Mandruani
| Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (R) |
Mandruani was a tribe (nation) around Caspian Sea mentioned by Pliny[1]. They lived on the banks of Mandrus River.
Variants
Jat Gotras Namesake
- Mand = Mandruani (Pliny.vi.18)
- Manda = Mandruani (Pliny.vi.18)
- Mandar = Mandruani (Pliny.vi.18)
Jat Places Namesake
Mention by Pliny
Pliny[3] mentions Nations situated around the Hyrcanian Sea.... Below the district inhabited by them (Mardi), we find the nations of the Orciani, the Commori, the Berdrigæ, the Harmatotropi,11 the Citomaræ, the Comani, the Marucæi, and the Mandruani.
The rivers here are the Mandrus and the Chindrus.12
11 This appears to mean the nations of "Chariot horse-breeders."
12 In former editions, called the 'Gridinus.' It is impossible to identify many of these nations and rivers, as the spelling varies considerably in the respective MSS.
History
Jat History
Bhim Singh Dahiya[4] writes.... In the words of General Cunningham, in his report for 1863-1864, "the Meds or Mands are almost certainly the representatives of the Mandrueni, who lived on the Mandrus river, to the south of the Oxus; and as their name is found in the Punjab from the beginning of Christian era downwards and in none before that time, I conclude that they must have accompanied their neighbours, Iatii or Jats; on their forced migration to Ariana and India. In the classical writers, the name is found as Medi and Mandueni, and in the Mohammedan writers, as Med and Mand 58 Ibin Haukal describes them as Mands in his time in about 977 A.D. as occupying the banks of Indus from Multan to the sea and to the desert between Makran and Famhal. Masudi, who visited India in 915-16 A.D. calls them Mind and states that they were a race of Sindh.59
58. The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians/Note (C).- Ethnological, p. 528.
59. ibid., p. 529.