The Johiyas are a social group native to the north-western part of the Indian subcontinent. They have been classified as

Rajputs Rājpūt (, from Sanskrit ''rājaputra'' meaning "son of a king"), also called Thākur (), is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating fro ...

History

Alexander Cunningham Major General Sir Alexander Cunningham (23 January 1814 – 28 November 1893) was a British Army engineer with the Bengal Sappers who later took an interest in the history and archaeology of India. In 1861, he was appointed to the newly crea ...

derived the term "Johiya" from "Yaudheya", and theorized that the modern Johiyas were representatives of the ancient

Yaudheya Yaudheya (Brahmi script: 𑀬𑁅𑀥𑁂𑀬) or Yoddheya Gana (Yoddheya Republic) was an ancient military ganasangha (republic) based in the Eastern region of the Sapta Sindhu, in modern day Haryana. The word Yaudheya is a derivative of the w ...

s. A.B.L. Awasthi, however, connected modern

to Yaudheyas instead; historian R. C. Majumdar finds Awasthi's identification more probable. Yet another theory connects the Admera sub-group of the Johiyas to the ancient

Audumbaras The Audumbras, or Audumbaras (Hindi;ओदुम्बर) were a north Indian tribal nation east of the Punjab, in the Western Himalaya region. They were the most important tribe of the Himachal, and lived in the lower hills between Sirmaur, C ...

. During 700-1200 CE, the Johiyas were among the dominant communities of north-eastern and north-western Rajasthan, along with various sub-groups of

. By the 15th century, they had accepted Islam, and claimed Rajput descent. They were among the politically influential groups in the

Bikaner Bikaner () is a city in the northwest of the States and territories of India, state of Rajasthan, India. It is located northwest of the state capital, Jaipur. It is the administrative headquarters of Bikaner District and Bikaner division. Fo ...

area. During 18th and 19th century, the Muslim Johiya chieftains - who were vassals of

Bikaner State Bikaner State was the princely state, Princely State in the north-western most part of the History of Bikaner, Rajputana province of imperial British India from 1818 to 1947. The founder of the state Rao Bika was a younger son of Rao ...

, had ongoing tussle for the control of northeast Rajasthan (

Hanumangarh Hanumangarh is a city and municipal council in the Indian state of Rajasthan, situated on the banks of the river Ghaggar also identified as ancient Sarasvati river, located about 400 km from Delhi. It is the administrative headquarter o ...

) and northwest Haryana (

Sirsa Sirsa is a city and a municipal council in Sirsa district in the westernmost region of the Indian state of Haryana, bordering Punjab and Rajasthan. It is located near the Thar Desert, 250 kilometres north-west of New Delhi and 260 kilometers s ...

, Fatehabad, Rania and

Hisar Hissar () means fort or castle in Arabic, with variants adopted into Persian (hesar, hessar) and Turkish (hisar). Hissar, Hisar and Hesar may refer to: Places Asia (South and Central) India *Hisar (city), a city in Haryana **Hisar Airport in Hi ...

) with

Bhatti Bhatti is a Punjabis, Punjabi and Sindhis, Sindhi caste of Rajputs. They are linked to the Bhatia caste, Bhatias and Bhutto (clan), Bhuttos, all of whom claim to originate from the Hindus, Hindu Bhati Rajputs. They claim descent from the Lun ...

Ranghar Ranghar are a community of Muslim Rajputs in the Indian states of Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh; and in Sindh ( Muhajirs) and Punjab in Pakistan. History and origin The Ranghar were classified as an "agricultura ...

Rajputs and

Jat The Jat people (, ), also spelt Jaat and Jatt, are a traditionally agricultural community in Northern India and Pakistan. Originally pastoralists in the lower Indus river-valley of Sindh, many Jats migrated north into the Punjab region in l ...

Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...

rulers of

Patiala Patiala () is a city in southeastern Punjab, India, Punjab, northwestern India. It is the fourth largest city in the state and is the administrative capital of Patiala district. Patiala is located around the ''Qila Mubarak, Patiala, Qila Mubar ...

and

Jind State Jind State (also spelled Jhind State) was a princely state located in the Punjab and Haryana regions of north-western India. The state was in area and its annual income was Rs.3,000,000 in the 1940s. This state was founded and ruled by the Sidh ...

s.Jugal Kishore Gupta, 1991
History of Sirsa Town
page. 38-48.

References

Bibliography

* * {{refend Rajput clans of Rajasthan Jat clans Social groups of Rajasthan