Talk:Kamboj

Kamboj Sikh

The Kamboj or Kamboh people are the modern representatives of ancient Kambojas, a well known Kshatriya tribe of Indo-Aryans, stated to have had both Indian as well as Iranian affinities[1] and mentioned in ancient Sanskrit texts and epigraphy.

The Kambojas were an Indo-European [8] Kshatriya tribe [9] [10] [11] of Iron Age India, frequently mentioned in (post-Vedic) Sanskrit and Pali literature, making their first appearance in the Mahabharata and contemporary Vedanga literature (roughly from the 5th century BCE). Their Kamboja Kingdoms were likely located in regions on both sides of the Hindukush (see Kamboja Location).

They apparently qualify as an Indo-Iranian people, better as Iranians, cognate to the Indo-Scythians. “It seems from some inscriptions that the Kambojas were a royal clan of the Sakas better known under the Greek name of Scyths”.

In the wake of Indo-Scythian invasion of India during the pre-Kushana period, Kambojas appear to have migrated to Bengal, Sri Lanka and Cambodia in the period spanning the 2nd century BCE and the 5th century CE. Their descendants held various principalities in Medieval India, the one in north-west Bengal being seized, around middle of tenth century CE, from the Palas in Bengal.

Their Muslim counter-parts living in Pakistan mostly use Kamboh instead. The Kambojs/Kambohs are the modern reprentatives of ancient Kambojas, a well known Kshatriya tribe of Indo-Aryans, stated to have had both Indian as well as Iranian affinities [1].

Traditions

Hindu Kambohs are related to the Rajputs. They came in the period of Mahabharat to the regions where they live now.[5]

Agriculturists

Numerous foreign and Indian writers have described the modern 'Sikh Kambojs'/Kambohs as one of the finest class of agriculturists of India.[6]

The majority of Krishi Pandit awards in Rajasthan/India have been won by the Kamboj agriculturists.[7] Col Lal Singh Kamboj, a landlord from Uttar Pradesh, was the first Indian farmer to win the Padma Shri award for progressive farming in 1968.

Kamboh Sikhs.

The Kambohs, who number about 550,000, are found mostly in the districts of ferozpur district, fazilka district, Karnal, ambala, Jalandhar, Sirsa, Montgomery, Lahore and Amritsar. They are agriculturists by profession, and have a very high reputation as such.

About twenty-three per cent, of them are Sikhs by religion, thirty-seven per cent, are Mahomedans, and forty per cent, are Hindus. Kamboh Sikhs are very numerous in Kapurthala, and they make very good soldiers, being of fine physique and plucky.

Among rural landowning sikh castes, prominent ones are Jat, Mahton, Saini and Kamboh. These castes were also recruited in the Royal Indian Army in the colonial period in large numbers and were considered good soldiers.

All of these castes have pockets of their influence and dominance in certain districts where they exclusively own a number of villages , but on the whole they are numerically overshadowed by Jats all over Punjab. Sainis have their stronghold in Hoshiarpur , Gurdaspur and Ropar districts where they hold and dominate significant number of villages. Mahtons hold a number of villages in Kapurthala, Jalandhar and also Hoshiarpur.

Similarly, Kamboh lead in a number of villages near Abohar, Sunam, Philaur ,fazilka district, ferozpur district, Kapurthala and Nakodar. Famous Indian freedom fighter and martyr Sardar Udham Singh was a Kamboh.

Introduction / History - by M.S. Randhawa

"For sheer tenacity and persistence, nobody can beat the Kambojs," stated M.S. Randhawa, the former Vice Chancellor of Punjab University. Writers have often admired the Kamboj people for their talents as agriculturalists and soldiers. (1) Centuries ago, the Kamboj people migrated east from what is now Iran into the Indian subcontinent. As time went on, many of them became government officials, though many settled down as farmers. Many who lived in western India adopted Hinduism. Over the years many Kamboj people converted to other religions. They lived in places like Kashmir and Punjab, where Hindu and Muslim armies fought bitterly. Some adopted one of these two religions, but majority became Sikhs.