The Bar Region, or the Bars (), is an area in central

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 ...

, now part of the

Punjab Province Punjab Province may refer to: * Punjab Province (British India), a former province of British India from 1849 to 1947 In Pakistan * Punjab, Pakistan, a province in Pakistan from 1970 onward * West Punjab, a province of Pakistan from 1947 to 195 ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. The area consists of agricultural land that was cleared in the nineteenth century for the then 'new' canal irrigation system that the British were developing at the time. The soil of the Bar Region is fertile. The plains of fertile land have been created by the stream deposits driven by the many rivers flowing from the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over ...

. The area stretches from the river

Sutlej The Sutlej or Satluj River () is the longest of the five rivers that flow through the historic crossroads region of Punjab in northern India and Pakistan. The Sutlej River is also known as ''Satadru''. It is the easternmost tributary of the In ...

to the river Chenab and down to the junction of two rivers Jehlum and Chenab. The word ''bar'' in

Punjabi language Punjabi (; ; , ), sometimes spelled Panjabi, is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language of the Punjab, Punjab region of Pakistan and India. It has approximately 113 million native speakers. Punjabi is the most widely-spoken first lan ...

refers to a threshold, an outer space, an area away from the human settlement, a barrier between populated area and wild forest, a natural jungle. So the area between two rivers that formed a natural barrier between two different settlements was called ''bar''. All the 'Bar Regions' had and still have almost the same or similar culture and language or dialect with slight variations. The 'Bar' is further divided into five regions: *The

Sandal Bar The Sandal Bar ( pa, ) is a region between the rivers Chenab and Ravi in Punjab, Pakistan. It is located in the southern part of Rechna Doab. It spreads over almost in width (west to east) and in length (north to south). "Bar", in the local ...

(the area between the

Ravi Ravi may refer to: People * Ravi (name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Ravi (composer) (1926–2012), Indian music director * Ravi (Ivar Johansen) (born 1976), Norwegian musical artist * Ravi (music director) (1926� ...

and Chenab rivers). The great Punjabi folk tales or epic love stories like those of

Heer Ranjha ''Heer Ranjha'' (or ''Heer and Ranjha'') ( pnb, , ਹੀਰ ਰਾਂਝਾ ) is one of several popular tragic romances of Punjab, other important ones being " Sohni Mahiwal", " Mirza Sahiban" and " Sassi Punnhun". There are several poetic ...

and Mirza Sahiban happened in the Sandal Bar. Sandal Bar also was home to Dulla Bhatti who rebelled and fought against the centralised scheme of agricultural revenue collection (Lagaan) of

Mughal emperor The Mughal emperors ( fa, , Pādishāhān) were the supreme heads of state of the Mughal Empire on the Indian subcontinent, mainly corresponding to the modern countries of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The Mughal rulers styled ...

Akbar Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, H ...

* Kirana Bar (the area between the western side of

Chenab River The Chenab River () is a major river that flows in India and Pakistan, and is one of the 5 major rivers of the Punjab region. It is formed by the union of two headwaters, Chandra and Bhaga, which rise in the upper Himalayas in the Lahaul regi ...

and the eastern side of Jehlum rivers) * Neeli Bar (the area between the

and

rivers) *

Ganji Bar Ganji Bar is the lower valley region from the old flow of the rivers Satluj and river Beas or river Hakra to river Ravi. There was a high ridge in the middle of Montgomery (Sahiwal), Sahiwal District, old Gogaira district (now Sahiwal Division) ...

(the area between the

and dry river bed of the Hakra also called the

Ravi River The Ravi River () is a transboundary river crossing northwestern India and eastern Pakistan. It is one of five rivers associated with the Punjab region. Under the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, the waters of the Ravi and two other rivers were ...

). Ganji Bar was also home to

Rai Ahmad Khan Kharal Rai Ahmad Khan Kharal ( pa, ; – 21 September 1857), widely known as Nawab of Jhamra, was a Punjabi Muslim chieftain of the Kharal tribe. He led rebellion in the Bar region of Punjab against the British East India Company in the War of Inde ...

(1785–1857), a

i freedom activist and

folk hero A folk hero or national hero is a type of hero – real, fictional or mythological – with their name, personality and deeds embedded in the popular consciousness of a people, mentioned frequently in folk songs, folk tales and other folklore; ...

, who fought against the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi language, Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Q ...

in 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 ...

.Punjab Notes: Bar: forgotten glory of Punjab
Dawn (newspaper), Published 13 June 2014, Retrieved 3 September 2020 * The

Gondal Bar The Gondal Bar ( ur, ), named before the dominant caste in region ( Gondal Jats), is a region between the rivers Chenab and Jhelum in Punjab, Pakistan.Anwar, Ayub. "The Role of Biraderies in the Politics of Faisalabad Division." ''Pakistan Visi ...

(The area of kirana bar between jehlum and chenab rivers which includes some area of the district gujrat and all district Mandibahaudin and some parts of sargodha district (bhalwal tehsil) Most of the Bar now forms part of the modern

Faisalabad Faisalabad (; Punjabi/ ur, , ; ), formerly known as Lyallpur (Punjabi, Urdu: لائل پور), named after the founder of the city, but was renamed in 1977 in honour of late King Faisal of Saudi Arabia. It is the 3rd largest city of Paki ...

Jhang Jhang (Punjabi, ur, ), ) is the capital city of Jhang District, in the central portion of the province of Punjab, Pakistan. Situated on the east bank of the Chenab river, it is the 18th largest city of Pakistan by population. The histori ...

, Tob Tek Singh,

Hafizabad District Hafizabad District (Punjabi and ur, ) is located in Punjab, Pakistan. Hafizabad was made a district in 1993; formerly, it was a tehsil of Gujranwala District. It is situated in central Punjab and is known for its rice industry on the agricultu ...

, Okara, Vehari,

Khanewal Khanewal () is a city and the capital of Khanewal District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the 36th largest city of Pakistan by population. Khanewal is named after the earliest settlers here who belonged to the caste ‘Daha’ (A S ...

Pakpattan Pakpattan (Punjabi and ), often referred to as Pākpattan Sharīf (; ''"Noble Pakpattan"''), is the capital city of the Pakpattan District, located in Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the 48th largest city of Pakistan by population according ...

Sargodha Sargodha (Punjabi and ur, ) is a city and capital of Sargodha Division, located in Punjab province, Pakistan. It is Pakistan's 12th largest city by population and one of the fastest-growing cities of the country. Sargodha is also known as ...

Chiniot Chiniot (Urdu and pa, ) is a city and the administrative headquarter of Chiniot District in the province of Punjab, Pakistan. Located on the bank of the river Chenab, it is the 28th largest city of Pakistan. It is also known for its intri ...

Hafizabad Hafizabad ( Urdu and pa, ) is a city and capital of Hafizabad District located in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the 31st largest city of Pakistan. It is also a Tehsil. Ancient history Hafizabad is an old city in Punjab, Pakistan. In 327 BC, d ...

Nankana Sahib Nankana Sahib () is a city and capital of Nankana Sahib District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is named after the first Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Nanak, who was born in the city and first began preaching here. Nankana Sahib is the mos ...

Bahawalnagar Bahawalnagar (Punjabi, ur, ), is the capital city of Bahawalnagar District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The city of Bahawalnagar is the headquarter of the district and tehsil as well.

Mandi Bahauddin Mandi Bahauddin (Urdu and pa, ) is a city in northern Punjab, Pakistan. It is also the capital of Mandi Bahauddin District. It is the 41st largest city of Pakistan by population according to the 2017 census. It has exellent agricultural land ...

and

Sahiwal Sahiwal (Punjabi and ur, ), formerly known as Montgomery, is a city in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the 21st largest city of Pakistan by population and the administrative capital of both Sahiwal District and Sahiwal Division. Sahiwal is approx ...

districts of the

province in

. The

Indigenous people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

of these districts have similar culture and speak Jatki/ Jangli dialect of

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a British Th ...

.Geo-political history of Punjab region
The Nation (newspaper), Published 29 September 2015, Retrieved 3 September 2020

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tribes Of The Bar Region Of The Punjab Punjab Historical regions of Pakistan

See also

References