Mahtam
Mahatams (महतम) are a clan found among Punjab, India and Pakistan. They are Hindus as well as Muslims, and in the 1920s the former were mainly cultivators and the latter were clearers of the jungle.[1]
During British rule in India, they were placed under the Criminal Tribes Act 1871, hence stigmatized for a long time.[2]
Contents
History and origin
Historically, the Mahtam community were found mainly in region stretching from Dera Ghazi Khan in the west, and Lahore in the east, in Pakistan.
When the defeated army of Maharana Partap went to the jungles to recollect the army. For the survival of the soldier they prey in the jungles.After some time the army spread to different part of old Punjab. The District was Alipur, Multan, Bhawalpur etc. No Historian told about that Rajputs which was with Maharana Partap. Mahtam appear to have migrated from these cities after patition they settled in the river bank of Yamuna in Haryana Punjab. The Known Districts are Sonepat, Panipat, Karnal, Kurukshetra, Rajpura Etc. They traced their ancestry from Raja Bhim Sain of Delhi, through his great grandson Mahi.[3] In southern Punjab, the Mahtam were historically tenants, and their chief occupation was snaring wild pigs. The Rassiwat branch of the Mahtam were connected with rope making.
The Lahore Mahtams claimed descent from two brothers, Jaimal and Fateh, who came from Delhi. But the Jats were their great rivals, and after the Mughal Emperor Akbar married a local Jat, the Mahtam were banished.[3]
The Muslim Mahtam of Multan and Bahawalpur claim, that they are, in fact, simply a clan of the Bhatti Rajputs. Most of them have always been associated with farming.
The Gujrat and Sialkot Mahtams were also known as Bahrupia. The Mahtam, thus had a number of differing account of their origin, as do many other Punjab tribes.
Religion
As many other communities in Punjab, they were found among all three of the religious groups in the Punjab, namely Hindu, Muslim and Sikh. According to the 1901 census of India, nearly half were Hindu, and a quarter were Sikh and Muslim.
Mahtam clans or gots
- Baksawan, found in Multan
- Bawra, found in Multan
- Bhatti
- Bhichar
- Dandal, in Multan and Dera Ghazi Khan
- Dosa
- Ghogha
- Ikwan
- Jandi
- Kachura
- Karnawal
- Katwal
- Madha
- Malhi
- Mandal
- Manhanas
- Parbar
- Rai
- Rawari
- Sanora
- Sardia
- [Seotara]]
- Sirari
- Sauni
- Taur
- Totum
- Warwal
- Vanura
- War
- Wila
Current situation
After the partition of India, in 1947, the Hindu and Sikh branches of the tribe emigrated to India. They are now found mainly in Haryana and Punjab states.
The term Mahtam now only used for the Muslim and Hindu branches of the tribe, the Sikh branch are now known as Rai Sikhs.[4]
See also
References
- ↑ Gazetteer of the Multan District 1923-24 published by Sang-E-Meel Publications and Page 99
- ↑ Punjab - Police and Jails The Imperial Gazetteer of India, 1908, v. 20, p. 363.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 A Glossary of the tribes & castes of Punjab by H. A Rose
- ↑ People of India Punjab Volume XXXVII edited by I.J.S Bansal and Swaran Singh pages 367 to 372 Manohar
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