| Arain Raeen, Rain or Arai | |
|---|---|
 Raeens or Arains, Lahore | |
| Ethnicity | Punjabi |
| Location | Punjab,Sindh andWestern Uttar Pradesh |
| Language | Punjabi,Saraiki,Sindhi |
| Religion | Islam |
Arain (also known asRaeen) are a largePunjabi Muslim[1] agricultural community with a strong political identity and level of organisation.[2][3]
At the beginning of the last century, they numbered around 1 million and were mainly rural cultivators and landowners concentrated in four districts:Lahore,Jalandhar,Amritsar andAmbala, all in theBritish Punjab province.[1] Following the1947 partition of India, they are now mainly present in thePakistani provinces ofPunjab andSindh with a small population in parts ofIndian Punjab,Uttar Pradesh andUttarakhand.
A self-conscious community,[1] several meetings were held to establish an organisation to represent the Arain community in the 1890s. Eventually, in 1915, Anjuman Ra’iyan-i-Hind emerged as such a body inLahore and a national community newspaper, titledAl-Rai, was established.[4]
According toDenzil Ibbetson, he finds it probable that the Arains have some affinity to theKamboj whilst also noting that some of the Arain andSaini clan names are identical; he also notes that it is probable on the whole that the Arains migrated fromUch, SouthernPunjab, furthermore stating that they claim a connection withJaisalmer.[5] However according to other sources from theBritish Raj, the Arains have little connection with theSaini's and that this tradition came from both having a common occupation.[6] Denzil Ibbetson also states that the Arains along theSutlej river and theEast Punjab plains form a 'true caste' meanwhile in theWest Punjab plains, the word Arain was often associated with anyone in the market gardening occupation.[7] Furthermore, he notes that where the Arains were more populous, such as inLahore,Jalandhar andKapurthala, the Arains would take a higher position as general cultivators rather than market gardeners.[8]
Ishtiaq Ahmed, a political scientist who is also a member of the Arain community, acknowledges that some early Arain texts ascribe aSuryavanshi Rajput origin, while others note aPersian one to reflect to others the status of being "conquerors". He believes that the Arains "are a mix of many ethnicities and races", similar to other "farming castes of the Punjab and Haryana".[9]
According to Ahmed, during theMughal andSikh periods Arain held prominent positions, such as governors and army generals; he also believes that numerous names adopted by the community may indicate a tradition of military employment.[10]
During theIndian rebellion of 1857, Shah Abdul Qadir Ludhianvi, an Arain, led an uprising fromLudhiana toDelhi where he was killed. In the aftermath, the British viewed the Arain as a disloyal community, and categorised them as anon-martial caste which denied them entry into theBengal Army.[10] Due to lobbying by the Arain community, in the early 20th century the Arain were officially re-classified as an "agricultural tribe", then effectively synonymous with the martial race classification.[11]
Traditionally associated with farming, when the British wanted land developed in thePunjab, Arain were brought in to cultivate lands around cities, and were one of the agricultural communities given preference to assist with opening up the agrarian frontier in theCanal Colonies between 1885 and 1940.[12][13][14]Shahid Javed Burki says that the British favoured the Arain for their "hard work, frugality and sense of discipline". The development of towns and cities and increasing urbanisation resulted in the value of the land settled by Arain to rise significantly, and Arain families flourished. Education was prioritised with the new-found wealth and Arain came to dominate the legal profession amongst urban Punjabi Muslims. Many used law to enter politics.[15]
During the colonial era, detailed decadal census reports covered the plethora ofcastes, subcastes and tribes that existed throughoutBritish India. Information regarding the Arains was highlighted in census reports taken fromPunjab Province.
"Arains are mostly Muhammadans. They have been declared an agricultural tribe throughout the Province with the exception of theRohtak,Gurgaon,Simla,Kangra,Jhelum,Rawalpindi andAttock Districts, where their number is very limited. Apparently a functional caste with a strong nucleus of converted Kambohs, some of whom still call themselves Kamboh Arains. There are still 1,186 Hindu Arains, mostly inPatiala (803) andKarnal (290), and the Kambohs have a sub-caste called Arain. The term is derived probably from Rain or Rahin, equivalent to Rahak (tiller of soil).".[16]: 445
— Excerpt from theCensus of India (Punjab Province), 1911 AD
In 1921, Arains formed 9,5% ofBritish Punjab's total Muslim population, up from 8,3% in 1901 and 6,6% in 1881.[17]
At the time of the2017 Pakistan census, Arains constituted the largest community of theLahore District, making up 40% of the district's total population or 4,45 million out of the total of 11 million back then, followed byKashmiris (30%).[18]
The Arainbiradari is particularly active in Lahore's industrial and commercial activities as well as in its politics.[4]
The 1881 Census of India detailed the Arain population was 795,032 in Punjab, of which 791,552 (99.56 percent) were Muslims, 2,628 (0.33 percent) were Hindus, 848 (0.11 percent) were Sikhs, and 4 (0.0005 percent) were Christians.[19][a]
As of 1931 Census of India, out of the total Arain population of 1,331,295 in Punjab, 1,330,057 (99.91%) were Muslims, 1,146 (0.086%) were Hindus, 67 (0.005%) were Sikhs and 5 (0.00038%) were Christians.[20]
Academic Ashish Koul, who specializes in the history of the group, has said of the Arains that they have been "a distinctive Muslim community with innately Islamic attributes."[1]
There are severaldiasporic Arain communities in British towns and cities, such asManchester,Glasgow andOxford.[21] The tribe has its own organisation, Arain Council UK, which was established as Anjuman-e-Arains in the 1980s and renamed in 2008.[22]
BritishConservative Party politicianSajid Javid's family were farmers from the village ofRajana nearToba Tek Singh, Punjab, from where they migrated to the UK in the 1960s; Javid speaks somePunjabi.[23][24] Javid was the firstBritish Asian to hold one of the BritishGreat Offices of State, being firstHome Secretary (2018–2019) and thenChancellor of the Exchequer (2019–2020).[25][26]
| Clan | Population |
|---|---|
| 1881 census[27] | |
| Jatali | 33,267 |
| Gehlan | 33,187 |
| Bhutta | 32,603 |
| Chandor | 27,506 |
| Ramay | 24,401 |
| Nain | 21,924 |
| Bhatti | 16,688 |
| Multani | 13,893 |
| Chachar | 10,616 |
| Dhange | 10,251 |
| Hansi | 9712 |
| Bhedu | 8836 |
| Janjua | 8108 |
| Bahman | 7120 |
| Dhudhi | 6628 |
| Goher | 6263 |
| Malani | 6250 |
| Galru | 4485 |
| Ghalar | 4363 |
| Wahand | 2815 |
| Balgoria | 2809 |
| Munda | 2298 |
| Qutb Shahi | 557 |
Arain clans not listed on the census but have been noted byBritish Raj era authors:[28]
Their strongholds are the Jalandhar, Amritsar, and Lahore divisions, and more especially the districts of Jalandhar and Lahore and the State of Kapurthala where they form respectively 17.4, 10.3, and 16.3 percent, of the total population. They are admirable cultivators, skilful and industrious, but like all vegetable growers of low standing among the cultivating classes. Where, however, they are found in very large numbers their position is higher, as there they are general cultivators rather than market gardeners.
Newly appointed British Home Secretary Sajid Javed belongs to a Toba Tek Singh village.
On Tuesday, 3 May 2005, cricket legend and arguably one of the greatest left-arm fast bowlers of all times, Pakistan's Wasim Akram and his father Chaudhary Mohammed Akram, visited their ancestral village Chawinda Devi, Amritsar district. Chawinda Devi was a mixed village with Arain and Syed biradaris of Muslims and Sikh and Hindus constituting an equal population. Wasim's family belonged to the Arain section of Chawinda Devi.