Tarkhan

ਜਾਣਹੁ ਜੋਤਿ ਨ ਪੂਛਹੁ ਜਾਤੀ ਆਗੈ ਜਾਤਿ ਨ ਹੇ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥ (ਪੰਨਾ 349, ਸਤਰ 13, Nanak) Sikhism does not endorse caste based distinctions in society that lead to unequal opportunities for some people. In fact, Sikhism completely rejects class or race based distinctions between humans, that leads us to make an inequitable society. Such distinctions have surfaced only due to ill interests of certain section of people, who, on the pretext of making a society more manageable through these classifications, eventually paved the way to an unequal grouping within the human race. This article is just for information purpose and to share how people from different castes came into the Sikh fold. So, please treat this article as a source of general information about this issue and kindly do not amend this article to highlight this important underlying Sikh principle. If you have any comments, please discuss them appropriately here

The Tarkhans are a Northern Indian ethnic tribe that inhabits the Punjab, which is now divided between Northern India and northern Pakistan. Scholars such as H.A. Rose state that they are descended from the Saka tribes who were originally settled in Taxila. They are known to be of the same stock as the Jatt ethnic tribe and other tribes as they are a purely Indo-Scythian tribe.

It is interesting to note that Tarkhan was a very respected title in use among some of the armies that invaded India during the reign of Tamer the Lame of Central Asia, therefore it is possible that the Tarkhans found in Punjab and the Northwestern Province are possibly the descendants of those Tarkhans.

History of Sikh Tarkhans

Sikh Tarkhans are more commonly referred to as Ramgarhias because of their reverence for the famous Misl leader, Jassa Singh Ramgarhia (1723-1803), who was a Tarkhan.

A very proud and fiercely independent people, they are amongst the wealthiest and most educated clans of India. Historically, the Sikh tarkhans' occupation was Carpentry.

Tarkhans have served couragously in crack Commando units of the Punjab and Sikh Regiments of the Indian Army, as brave fighter pilots and in the Navy. They were made famous on the silver screen in the Bollywood film, “Border” , which depicted their brave actions in the Battle of Longowal, a battle fought during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.

Martial Races

The Tarkhans are among the Races designated by the British as martial races.

From an anonymous list (c.1860) titled -"Rajputs"- in the collection of the British Library of the races declared by the British as martial races [15] [page # needed]

They are listed below in alphabetical order:

• Awans
• Bhumihar
• Cheema
• Dogra
• Garhwalis
• Gujjars
• Gurkhas
• Irish
• Jats
• Javanese
• Kamboj
• Kumaoni
• Minhas
• Mohyal
• Scottish
• Sikhs
• Tarkhan (Punjab)
• Pashtuns/Pathans
• Rajputs
• Tyagis
• Yadavas
• Zulus

The Tarkhan Clans