Arain-The Land Lords

unjabi, Urdu: آرائین), are a Muslim agricultural caste settled mainly in the Punjab, with significant numbers also in Sindh.[2] They are chiefly associated with farming, traditionally being landlords or zamindars
In the Punjab Census Report (1911), Pandit Harikishan Kaul points out that members of the Arain tribe are “mostly Muhammadans,” (in the Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North West Frontier Province, Denzil Ibbetson also refers to the Arains as, “Almost to a man Muhammadans”), and as a corollary, reference is also made to Hindu and Sikh sections of the tribe which make up 3% of Arains, with 97% Sunni Muslims.[6]

Kaul also states that the term ‘Arain’ is, “derived probably from Rain or Rahin, equivalent to Rahak (tiller of soil).” This is consistent with the Arains traditionally being chiefly associated with market-gardening. The census reports of 1883 and 1892 record their Hindu origins and kinship with the Kamboh and Saini caste groups.

“٭٭ Almost to a man Muhammadans and strongly inclined to orthodoxy the Arains came to be immigrants from Uch and have some affinities with the Kambohs. On the other hand some of the Arain and Hindu Saini clan names are identical, and those not always merely names of other and dominant tribes. The two do not intermarry, but the Arains of the Ghaggar valley say they were Rajputs living on the Panjnad near Multan who were ejected some four centuries ago by Sayad Jalal-ul-din of Uch. They claim some sort of connection with Jaisalmer.[7] ”
“ The Sutlej Arains in Sirsa say they are, like the Arains of Lahore and Montgomery, connected by orign with the Hindu Kambohs. Mr Wilson thinks it probable that both classes are really Kambohs who have become Musalmans.[7] However, other British writers discounted this viewpoint since many Kambohs are also Muslims.[8][9] Lt. Col. M. Wikeley, in 1915, wrote a handbook for the Indian Army, Punjabi Musalmans, which described the history of the people of Punjab and in which he rejected "any supposed relationship between the Kambohs and the Arains".[10] ”
“ The nucleus of this caste was probably a body of Hindu Saini or Kamboh cultivators who were converted to Islam at an early period . Thus in Jullundur the Arains say they came from Sirsa, Rania, and Delhi and claim descent from Rai Jaj (grandson of Lau, founder of Lahore), who ruled Sirsa: that they were converted in the 12th century and migrated to the Jullundar Doab about 300 years ago. But the Bhuttas claim descent from Raja Bhutta, fifth in descent from Raja Karn and say they were forcibly converted even earlier - by Mahmud of Ghazni – and driven from Uch.[11] ”

Most Arain however propose descent from Arabs belonging to Muhammad bin Qasim's expeditionary force to India. Such claims are given credance by how nearly all Arain are, and have been, Sunni Muslim, much like the early Arabs accompanying Muhammad bin Qasim. This assertion is supported by numerous references made in several Urdu language texts; Tareekh-e-Arain, Sham Ta Multan, Tareekh Frishta, Tohfa Tul Ikram and Aina-e-Haqeekat Numa, that reliably trace the lineage of many notable Arain including Zia Ul-Haq and the famous Mian Family of Bhaghbanpura. According to these sources, the word Arain is derived from Areeha which is the Arabic name for the city of Jericho in the West Bank, Palestinian Territory, the place from where they allegedly came

٭٭Notable Arains
Mian Muhammad Aslam Advocate Former Vice President of High court Bar Association. Sardar Aseff Ahmad Ali, a renowned politician and painter belonging to district Kasur. Chaudhry Muhammad Ali, Prime Minister from 1955 to 1956. Justice Mian Shah Din, the first Muslim judge in British India.[25]
Lieutenant Karam ud Din, Tamgha-i-Khidmat(M), ex Pakistan Navy officer
Muhammad Farooq, journalist, Qari and Naat Khawan. General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, president of Pakistan from July 1977 to 1988.[26]
Sir Fazli Husain, an eminent British Indian politician and a founder of the Unionist Party.[27]
Mian Iftikharuddin, a politician and landlord who played an important role in turning the Muslim community of urban Punjab towards favouring an independent Pakistan. Mian Tufail Mohammad, lawyer and politician, former Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami. Mian Sir Muhammad Shah Nawaz, an influential politician of the Punjab in the 1920s. Pir Shah Inayat Qadiri Shattari, a Sufi saint and the spiritual guide of Baba Bulleh Shah. Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday, a judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. Sir Abdul Rashid, first Chief Justice of Pakistan.[28]
Mohammed Sarwar, the first British Muslim member of the UK Parliament. Qudrat Ullah Shahab, a bureaaucrat, scholar and mystic. Sir Muhammad Shafi, president of the All India Muslim League. Admiral Muhammad Afzal Tahir, Pakistan's Chief of Naval Staff.