The Sial or Siyal (

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

and

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

: سيال) is a

clan found in the

Punjab region Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

of the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

, split between India and Pakistan.

Ethnographic classification

According to the Bardic traditions, Sials descended from a certain Rai Shankar, a Parmar Rajput. Rai Shankar had three sons: Seo, Teo and Gheo, the ancestors of Sial, Tiwana and Gheba clans, respectively.

Denzil Ibbetson Sir Denzil Charles Jelf Ibbetson (30 August 1847 – 21 February 1908)Talbot (2012). was an administrator in British India and an author. He served as Deputy Commissioner of Karnal district from 1892 to 1893. He served as Chief- ...

, an administrator of the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

, classified the Sial as a

Rajput 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 ...

tribe. However, they are also classified as Jats. Following the introduction of the Punjab Land Alienation Act in 1900, the authorities of the Raj classified the Sials who inhabited the Punjab as an "agricultural tribe", a term that was administratively synonymous with the " martial race" classification that was used for the purposes of determining the suitability of a person as a recruit to the

British Indian Army The Indian Army was the force of British Raj, British India, until Indian Independence Act 1947, national independence in 1947. Formed in 1895 by uniting the three Presidency armies, it was responsible for the defence of both British India and ...

History

During the fifteenth- and sixteenth-century periods of the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an Early modern period, early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to ...

, the Sial and

Kharal Kharal ( Punjabi: ) is a Punjabi Muslim tribe predominantly found in northern Punjab and the Sandal Bar region. Origins The earliest mention of origins of Kharals was by Hazrat Pilu, a 16-17th century poet who wrote Mirza Kharal as a Jat ...

tribes were dominant in parts of the lower

Bari Bari ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia Regions of Italy, region, on the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy. It is the first most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy. It is a port and ...

and Rachna

doab ''Doab'' () is a term used in South Asia Quote: "Originally and chiefly in South Asia: (the name of) a strip or narrow tract of land between two rivers; spec. (with) the area between the rivers Ganges and Jumna in northern India." for the tract ...

s of Punjab. In the 18th century, Sial chief Walidad Khan gained control of Rechna Doab including cities of

Chiniot Chiniot ( Punjabi, Urdu: ) is a city and the administrative headquarters of Chiniot District in the province of Punjab, Pakistan. Located on the bank of the river Chenab, it is the 28th most populous city in Pakistan. It is also known for ...

Pindi Bhattian Pindi Bhattian (Punjabi language, Punjabi, ) is a city and the administrative headquarters of Pindi Bhattian Tehsil, Hafizabad District in Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, Pakistan. It is famous for being the birthplace of the 16th-century Punjabis, Pu ...

Jhang Jhang ( Punjabi / ; ; ) is the capital city of Jhang District in central Punjab, Pakistan. Situated on the east bank of the Chenab river, it is the 13th most populous city of Pakistan. Etymology The historical name of the city and dis ...

and

Mankera Mankera ( Saraiki and ) is the principal town of Mankera Tehsil, an administrative subdivision of Bhakkar District, in the Punjab province of Pakistan. Next chief,

Inayatullah Khan Sial Inayatullah Khan Sial ( Punjabi: عنایت اللہ خان سیال) was an 18th-century Punjabi Muslim general and chieftain who served as the 14th Sardar of Jhang. He succeeded his uncle Walidad Khan, who died heirless in 1747 and ruled unti ...

(1747–1787) was a successful General who won 22 battles against Bhangi misl and the Multan chiefs. In 1803, the Sial chief Ahmed Khan was forced to pay tribute to Ranjit Singh who ultimately conquered the Sial capital of Jhang in 1806. However, Ahmed Khan seized control of Jhang again in 1808 with the help of Pathans of Multan. The 1809

Treaty of Amritsar A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by international law. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, convention ...

, agreed between

Ranjit Singh Ranjit Singh (13 November 1780 – 27 June 1839) was the founder and first maharaja of the Sikh Empire, in the northwest Indian subcontinent, ruling from 1801 until his death in 1839. Born to Maha Singh, the leader of the Sukerchakia M ...

, the

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 ...

leader, and the British, gave him a ''carte blanche'' to consolidate territorial gains north of the

Sutlej River The Sutlej River or the Satluj River is a major river in Asia, flowing through China, India and Pakistan, and is the longest of the five major rivers of the Punjab region. It is also known as ''Satadru''; and is the easternmost tributary of th ...

at the expense both of other Sikh chiefs and their peers among the other dominant communities. In 1816, Ahmed Khan was finally ousted, having previously been forced to pay

tribute A tribute (; from Latin ''tributum'', "contribution") is wealth, often in kind, that a party gives to another as a sign of submission, allegiance or respect. Various ancient states exacted tribute from the rulers of lands which the state con ...

to Singh for several years. The Sials in Jhang, as in many other areas of the Punjab, had once been nomadic pastoralists. They did not necessarily cultivate all of the land that they controlled and it was the actions of the

Sikh Empire The Sikh Empire was a regional power based in the Punjab, Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent. It existed from 1799, when Maharaja Ranjit Singh captured Lahore, to 1849, when it was defeated and conquered by the East India Company, Br ...

and, later, the land reforms of the Raj administration that caused them to turn to cultivation.

Popular culture

The ''

Heer Ranjha '' Ranjha'' () is a classical Punjabi folk tragedy with many historic poetic narrations; with the first one penned by Damodar Gulati in 1600s, on the preexisting oral legend; and the most famous one, ''Heer'', written by Waris Shah in 17 ...

'' and ''

Mirza Sahiban ''Mirza Sahiban'' () is a classical Punjabi folk tragedy, originally recorded in literary form by the 17th-century poet Pilu. Set in a village in Jhang, the tragedy follows the romance between two youths, belonging to chieftain families ...

'',

epic poem In poetry, an epic is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants. With regard to ...

s of

Punjabi literature Punjabi literature, specifically literary works written in the Punjabi language, is characteristic of the historical Punjab of present-day Pakistan and India and the Punjabi diaspora. The Punjabi language is written in several scripts, of which th ...

are pieces of fictional writing which refer to the Sials, who were the dominant tribe at the time. The two heroines, Heer is depicted as young and independent-minded daughter of a Sial chieftain in revolt against traditional tribal conservatism. Heer is portrayed as a Sial Rajput, and Sahiban is also from a Sial Rajput family.

Notable people with this surname

, Sardar of Jhang from 1747 until 1787 *

Muhammad Arif Khan Rajbana Sial Khan Muhammad Arif Khan Rajbana Sial () was a veteran politician, feudal lord and tribal chieftain from Badh Rajbana, Shorkot, Pakistan. Early life and education Khan was educated at Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh. With his cousin, Mahr Ghu ...

, former federal and provincial minister * Najaf Abbas Sial, Member,

Provincial Assembly of Punjab The Provincial Assembly of the Punjab, also known as the Punjab Assembly, is the supreme Legislature, legislative body of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. It convenes at the #Assembly building, A ...

(2002 - 2007) from

Jhang District Jhang District (Punjabi language, Punjabi and ) is a Districts of Pakistan, district of Faisalabad Division, Faisalabad division in the Punjab (Pakistan), Punjab province, Pakistan. Jhang is the capital and administrative seat of the district. ...

Ghazalla Sial Ghazalla Sial or Ghazala Siyal () is a Pakistani politician who had been a member of the Provincial Assembly of Sindh from August 2018 to August 2023 and from June 2013 to May 2018. Early life and education She was born on 29 January 1966 in Kh ...

, member,

Provincial Assembly of Sindh The Provincial Assembly of Sindh is a unicameral legislature of elected representatives of the Pakistani province of Sindh, and is located in Karachi, its provincial capital. It was established under Article 106 of the Constitution of Pakis ...

(2018–2023) and (2013–2018) from

Khairpur Khairpur ( Sindhi, ) is a city and the capital of the Khairpur Mirs District of Pakistan's Sindh province. History The Talpur dynasty was established in 1783 by Mir Fateh Ali Khan, who declared himself the first ''Rais'', or ruler of Sindh, a ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sial Jat clans of Punjab Rajput clans of Punjab Punjabi-language surnames Pakistani names