Dhamrait

"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.

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. The town of "Dhameri" (now Nurpur,Himachal Pradesh) 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 to be noted that Dhamrait is a major and dominant clan of Sainis in Hoshiarpur and Gurdaspur districts of Punjab. In the hills the same clan is found among Pathania Rajputs as Dhamrial. This clan is linked with the fort of Dhameri. Further, there is a Dhameri near Delhi as well which gives the suggestion that the identical ancestors of Pathanias and Saini Rajputs moved from this region and founded another town with the same name to preserve the memory of original home near Delhi and Mathura.

Raja Dhampal: Tomara-Yaduvanshi King

The significant Jadhav sept found among Marathas is Dhampal. The reviver of Shoorsaini kingdom in around 600-700 AD is also described as Dhampal (Skt. Dharampal) in the genaologies of Karauli royals (Cunningham, 1883) . Saini clan of Dhamrait and Pathania clan of Dhamrial or Dhamial are in all probability linked with this eponymous Yaduvanshi Rajput patriarch. The town of Dhameri (earlier name of Nurpur) in Gurdaspur district was the captial of common ancestors of Saini and Pathania Rajputs who had moved to Punjab from near Delhi and Mathura under Raja Jeth Pal ( Charles Francis Massy, 1890) , a Tomara-Yaduvanshi monarch described in the line of Dhampal as Jaitapal .

Significance of Dhameri": No Random Name

Dhameri is said to have been founded by Jeth Pal in 11th century AD (Cunningham, 1889). It is noteworthy that the name "Dhameri" is far from a random name picked by migrant Rajputs from Delhi and Mathura. It is in all probability derived from the name of Saini patriarch Dhampal, who was ancestor of Raja Jeth or Jait Pal. Some other variations of Dhameri in diferrent historical epigraphs are as follows: Dahmal, Damal, Dahmari, Damehri, Dhamari, Dhammeri, etc. In Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri it is metioned as "Dhameri" only and Alberuni, a source closer to the date of the said Rajput migration from Mathura and Delhi, actually describes it as "Dahmala", which looks certain to be a distortion of the name of Dhampal, the ancestor of Jait Pal.

The fort of Dhameri fell to Ibrahim Ghaznavi after a long siege according to Tarikh-i-Alfi. Since the dates of this Ghaznavide raider are stated to be between 1058 AD and 1089 AD, we can be certain that Dhameri was founded atleast as early as this period. Incidentally, the account of Sainis i.e that their Rajput ancestors moved to Punjab to fight Ghazni's army, an account which was duly recorded by English ethnographers in late 19th century, fully tallies with these historical facts gathered from independent sources of which the 19th century informants giving these accounts had no knowledge. They were merely repeating a folklore which had passed down to them from generation after generation from the time when battles between Saini Rajputs or Shoorsainis and Ghaznavides had taken place in roughly around 1100 AD. As already pointed out, Dhamrait , which could mean both a resident of Dhameri or a descendant of the eponymous Shoorsaini patriarch Dhampal, is a major clan of Sainis in Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur and Ropar districts , all within 20 miles to 100 miles proximity to the historical fort of Dhameri near Pathankot.

It is interesting to note that here is another "Dhameri" in North Rajputana (about 100 miles west of Delhi) which fell in areas traditionally ruled by Saini rulers of Delhi and Mathura. There still exists a large population of Tomara-Yaduvanshi clans in this area. Meos, a Rajput origin Muslim group, who derive their ancestry from the same lineage also have a similar sounding "Demrot" sept (Cunningham, 1885) .[1]