Sikh Rajputs

Sikh Rajputs are the followers of Sikhism belonging to the Rajput social group. Sikh Rajputs have a long-standing tradition in Punjab and in Sikh history. During the Mughal era when many Punjabi families followed the teachings of the Guru and were baptized as Khalsa and joined the Guru's order of followers. Many Punjabi Rajput families also enrolled in the Guru's Army, or "Khalsa Panth", and baptized as Khalsa Sikhs.

There are many Sikh Rajputs in the history of Sikhism: Banda Bahadur, [cite book
last = Ganda
first = Singh
title = Life of Banda Singh Bahadur : based on contemporary and original records
year = 1990
origyear = 1935
publisher = Punjabi University/Khalsa College
oclc = 25748134
page = 1
quote = His father Ram Dev was an ordinary ploughman Rajput.] [cite book
last = Sambhi
first = Piara Singh
coauthors = W Owen Cole
title = A popular dictionary of Sikhism
year = 1990
publisher = Curzon
isbn = 978-0913215517
oclc = 59977906
page = 49
quote = Born a Rajput, he was a Bairagi yogi until his conversion] Baba Nidhan Singh of Hazoor Sahib, Bhai Sangat Singh Minhas, Bhai Bachittar Singh Minhas and many families whose kin are followers of Sikhism today. There are many Sikh Rajputs today with common Rajput family names.

Diaspora

Some Rajput villages in the Punjab Region converted, wholly or partially, to Sikhism. The extent of conversion depended on the influence of Sikhism in that region. The majority of these villages are located in the central Punjab districts of Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Fatehgarh Sahib, Patiala, Faridkot, Moga, Nawanshahr, Kapurthala and Hoshiarpur. Yet, others have migrated from West Punjab districts of Sargodha, Toba Tek Singh, Faisalabad, Montgomery, Lahore etc. after the Partition of India. However, there are some Sikh Rajput villages in Ambala and Nalagarh districts of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, as well.

There are Sikh Rajputs with from clans such as Bhatti, Sehdev also commonly known as Mair Rajputs, Masaoun, Chauhan, Parmar, Parhar, Rathore, Khurmi, Minhas, Manj, Doad, Saroya, Toor, Janjua, Jaswal, Luddu, Rana etc. spread across villages in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.

The medieval forts of Saroya Sikh Rajput Chiefs in the Punjab villages of Chukhiara, Bhungarni, DihanaFact|date=September 2008 and BohanFact|date=September 2008 are evident of their heritage. While others, such as the ancestral fort of Minhas Sikh Rajputs of Daroli KalanFact}, Adampur DoabaFact|date=September 2008, were destroyed by British conquerors.

See also

* Hinduism and Sikh Panth
* Rajputs
* Sikhism
* Singh
* Minhas

References

External links

* [http://www.globalsikhstudies.net/articles/Rajput%20&%20Sikhs-Balwant%20Singh%20Dhillon.doc The Sikh-Rajput Relations During the Eighteenth Century ]
* http://www.sikhrajput.com