Arain

According to Denzil Ibbetson, he finds it probable that the Arains have some affinity to the Kamboj whilst also noting that some of the Arain and Saini clan names are identical, he also notes that it is probable on the whole that the Arains migrated from Uch, Southern Punjab, furthermore stating that they claim a connection with Jaisalmer.{{Cite book |last=Rose |first=H. A. (Horace Arthur) |url=https://archive.org/details/glossaryoftribes03rose/page/n41/mode/2up?q=arain&view=theater |title=A glossary of the tribes and castes of the Punjab and North-West frontier province |last2=Ibbetson |first2=Denzil |last3=Maclagan |first3=Edward Douglas |date=1911 |publisher=Lahore : Printed by the superintendent, Government Printing, Punjab |others=University of California Libraries |page=13-14}} However according to other sources from the British Raj, the Arains have little connection with the Saini's and that this tradition came from both having a common occupation.{{Cite book |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/North_Indian_Notes_and_Queries/zCkYAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=arains+Mr+barkley&pg=PA64&printsec=frontcover |title=North Indian Notes and Queries |date=1893 |publisher=Pioneer Press |page=64 |language=en}} Denzil Ibbetson also states that the Arains along the Sutlej river and the East Punjab plains form a 'true caste' meanwhile in the West Punjab plains, the word Arain was often associated with anyone in the market gardening occupation.{{Cite book |last=Ibbetson |first=Denzil |url=https://archive.org/details/panjabcastes00ibbe/page/188/mode/2up?q=arain |title=Panjab castes |date=1916 |publisher=Lahore : Printed by the Superintendent, Government Printing, Punjab |others=University of California Libraries |pages=189}} Furthemore, he notes that where the Arains were more populous, such as in Lahore, Jalandhar and Kapurthala, the Arains would take a higher position as general cultivators rather than market gardeners.{{Cite book |last=Ibbetson |first=Denzil |url=https://archive.org/details/panjabcastes00ibbe/page/194/mode/2up?q=arain |title=Panjab castes |date=1916 |publisher=Lahore : Printed by the Superintendent, Government Printing, Punjab |others=University of California Libraries |pages=194 |quote=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.}}

Ishtiaq Ahmed, a political scientist who is also a member of the Arain community, acknowledges that some early Arain texts ascribe a Suryavanshi Rajput origin, while others note a Persian 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".{{cite news |url=http://archives.dailytimes.com.pk/editorial/18-Apr-2006/comment-there-is-many-a-slip-betwixt-cup-and-lip-ishtiaq-ahmed |title=There is many a slip betwixt cup and lip |first=Ishtiaq |last=Ahmed |work=Daily Times |location=Pakistan |date=18 April 2006 |access-date=2014-06-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715223745/http://archives.dailytimes.com.pk/editorial/18-Apr-2006/comment-there-is-many-a-slip-betwixt-cup-and-lip-ishtiaq-ahmed |archive-date=15 July 2014}}

According to Ahmed, during the Mughal and Sikh 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.

During the Indian rebellion of 1857, Shah Abdul Qadir Ludhianvi, an Arain, led an uprising from Ludhiana to Delhi where he was killed. In the aftermath, the British viewed the Arain as a disloyal community, and categorised them as a non-martial caste which denied them entry into the Bengal Army.{{cite news |title=An Arain freedom fighter |first=Ishtiaq |last= Ahmed |work=The News |date=15 December 2007 |url=http://apnaorg.com/prose-content/english-articles/page-44/article-6/index.html}} 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.{{cite book|author=Rajit K. Mazumder|title=The Indian Army and the Making of Punjab|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O4Wop9vwS9sC&pg=PA104|year=2003|publisher=Orient Blackswan|isbn=978-81-7824-059-6|pages=104–105}}

Traditionally associated with farming, when the British wanted land developed in the Punjab, 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 the Canal Colonies between 1885 and 1940.{{cite book |title=The Punjab Canal Colonies, 1885-1940 (Ph.D. thesis) |first=Imran |last=Ali |publisher=Australian National University |year=1979 |page=29 |doi=10.25911/5d74e7b3b71c9}}{{cite book |author= Binay Bhushan Chaudhuri|title=Peasant History of Late Pre-colonial and Colonial India, Volume 8 |year=2008 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ljmIJySEm4UC&q=arain%20gardening&pg=PA195|publisher=Center for studies in Civilization |page=195 |isbn=9788131716885 |access-date=11 February 2015 }}{{cite book|first=Donald Anthony|last=Low|author-link=Donald Anthony Low|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WfD02m8q8eYC&pg=PA375|title=Soundings in Modern South Asian History|year=1968|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0520007703|page=375}} 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.{{cite journal |title=Pakistan under Zia, 1977-1988 |first=Shahid Javed |last=Burki |journal=Asian Survey |volume=28 |issue=10 |date=October 1988 |pages=1082–1100 |jstor=2644708 |doi=10.2307/2644708 |issn = 0004-4687 }} {{subscription required}}

During the colonial era, detailed decadal census reports covered the plethora of castes, subcastes and tribes that existed throughout British India. Information regarding the Arains was highlighted in census reports taken from Punjab Province.

{{quote|"Arains are mostly Muhammadans. They have been declared an agricultural tribe throughout the Province with the exception of the Rohtak, Gurgaon, Simla, Kangra, Jhelum, Rawalpindi and Attock 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 in Patiala (803) and Karnal (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).".{{cite web|url=https://jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.25393787|title=Census of India 1911. Vol. 14, Punjab. Pt. 1, Report.|year=1912 |jstor=saoa.crl.25393787 |access-date=16 August 2022}}{{rp|445}}|Excerpt from the Census of India (Punjab Province)|1911 AD}}

In 1921, Arains formed 9,5% of British Punjab's total Muslim population, up from 8,3% in 1901 and 6,6% in 1881.Ibbetson, Report on the Census of the Punjab, vol. 1, 266 and v. 2, Tables I and III ; Imperial Gazetteer of India Provincial Series on Punjab, v. 1, p. 48 and 50 ; J. T. Marten, Census of India, 1921, v. 1, part II, 40, 43, 162. See Tables VI and XIII.

At the time of the 2017 Pakistan census, Arains constituted the largest community of the Lahore District, making up 40% of the district's total population or 4,45 million out of the total of 11 million back then, followed by Kashmiris (30%).{{Cite web |title=District Profile |url=https://lahore.punjab.gov.pk/district_profile |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231127195943/https://lahore.punjab.gov.pk/district_profile |archive-date=27 November 2023 |website=District Lahore - Government of Punjab}}

The Arain biradari is particularly active in Lahore's industrial and commercial activities as well as in its politics.

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.{{cite web|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.25057657 |jstor=saoa.crl.25057657 |access-date=7 April 2024 |title=Census of India, 1881 Report on the Census of the Panjáb Taken on the 17th of February 1881, vol. II. |year=1881 |pages=104 }}{{efn|Population excludes districts that would ultimately form part of the North-West Frontier Province.}}

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.{{Cite book |last=Khan |first=Khan Ahmed Hasan |url=https://www.indianculture.gov.in/flipbook/30158 |title=Census of India Punjab Part II Tables Vol. XVII, 1931 |publisher=Civil and Military Gazette, Lahore |page=283 |access-date=2023-04-25 |via=Archaeological Survey of India, New Delhi}}

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."

There are several diasporic Arain communities in British towns and cities, such as Manchester, Glasgow and Oxford.{{cite book |last=Shaw |first=Alison |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KVQ5Lxd8rNMC |title=Kinship and Continuity: Pakistani Families in Britain |publisher=Psychology Press |year=2000 |isbn=978-90-5823-075-1 |page=121}} The tribe has its own organisation, Arain Council UK, which was established as Anjuman-e-Arains in the 1980s and renamed in 2008.{{cite web |title=About |url=http://www.araincounciluk.com/?page_id=10 |access-date=2020-05-22 |publisher=Arain Council UK}}

British Conservative Party politician Sajid Javid's family were farmers from the village of Rajana near Toba Tek Singh, Punjab, from where they migrated to the UK in the 1960s; Javid speaks some Punjabi.{{cite news |date=8 May 2018 |title=British home secy belongs to TT Singh |url=https://nation.com.pk/08-May-2018/british-home-secy-belongs-to-tt-singh |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191002072850/https://nation.com.pk/08-May-2018/british-home-secy-belongs-to-tt-singh |archive-date=2 October 2019 |access-date=2 October 2019 |work=The Nation |quote=Newly appointed British Home Secretary Sajid Javed belongs to a Toba Tek Singh village.}}{{cite news |date=2 October 2019 |title='Did you ever think we'd be here today?' UK's Sajid Javid asks mother in Punjabi |url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/2069916/9-ever-think-wed-today-uks-sajid-javid-asks-mother-punjabi/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191119161549/https://tribune.com.pk/story/2069916/9-ever-think-wed-today-uks-sajid-javid-asks-mother-punjabi/ |archive-date=19 November 2019 |access-date=2 October 2019 |work=The Express Tribune}} Javid was the first British Asian to hold one of the British Great Offices of State, being first Home Secretary (2018–2019) and then Chancellor of the Exchequer (2019–2020).{{Cite news |date=2018-04-30 |title=Javid replaces Rudd as home secretary |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-43946845 |access-date=2020-09-06 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}{{Cite news |date=2019-07-24 |title=Boris Johnson overhauls cabinet on first day as PM |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-49102466 |access-date=2020-09-06 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}

Arain clans not listed on the census but have been noted by British Raj era authors:{{Cite book |last=Rose |first=H. A. (Horace Arthur) |url=https://archive.org/details/glossaryoftribes03rose/page/n45/mode/2up?q=arain&view=theater |title=A glossary of the tribes and castes of the Punjab and North-West frontier province |last2=Ibbetson |first2=Denzil |last3=Maclagan |first3=Edward Douglas |date=1911 |publisher=Lahore : Printed by the superintendent, Government Printing, Punjab |others=University of California Libraries |pages=14-15}}

• Khokhar
• Jhanjhuna
• Arki
• Brar
• Kamboj
• Tarar

• Adina Beg, last Mughal Governor and the only Nawab of Punjab.{{cite news|title=Dina Arain: the master 'double game' player|url=http://www.dawn.com/2011/04/03/dina-arain-the-master-double-game-player.html}}
• Mian Shah Din, first Muslim judge at the Chief Court of the PunjabIndividuals and Ideas in Modern India: Nine Interpretative Studies. India, Firma KLM, 1982.
• Mian Iftikharuddin, activist and politician, founder of the Pakistan TimesLaPorte, Robert, et al. Pakistan under the military : eleven years of Zia ul-Haq. United Kingdom, Avalon Publishing, 1991.
• Sajid Javid, former British Home Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer
• Sir Mian Abdul Rashid, first Chief Justice of Pakistan{{Cite news|newspaper=Dawn (newspaper)|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1011363|title=After election debacle, Wattoo resigns as PPP's central Punjab president|date=14 May 2013|access-date=11 April 2021}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/urdu/pakistan-56954363|title=پاکستان کی خدمت کرنے والے 'روشن خیال' اینگلو انڈینز جنھیں بھلا دیا گیا|newspaper=BBC News اردو|via=BBC News website}}
• Anas Sarwar, leader of the Scottish Labour Party{{Cite web|url=https://epolitics.net/anas-sarwar-first-muslim-and-pakistani-who-elected-leader-of-scottish-labour-party/|title=Anas Sarwar - First Muslim and Pakistani Who Elected leader of Scottish Labour Party|date=March 2021}}
• Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar, businessman, Labour Party MP and 33rd Governor of the PunjabThe Arain Diaspora in the Rohilkhand region of India: A historical perspective: General History of Arain tribe of Punjab & Sindh with sociocultural background of the diaspora in Rohilkhand, India. N.p., Rehan Asad , 2017.
• Sir Mian Muhammad Shafi, lawyer and co-founder of All-India Muslim LeagueContemporary Problems of Pakistan. Netherlands, Brill, 1974.
• Jahanara Shahnawaz, politician and All-India Muslim League activistEncyclopaedia of Muslim Biography: I-M. India, A.P.H. Publishing Corporation, 2001.
• Sir Mian Muhammad Shahnawaz, politicianInternational Journal of Punjab Studies. India, Sage Publications, 1994.
• Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, the 6th President of Pakistan

• Shah Inayat Qadiri, Sufi scholar better known as the teacher of Bulleh Shah
• Qudratullah Shahab, Pakistani writer and diplomat

• Sultan Rahi, Pakistani actor
• Tariq Aziz, Pakistani television personality
• Sonia Ahmed, President of Miss Pakistan World Mrs. Pakistan World{{cite web | url=https://www.dailyparliamenttimes.com/2021/06/22/sonia-ahmed-our-real-hero/ | title=Sonia Ahmed: Our Real Hero | | date=22 June 2021 }}

• Wasim Akram, Pakistani cricketer{{Cite book |last=Ahmed |first=Ishtiaq |title=The Punjab: Bloodied, Partitioned and Cleansed |publisher=Classy Pub |year=2022 |quote=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.}}
• Abdul Hafeez Kardar, Pakistani cricketer, politician and diplomat{{cite web |url-access=subscription |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/0/750/750.html |title=Player Profile: Abdul Kardar |publisher=CricketArchive |access-date=15 April 2016}}

• Fazal Din, Indian soldier in World War II, recipient of the Victoria Cross{{cite news |title=The London Gazette |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/37091/supplement/2647 |access-date=23 April 2024 |work=www.thegazette.co.uk |issue=2647 |date=24 May 1945}}

• List of Punjabi Muslim tribes

{{reflist}}

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{{notelist}}

• {{cite journal |title=Making new Muslim Arains: reform and social mobility in colonial Punjab, 1890s-1910s |journal=South Asian History and Culture |year=2017|volume=8 |issue=1 |first=Ashish |last=Koul |pages=1–18 |doi=10.1080/19472498.2016.1260348|s2cid=151332565}}

{{Ethnic and social groups of the Punjab}}

Category:Punjabi tribes

Category:Social groups of Punjab, Pakistan

Category:Sindhi tribes

Category:Social groups of Uttar Pradesh