Is any relation of Punjabi saini caste with pathania caste?

First understand the meaning of terms "Pathania" and "Saini" . Pathania is derived from "Pratishtana", meaning "the firmly established place." It does not signify any ancestry or tribe per se. This name was given to a place near modern Pathankot by Rajputs who had migrated from Delhi and Mathura in around 11 C.E.

The term "Saini" is the short for "Shoorsaini". Shoorsaini was the name of Tomara-Yaduvanshi tribe which ruled areas surrounding Delhi, Mathura, Bayana and Bharatpur.

Pathania as the caste exists today claims to be a chandravanshi Tomara Rajput tribe found in sub mountainous Punjab and HP. They claim origin from the rulers of Delhi which was a part of Shoorsaini kingdom. Further , according to their bardic records, they came to sub mountainous Punjab around 11 CE under the leadership of Raja Jeth Pal of Delhi. Jeth Pal is given in the lineage of Shoorsaini (skt. Surasena) kings per the bard Mookji (the bard of Khichi Chauhans). It is said that when Jeth Pal came to Punjab he founded a place in Bari Doab and it was called "Pratisthana" (whence modern Pathankot). Later the name of this place also assumed a tribal identity as "Pathania" but the origin of Rajputs by this name originally lies amongst the Shoorsainis who ruled the kingdoms of Delhi and Mathura (as Jeth Pal is given in the Yaduvanshi Shoorsaini lineage by reputed bards and this lineage was in control of Delhi and Mathura in the time frame given for the migration). So the connection of Pathanias with the Shoorsainis of Delhi and Mathura is not very difficult to understand.

Sainis of Punjab also claim to be a Yaduvanshi Rajput tribe with origin from the Shoorsainis of Mathura and Delhi.

The term "Saini", as can be seen, is easily explained as a short for Shoorsaini as the tribe claims to be connected with Rajputs of Krishna's clan (from Maharaja Shoorsen, Krishna's grandfather) and also by their folk memory of origin from Mathura which was the theo-political capital of the Shoorsaini kingdom founded by Yadava king Shoorsen in the time of Mahabharata.

So the connection between the two is quite obvious just from the oral legends collected from independent and unrelated sources. But the similarity does not just stop here. A number of their clan names are also identical. Some are given as follows:

Dhamrait (Dhamrial/Dhamial)

Salaria

Mangar (Mangral)

Mundra (Mundial)

Thinde (Thandial)

Budwal

Bilowria

Oghre (Oghial)

Dolay (Dolariye)

Annhe (Anotra)

Gangawatia (Gangait)

Luria (Lair)

Harial (Hadwal)

Dheri (Dheria)

Chera (Chaharia)

Janglia

Jaggi (Jagait)

Tirotia

Taral (Talaria?)

Please note that some of these clan names predate the migration of Shoorsainis to Punjab to take on Ghazni's generals as they are also found among Marathas of Tambar and Jadhav clans who also derive their ancestry from same sources.

Most significant in the above list the clan name of "Dhamrait" (sometimes also written as "Dhamrial" or "Dhamial). It is derived from the name of "Dhameri" which is the old name of Nurpur. Dhamrait is among the largest Saini clans. Dhameri incidentally was the name given to the capital of Pathanias. Both have unmistakable linkage. Further , the reviver of the Shoorsaini lineage is also described as Dharmapal , a Yadava dynasty king who rule Shoorsaini kingdom around 7-8 CE. The town of Dhameri is given in Tarik-e-Alfi as "Dahmala" where a Rajput fort was located and it which fell to Muslims after a fierce battle.

So the link now becomes even more obvious. Dhamrait/Dhamial is a dominant clan among both Sainis and Pathanias and is linked with the town of "Dhameri" (now Nurpur) which in turn was most likely named after the Shoorsaini king Dharmapal (Pkt. Dhampal) who was the ancestor of Jeth Pal (per Bhat Mookji).

It is not difficult to see the connection thus as the origin of both Sainis and Pathanias appear to be the identical stock of Shoorsainis of Delhi and Mathura. Placed in correct historical chronology the origin of Pathanias is from the Saini Rajputs ,i,e. the Shoorsainis of Mathura.

At what time in history and for what reason the tribe bifurcated is not difficult judge. Saini areas fell in Muslim ruled plains where Hindu Rajputs were actively persecuted through forced marriages and conversions. They took up agriculture to hide themselves from Muslim persecutors, while another Saini Rajput group escaped to hills and formed a new identity as Pathania.

(Following copied from Saini Online )

Tomara Rajputs have been described by some historians as Panduvanshis, i.e., the descedants of Pandavas. However, there are a number of historical traditions and epigraphs which would indicate that Tomaras are infact Yadavas or Shoorsainis of Krishna's tribe. Cunningham considered Tomaras to be a Yadava lineage only. Colonel Tod considered them Yaduvanshis as well but reluctantly conceded that they could be of Pandava descent based solely on a tradition given in "Prithviraj Raso" of Chand Bardai. But bardic traditions such as "Prithvi Raj Raso" are no longer regarded as reliable sources of history. It is now believed that this text contains a number of interpolations and it kept evolving till 16th or 17th century A.D. based on ahistorical speculations and embellishments of a number of bards (Ahmad, 1963 ; Gahlot et al , 1989)

It could be that since Tomaras ruled Delhi as well, the later bards linked them on this basis with Pandavas because Indraprashtha (an ancient town in Delhi region) was associated with Pandavas in popular mind. It is also a likelihood that descendants of Pandavas got completely assimilated with the Shoorsainis, and the two celebrated kshatriya lineages became identical as there are no inscriptions or works dating back to Tomara rule of Delhi which link them to Pandavas. As noted before a closer examination of Tomara genealogies, which contradict not only each other but also the inscriptions associated with the Tomara rulers (Henige,1975) , reveals certian names which are also found in the Shoorsaini genealogies of Mookji and Bayana Bhat. All of these observations would indicate them only as a branch of the famed Yadavas or Shoorsainis who ruled neighboring cirties of Mathura, Bayana, Kaman, etc and other Maha Vanas, or groves, which were located close to Delhi.

Source:- answers.com