Minhas

Minhas or Manhas or Minhas-Dogra (Punjabi: मिन्हास (Devanagari), ਮਿਨਹਾਸ (Gurmukhi), مِنہاس (Shahmukhi)) is a Suryavanshi Rajput/Jatt clan from the Punjab region and Jammu & Kashmir in India and Pakistan. It is an off-shoot of Jamwal-Dogra Rajputs, the founders of the city and state of Jammu and its rulers from ancient times to 1948 C.E. In antiquity of rule, which is generally considered a benchmark of royalty, they are second to none, but the great Katoch Rajputs of Trigarta and Kangra. Paying tribute to the antiquity of their royal lineage, Sir Lepel Griffin says, “These royal dynasties may have been already ancient when Moses was leading the Israelites out of Egypt, and the Greeks were steering their swift ships to Troy.” Minhas Rajputs are spread throughout Punjab Region and Jammu & Kashmir in India and Pakistan. Hindu Minhas Rajputs reside in the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Indian Punjab, Sikh Minhas Rajputs, mainly inhabit Punjab (India) and Muslim Minhas Rajputs reside in Pakistani Punjab and Pakistan controlled Kashmir.

Minhas as Jatt Gotra

Virk, Malnhans, Kangeyal, Pakhral, Rehsi, Lodhra, Mahe, Mair, & Katwar are also sub-branches of the Minhas. Before 1932, in all census, most Virks mention themselves as Virk Minhas. They claim origin from Malnhans. The headquarter of the Virks appears to be Gujranwala and Lahore districts, especially, the former in which they own 132 villages. They claim origin from a Minhas Rajput called Virk, who left Jammu and setteld at Ghuchli in Amritsar, and in Gujranwala. Nearly a third of them have returned themselves as Rajputs, but they marry freely with the neighboring Jat tribes. They say that their ancestor, Virk, had descended from Malnhans, the founder of the Manhas or Minhas tribe of Rajputs and was connected with the Rajas of Jammu. Leaving Paragowal in Jammu, he settled in Amritsar and married a Gill Jat girl. His descedent, shortly afterwards, moved westward into Gujranwala. There are three main sections of the tribe, the Jopur, Vachra, and Jan. The tribes rose to some political importance about the end of the last century, ruling a considerable tract in Gujranwala and Lahore, till subdued by Ranjit Singh. One branch of Minhas Rajputs is known as Pakhral, mostly settled in the suburbs of Rawalpindi and different parts of Kashmir. Minhas Jats also reside in the villages of Mair, Chotala, Nagayal and suburbs of Jhelum. There are many other villages of Minhas Jats in the Pothohar region. They are proud to be known as Jats. Pakhrals are also setteled in Suiyan Sharif Sehnsa Kotli (Azad) Kashmir. Mair Minhas, Ratiyal, Lodhra, Dolchial, etc. are also sub-castes of Pakhral.