The khaas baat about Farmana Khaas
Some of the village communities in Haryana like those at Farmana Khaas are fairly old and offer unique opportunities to the study of rural life in this part of the country. Besides struggling consistently against the vagaries of nature to raise crops and rear cattle, the villagers paid special attention towards works of art and traditional Indian architecture in the later Mughal period.
Although the Jats have been in continuous possession of whole of this village estate for only about four centuries, it was originally settled by Panwar Rajputs in the late 12th century. About 950 years ago, one Kalu Singh Parmar (now called Panwar) is said to have come to Dilli from Ujjain when evicted by southern kings. His son, Ratey, was awarded a large estate west of Rohtak by Chauhan kings of Dilli wherewith he founded Kalanaur, now a small town on the Bhiwani-Rohtak state highway. Ratey had two sons, Uddha and Dhamma. These sons and their heirs founded several villages in the neighbourhood.
Farmana Khaas was founded in mid-13th century by Dhamma near a large old mound already known as ‘Khaas’. Earlier, after decades of occupation by unknown people, the settlement at ‘Khaas’ was said to have been abandoned, the proof of which was occasionally found by archaeologists from time to time in the form of large size bricks and pottery.
The second settlement of the Panwars remained small for nearly 15 generations. It is said that around 1580 A.D a Jat named Nehbal Saharan, who arrived from Bhairang in Rajasthan, settled close to ‘Khera Khaas’, and named it as ‘Girauri Khera’. Both, the Panwars and Saharans seemed to have lived peacefully for several centuries until Bani Singh Manderna’s arrival here. Once in later Moghul period when anarchy was the order of day, a group of seven Jat villages, known till today as ‘Satrol’, collectively attacked ‘Khera Khaas’ with the intention of plundering and winning territory. Bani Singh Manderna, who was grazing a large herd of cattle in the vicinity of ‘Khera Khaas’, which was, by an order of Emperor Shahjehan, already known as Farmana Khaas, smelt trouble. The attackers, called Dharees in local slang, were repulsed by Bani Singh alone. He used tricks and threats to counter their designs.
Bani Singh asked for two things: grant of a natural water tank called ‘Jauna Aala’ and a ‘Dom’, a sort of a Bhat. While doing so, the Thakurs ordained that henceforth he would celebrate the festival of Divali only when the Dom sings his praise by presenting himself at his doors on the day of Govardhan Pooja, locally called Girree. In case the Dom abstains, bad luck would fall upon his descendants and the lineage would cease to exist. Thus, it was how a Manderna Jat established his foothold at Farmana Khaas.
What happened until 1580 AD is hard to chronicle since even Pirthee Laree, 80, the most reliable oral source of history about this settlement among Saharan Jats could not sufficienty recall the intervening events. He, however, felt that the Thakurs of the village and the descendants of Bani Singh Manderna could not have lived cordially. Since the Khera was saved from a ‘Dhaar’ (a group of attackers) by a Manderna Jat, the Thakurs could have thought it proper to bestow the whole village estate to the Mandernas and leave forever to settle in Kelanga, a nearby village of their own fraternity.
Mandernas then invited Nehbal Saharan to forget Girauri Khera and join them at Farmana Khaas. Since those times, both the Saharans and the Mandernas have been living amicably at Farmana Khaas.
The Panwar villages now lie south-west of Farmana Khaas among which Kelanga is prominent and with whom its relations since the early days were never cordial. Till a 150 years ago, tensions ran high between the two villages on account of territorial claims.
Not all the Panwars could leave Farmana Khaas at the time the estate was bestowed on Bani Singh Manderna. A few families preferred to staywith the Jats.
In order to avoid future trouble, an enigmatic proposition was put forth by the Jats. "If the Rajputs wanted to stay back", it was said, "they could do so only by converting themselves to Jogis." This is a class slightly inferior in status but otherwise honourable. They could also retain the right to landed property.
The Rajputs had no option but to accept this proposition. Thereafter, these Panwar Rajput Jogis admitted themselves to ‘Jangam Sampradaya’.
The transition from the Rajput traditions to that of Jogi traditions was not easy. But the Rajputs had accepted the terms and, therefore, learnt to not only sing devotional songs in praise of Lord Shiva but also soon became adept at teaching the old Devanagri script. They became ‘Padhas’, traditional teachers. These Padhas or Jangam Jogis earlier used to live in Dara Shikohpur on the western side of the village, i.e., towards Kelanga, but fearing attacks on the eastern border of the village by Ranghars of Bainsi, the Jats settled these Jogis on the eastern side and secured it. The logic being that the
Ranghars (Rajput converts to Islam) would never attack Jangam Jogis who are also Panwar Rajputs. The trick worked.
Since the Jogis now do not live in Patti Dara Shikohpur, a sub-division of the village, they can accept alms from the whole of the village,except their own patti.
Jat villagers are like small republics; always oblivious to whatever is happening beyond their territories or whosoever ruled Hindostan as long as nobody intervened in their routine chores and challenged their existence. Local rivalries and skirmishes between Jats and Rajputs or between various Jat tribes/sub-castes (Khaps) were of little consequence to the powerful kings, be they Muslims, Turks, Mughals or the Nawabs.
Like other big villages, Farmana Khaas ran its own economy. It produced enough grain for its needs. Several menial and other artisan classes live in this village along with Jats, Brahmins and Vaishyas. Until about a 100 years ago, all houses were kuccha. The village habitation lived and still lives in clusters and is settled in a clearly demarcated, yet conjoined, piece of land. The village habitation was, and still is, surrounded by at least three large johads (water bodies) viz., Dobbhi, Dhammaalaa and Jauna Aala which provided a sort of a moat for defending the village. The three ponds can store large volumes of water. But they have now degenerated due to heaps of garbage thrown around them. The whole of the village habitation was once surrounded by a thick forest.Villagers used to take fuel, fodder and medicinal herbs and produce from this forest. The forest has disappeared now.
The beautifully decorated balcony of Panney ki ChaupalThe most sociable person in the village is Chaudhary Pirthi Saharan, 80, who is also lovingly called Pirthi Laari by his contemporaries. This old sire resides in his ancestoral house on the high mound in the middle of the village near the ‘Bichli Paras’. All Saharans live in the central area running along north-south axis of the village. Mandernas occupy the eastern flank in Dara Shikohpur, while the Jogis and other non-Jats live in the eastern sub division known as Badshahpur. All Saharans call their territory Panna, which is further sub-divided into Dasaans and Bheemaans.
source:
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2000/20000422/windows/main1.htm
felt good reading and written so beautifully