The Dogars
This article is an extract from PANJAB CASTES SIR DENZIL CHARLES JELF IBBETSON, K.C. S.I. Being a reprint of the chapter on Lahore : Printed by the Superintendent, Government Printing, Punjab, 1916. |
Caste No. 46
The Dogars of the Panjab are found in the upper valleys of the Satluj and Beas above the lower border of the Lahore district, and have also spread westwards along the foot of the hills into Sialkot. There are also considerable colonies of them in Hissar and Karnal
They are thus described by Mr. Brandreth in his Firozpur Report : —
In my account of the Firozpur ilaqua I have already alluded to the Dogars, who are supposed to be converted Chauhan Rajputs from the neighbourhood of Dehli. They migrated first to the neighbourhood of Pak Pattan, whence they spread gradually along the banks of the Satluj, and entered the Firozpur district about 100 years ago. The Firozpur Dogars are all descended from a common ancestor named Bahlol, but they are called Mahu Dogars, from Mahu the grandfather of Bahlol. Bahlol had three sons, Bambu, Langar, and Sammu. The Dogars of Firozpur and Mullanwala are the descendants of Bambu ; those of Khai the descendants of Langar ; the descen dauts of Sammu live in the Kasur territory. There are many other sub-castes of the Dogars in other districts along the banks of the Satluj, as the Parehats, the Topuras, the Chopuras, &c. The Chopura Dogars occupy Mandot. The Firozpur Dogars consider themselves superior in rank and descent to the other sub-castes. They are very particular to whom they give their daughters in marriage though they take wives from all the other families. At one time infanticide is said to have prevailed among them, but I do not think there is much trace of it at the present day.
Sir H. Lawrence, who knew the Dogars well, writes of them that 'they are tall, handsome, ' and sinewy, and are remarkable for having, almost without exception, large aquiline noses ; they ' are fanciful and violent, and tenacious of what they consider their rights, though susceptible to ' kindness, and not wanting in courage ; they appear to have been always troublesome subjects, and ' too fond of their own free mode of life to willingly take service as soldiers.* The Jewish face which is found among the Dogars, and in which they resemble the Afghans, is very remarkable, and makes it probable that there is very little Chauhan blood in their veins, not with standing the fondness with which they attempt to trace their connection with that ancient family of Rajputs. Like the Gujars and Naipals they are great thieves, and prefer pasturing cattle to cultivating. Their favourite crime is cattle-slealing. There are, however, some respectable persons among them, especially in the Firozpur ilaqua. It is only within the last few years that the principal Dogars have begun to wear any covering for the head; formerly the whole population, as is the case with the poorer classes still, wore their long hair over their shoulders without any covering either of sheet or turban. Notwithstanding the difference of physiognomy, however, the Dogars preserve evident traces of some connection with the Hindus in most of their family customs, in which they resemble the Hindus much more than the orthodox Muhammadans.
Mr. Purser notes that they are divided into two tribes one of which claim to be Chauhan and the other Punwar Rajputs and he notes their alleged advent from Pak Pattan, but not their previous migration from Dehli. If they ever did move from Dehli to the Montgomery district it can hardly have been since the Ghaggar ceased to fertilize the intervening country^ and the date of the migration must have been at least some centuries back ; and the Dogars of Hissar came to those parts from the Panjab, probably from the Satluj across the Sirsa district. The Dogars of Lahore and Firozpur are essentially a riverside tribe, being found only on the river banks : they bear the very worst reputation, and appear from the passage quoted above to have retained till quite lately some at least of the habits of a wild tribe. I suspect that their origin was probably in the Satluj valley. They appeal- to have entered the Firozpur district about 1760 A.D. and during the next forty years to have posessed themselves of a very considerable portion of the district, while their turbulence rendered them almost independent of the Sikh Govern ment. In 1808 we recognised the Dogar State of Firozpur, and took it under om- protection against Ran jit Singh ; but it lapsed in i835.
The Rajput origin of the Dogars is probably very doubtful, and is strenously denied by their Rajput neighbours, though I believe that Dogar, or perhaps Doghar, is used in some parts of the Province to denote one of mixed
blood. Another derivation of the name is doghgar or milkman. The Dogars
seem to be originally a pastoral rather than an agricultural tribe, and still to retain a strong liking for cattle, whether their own or other people's. They are often classed with Gujars, whom they much resemble in their habits. In Lahore and Firozpur they are notorious cattle-thieves, but further north they seem to have settled down and become peaceful husbandmen. They are not good cultivators. Their social standing seems to be abOut that of a low-class Rajput ; they are practically all Musalmans. The Dogars have returned hardly any large clans ; some of the largest are shown in the margin.
