Nijjar
Nijjar (निज्जर)[1][2][3] Nirjhar (निर्झर) Nijjar (निज्जर)[4] is Jat Gotra in Punjab. Najjar, Indian Jat Clan. Name Corresponds with Central Asian Name Nachar.[5]
Origin
History
The four Nijjar (also spelt as Nijjher, "Nijhar" or Nijjer, and in a rare alternate spelling "Nijor") villages of Dianatpur, Masanian, Kathar and Dhepur were first settled by people from village of Domeli, Kapurthala district near Phagwara. Most likely the village of Dianatpur was settled during the Mogul times around 1775 when the Sikh Missals [confederations] were also in the ascendancy. The forefathers of Dianatpur village used to say that two brothers from the village of Domeli used to bring their animals in the area for grazing and built huts to stay for months at a time. In due course they started cultivating the land and settled down and the village of Dianatpur came into being.
It is said that the Nijhar families of Dianatpur, Kathar and Dhepur were tormented by the local muslim jolahas [weavers]. The families invited the jolahas for a meal and surrounded them and set them on fire killing them. The place where this event took place was called “masan” and later on when people settled near the place the village was called Massanian!
Despite the Doab region being their ancestral homeland, some Nijjars owned vast amounts of agricultural land in Lyallpur, West Punjab, prior to the Partition of India and Pakistan in 1947. Partition brought great loss and suffering to the Nijjars of Lyallpur (as it did to many Sikhs in West Punjab at the time, who were forced to give up their homes and livelihood, in order to move to India). The Nijjars of Lyallpur moved back to the Doaba region after 1947. Today, their descendants can be found in Fatehpur and Chomon.
The Najjar are listed under Khatris by Ibbetson in The Glossary of The Tribes & Castes of The Punjab & North-West Frontier Province.
Distribution in Punjab
Villages in Jalandhar District
Nijjars are found mostly in the Doaba area of Punjab. Fatehpur, Chomon, Nijjaran, Gobindpur, Kurali, Bhar Singh Pura, Raipur Arian, Massanian, Kathar, Diantpur, Nijjaran Di Pandori are among prominent villages (pinds) in district Jalandhar of Nijjars.
Villages in Kapurthala District
Domeli (Kapurthala district) near Phagwara is also a prominent village of Nijjars.
Nijjar population is 2,223 in Amritsar district.[6]
Distribution in Rajasthan
Village in Bharatpur district
Nijjar and Deol Clan
Both clans had contributed greatly in the Ranjit Singh army during Sikh empire rule in Punjab. During the 1800's the Nijjar and Deol clan were the first to own large amounts of land in the Punjab area with out getting taxed the districts included Lahore, Sialkot, and Lyallpur.
Notable persons
- Dr. R. S. Nirjhar - Retd. Vice Chancellor, Gautam Buddha Univ, Greater Noida, HRD. 81, Doctor's Colony, Jaipur Jaipur Rajasthan. 367, Sec-28, Noida UP, 0141-2247514, 0120-2453474. NCR (PP-578)
- Bishan Singh Ramgarhia, Nijjar, From Amritsar district was in the List of Punjab Chiefs. Descendant of Ramgarhia misl. Also see the Legacy Section of www.thesikhmisl.com
External Links
References
- ↑ B S Dahiya:Jats the Ancient Rulers (A clan study), p.241, s.n.160
- ↑ Jat History Dalip Singh Ahlawat/Parishisht-I, s.n. न-66
- ↑ O.S.Tugania:Jat Samuday ke Pramukh Adhar Bindu,p.47,s.n. 1411
- ↑ B S Dahiya:Jats the Ancient Rulers (A clan study)/Jat Clan in India,p.241,s.n. 160
- ↑ B S Dahiya:Jats the Ancient Rulers (A clan study)/The Jats,p.60
- ↑ History and study of the Jats. B.S Dhillon. p.124
Further reading
- Denzil Ibbetson, Edward MacLagan, H.A. Rose "A Glossary of The Tribes & Casts of The Punjab & North-West Frontier Province", 1911 AD, Page 524, Vol II, Publisher Asian Educational Resources
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