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Friday, September 4, 2009

Punjabi Saraswat Brahman-Mohla, SomastamGotra, Som, Budh, Pururaa and SoumayaPraara,!alpa Sutra, Madhyandina Sha"ha, Shu"la

#ajuredi- Part $

Knowing your Vansha brings you closer to your heritage. I realized

myself much better as most of my queries were aptly answered.

Whenever, I traveled to different countries closer to ours, like Iraq,

Iran, urkey, !yria,"#$, and $gypt my urge to know the roots

became stronger as familiar features sometimes close

resemblances to my relatives, tickled my funny bone. %ow are theyhere& 'id our ancestors leave their progeny or we are one of them

left behind in India& !omewhere I have tried to answer myself by

analyzing the origins of (rahmans in India.

#nyway, I can proudly define my personal Visiting card on the

following basis.

). What is your caste& *. What is your clan& +. What is your otra&

-. What is your !utra& . What are your /ravaras 0/arivars1& 2.

What is your Veda& 3. What is your !akha&

hese questions are often asked when you visit a well organized

!outh Indian style 4andir0temple1 in India and call yourself a

(rahman. 5or the benefit of all we can answer these above6thanks

to "ncle 4ahendar7s e8cellent presentation. I wish to elaborate

further on these matters with some more e8planations, so that my

pears and younger generation can all benefit from our small

research. I urge others to equally contribute or correct wherever

my comprehension and grasp of the sub9ect has gone wrong.

:). What is our caste&

#ns. (rahman

:.Who is (rahman& 4anu says;< 4anu, I, !+. hey

were held in the highest status of our %indu !ociety.

0as per =Hindu castes & sects1;

!tudying the !hastrasa.eaching the !hastrasb.

/erformance of religious rites for the three superior classes.c.

#cceptance of gifts from the three superior classes.d.

Sear%h &his Blo'

(abels

)%tiely parti%ipate(2)

)rran'ed but better than loe

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Bhaiya *i - Pandit madho

ramji(1)

F)M+(# &-.)/S).)(+

(2)First (ahore return isit by a

Mohlajee in 1%tober 200(3)

From )ustria(1)

Mer%urial Mohlas(1)

/)!3( .+S+&S 11(1)

/ )G &3()

M+S-(+F&+/G B)*)* P3(S)(1)

1ri'in o5 Mohla name(1)

Personal .isitin' 6ard(3)

a"shabandhan(2)

upesh Mohla(1)

3se Personal isitin' %ard(1)

.anshaali(1)

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)& &1 B(1G )B13&(1)

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HLAJEES WORLD: Punjabi Saraswat Brahman-Mohla, Somastam ... http://mohlajee-clan.blogspot.in/2009/09/punjabi-saraswat-brahman-m...

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!ome addressed (rahmans as =4ahara9? = hakur? or =4isr? as

stated by /andit @ogendra Aath (hatacharya in =%indu Bastes

C !ects? page 80wherein he says general name for /an9ab

!araswat (rahmans was =4isr?.

It appears to have been derived from =4ishra>, which is a word

from the !anskrit language meaning >mi8ed, mingled, or

blended>.

>4ishra> or 4isra is also an Indian surname, normally

associated with the (rahman. 4ostly, 4aitreya or 4aitra or

4aitri 0friendship1 or 4ishra, written in devnagri script look

almost identical and both have same meaning. It is one of the

most widespread (rahman surnames in the fertile angetic

plain region and in the Indian states of /un9ab, Drissa, (ihar,

"ttar /radesh, 4adhya /radesh, Ea9asthan, #ssam and West

(engal. It is also found in countries such as uyana and

rinidad and obago under the anglicized version of 4isir,

where many 4ishras were taken to work on sugar plantations

due to their agricultural prowess and skills in other fields.

!tories say that even (ritishers used to call 4ishra my sir

hence 4isir and 4ishra. he surname is also found in 5i9i and

4auritius, as well as in other Indian diaspora communities. It

is one of the most common surnames among the (rahmans in

India.

It is believed that F4isirF is the original pronunciation and F4ishraF

the anglicized version. he above can be 9ustified from the

following 6 4i!ir if separated reads as 4i !ir or 4y !ir. Ao where I

read any derivation of the name?4isr? with =4I!EI? of $:G/ as Ialways believed. >4ishra> is a surname associated with autam

otra 0descent from one of the three great sage autam1 (rahman.

%owever it is also found in other gotras like !handilya too. !ome

of the very famous historical personalities of 4ishra were

#A!$A, (#I@" (#WE#.

I may have digressed from the topic but felt like erasing the doubt

about our ancestors being called "Misr".

Q2. What is our Clan?#ns. Punjabi Sarasat !rah"an

5irst we define !araswat (rahman in India and then go on tounderstand Who is /un9abi !araswat (rahman&

he (rahmans in India were divided into two ma9or geographical

groups namely owd (rahman who lived to the north of the

Vindhyas and 'ravida (rahmans living south of Vindhyas. $ach

group was further divided into sections.

he five 0/ancha1 owda (rahman groups were !araswats,

Kanyakub9as, audas, "tkals, and 4aithilas. he five 0pancha1

'ravida (rahman groups were #ndhras, 4aharashtras, 'ravidas or

amils, Karnataka, and Kerala (rahmans.

#he origino$ Sarasat !rah"ans

Blo' )r%hie

20$(1)

20$2(1)

20$$(1)

20$0()

2009(!!)

8e%ember(2)

1%tober()

September(1#)

)tul and Sari"a Mohlajee

with Family

Mohalian 8a Mohalla

First Puja with personal

isitin' %ard o5

Mohla-Pu:::

()1+ G)& &1 S3&&)

M)/8+ &1 !36) B3(1

M)( ;13:::

+n Sear%h o5 6hander

She"har < Bros: Family

boo" s:::

/13S+/G & M1()*

B(1G

Sheetla Mata Mandir isit-

(ahore

Punjabi Saraswat Brahman-

Mohla, Somastam Gotra,

So:::



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6ontributors

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he e8act origin of the !araswat (rahmans is difficult to ascertain.

Dne theory puts them as #ryan0indo6iranian1 migrants from

Bentral #sia who came to the Indian sub6continent through the

%indu6Kush 4ountains and the Khyber pass to south in about

-HHH6)HH (.B.

4ost of them settled along thebanks of !araswati Eiver. hey

0!araswats1 settled for an

agrarian life. $ducation was of

great importance to the

!araswats, so they taught their

young the !anskrit language and

enlightened themselves from the

Veda0s1. #lthough they spoke

!anskrit in public, their invented

a simplified version of !anskrit

called !rah"aniand spoke

only at home. Dver the years along the !araswati, they established

the concept of Kuladevata or family gods, and began worshipping

them.

%uldetas

Aormally !araswats believe in the concept of >/anchayatan> 6

worshipping gods like form of !hiva, Vishnu, 'urga, !urya andanapati.

4any KuldevsKuldevatas temples situated in oa, Karnataka

region are supposedly the most beautiful and grand temples.

hey accepted the reat !age !araswat 4uni 0son of Eishi

'adichi1, living on the banks of !araswati as their uru. #t the

advice of their uru who was pragmatic, they started to feed on

fish from the !araswati Eiver for survival, after a prolonged

famine. hus they became the only fish6eating (rahmans ever

known. he fish eating habit of !araswat (rahmans finds mentioneven in Eamanyana. (efore performing Ea9asuya yagna, !hri Eama

asked Jakshmana to invite all the (rahmans for the yagna.

Jakshmana invited everybody, e8cept aud !araswat (rahmans.

When asked, Jakshmana e8plained that he observed aud

!araswat (rahmans eat the middle portion of a fish, separate the

head and tail from the fish, and then using vedic mantras re9oined

the head and tail. he fish would live again. !hri Eama was

impressed. !ince the (rahmans were not killing the fish, he felt

that no sin was commited. !hri Eama instructed Jakshmana to

invite !araswat (rahmans to the Ea9asuya Gagna.

his settlement was in the land between the !araswati,

'rishadvati0many stones1and lavanavati rivers forming a channel

till #rabian sea. Kurukshetra was a plain land that lied south of

dolly lall

MahenderShyama


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saraswati and north of 'rishadwati Eivers. In 4anu !mriti 4anu

*.)3 it has special mention =hat land created by the ods, which

lies between the two divine rivers !araswati and 'rishadwati,

the0sages1 call (E#%4#V#E#? he 'rashadvati river has often

been identified with Bhautang river. he Bhautang Eiver is a

seasonal river in the state of %aryana. Eigveda mentions about

!araswati in many of its verses. he one that is pertinent here is as

follows; ambe tame devi tame nadi tame Saraswati.

Which means that =Gou are the oddess, Gou are the river,

!araswati?. oday anga holds the same status. In fact Eigveda is

full of references for !araswati and hardly mentions anga once.

#he 'igrations

!ome calamity struck !araswat 'esh and !araswati began to dry

out to become non6e8istent by )HHH (B. !araswats had no choice

but to pack up and move. his period of history saw many

civilizations abandoning their settlements. he migration

happened not overnight but spread over centuries. he !araswatsmigrated in three directions 6 mostly followed the river routes and

migrated to the !outh6West 0!ind1, Aorth 0Kashmir1, $ast 0(ihar1.

'igration to South and West

he migrations to south and west followed the course of the Eiver

!araswati, went up to 'waraka and by ship they sailed to oa. 5or

their stay in 'waraka, these settlements have been referred to as

Sarasat #irthasin 4ahabharata. 5rom oa they spread to

entire Konkan, Karnataka and Kerala region.

'igration to (orth and )ast

he second route of migration was from /un9ab into Kashmir.

hey were haunted by 4uslim rulers for centuries until some

prominent Kashmiris appealed to the !ikh Bhief Ean9it !ingh for

help and he succeeded in getting rid of the #fghans. he %ash"iri

!araswats were 'evi worshippers.

hose who migrated to Kashmir called themselves as Kashmiri

/andits, !ind6!ind !araswats, Kutch6Kutchi !araswats, /un9ab6

/un9ab !araswats, Ea9asthan6Ea9asthan !araswats and omantak6

owda !araswats.

'igration to !ihar

he !araswats who moved !outh $ast were mainly from the

!araswat 'esh and they followed the anges and reached

rihotrapura or modern irhut in upper (ihar. his was in

-HH6+H (B. he ma9or settlements were in Kanyakub9a 0Kanpur

area1, 4agadha and 4ithila.

Sarasats o$ Punjab*

he !araswat is essentially the (rahman of the /un9ab, 9ust as the

Khatri is distinctively a /un9abi caste. Writes 4r %.#.Eose in his

+, glossar- o$ the tribes and castes o$ the Punjab and

(orth West rontier Proince ///.

he !araswat, as a body, minister to all the %indu castes,? possibly

even to those which are unclean and so stand outside the pale of


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%induism?. hey were liberal in their outlook. = %e 0!araswat

(rahmin1 is said to be less grasping and quarrelsome than aur,

and he is certainly much less rigid in his observance of caste rules,

eating and smoking with most of the stricter %indu castes such as

(anyas, Khatris, !uds, and Kayasths. %e eats flesh in the %ills and

perhaps in some parts of the plains also? says !ir 'enzil Ibbetson

in his report of the /an9ab Bensus of )) =he Eaces castes C

tribes of the /eople of /an9ab?.

%e further gives the figure of otal (rahmin population in /an9ab

as -*HHH appro8 and !araswat (rahmin in Jahore were stated to

be L,L3H only. %ighest number of !araswats were 60in the year

))16 in /atiala followed by Kangra ,#mritsar, !ialkot, @allandar in

that order. /eshawar had very less !araswats who had migrated

there for the fear of 4usalmans in /an9ab.

he leading principle of /an9abi (rahmin was that the status of

each section depends on the status of the caste to which it

ministers. In accordance with this principle,'r 1ose classi$ied

thus;

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