for help from the capital, Delhi which was ruled by Sultan Mubarak Shah (reign 1421-1434), second ruler of the Sayyid Dynasty.

Jasrath had now retreated back to Ludhiana and both the Delhi Sultan and his Sirhind Emir marched towards the Khokhar camp. By then Jasrath had already crossed over Sutlej and both armies kept an eye on each other’s movements from the opposite sides of the river. There would be skirmishes between the Sultanate and Jasrath’s armies for forty days and the situation reached a stalemate.

Sultan Mubarak Shah would then send a detachment at night lead by his prominent nobles, Zirak Khan who was made a prisoner in Ludhiana earlier by Jasrath, but was released (or escaped), Sikandar Tohfa and Mahmud Hasan to name some. This action would take Jasrath by surprise who then fled towards Jalandhar, crossed Beas, then Ravi while being pursued by the Delhi Sultan, Mubarak Shah. The Sultan chased Jasrath Khokhar into Kashmir hill tracts helped by an old enemy of Jasrath, Rai Bhim of Jammu. However, Jasrath would evade Mubarak Shah again and the latter realized it was futile to continue pursuing and instead returned back to Delhi in December 1421 or January 1422.

After three months of Sultan Mubarak Shah retreating back to Lahore, Jasrath Khokhar would fall back on Punjab after collecting a force of local zamindars and attack Lahore in May 1422. For next five months he is said to have engaged in skirmishes with the Imperial Army all over Punjab without making any territorial gains.

Delhi Sultanate would once again assign its prominent nobles including Jasrath’s old foe, Rai Bhim (ruler of Jammu) to aid Malik Mahmud and the Delhi Sultan dispatched Sikander Tuhfa as well for the job & this alliance would defeat the Khokhar chief forcing him to go back to his Tilhar, Kashmir stronghold.

Victory at Jammu:

Jasrath Khokhar would keep a low profile for a bit which would then make the Delhi state officials lose sight. Then a year later out of nowhere he descended upon the Jammu ruler, Rai Bhim, ravaged his territories and killed him in battle in April 1423. This campaign would earn him significant booty and would dragoon his ten to twelve thousand troops on both foot and horse in to his own army. By now Sikandar Tohfa who was earlier sent out by the Sultan in Delhi became Emir of Lahore. He crossed Chenab to crush Jasrath Khokhar, but retreated without succeeding. It is unclear if this was due to a military defeat or whether Jasrath was evasive.

Frustrated:

For someone who aspired to rule India, Jasrath was realizing his incapacity to meet Delhi Sultanate’s army in open engagements and his guerilla warfare was not sustainable if he wanted to make permanent gains. With the current method he could not even hold territories in Punjab let alone anything further than that. He would attempt to get Timur’s grandson Shaikh Ali, the governor of Kabul involved, but nothing would come of that. Other sources claim Shaikh Ali did appear in Punjab for a short period only to return without making any gains.

Waiting game:

Jasrath Khokhar won’t rebel for five years from 1423-1428 because he was busy strengthening his position within his tribal domain and building up military strength. Then he would appear in the middle of 1428 to cause trouble once again and lay siege to Kalanaur in modern day Gurdaspur district of Indian Punjab. Sikandar Tohfa, the Emir of Lahore then comes to assist forcing Jasrath Khokhar to retreat yet again. As Sikandar marched back, Jasrath Khokhar would cross Beas to Jallandhar and sack the place, but could not hold it due to the nature of the fort there.

The incensed Sultan of Delhi, Mubarak Shah would dispatch Emir of Samana, Zirak Khan, Emir of Sirhind, now Islam Khan, so they can assist Sikandar Tohfa, the Emir of Lahore. However, Sikandar had already left for Jallandhar and with the help of Rai Ghalib Kalanauri, a local tribal chief, he decisively defeated Jasrath Khokhar who was forced to leave behind his spoils as well.

The years 1430 to 1433 see Delhi Sultanate become a shell of itself with rebellions all over the place and the state having to send military expeditions to collect taxes. Katehar, Bayana, Mewat, Gwalior, Etawah and many others were openly refused to pay the Delhi government. The three main players that would go on to cause the most headache were: Jasrath Khokhar of Punjab, Faulad Turkbacha who was a slave soldier of the Emir of Bathinda (Eastern Punjab) & Shaikh Ali, the Governor of Kabul province on behalf of Timurids.

Faulad Turkbacha had revolted after the death of his Bathinda Emir and the Sultan laid siege to his fort in Bathinda. There were rounds of negotiations of surrender, but Turkbacha would continue resisting who would hold out for six months. Then he would reach out to Shaikh Ali, the Kabul Timurid lieutenant to come assist in exchange for a fee, which the former he would accept.

Shaikh Ali’s arrival would force Delhi Sultanate commanders to raise the siege and retire from Bathinda. Faulad Turkbacha would fulfill his promise of 2 lakh tankas. However, the invader would change his mind and take Turkbacha’s women and children as hostage to plunder his lands as well for more wealth.

Return to the scene:

Although, Shaikh Ali would later be expelled by Delhi Sultanate with great effort from Punjab, Jasrath Khokhar would take advantage of this turmoil and decided to appear again and resume his rebellious ways in November 1431. The Lahore Emir, Sikandar Tohfa who would force Jasrath to retreat earlier saw himself defeated and captured by the Khokhar chief in Jallandhar. He would take the Emir with him to lay siege to Lahore itself which was now being defended by Sikandar’s deputy Syed Najmuddin. Shaikh Ali would also come back and sack Multan and sparing no one be it the qazis, scholars of families.

Meanwhile, Faulad Turkbacha would also come out of his Bathinda stronghold to cause trouble. The Sultan of Delhi, Mubarak Shah would emerge once again to establish order and Shaikh Ali would return to Kabul and Jasrath Khokhar would raise his Lahore siege and carry Sikandar Tohfa back to his Tillhar hills camp in Kashmir. The Sultan would appoint a new Emir to Lahore, Nusrat Khan who would repel another Khokhar attack in July 1432.

Faulad Turkbacha falls:

The Sultan of Sayyid Dynasty, Mubarak Shah would decide to end the Turkbacha problem once and for all and would lay siege to his Bathinda fort again joined by his commanders such as Zirak & Islam Khan and Kahun Raj. He would reassign the Lahore and Jallandhar territories to Allahdad Kaka Lodi who would set his sights on neutralizing Jasrath Khokhar, a venture which would end in defeat and retiring to Kothi (Eastern Punjab).

Shaikh Ali would return again in January 1433, to help his ally and attack the officers laying siege to his fort, but a pre-emptive measure would force him to turn to Lahore and continue looting and ravaging there. Sikandar Tohfa had now been released by Jasrath Khokhar under conditions that are not clear, who will now be assigned Dipalpur and Jallandhar so he can take care of the Shaikh Ali issue who would be compelled to return back to Kabul. In November 1433, the siege would conclude with Turkbacha’s severed head sent to Delhi.

The Switch & Kingmakers:

After his 1432 win on Allahdad Kaka Lodhi at Bajwara (Eastern Punjab) Jasrath Khokhar had kept a low profile. The rise of Bahlol Lodhi who would go on to form the Lodhi dynasty saw a surprise change of events where the former captive of Jasrath Khokhar, Sikandar Tohfa asked for his help to push Lodhi back. The result of this alliance was Bahlol Lodhi defeated and forced to retreat in Siwalik foothills. However, overtime the Delhi Sultanate now ruled by Sultan Muhammad Shah was compelled to acknowledge Bahlol’s rise in Punjab and accept his territorial claims in 1441 on condition that he would crush Jasrath Khokhar. The Khokhar chief would rebel again in same year, but Bahlol Lodhi and Jasrath would make peace and promised not to interfere in each other’s domains. The Khokhar neutrality towards Bahlol’s aspirations is said to have played a part in the establishment of Lodhi dynasty, whose disturbances were serious enough to keep Delhi Sultanate’s best nobles including three of the four Sayyid dynasty Sultans themselves busy on and off for twenty years.

This would also be the second time the Khokhars would play kingmakers, as over a century before all this, the army which goes on to found the Tughlaq dynasty had a large presence of Khokhars according to the famous Amir Khusrau. The 14th century historian, Abdul Malik Isami highlights Gul Chand and Sahij Rai as the two prominent Khokhars who played a significant role on the battlefield on behalf of Ghazi Malik or Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq who would go on to form the Tughlaq dynasty.

Conclusion:

Nothing is sure as to what happened to Jasrath Khokhar after the Bahlul Lodhi peace agreement in 1441, but it is believed he passed away in 1442 and the details about his death are not clear. Even if he was twenty years old at the time of the Timur engagement in 1398, by his death (1442) he would be about sixty four years of age. More importantly, he was in a continuous state of rebellion for 20 years against the Delhi Sultanate in which at no point did he accept Delhi’s suzerainty over him. Jasrath Khokhar is another fascinating character in Punjabi Muslim history, whose story (although never told in our schools) is of eternal grit and resistance and much like Adina Arain he took it upon himself to navigate the tricky political waters of Punjab to carve out a space for himself.

punjabiwaseb.com

Jasrath Khokhar, rebel forever.

The last one thousand years of Punjab’s political history is that of resistance and grit and Jasrath Khokhar is another name in the line of men that rose in revolt against foreign invaders. H…
punjabiwaseb.com punjabiwaseb.com

More you look at history more you realize how accurate game of thrones is in describing medevil history
 
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@Indus Pakistan is it true that Alexander received an arrow into the lungs while he along with two of his soldiers jumped in the fortress of Multan, during the Mallian campaign?

Also The Cophen(Kabul) campaign of Alexander was not faught in modern Kabul city but in the valleys along the KABUL RIVER i.e major battles were faught in Dir, Swat and Kunar. All of these battles were faught by Pakhtuns and not Afghans, hence this quote↓ is about Pushtuns, not Afgs https://t.co/IjfJqxeIo3
 
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Sainthood 101 said:
In the Zoroastrian sacred scripture, the Avesta, Panjab is mentioned among the sixteen ‘perfect lands’ created by Ahura Mazda, the chief deity in the Zoroastrian religion: ‘The fifteenth of the good lands and countries which I, Ahura Mazda, created, was the Seven Rivers’
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Hapta Hindava is not solely Punjab.

It is the equivalent of the Sanskrit "Sapta Sindhava"; "Seven Rivers" and encompasses the lands between the Helmand and Beas rivers.
 
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jus_chillin said:
From the Huns to the Turks the age of cavalry dominated the life scene. Many Rock carvings in Central Punjab show men riding, even standing on horse back and brandishing their swords and shooting arrows.

Pakistan - History Through The Centuries by Dr Ahmad Hasan Dani

View attachment 815041
View attachment 815042

@Sainthood 101

https://twitter.com/x/status/1492442529828163584
Click to expand...
From the Sakas, the tribe also known as Scythians, to the Turks, if you like. They far preceded the Huns.

Zarrar Alvi said:
I do not wana brag about it but the Punjabis are the reason that Indian forces are on a constant fear and depression in IOK , in all the major attacks Punjabi Mujahids of the south Punjab and central Punjab had inflicted heavy damage to them like just recently in Poonch. This is the reason they out of Fear label every Pak mujahid and Army official as Punjabis .

In an intercepts regarding Poonch assault we heard one of their Officer asking about his ground soldiers about who the fighters are and he said " Punjabi hain to bachk kay ye gardan katay gay "
Click to expand...
Ah, yes, the uprising exclusively of the people of the Valley.

Quite so.

Is it all right if I quote your post?
 
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