{"id":50,"date":"2013-11-11T17:45:38","date_gmt":"2013-11-11T17:45:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chiniotcity.com.pk\/new\/?page_id=50"},"modified":"2013-11-11T18:59:51","modified_gmt":"2013-11-11T18:59:51","slug":"history-of-chiniot","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/chiniotcity.com.pk\/new\/history-of-chiniot\/","title":{"rendered":"History of Chiniot"},"content":{"rendered":"

Note: The article is based on the Bilal Zubairi’s Book. Research work is under process and soon there will be more data about the history of chiniot.<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

Chiniot has faced the periods of thousands years. And the story of the name of Chiniot\u00a0that is linked with the name of the Rani Chandan is absolutely wrong. It is wrong that it was\u00a0called “Chandan Vet” or “Chandaot” on behalf of Rani’s name because the Period of the Rani,\u00a0who was the sister of Machi Khan, was of Temour, whereas Chiniot was existed as a city in\u00a0B.C.<\/em><\/p>\n

The description about Chiniot is found in the famous book of sanskrit, \u201cRamine of \u00a0Bal Make\u201d<\/strong> of\u00a01923 Dharmic Society of Dehli. On its 676 page we see some details about Chiniot, which is\u00a0written as Chani Vet. We also find some details of Chiniot in the history of Al-Brunei. He has\u00a0written that in Chani Vet commonly called as Ajhan, was a famous school of Hindus where a\u00a0special arrangement for religious studies was made. With these details, two things become\u00a0clear;The name of the town was Chani Vet and the name of the school was Ajhan. Now the\u00a0point is whether the word \u2018Chani Vet\u2019<\/strong> belongs to snsikrat language or to some other\u00a0language. According to the research of Pandit Laxmi Narine, Ajhan was existed on the other\u00a0side of the River Chenab where is now Chanab Nagar (Rabwa), and a little town Cahni Vet\u00a0was on the other side, but in the shape of mound. With the help of such details, we can say\u00a0that there had been a town with the name of Chani Vet for several years and the school was\u00a0too. But later on, this town destroyed and rebuilt after a long time. In such a way, the\u00a0history of this town hid under the layers of past and disappeared in the passage of past. A\u00a0regular and authentic history of this city starts with the age of Maurine Family.
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\u00a0In 326 B.C., history saved the details about a man called Chenek and who belonged to\u00a0Chiniot. He was very bold and brave. He was also a very noble member of his tribe. So he\u00a0succeeded to get access in the court of \u2018Chander Gupt\u2019 and this man proved as a loyal\u00a0minister of Chander Gupt Moria. He got built many schools and mandirs. It was his age when\u00a0Alexander made an assault and the whole area of Chiniot and Pindi Bhattian went in the\u00a0custody of Greeks. Alexander himself did not reach here but his soldiers encamped here. The\u00a0local leaders and the members of the family of Chander Gupt were to face the lost. But after\u00a0two years, they regained their power and forced the Greeks to run away and again\u00a0established their government. This government remained in power till 30 years B.C. In the\u00a0same year, some Greeks who belonged to Bekrene Family had been living in the provinces of\u00a0Lahore and Multan after exile, organized their martial power, attacked and took Chiniot and\u00a0suburbs in their custody. This family ruled for some years but Chander Gupt Family started a\u00a0war. In this war, the leader of Bekrene Family was killed and government of Chiniot\u00a0transferred to Chander Gupt Family and remained ruler till 471 A.D.<\/p>\n

In 471 A.D. a tribe, Whit Huns belonged to Portugal came here for trade, made an organized\u00a0rebellion and took over different areas including Pindi Bhattian, Chiniot , Bhakkar, Layya,\u00a0Jhang and Multan after beating the local leaders. This tribe killed the people and looted the\u00a0local people. This tribe ruled over these regions by force till 550 A.D. In the same year, a\u00a0person, Chander belonged to the family of Maharaja Bekriya Jeet provided army and a fought\u00a0a battle against Europeans and got over all the cities and towns after beating them. Chander\u00a0was killed in this war. A mandir was built as his memoir in Chiniot that was demolished in the\u00a0period of Aurangzaib Aalam Geer and a strong castle was built in the same place.<\/p>\n

After the death of Chander, Herman Roy ruled over Chiniot till 631 A.D. In 632 A.D., a\u00a0Brahman Chuch brought about the end of the government of Herman Roy and ruled over a\u00a0large area from Sindh to Kashmir. At that time, Sindh was spread upto Pindi Bhattian. After\u00a0his death, his brother Chander became the ruler. He was the follower of Buddhism. During his\u00a0reign, Buddhism was preached in northern Punjab. After the death of Chander, Dahir who was\u00a0the son late Chuch, became the ruler and was defeated by Muhammad bin Qasim. And near\u00a0about in 716 A.D. Muslims started to visit Chiniot. First Muslim ruler of Chiniot was Dawood\u00a0Tai, who remained ruler only for two years and died. History could not save the names of\u00a0rulers who succeeded him. The people who belonged to Ismaeeli sect preached here for their\u00a0religion and gave it strength but Muhammad Ghori defeated and they were exiled. Sasani\u00a0Kings ruled over till 970 A.D. then Elegstene occupied and Chiniot became a part of his state.\u00a0In 976 A.D. Subuktagene became the king and he waas defeated in 980 A.D. by Raja Jai Pall.\u00a0In the same year, Subuktagene with the help of Sheikh Hamid Lodhi who was the ruler of\u00a0Multan, defeated Raja jai Pall .Raja Jai Pall agreed for peace on the very terms that he would\u00a0handed over the region near River Chenab.( ccoding to Jhang Gazier of 1929 A.D., Tas-e-Chenab is used for Chiniot because on its both sides Kerana Bar and Sandle Bar are resent.)\u00a0But after two years, the leaders of karamtia Sect destroyed this region.<\/p>\n

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In 1010 A.D. Sultan Mahmoood Ghaznavi not only killed the Karamti leaders but also\u00a0occupied a vast region.\u00a0From 1030 A.D. to 1113 A.D. Khokher ruled over this region and built many armed-stations\u00a0there. In 1175 A.D., Shahab-ud-Din Ghori defeated the Khokhers and occupied the whole\u00a0region. But with the combined conspiracy between Ghakhar Tribe of Gujranwala and\u00a0Khokhers, Shahab-ud-Din Ghori was assassinated and Khokhers established their government\u00a0again.<\/p>\n

In 1218 A.D. Ghulaman Family ruled over Chiniot and Pathans, Turkish and Mogul ruled overthis region. We find the witness of the stronger features of the history of Chiniot in the same\u00a0period. Mogul conqueror Zaheer-ud-Din Babar described about Chiniot at many places. Before\u00a0Babar, Turkish tartars were ruling here. In these Turkish, there was a man Machi Khan who\u00a0was very brave and valiant. He was the ruler of Bhera and Khushab. The ruler of Chiniot got\u00a0him killed and occupied the Khushab. The sister of Machi Khan whose name was Channi put\u00a0on the male-dress and commanded her army towards Chiniot to revenge the bloodshed of her\u00a0brother. She arrived at the bank of the River Chenab. The ruler of Chiniot was also informed\u00a0about her arrival by his spies. Therefore, armed forces of both regions came face to face and\u00a0a war fought, which continued for three days. Channi became the triumphant. The city was\u00a0affected very badly during this battle. So, Channi ordered to build a new city, which is\u00a0existed. That is why, some historians made a wrong notion that this city was built by RaniCahndan. It is clear that both Rani and Chandan are the names of Hindus and these were not\u00a0the names of Tartars. The name of the sister of Machi Khan was Channi and the city was\u00a0also called \u201cvet\u201d. So, generally, people thought it as a deformed state of the Chani Vet.<\/p>\n

During the reign of Channi, Mogul leader attacked and went away after plundering. The\u00a0second larger attack was made by Mogul in 1398 A.D. who ruined the whole region. Third\u00a0attack was made by the ruler of Kabul, Sheikh Ali on the request of Shah Rukh Mirza in 1430\u00a0A.D. Sultan Shah Lodhi was ruler at that time. Sheikh Ali occupied the region from Trimo to\u00a0Pindi Bhattain. In 1431 A.D., Khokher took advantage of the panic created due to Mogul and\u00a0started ruling over this region. but soon they were defeated and the Langa tribe of Multan\u00a0ruled over this region till 1528 A.D. But they could not stay there longer because of the\u00a0attack of Mogul and Zaheer-ud-Din Babar ruled over Chiniot till 1540 A.D. Then after\u00a0defeating Humayyo, Sher Shah Sori got control over Chiniot and the city mad much progress\u00a0and development during this period. From Jalal-ud-Din Akbar to Bahadur Shah Zafar, Chiniot\u00a0remained in direct control of the Governemnt of Delhi or seldom in the control of local\u00a0leaders. In this period, the visit of Mogul Emperors Jahangeer and Shahjahan were a great\u00a0blessing for the Chiniot as in the period of Jahangeer, Ilm-ud-Din Insari who was an\u00a0inhabitant of Chiniot, was appointed as the Governor of Punjab and the people of Chiniot\u00a0attained access to Royal Court. Then in the period of Shah Jahna, Nawab Sad Ullah Khan\u00a0was in government and Chiniot became a center of wealth and status. This region was also\u00a0important by politics. The family of Qazi was of importance and power and their forefathers\u00a0had been appointed as \u201cQazi-ul-Fiqqa\u201d(Chief Justice). This family still possesses the orders,\u00a0documents and gifts of the Mogul kings and the large area of land was awarded too.<\/p>\n

Nawab Wali Dad Khan Sial also ruled over Chiniot for some years. This ruler was veryexperienced, intelligent and courageous. He occupied on Chiniot, Rajoa, Langer, Kamalia and\u00a0Maari, and in this way expanded his state. But he had to return the state of Rajoa to Syed because of the order of Mogul Emperor. He died in 1163 A.D. He had no male child. He had\u00a0only one daughter who was married with Inayat Ullah Khan who was the nephew of Wali Dad\u00a0Kahn. She gave birth two sons who fought each other for power and in the result, Inayat\u00a0Ullah Khan himself took the control of the state in 1167 A.D. But in the same days, Ahmad\u00a0Shah Abdali made an assault on Chiniot. According to Jhang gazetteer, Ahmad Shah Abdali\u00a0made assault in 1778 A.D. but a pact was made and Inayat Ullah agreed to pay tax. In thesame days, Sikhs started attacks. The first attack on Chiniot was made by the families of\u00a0Sardar Ganda Singh and Sardar Dasso Singh. Anoop Singh was the superintending officer of\u00a0the castle. He made conspiracy with Sikh army and opened the door of the castle at the\u00a0very time of attack. But the army of Inayat Ullah fought boldly and killed the Sikhs and gave\u00a0shelter to those Sikhs who sought for forgiveness. In this way Sial remained the ruler of\u00a0Chiniot.<\/p>\n

Inayat Ullah Khan died in 1203 A.D. After his death, Mahmood Khan and Sahib Khan\u00a0who were his sons started to fight against each other. Mahmood Khan had been appointed\u00a0as the successor of his father and he was the ruler. Sahib Khan became a rebel and got\u00a0attacked on Chiniot and other regions with the help of Mahaan Singh, the father of Maharaja\u00a0Ranjeet Singh. But Mahmood Khan faced them boldly and defeated them. Sahib Khan fled\u00a0away and remained disappeared for six months. He again organized his power and got his\u00a0brother killed and took the charge of the government but he was killed by his enemies after a\u00a0short period of four months and Kabeer Khan became the ruler of Chiniot. Kabeer Khan\u00a0married the widow of Sahib Khan and generated close relations with the two sects of Sials.\u00a0He died after eleven years of supremacy and his son, ahmad Kahn who had become rebel in\u00a0the life of his father, succeeded his father. Maharaja Ranjeet Singh made an assault on\u00a0Chiniot in 1809 A.D. and conquered it. But Ahmad Khan made a pact with Ranjeet Singh\u00a0decided to pay sixty thousands rupees per year as tax and included Chiniot in his state. But\u00a0this pact broke and Ranjeet Singh again made another assault on Chiniot with the declarationthat Ahmad Kahn had tried to break the promise. But another pact was made on these terms\u00a0that the son of Ahmad Khan whose name was Inayat Khan, would be in the custody of Sikhs\u00a0and he would pay seventy thousands rupees per year. So ianyat Khan got a regularcommission in the army of Sikh army. Later on, the state of Chiniot went into the control of\u00a0Bhangi Sikhs. In the period of Sikhs, Jana Singh, Mohan Singh and Ghulab Singh, the ruler of\u00a0Kashmir were ruler. Due to inner problems of Sikhs, Bhangi Sikhs were ruling over Chiniot.<\/p>\n

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Ranjeet Singh made an assault and got victory. At that time, Mian Sultan Khoja was theadministrator of the castle and army of Chiniot. He did not open the door even after defeatbecause his master did not order him to do so. Maharaja Ranjeet Singh was deeply impressed\u00a0by his loyalty and he awarded him the land of Kalo Wal and Changer Wala, which was in the\u00a0custody of Rehan\u2019s befor this. That is why the Khojas of Chiniot became power both\u00a0politically and worldly. In 1849 A.D., this region went into the custody of English rulers.\u00a0Hamilton was appointed as the first deputy commissioner. Pindi Bhattain became a part of\u00a0Gujranwala.<\/p>\n

There were some families who accepted the English as their ruler without any hatred or\u00a0prejudice but their some other families also here who participated in the movement against\u00a0the government. In Chiniot, a family of Saadat Gilani and the people of Basaan Tribe\u00a0remained busy in fighting against the English ruler for freedom, and confronted the pains and\u00a0troubles of prison. Today too, people recalls the valour and bravery of Basaan Tribe in the\u00a0local songs and pay tribute to them, particularly in villages.<\/p>\n

Hazrat Molana Noor Ahmad Naqsh Bandi played an important role in the freedom-war of 1857\u00a0A.D. and faced the troubles and tortures of jail. In the start of twentieth century, a\u00a0freedom-fighter of Chiniot, Hazrat Molana Muhammad Zakar strengthen the freedom\u00a0movement and took part in every movement of freedom. The first martyr of Kashmir Freedommovement that was started by Majlis-e-Ehrar-e-Islam, was an inhabitant of Chiniot whose\u00a0name was Elahi Bukhsh. He became the martyr of Kashmir Freedom movement.<\/p>\n

Chiniot had also enjoyed the right to represent itself on district level politically. Syed Ghulam\u00a0Abbas and Mian Hussain Shah, who belonged to Rajoa Sadaat, were elected as the members\u00a0of federal assemblies. In 1940 A.D., when Quaid-e-Azam got the Resolution of Pakistan\u00a0accepted and invited the nation, then a member of Qazi family, Qazi Ghulam Mortaza (Late)\u00a0offered his services. There are many other political personalities like Hakeem Mirza Iltaf\u00a0Ahmad, Muhammad Azeem Tameem and Chaudry Muhammad Ismaeel Maggoon. The role of\u00a0Malik Allah Ditta and Malik Nazar Muhammad in Majlis-e-Ehrar-e-Islam, and Doctor Muhammad\u00a0Ismaeel in Khaksar Tanzeem is of great worth and praise.<\/p>\n