Doad

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Doad, Dod, Dodd
Classification: Caste/Jatt
Clans: Jatt
Significant populations in: India, Pakistan, Canada, UK, United States of America Belgium.
Language Punjabi and its dialects
Religion Sikhism, Hinduism

Doad is a clan of Jatts (Sikhs). As with a lot of Jatt clans, Jatt Doad's share lineage to their respective Hindu Jats forefathers. Large settlements of Doads are found in District Hoshiarpur (Punjab), Nawanshahar (Punjab), Faridkot (Punjab) and District Una (Himachal). Smaller numbers of Doads are also found in Rajasthan and Pakistan. Some Doads who have emigrated to North America and Europe from village Jalwehra have changed their family name to Jalwehra or Dodd. In the earlier British accounts the Doad history was recorded under the "Dod Clan". The history of the Doad clan is beautifully described in A Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North-West Frontier Province compiled by H.A. Rose and based on the census report for the Punjab 1883, by Sir Denzil Ibbetson, and the census report for the Punjab 1892 by Sir Edward Maclagan, published by the Asian Educational Services (pp. 243–244). Though of Jat lineage, Sikh Doads (who are historically landlords and prosperous) officially are classified as "Jatt".

History

Doad's historically used to be among twelve Jats tribes (out of the total of 36 tribes) which belong to the family of Krishna and call themselves "Chandarbansi". In the 7th or 8th century AD, a Yadav tribe (which was also Chandarbansi) ruled over Orissa, a state in present-day India. According to the tradition, they succeeded in defeating an enemy who was one and a half times as numerous as themselves. That is why they began to be called "deoda" (or "Deorha" which means "one and a half"). As time passed, the word "deoda" began to be pronounced as “Doad”. At the beginning of the 9th century, Raja Deochand Doad went to Udaipur, a city in the Rajistan state, with tribesmen and his army. From Udaipur, he progressed towards Delhi by passing through Garh Mandala (a small city in the district Bhilwara in Rajastan).

On his way from Orissa to Delhi, he had to fight many battles. He defeated all his enemies and finally managed to arrive in Delhi. At that time, Delhi was ruled by the Turks (or Turs) tribe. A battle took place between the Doads and Turks in the region of Delhi. The Turks were defeated in that battle. Thereafter, the Doads progressed towards Punjab. They conquered the town of Garh Muktsar and its surroundings in the present-day Ferozepur Bathinda district establish Doaba state named after Rajadhiraj Deo Chand in its capital JAIJON which named after his jay pal.. in the foot hills of Shivalik belt.. A historian wrote the following lines in Pitchasi (the old Punjabi language), related to the above-mentioned military expedition of the Doads:

Orissa se charhiya Raja Deo Chand Baryahan Tika ae,
Tur Raja auliyan jo thake fauj rachae.
Tur chhadde nathke jo mil baithe hai,
Dod Garh Muktesar men jo mile chare thaon.

Raja Deo Chand gave that area to his brothers. Deo Chand left with his army toward Doaba and conquered it. After all these conquests, he finally established his empire in Doaba. He chose Jaijon as the capital of his empire. Raja Deo Chand's descendant Raja Jai Chand gave his name to the town of Jaijon, which was still the capital of his empire.

According to District and Status Gazetteer, p. 423, the Doad Rajputs, in these days, founded the town of Mansowal (in east Garhshankar, at the center of the plains of Shivalik mountains). They also constructed a fort in that town, because of which, the town sometimes is referred to as Garhi or Garrhi Mansowal.

Jai Chand had 4 sons. They were granted freedom from the Jaswals. From the four, one son took Jaijon, the second took Saroya, the third took the Kungrat area of Una district, and the fourth had Garhi Mansowal.

Guru Nanak Dev Ji

There is a historical record a Doad serving "Guru Nanak Dev ji", as per the Janamsakhi.

Guru Nanak Dev ji(during his voyages of enlightening people) visited and later settled in the present day Kartarpur Sahib. His followers and people from nearby villages would come to seek blessings and listen to his discourses along the banks of the Ravi River.

As per the Janamsakhi a Doad from a nearby village alongside his wife came everyday with offerings of milk. The Doads in Faridkot claim descendence from this Doad elder and this story has been passed as a word of mouth from generation to generation. There is a Gurudwara sahib also in Faridkot near main bazaar which was made by Doads of Faridkot in remembrance of Guru Nanak Dev Ji and Baba Farid ji.

Doad estates

The following are notable estates of kingdoms as settled:

  • Estate of Mansowal - In approximately 1000 AD, Deo Chand's eighth-generation leader, King Shankar Sahai Doad, the ruler of the Manswal Estate, founded the city of Garh Shankar. King Shankar Sahai transferred the city's capital from Mansowal to Garh Shankar. Near to 1775, Shankar Sahai's thirty-first generation ruled over Garh Shankar (Mansowal). During that time, considerable stakes existed between the Doad tribe and the neighboring Ghorewaha tribes (descendants of Ram and Raja Man , who was sixth in line from Ram, fathered two sons—Kushwaha and Ghorewaha). The Doad tribe always prevailed over the Ghorewaha tribe.
  • Estate of Jaijon - The availability of information regarding this kingdom is scant; it is believed that the Jaijon Kingdom existed without issue.
  • Estate of Saroya - The availability of information regarding this kingdom is scant. Under Mughal rules, the kingdom's citizens were required to engage in difficult battles, and it is believed that some of the Doads from Saroya Estate embraced the Muslim religion.
  • Estate of Kungrat - The last ruler of Kungrat was Malkait Chand, and Chand was followed by Gharshakar and his younger brother, Balbir Singh, who were, in turn, succeeded by Mehandipur; the estate is now known as Balachaur. In contemporary times, Doads are found in parts of Una, while the newer generations of the king's family have settled in Garhshankar (former Mansowal).

For the Doad found in Hoshiarpur, the Doads are almost entirely confined to the bit tract in the Siwaliks, with their head being the rana (the upadhi which originally earned by fighting) of Mansowal. Jaijon and Saroya were subsequently lost to the Doads, and after their defeat by Jaswal as they sank to their status in that region, they sank to the status of ranas losing that of rajas of the 22 villages dependant on Kungrat, as the family lost its position during the Sikh rule. The rana of Mansowal (Garhshankar nowadays) however, maintained his position under the Sikhs rule and holds most of the upper 22 Mansowal villages (beet+22=44) in jagirs,

The following is another account of history:

Four leaders of the clan migrated from Udaipur to Garh Mandele 1,100 years ago and thence to Garh Mukteshwar, thence Jodh Chand seized Mansowal expelling Hira, the Mahton leader whose tribe held the tract 40 generations ago, rana Chacho Chand, the 19th rana was attacked by the katoch ruler, but his brother Tilok Singh (Tillo) defeated him Atmahetpur in Una, and Tillo's shrine at Bhiwani is reverenced to this day. In Sambat 1741 rana Jog Chand repelled a Jaswal invasion, rana Bakht Chand annexed Bhalan with 12 dependent villages in una, his successor Rattan Chand repelled a Jaswal army under Bhagwan Singh Sonkhla who was killed, and in his memory, a shrine at Kharalli was erected. A treaty now defined the Jaswal and Doad territories, under Mian Gulab Singh, regent during Achal Chand's minority, Nadir Shah is said to have visited the tract and ordered a massacre of Rasali people, but the rana obtained from him a grant of Bathri, then a Jaswal village; rana Jhagar Chand however espoused the Jaswal's cause when they were attacked by Sansar Chandof Kangra in 1804 AD and repulsed him on Ranjit Singh's invasion of the Mansowal plateau, the rana was confirmed in his possessions subject to contingent of 15 horse, the rule of inheritance was primogeniture, migrated by a system of lopping off villages as fiefs for younger sons, many of whose descendants still hold villages, thus reducing the size of estates.

Plot against Doads (1775)

The Ghorewaha made a deadly plot against the Doads of Estate of Jaijon. They managed to buy Bharadwaj, the high priest of the Doad tribe and massacred the Doads in a well-planned scheme. When the Doads were busy in the prayer, four members of the Ghorewan tribe entered the temple, according to a well-defined plan, and attacked the disarmed Doads.

They brutally killed the Doads and filled the tank of the temple with their dead bodies. Thus, the Korewans (Ghorewahas) finally succeeded in conquering Garhshankar. This event took place around 1775. The Doads who managed to escape that slaughter migrated to other areas in Punjab (like Dandiyan, Mansowal, etc.).

Doads regaining their power and their new settlements

During the reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, when he wanted to conquer the sub-mountainous region of Kandi, the Doads of Mansowal sent fifteen horse riders to help Maharaja Ranjit Singh, in order to avenge their massacre by the Ghorewahas. In return, the Maharaja granted the Doads the property of the lands of Mansowal. The British Empire also granted the property of eight villages to Doad of Mansowal. This information is recorded on page 67 in Final Report of Revised Settlement, Hoshiarpur District, 1877–1884, by J.A.L. Montgomery, published 1885, Calcutta Central Press Co.

After the slaughter of Doads at Garhshankar, five grandsons of the last Doad king survived. The youngest grandson of the last Doad king, who was also killed by Korewans, was married to a girl from Ajnoha. During the Garhshankar tragedy, the wife of the youngest prince was at her parents house in Ajnoha because she was expecting a baby. She gave birth to a son. In those days, it was not considered good to keep the son of a daughter in the village. Therefore, when the young prince became an adult in 1800, the villagers of Ajnoha built a house for him in the land of another village, Panchhat. In the course of time, his cousins, the sons of his two uncles, who were homeless until then, finally came to live with him in Panchhat. The son of his third uncle, whose name was Ghamandi, also came to live with him. The brother of Ghamandi, named Jattu, went to live in Thakarwal. The descends of Jattu, went to live in New Thakarwal (Randhirgarh) and others came to live with the son of the youngest prince. Sometime later, they also brought the people of lower castes from Garhshankar to their place. Their place of residence was located in the low land. During the rainy season, their village remained full of water for many days. That is why their village began to be called "Jalwehra" meaning "terrace of water".

In the beginning, the villagers of Panchhat opposed the creation of Jalwehra village on their lands. Many clashes took place between the two villages. Among the villagers of Jalwehra, Baba Mith Singh and Baba Bir Bhan Singh sacrificed their lives to protect their village. Their memorials are today a place of worship in the village. A gurudwara honouring Baba Bir Bhan Singh was recently built on the site of the original memorial. The Doads of Hoshiarpur started becoming Sikhs during Akali Baba Phula Singh's time. The first one was Nihang Koom Singh Doad (of Jalwehra), who was the son of Ghamandi, and the great-grandson of the last king of Garhshankar. The Rajput residents of villages Jalwehra, Thakarwal, and New Thakarwal (Randhirgarh) are descendents of the last Jatt Raja of Garhshankar, who was killed by Ghorewahas.

  • Settlements in Una District of Himachal: Significant numbers of Doads (between 5,000 and 6,000) reside in the villages of Dulehar, Singan, and Bathu in current Himachal Pradesh. These Doad jats are remnant of the larger Doad clan. These villages apparently have a glorious history, and nearly 100 soldiers laid down their lives during World War I and II.
  • Settlements in Firazpur, Bathinda, and Abohar District of Punjab: After the slaughter of Doads at Garhshankar, five grandsons of the last Doad king survived.

"Rajasthan" Region A

Raja Deochand Doad went to Udaipur, a city in the current Rajasthan state, with tribesmen and his army. From Udaipur he left toward Delhi but left his brother to take over the region. The Dod earlier had rule over some states in Gujarat. Present Hadauti was earlier occupied by Huns and known as Huna Pradesh. Dods (डोड) defeated them and established their capital at Dodgarh (Gagrum). This area was under Nagavanshi rulers. This is mentioned in an inscription of v.s. 847 (770 AD). There are traces of Doad Jat at the fort of Jhalawar, Gagron Fort.

Gagron fort

The Gagron fort is situated on a hill where the Kalisind and the Ahu rivers meet and form a barrier around most of it. It is one of Rajasthan's most important forts.

The fort of Gagron, situated among such natural environs, is regarded as one of the most important forts of Rajasthan. The fort was constructed by the Doad Rajputs in whose possession it remained up to the 12th century, AD. The fort is also called Dodgarh after its founder.

Doads defeated them and continued to rule here in this region until v.s. 1300 (1243 AD). The Jahajpur area in Mewar was also ruled by Doads. An inscription of their rule is found of the year v.s. 1334 (1177 AD). Telanjarai Doad was a samanta of Prithvirajn time.

Delhi Region B

Thereafter leaving, some nobles in that region, there are traces as Dods of Bulandshahr; this town was earlier known as Vana (वाणा). This was ruled by Dod Kshatriyas, who were samantas of Chauhans. During reign of Prithvirah, the ruler of this area was Anang. Anang had left a grant of v.s. 1233 (1176 AD). According to this grant 16 generations of Dods ruled here. They probably established here around 900 AD. When Mahmud Gazanvi attacked Mathura, Bulandshahr was ruled by Hardatt Dod,


Regions in India with Doad populations

Districts

In these districts there are a few villages with significant numbers of Doads.

Villages

Village District & State Population
Kungrat Una district, HP
Jalwehra Hoshiarpur, Punjab ca. 600
Mansowal Hoshiarpur, Punjab -
Todarpur Hoshiarpur, Punjab -
Dandiyan Hoshiarpur, Punjab ca. 500
Thakkarwal Hoshiarpur, Punjab -
Badala Hoshiarpur, Punjab -
Randhir Garh Kapurthala, Punjab ca. 500
Doad Faridkot, Punjab -
Dulehar Una, Himachal Pradesh ca. 3500
Doad Bhal Hamirpur district, Himachal Pradesh ca. 100

References