Dogar family

Dogar' (Urdu: ڈوگر) is a Muslim, Punjabi tribe in the Punjab region of Pakistan. It is also used as a family name in Turkey and Northern Iraq among some Kurds and Turks.

Ethnography

The Dogars were generally agricultural people settled along the riversides in Punjab (see Ibbetson, Denzil; A Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North-West Frontier Province Based on the Census Report for the Punjab, 1883; Nirmal Publishers and Distributors (1997)).

In the above referenced Ibbetson book, the author quotes Sir Henry Lawrence who said of the Dogars:

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they are tall, handsome, and sinewy, and are remarkable for having, almost without exception, large acquiline(sic) noses; they are fanciful and violent, and tenacious of what they consider their rights, though susceptible to kindness, and not wanting in courage; they appear to have been always troublesome subjects, and too fond of their own free mode of life to willingly take service as soldiers.

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84% of the total population of this tribe was residing in the areas which are now part of India e.g. Amritsar District, Gurdaspur District, Jalandhar District, Ludhiana District, Hoshiarpur District, Ambala District, Karnal District, Kapurthala State, Malerkotla State, Nabha State, Jind State, Kalsia State, Patiala State, Faridkot State, Ferozepur District.

16% of the population was residing in the areas which are now part of Pakistan e.g. Sialkot District, Gujranwala District, Sheikhupura District, Kasur District, Sahiwal District, Okara District, Pakpattan District, Faisalabd District. However, the larger part of this population was from Ferozpur, Patiala and Hoshiarpur Districts. Most of the Dogars of Gujranwala came from Ferozepur approximately 2 centuries ago while almost all 14 local villages (prior to 47) of the Dogar tribe in Sialkot District. Thehsil Pasrur, migrated from east Punjab: Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur. Mr. Rao Dogar, sub cast Mandar, the founder of village Kot Roy Dogran, Tehsil Pasrur District Sialkot, came from the village VALLAH VEHRKA near Amritsar city and similarly sardar fateh din dogar founder of a village called panjgrayien ( now in pakistan ) came from hoshiyarpur ( city of india )then two of his son sardar Siraj din dogar and sarda Ali Akbar dogar migrated to peerochak (a village in sialkot district )

Dogars who migrated in 1947 settled in the areas of Faisalabad, Kasur, Sahiwal, Sheikhupura and Burewala. While most of the Ferozepur Dogars settled in Sahiwal (Montgomery), the Dogars from Gurdaspur and Hoshiarpur migrated to Faisalabad (Lyallpur), Burewala, Sialkot and Chichawatni.

As a social class, the Dogars are viewed as farmers, (zamindars)

There is no credible reference or evidence linking Dogar tribes to Bhatti tribe or Bhatti caste system. Bhattis, however, time and again try to link their ancestors to the Dogar tribe.

Origins

There are several theories regarding the origins of Dogars. Some have claimed a Rajput origin . Others have claimed a Kashmiri origin.

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'The Dogars of the Punjab are found in the upper valley of the Sutlej and eas above the lower border of the Lahore district, and have also spread westwards along the foot of the hills into Sialkot. There are also considerable colonies of them an Hissar and Karnal. The Dogars of Ferozpur, where they hold the riverside almost exclusively from 20 miles above the headquarters of that district, were thus described by Mr Brandeth :- " In my account of the Ferozepur ilaqaI have already alluded to the Dogars, who are supposed to be converted Chauhan* Rajputs from the neighbourhood of Delhi. They migrated first to the neighbourhood of Pak Pattan, whence they spread gradually along the banks of the Satluj and entered Ferozpur district 100 years ago.[1]

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{{cquote|'The Ferozepur Dogars are all descended from a common ancestor named Bahlol, but they are called Mahu Dogars, from Mahu the grandfather of Bahlol. Bahlol had three sons **, Bambu Langar and Sammu. The Dogars of Ferozpur and Mullanwala are the descendants of Bambu; those of Khai the descendants of Langar Father Of Phema Thats why Khai name KhaiPhemake a Village in Ferozpur ; the descendants of Sammu live in Kasur-Pakistan.

Excerpt from Heer Waris Shah

In literature, Dogars were mentioned in the 18th century Punjabi epic Heer Ranjha by Waris Shah in the scene where Heer praises Ranjah to her father:

And Heer replied subtly, ‘My father, he is as learned as Solomon, and he can shave the very beard of Plato. He has cunning to trace out thefts and he speaks with wisdom in the assembly of the elders. He can decide thousands of disputes and he is as learned in wisdom as the Dogar Jats.'

References

1. ^ A glossary of the tribes and castes of the Punjab and North -West provinces, compiled by H A Rose, vol II Page 244