Minhas

Minhas (मिनहास)Minhas (मिन्हास) is Jat Gotra found in Punjab, India and in Pakistan. In the Western Punjab Virks are supposed to belong to Mahe dynasty, and Minhas are considered to be brethren of the Virks.

Jat Gotras Namesake

• Minhas = Minæ (Pliny.vi.32)

Mention by Pliny

Pliny mentions Arabia.... Lying in the interior, and joining up to the Atramitæ, are the Mitæi; are the Minæ; the Elamitæ⁴¹ dwell on the sea-shore, in a city from which they take their name.

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41 Hardouin is doubtful as to this name, and thinks that it ought to be Elaitæ, or else Læanitæ, the people again mentioned below.

Jat Gotras Namesake

• Minhas = Minæi (Pliny.vi.32).

Mention by Pliny

Pliny mentions Arabia.....He (Ælius Gallus) brought back with him the following discoveries—that the Nomades⁶³ live upon milk and the flesh of wild beasts, and that the other nations, like the Indians, extract a sort of wine from the palm-tree, and oil from sesame.⁶⁴ He says that the most numerous of these tribes are the Homeritæ and the Minæi, that their lands are fruitful in palms and shrubs, and that their chief wealth is centred in their flocks.

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63 Or wandering tribes.

64 Its uses in medicine are stated at length in the last Chapter of B. xxi.

History

Ram Swarup Joon writes about Virk - Minhas: In the Western Punjab Virks are supposed to belong to Mahe dynasty, and Minhas are considered to be brethren of the Virks. They are mentioned in the history of Gujars. The name of the ancestor of the Virk gotra was Virk Vardhan. According to Patan Jali Bhashya 4.6-114, Ashtadhyayi l-6-155 Mahabhasya 4-2-154 and Kashika varti 1-1-175, Raja Virk Vardhan had his forts in Kasrud (Mandsor) ,

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History of the Jats, End of Page-107

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Central India, Shakil (Sialkot) Sosaph, Dathaaprastha, Naudipur, Koak, Kandewa, Mula, Pava Datt, Karkar, Virkgary etc.

According to historians the present Sheikhupura was the site of Virkgarh.

According to Th. Yugendrapal Virks are Vahikas who are mentioned in the Mahabharat and who took one sixth of the income of King Shalya. In the 4th century AD they had a powerful kingdom. They were contemporaries of Gupta rulers. According to Brij Indra Bhaskar, in 428 AD the Virk rulers performed a big Yagya near Bayana and constructed a Pillar, on which they mentioned as Virks. Rock inscriptions of Yashodharman have been found in Mandsor. Their reign in Malwa came to an end in 462.

King Singhavarma belonging to this dynasty ruled from 535 AD to 585 AD. He had two sons Narvarma and Chandravarma. Chandravarma's son was Yashovarman. According to a rock inscription found in Gandhar, he was an independent ruler. He had two sons, Bhimvarma and Bandhuvarma. Bondhuvarma was defeated by the Gupta rulers and Bhimvarma was appointed the Savant of a principality near Kausambhi but once more he became independent and allying himself with Anu Gupta fought the Huns. This has been referred to in the "Chandra Viyakaran".

Bhandhuvarman's son was Yashodharman and his son Shiladitya.

The Virk Jat Kapur Singh founded Kapurthala and made it his capital. Before Punjab's partition Sir Shahabuddin, member of the Punjab assembly and Secretary of Jat Sabha belonged to Tar in Sialkot. Jandiala in Amritsar belonged to the Virks.

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B S Dahiya writes: It is one of the most important clan. It is mentioned by Panini and V.S. Agrawal has identified Virk with the Jats. The same identification has been mentioned by Buddha Prakash. Mahabhasya mentions Vrika and its derivative Varkenya, the Varkan of the Persians, and Hyrcan of the Greeks. The Caspian sea was once called the Sea of Vrkans (Hyrcanian). The identification of Hyrcan with Varkan has also been mentioned by Rawlinson in his History of Herodotus, he mentions that even in the thirteenth century, their country in Central Asian was mentioned as Urkanich in Yakut. According to Herodotus they fought in the battle of Thermopylae under their leader named Megapanus, who was afterwards Satrap of Babylonia. They are one of the earliest clans too enter India, and up to the sixth century A.D. at least they were ruling in Malwa under their king Vishnuvardhana, Vrik. The Vriks are remembered in the Brahma, Vaman and Markandeya Puranas. Their antiquity goes very much deep in the past. A country called Uruk / Wark is mentioned in Sumeria, along with a country called Gutium. In fact, Trigan, the last Gutian King in the twenty-second century B.C. was defeated by Utu-Khegal, the ruler of Wark country. It is possible that this country has been named after them. The word Vrik in Sanskrit means a wolf the same as Russian Volka, which also means the same. The river Volga is named after In the Kushana period an officer of Vima Kadphises was a Vrika, according to K.P.Jayaswal.

According to Patan Jali Bhashya 4.6-114, Ashtadhyayi l-6-155 Mahabhasya 4-2-154 and Kashika varti 1-1-175, Raja Virk Vardhan had his forts in Kasrud (Mandsaur) , Central India, Shakil (Sialkot) Sosaph, Dathaaprastha, Naudipur, Koak, Kandewa, Mula, Pava Datt, Karkar, Virkgary etc.

According to historians the present Sheikhupura was the site of Virkgarh.

According to Th. Yugendrapal Virks are Vahikas who are mentioned in the Mahabharata and who took one sixth of the income of King Shalya. In the 4th century AD they had a powerful kingdom. They were contemporaries of Gupta rulers. According to Brij Indra Bhaskar, in 428 AD the Virk rulers performed a big Yagya near Bayana and constructed a Pillar, on which they mentioned as Virks. Rock inscriptions of Yasodharman have been found in Mandsaur. Their reign in Malwa came to an end in 462 AD.

King Singhavarma belonging to this dynasty ruled from 535 AD to 585 AD. He had two sons Narvarma and Chandravarma. Chandravarma's son was Yasovarman. According to a rock inscription found in Gandhar, he was an independent ruler. He had two sons, Bhimvarma and Bondhuvarma. Bondhuvarma was defeated by the Gupta rulers and Bhimvarma was appointed the Savant of a principality near Kausambhi but once more he became independent and allying himself with Anu Gupta fought the Huns. This has been referred to in the "Chandra Viyakaran".

Bhandhuvarma's son was Yasodharman and his son Shiladitya.

The Virk Jat Kapur Singh founded Kapurthala and made it his capital. Before Punjab's partition Sir Shahabuddin, member of the Punjab assembly and Secretary of Jat Sabha belonged to Tar in Sialkot. Jandiala in Amritsar belonged to the Virks.

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H.A. Rose writes that Jamwal (जमवाल), a Hindu Rajput clan found in Montgomery : and also in Sialkot where two accounts of their origin are current.

According to their mirasis they are of Solar Race descent, and their ancestor Agnigar migrated from Ajudhia to the Rechna Doab. His son Jammu defeated one Raja Chanda Rihas and founded the town of Jammu, whence their name, Jamwal. One of the chiefs, however, by name Milhan Minhas, took to agriculture and founded the Manhas tribe.

The other account is that Bhara Datt, migrating from Ajudhia to Kashmir, returned and settled at the place where Mankot now stands. His descendant Jammu founded an independent state of that name, and fourth in descent from him reigned Jograj circa 474 Sambat. From him descended the Deo dynasty of Sialkot, whose pedigree is thus given : —

The pedigree of Deo dynasty of Sialkot

Raja Ram Deo, 11th in descent from Jograj. → Sajji Deo. → Narsingh Deo. → Jodh Deo. → Jhagar Deo. → The Minhas.

In Hoshiarpur the Rajputs rank as a sept of the 1st grade.

Distribution in Pakistan

According to 1911 census, the Manhas-Muslim Jat clan was population 457 in Jhelum District district in Pakistan.

Notable persons

• Lt. Col. S.S. Minhas - Battle of Burki
• Gurdit Singh Minhas - Service History: Thakur Gurdit Singh Minhas (a Hindu Rajput with a history of over 5,000 years) was a part of the 6th Cavalry, later known as Hodson/Hudson’s Horsemen regiment of the British Indian Army. His normal/regular posting was near the border of current Pakistan and Afghanistan (North Western Frontier). During World War I, Cavalier Gurdit Singh Minhas with the 6th Cavalry crossed today's Afghanistan and then took part in the action up to Egypt & Sinai through Persia (Iran) and Mesopotamia (Iraq). Gurdit Singh was awarded a Star medal (issued to those who saw service in operational theatre of war from 5 August 1914 to 31 December 1915) and a Victory medal.

References

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