Mohans

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Mohans

General Mohyal Sabha - Members of Mohyals

Rishi Kashyap was the divine grandsire of the Mohan family and bestower of the Kashyap gotra on the clan. He was the fabled founder of the Kashmir region, the exotic land of flowers and snow. A long line of the Rishi\'s descendants were devoted worshippers of snakes and enjoyed supremacy in Kashmir. in the hoary past. The tribal Nagas of north east and the north Indian brahmin castes of Nag, Nagar, Nagpal ctc. are said to be their offsprings. There are places in Kashmir with the suffix of Nag with their name like Anant Nag, Koker Nag and Veri Nag which perpetuate the esoteric link.

After the conclusion of the Mahabharata war, Ashvathama went on exile and one of his associates in the retinue was named Mohan. Some Mohyal commentators consider him to be the initiator qf the Mohan sect. It is interesting to note that in a recently published book entitled \'Mohenjo Daro-A 5,000 year old Legacy\'. (published by UNESCO). written jointly by Khurshid Hussan Sheikh and Syed M. Ashfaque; there is reference to a tribe of fishermen called Mohanas found along the Indus river, near the Mohenjo-Daro excavation site. They have cultural traits which distinguish them from the rest of the rural population. They earn livelihood by fishing, hunting of water fowls and as ferry men. They use flat-bottomed boats for navigation like those figuring in some clay seals excavated at Mojenjo-Daro. These people still celebrate an annual festival at the Indus river just opposite to the excavation area. Their songs. dances boat racing and swimming competition at the festival are reminiscent of the sea-faring original inhabitants of Mohenjo-Daro. It will not be surprising that the Mohyal Mohans may be the heirs to the 5,000 year old Indus Valley Civilisation. A large number of Mohan families were living on the hank of river Indus inthe NWFP before 1947. Kashmir being the homeland of Mohans, its original rulers could be the later day ancestors of these people. According to the writings in the Rajatarangini and the accounts left by the Chinese traveller Hieun Tsang. there was a long reign of Brahmin kings over Kashmir in the ancient times. The nag of the Mohan family rule new over the sylvan land for 253 years, from 602 AD to 855 AD. It all started with a rustic man named Durlabh Drohin who was a stable keeper in the court of Bala Ditya, the king of Kashmir. The king was so inveigled by his charming personality that he married his only duaghter. Anang Lekha. to him and made him heir to the throne as he had no son of his own. When Bala Ditya died in .602 AD, Durlabh Drohin (nee Vardhan) succeeded him. Durlabll Drohin was a contemporary of Harsha and Hieun Tsang spent 2 years (631-633) in Kashmir during his period. Shortly after his coronation Durlabh Drohin celebrated his second marriage, this time with the daughter of Raja Chach. the veteran Chhibber ruler of Sind. From this marriage he got a son. Virambhak alias Pratap Aditya. who was proclaimed as the heir apparent. Virambhak inherited the kingdom on the death of his father in 637 AD and wore the crown for 50 long years till 687 AD. He was a real Casanova; lost his heart to the daughter of a humble trader and did not rest till he had performed his nuptials with that lady-love. After the death of Virambhak his son, Chander Aditya. occupied the throne and ruled for 8 years. He was followed by his younger brother Tara Ped whose reign lasted for four years till 699 AD. On his passing away. the third brother named Lalitaditya ascended to the family throne and ruled for 36 eventful years. till 735 AD. He distinguished himself as a prolific ruler and extended his dominion upto Konkan in the south after conquering Kannauj, Malwa and Gujarat. He was an ambitious man and founded a new city cal1ed Lalitapur and built a majestic Sun Temple at Martand. in memory of his parents. A connoisseur of art and literary talent, he offered a high post to B ha1\'abhuti. the renowned dramatist of that period and author of Malti Madhav. After the demise of Lalitaditya. there was a chaos in the ranks and half a dozen hack rulers changed hands in quick succession during the next 10 years, till a really great monarch named leaped, rose on the scene. He ruled with great distinction for 43 years frol11 746 AD to 789 AD. He brought fame and glory to his reign and was credited with extensive conquests of new territories. Fired with a desire to conquer Nepal. he invaded the Himalayan kingdom, but his plans aborted. His adversary laid a trap and leaped walked straight into the enemy\'s camp and was taken prisoner. During his confinement, he was surreptitiously met by his loyal minister Dev Sharma who hatched a plan for leaped\'s escape from the prison. According to this plan, leaped was to eascape by crossing the river which flowed past his chamber. As leaped did not know swimming. a boat was to be kept ready to ferry him across the stream. Unfortunately. the boat could not be arranged and when leaped reached the river bank he accosted the dead body of his faithful minister Dev Sharma with a legend inscribed on his body that he had committed suicide so that the king may use his corpse as a float to cross the river. Drowned in grief and overwhelmed with gratitude, king leaped used the contraption to gain his freedom. Later on he again attacked Nepal and succeeded in capturing it. The following anecdote from the life of leaped shows his Bohemian character and egoistic nature: Once he went on a pilgrimage of Prayag and there donated one lakh horses. He installed a pillar with the inscription that anyone who would exceed that number might remove that column and put up a new one with his own name mentioning the number of horses. After the death of king leaped. the glory and grandeur of the Mohan\'s dynastic rule in Kashmir waned and whittled down. His son Lalita Ped was a stolid drunkard and given to incest and vices. He ruled nonchalantly for 12 years, squandered away the wealth of the family kingdom and led to its disintegration. His son Sangram Ped was no beller than his father and half a dozen incumbents who followed him. :-vere of the same ilk and hastened the. doom. The Kingdom of Mohan\'s 1_1 Kashmir was finally wrapped up in 855 AD and consigned to the limbo. Russell Stracey in his biography of the Mohans takes no note of the foregoing happenings. He opens his account from the time of their I_igration to the holy city of Mathura. Curiously, Mathura at different tIl1_es became the camping ground of almost all castes of Mohyals. Being the divine fortress of peace, it offered ready shelter to those who were driven to its portals in distress or struck by calamity. which was often the case with the Mohyals. They became luckless fugitives. time and flgain, due to politcal turmoil or following sinister attacks of the Tartars. Moreover, flS militant brahmins, they were called upon to defend the holy city against the barbarians and the iconoclasts. The early history of the Mohan clan was documented in the form of a book called Pothi Rai Seegadh. A later version appeared fit the turn of the last century under the title of Jang Nama Mohan. In the fourteenth century. Bhagwan Dass, a descendant of the prehistoric ancestor Durbasha Gorman, made Mathura his home. He had three sons named Gokul, Mathura Dass and Hari Kishan. Hari Kishan later on _hifted to Benaras. His son Abnashi Ram went on a pilgrimage of the holy Ganga and Yamuna in the north and reached as far as Delhi. At Delhi Abnashi Ram won the favour of Amir Timur who appointed him as his Dewan. Timur also appointed another Mohan dignitmy named Maya Dass. to a high post in his cour!. The two sons of Maya Dass, Hari Chand and Him Nand, were made commanders of the royal army. The two brothers distinguished themselves by laudable conquests in the south and were made Dewans of the newly acquired territories. However, these southern conquests appear highly improbable because Timur stayed in India for a few months only and all this time he was embroilqd in fierce fighting. He came at Ihe head of a 92,000 strong force, made his first incursion at Dipalpur, then raided Bhatner and other places, reaching Panipat in December 1398. He invaded Delhi on 17th December and defeated its twin rulers viz.. Mahmud Tughlaq and his cousin Nasrulkhan, the latter had his capital at Ferozabad. Timur plundered Delhi for five days and indulged in wholesale slaughter. Known as the scourge of the east, his main aim was to plunder maximum wealth and not to raise any dominion, so after realising his goal he proceeded to the north on his way to Samarkand. Enroute, he was severely beaten by the Hindus near Haridwar. When Timur departed from Delhi after defeating Mahmud Tughlaq (the last monarch of Tughlaq dynasty) and ravaging the capital city, he appointed his kinsman Sultan Mohammed Khan as the surrogate ruler. It was during the laller\'s reign that Dewan Him Nand and Dewan Basant Rai Mohan rebuilt the town of Dhankote on the bank of the river Sind. Dhankote on Sind was the ancient home of (he Mohans. It suffered an eclipse when Raja Sukhpal Mohan of Peshawar was convened to Islam during the hectic days of the raids of Mahmud Ghazni on India. Dhankote was captured by Mahmud\'s son Sultan Masood who ousted the Mohans from there and made over the town to the Aswan tribe whose descendants continued to live in Kalabagh till the partition. The chief of the Mohan family I\';\",sed some time in unsettled conditions under the shelter of Gakhars in the hills and later shifted 10 plains. In Russell\'s chronicle (page 46) it is stated thai this elderman received honours on the occasion of the Rajsu Yajna of Raja Jai Chand which seems improbable because the historic Yajna was performed in 1191. nearly 190 years after the hurricane invasions of Mahmud Ghazni. The Mohan Patri,arch who participated in the Yajna was another veteran named Rai Takhan Dev Mohan. At the time of the Yajna the Mohans were living in large number in Malwa but later they migrated to Doab Chach (the territory between the rivers Jhelum and Chenab) and their main establishment was at Rattanpur. .Rattanpur is now not traceable. Rai Thakur was a celebrated Mohan personality during the period of Ala-ud-din Khilji. He had two sons Jaswant Rao and Harbans Rao, the latter has been mentioned as Harjas Rao in some records. Jaswant Rao adopted the Mohammaden faith in 1306 while Harbans Rao met with a premature death. Jaswant Rao became a favourite of the ruler in Delhi and was able to arrange grant of big jagir in Mamdot for the five sons of his deceased brother named: Sudh Rao, Bharat Rao, Manak Rao, Hardas Rao and Phanan Rao. Phanan Rao due to his ability and sagacity emerged as the leader of the family. Mamdot became the prestigious Dheri of Mohans and a nostalgic symbol of the entire clan. When Babar the first Mughal king occupied the throne, he appointed Harjas Rai an eminent Mohan of that time as his Dewan. This was the period of glory of the Mohan family, several members of their clan shot to limelight and were conferred titles and jagirs. Mamdot in District Ferozepur remained the bastion of their power. In a short time Mamdot became such a stronghold of the Mohans that when Humayun succeeded Babar to the throne of Delhi, he sent a crash force to curb their power but the Mohans proved too formidable. Ultimately, he deployed a large army to crush them. The Mohans fought from their family fort in Mamdot but were no match for the overwhelming numbers of the enemy. In the savage war they were totally wiped out and the only ones to survive were an aged family patriarch Baba Sahib and his son Sobha Ram Thakur. Sobha Ram was taken prisoner and deported to Delhi where he was posted as manager of the royal household. He distinguished himself in his job and was promoted to a higher rank in the imperial court. Coincidentally, at that time, the Datts living in Veeram were in great trouble being persecuted by the Jats who had confiscated their lands. A delegation of the aggrieved Datts approached Baba Sahib for help who urged his son Sobha Ram to take necessary action to alleviate their suffering. Sobha Ram proceeded from Delhi at the head of a big force, punished the Jats and recovered all captured land of Datts from them. At this happy turn of events, out of gratitude, a leading Datta proposed to marry his daughter with Sobha Ram which offer he accepted but with condition that the marriage will be celebrated in their ancestral town of Mamdot. Eventually, he arranged the marriage of that girl with Baba Sahib as he was anxious to save his clan from extinction. Two sons begottenfrom this marriage are regarded by some as the forerunners of the subsequent generations of Mohans. Baba Sahib bequeathed to his descendants to make suitable donation on the occasions of marriage and other celebrations, to perpetuate the memory of his captive son. His wishes are carried out till this time and the Mohan families offer Iota and some eatables on all festive occasions. When Mohammed Shah (who presented the famous Peacock Throne to Nadir Shah of Persia) was the king of Delhi (1719-1748 AD), Mansa Ram Mohan was his trusted chief. Another Mohan dignitary of the court named Dewan Sadhu Ram was deputed by the king to mobilise army operations in the Punjab. Prahalad Rai, a noted bard of that period, has glorified Sadhu Ram in his kavits. The Dewan had an unusually handsome grandson named Jai Ram who was the son of Raja Ram. The king forced this masculine beauty to marry his duaghter, after converting him to Islam. This step was highly resented by the. Mohan community and they challenged the king to a war. In the battle, the Mohans defeated the Mughal army said to be two lakh strong and imprisoned their commander Hashmat Khan. This incited great ire in the king and to avenge the humiliation he ordered a big army, supported by troops from Khurasan, to attack Mamdot. Mohans fought a pitched battle under the command of their popular leaders Govind Ram and Mathura Dass, in a manner that their valour in this war became a part of the folklore and was sung by the family bards for generations. Being woefully outnumbered, the Mohans were totally annihilated and only a few elderly persons like Dewan Sadhu Ram survived from the disaster. All women plunged to death in the raging pyres and the few men who could escape from the inferno fled to other places. According to text in the Seegadh Pothi, 2088 veteran Mohan men and women perished in this carnage. The Pothi gives a list of 72 Mohans with their names, all men of great distinction, who fell down dead while fighting in this horrific war. The scene of tragedy was the family fort of Mohans at Mamdot. The names of 72 eminent men who were killed in the the siege of Mamdot were: Dewan Radha Krishan, Shankar Mal, Punjaba, Gulaba, Shama Mal, Sawan, Kanshi Ram, Gokul, Ganda, Jhanda, Kahan, Bhaju, Gulaba II, Nadh, Dhanpat, Dharmu, Dhani Ram, Basu, Bansu, Wasti, Hakam, Hazari, Bihari. Sobha Ram, Sukha, Bhaju II, Bhagwan Dass, Gohar Singh, Mia Singh, Man Singh, Ganga. Sambha, Dasan Mal, Moola, Doola, Karan Dass, Labh Sain, Jaswant, Nathu Mal, Sarjas, Makhan, Moti, Ghasita Ram, Lachhman, Jai Daya, Kul Karan, Kesar Mal, Duni Chand, Jind Ram, Mehtab, Radhe Mal, Jaimal, Jawala, Mathura, Basant, Sham Jiv, Nathu Ram II, Kanshi Ram II,. Bhagwan, Raja Ram, Bishen, Ghed Ram, Mutwal Chand, Nihal, Nanak, Mansa Ram, Uttam, Arjun, Mohan, Makhan II, Buta Mal and Shadi. After this vrim tragedy, the Mohans led a bereaved and haunted existence for a long time. Jai Ram after his conversion to Islam was known as Thakur Sahib alias Khizer. When Bhat Prahlad Rai told him about the blood-shed in Mamdot. he was deeply shaken and felt distressed at the thought of his family being obliterated as a result of the devastating war. As he himself had been ostracized from Hinduism consequent to embrace of Islam, he met his grand father Sadhu Ram in Lahore and induced him to marry again for the preservation of the clan. Subsequently, he arranged his marriage with Bhagwanti, daughter of Chaudhary Bhaga Datt of Kanjrur (according to Russell Stracey, he hailed from Kangra). There is a second version of this episode according to which Jai Ram returned to Mamdot with the permission of King Mohammed Shah with a desire to settle there and was then known by the nickname of Khoja or Baba Janjuan. Thus the Mohan clan was saved from extinction due to the initiative and exertions of Jai Ram. To honour the memory of this saviour, Dewan Sadhu Ram enjoined on his offsprings to offer an earthen carafe at the time of all marriages and the tradition is being kept alive ardently by the Mohans. The old age nuptials of Sadhu Ram blossomed into the birth of a virile son named Manak Dev. Manak Dev. himself begot four sons named Sarang, Nanak, Hardas Rai and Radha Mal. Their progenies lived in Veeram for three generations but later on due to friction with the native Datts of that place, they were compelled to migrate from there except for one family which continued to live in Veeram. One of their leaders, Dujan Rai, made Bhera his home from where his wife hailed. His grandson Gulab Rai (son of Tara Chand) shifted from Bhera to rind Dadan Khan and founded there the Mohalla Mohanan. Lala Singh a brother of Gulab Rai had four sons with names Sahai Mal, Jai Singh, Kishan Chand and Lal Chand. Many Mohan families who did not adopt rind Dadan Khan as their home drifted to other wellknown centres of Mohyal community like Rawalpindi, Sagri, Tehi, Musa Khel, Ahmedabad, Paharpur, Karyala and Mirpur. The Mohans of rind Dadan Khan are regarded as the direct descendants of Baba Sahib while those of the other places as having descended from the relatives of those who survived from the mayhem of Mamdot. The Mohans were decimated to such an extent in the holocaust of Mamdot that they have still not recovered their old strength and constitute only 5 per cent of the total population of the community. In 1685, when Aurangzeb despatched his two Subedars to fight against Guru Govind Singh who had raised a banner of revolt against the Mughal soverign, the sympathies of Mohans were explicitly with the Sikh leader. To attract them, they were offered the temptation of accepting Islam and many weak minded in their lot succumbed to,the enticement. Their descendants were known as Mehtas and these people owned large agricultural lands in Mamdot. Those who did not agree The following gruesome episode is described in the Pothi of Seegadh Rai, the chronicle of the Mohans to conversion, fled to Veeram to live there with the Datt fraternity. These people built a fort in Kanjrur and earned their livelihood by highway pillage. In 1739 when Nadir Shah invaded the country they escaped to the mountains and left Veeram for good. Mehta Lal Chand Mohan of Sagri (died October 1982) was fondly addressed as Thakurji. He used to plant peepul trees to provide shade to the weary wayfarers. He also built a dharamshala and a baoli for public use in his village. He was a tireless crusader against female infanticide and a champion of widow marriage. elusively, by the General Mohyal Sabha in 1908 but no decision could be taken ostensibly in view of the marriage difficulties being faced in the community even at that time. The confusion on the above point has now been completely set at rest. with the acceptance of Dhanavantari as the gotra of the Vaids. By all concerned. A brief description of Dhanavantari, the physician sage and founder of the Ayuerveda. appears in an earlier chapter. The origin of Vaids can be traced to nearly 600 years before Christ when the fabled Kidar Sharma, whose antacedents are not known. ruled in Kannauj. He descended from Kohistan by way of Mount Shivaliks and founded Kalinjar to the south of Kannauj. This infromation is derived from the history of Farishta (Mula Mohd. Kassim Hindu Shah Farishta, born in Astrabad in 1570) who has been extensively quoted by all scribes of Mohyal histories including Russell Stracey. Coming \'in the trail of Kidar Sharm_. Raja Kanwar Pal who was probably a kinsman of the former. established his dynastic rule in Kannauj which lasted for many generations. He himself ruled for as long as 64 years till 520 BC and his kingdom extended upto river Jhelum in the Punjab. This formidable monarch is credited with being a blue blooded Vaid Mohyal by all Mohyal scholars. On his death, he was succeeded by his son Got Pal. Got Pal built a metropolis after his own name called Goti Pal on the bank of Jhelum. It encompassed an area of 30 sq. miles and commanded a variegated landscape dotted with palatial buildings, plazas and highways. The reign of Got Pal was marked by fricndly relations with the rulers of Iran and there was mutual exchange of trade and army personnel between the two countries. The versatile king ruled for 50 years and died at a hoary age leaving the chair to his son Sajan Pal. Mehta Lal Chand Mohan of Hardorwal was a luminary of the old guard and nursed the General Mohyal Sabha with evangelistic devotion. Like Mehta Dhera Mal Datt, Raizada Maharaj Kishan Vaid, Bakhshi Gokul Chand Chhibber and Bakhshi Jog Dhian Bali. he too was inspired by the lofty ideals of the Arya Samaj and inducted them into the working of the GMS. The Mohyal community honoured him by making him the president of two Mohyal Conferences held in Lahore in 1927 and in Kanjrur in 1931. He was one of the pioneers amongst the Mohyals to venture into the industrial field and amongst his enterprises were the cotton ginning factory and an oil mill in Khanna which provided avenues of employment to many budding Mohyals. Mehta Balmukand Mohan (1871-1969) was a scion of the historical Mohan family of the Mamdot vintage. He served in the Forest Department and retired in the rank of a Superintendent. He was a pillar of the General Mohyal Sabha and was credited with drafting of the first constitution of the august body under the title of Dastllr-ul-Amal , Mohyali. He was at different times, the president, trustee and Pratisht member of the GMS. He was president of the Mohyal Conference held at Pind Dadan Khan in 1930.