Arain (also known as Raeen) are a large Punjabi agricultural tribe with strong political identity and organisation, found mainly in the Pakistani provinces of

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...

and Sindh with a small population in parts of

Indian Punjab Punjab (; ) is a state in northern India. Forming part of the larger Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, the state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the north and northeast, Haryana to the south and southeast, and ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

and

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...

Origins

The historian and political scientist Christophe Jaffrelot believes that the Arain are displaced farming communities who moved to Punjab from Sindh and

Multan Multan (; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan, on the bank of the Chenab River. Multan is Pakistan's seventh largest city as per the 2017 census, and the major cultural, religious and economic centre of southern Punjab. Multan is one of the old ...

as Arab Muslim armies encroached; they originally practised

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

but many later converted to Islam. He says that the community is related to the

Kamboj The Kamboj ( pa, ਕੰਬੋਜ ''Kamboj'', hi, कंबोज ''Kamboj''), also Kamboh ( ur, ALA-LC: ), is a cultivating community of the Punjab region of Pakistan and India, spanning a region from the Sutlej Valley to the north, the M ...

Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...

community mainly located in northern India and eastern Pakistan. 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

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

n 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".

History

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 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the fo ...

, Shah Abdul Qadir Ludhianvi, an Arain, led an uprising from

Ludhiana Ludhiana ( ) is the most populous and the largest city in the Indian state of Punjab. The city has an estimated population of 1,618,879 2011 census and distributed over , making Ludhiana the most densely populated urban centre in the state. I ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

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. 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. Traditionally associated with farming, when the British wanted land developed in the

, 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.

Shahid Javed Burki Shahid Javed Burki ( ur, ) is a Pakistani-American professional economist who has served as Vice President of the World Bank and as de facto Finance Minister of Pakistan on a caretaker basis. He has written extensively on economic developm ...

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. During the colonial era, detailed decadal census reports covered the plethora of

castes Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...

, subcastes and tribes that existed throughout

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. Information regarding the Arains was highlighted in census reports taken from Punjab Province.

Organisation

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 in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...

and a national community newspaper, titled ''Al-Rai'', was established.

Culture

The Arains are in majority in Lahore and this biradari is also active in industrial and commercial activities. A few families play a significant role in the politics of Lahore at national and local level.

Diaspora

There are several diasporic Arain communities in British towns and cities, such as

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

and

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. The tribe has its own organisation, Arain Council UK, which was established as Anjuman-e-Arains in the 1980s and renamed in 2008. British Conservative Party politician

Sajid Javid Sajid Javid (; born 5 December 1969) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care from June 2021 to July 2022, having previously served as Home Secretary from 2018 to 2019 and Chancellor of the Exchequer ...

's family were farmers from the village of Rajana near

Toba Tek Singh Toba Tek Singh ( pnb, , ur, ) is a city and capital of Toba Tek Singh District in the Pakistani province of Punjab. It is surrounded by cities of Gojra, Kamalia, Rajana, Pir Mahal and Shorkot. History The city and district is named af ...

, Punjab, from where they migrated to the UK in the 1960s; Javid speaks some Punjabi. Javid was the first

British Asian British Asians (also referred to as Asian Britons) are British citizens of Asian descent. They constitute a significant and growing minority of the people living in the United Kingdom, with 6.9% of the population identifying as Asian/Asian Bri ...

to hold one of the British

Great Offices of State The Great Offices of State are senior offices in the UK government. They are the Prime Minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Foreign Secretary and Home Secretary or, alternatively, three of those offices excluding the Prime Minister. Current ...

, being first

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national s ...

(2018–2019) and then Chancellor of the Exchequer (2019–2020).

Notable people

* Sonia Ahmed, President of Miss Pakistan World Mrs. Pakistan World *

Adina Beg Adina Mirza Beg Khan ( pa, ; 1710 - 15 September 1758) was a Punjabi General and administrator who served as the last governor of Punjab of the Mughal Empire, including the provinces of Lahore and Multan. He was the last Nawab of Punjab, de fa ...

, last

Mughal Governor Subahdar, also known as Nazim or in English as a "Subah", was one of the designations of a governor of a Subah (province) during the Khalji dynasty of Bengal, Mamluk dynasty (Delhi), Khalji dynasty, Tughlaq dynasty, Mughal era ( of India who w ...

. *

Mian Shah Din Mian Shah Din (2 April 1868 - 2 July 1918) was a Punjabi lawyer and politician in British India. In October, 1908 he was the first Muslim appointed a judge of the Chief Court of the Punjab, now known as the Lahore High Court. ...

, first Muslim judge at the Chief Court of the Punjab *

Mian Iftikharuddin Mian Iftikharuddin (Punjabi, ur, میاں افتخارالدیں; 8 April 1907 – 6 June 1962) was a Pakistani politician, activist of the Indian National Congress, who later joined the All-India Muslim League and worked for the cause of Pakis ...

, activist and politician, founder of the

Pakistan Times ''Pakistan Times'' (1947–1996) was a Pakistani newspaper, originally established by the leftist Progressive Papers Limited based in Lahore, Pakistan. Historical background It was owned and operated by Mian Iftikharuddin, a Punjabi politic ...

, former British

and Chancellor of the Exchequer * Sir Mian Abdul Rashid, first Chief Justice of Pakistan *

Anas Sarwar Anas Sarwar (born 14 March 1983) is a Scottish politician who has served as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party since 2021. He has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Glasgow region since 2016, having been Member of Parliame ...

, leader of the Scottish Labour Party *

Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar ( ur, ) is a Pakistani and former British politician who served as the 31st and 33rd Governor of Punjab, from 2013 to 2015 and from 2018 to 2022. In his first term, he represented the Pakistan Muslim League (N). I ...

, businessman, Labour Party MP and 33rd Governor of the Punjab * Sir Mian Muhammad Shafi, lawyer and co-founder of

All-India Muslim League The All-India Muslim League (AIML) was a political party established in Dhaka in 1906 when a group of prominent Muslim politicians met the Viceroy of British India, Lord Minto, with the goal of securing Muslim interests on the Indian subcont ...

Jahanara Shahnawaz Begum Jahanara Shahnawaz (7 April 1896 – 27 November 1979) was a politician and Muslim League activist. She was the daughter of Sir Muhammad Shafi. Her husband was Mian Shah Nawaz. She studied at Queen Mary College, Lahore, British Ind ...

, politician and All-India Muslim League activist * Sir Mian Muhammad Shahnawaz, politicianInternational Journal of Punjab Studies. India, Sage Publications, 1994. *

Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq HI, GCSJ, ร.ม.ภ, (Urdu: ; 12 August 1924 – 17 August 1988) was a Pakistani four-star general and politician who became the sixth President of Pakistan following a coup and declaration of martial law in ...

, the 6th President of Pakistan