CallGirlMumbai at 16:37, 9 October 2025

2025-10-09T16:37:49Z

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{{Short description|Punjabi Rajput Clan in South Asia}}
{{Use Pakistani English|date=August 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2024}}

The '''Janjua''' or '''Janjhua''' is a [[Punjabis|Punjabi]] [[Rajput]] clan found predominantly in the [[Pothohar Plateau]] of [[Punjab, Pakistan|Pakistani Punjab]], but also in the states of [[Punjab, India|Punjab]] and [[Haryana]] in [[India]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Jones |first1=Philip Edward |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xliNAAAAMAAJ |title=The Pakistan People's Party: Rise to Power |last2=Jones |first2=Philip |date=2003 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-579966-8 |pages=377, 378, 379}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Khan |first=Hussain |date=1990 |title=Kuh-i-Jud and the Janjuas: From Raja Mal to Babur |journal=Journal of Central Asia |publisher=Islamabad: Taxila Institute of Asian Civilisations, Quaid-i-Azam University |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=73-88 |issn=2959-4715}}</ref>

{{infobox caste
| caste_name = Janjua
| caste_name_in_local =
| image =
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption =
| abbreviation =
| varna =
|
| jati = [[Rajput clans|Rajput]]<ref name="auto">{{Cite journal |last1=Saleem |first1=Muhammad |first2=Raja Qaiser |last2=Ahmed
|date=2020 |title=Conceptualizing Democracy in Pakistan: A Rural Perspective |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344349285 |journal=Pakistan Journal of History and Culture |volume=XLI |issue=1 |pages=1–16 |via=ResearchGate}}</ref><ref name="auto1">{{Cite journal |last=Khan |first=Hussain |date=1991 |title=Janjuas, their Early Life |url=http://ojs.uop.edu.pk/ancientpakistan/article/download/312/290 |journal=Ancient Pakistan |volume=7 |pages=178–185}}</ref>
| gotra =
| religions = [[File:Star and Crescent.svg|15px]] [[Islam]] [[File:Om.svg|15px]] [[Hinduism]]

| languages = [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]]
| country = {{Flag|Pakistan}}
| region = {{flag|Punjab}}
| ethnicity =[[Punjabis|Punjabi]]
| India_migration =
| population =
| family_names =
| feudal_title = [[Malik]], [[Raja]]
| heraldic_title =
| lineage =
| subdivisions =
| related =
}}
== History and origin ==

===Origin===

The Janjuas had engaged in a long-running struggle for sovereignty over the [[Salt Range]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Journal of the Pakistan Historical Society, Volume 54, Issues 1-2 |date=2006 |publisher=Pakistan Historical Society}}</ref>
{{Blockquote|The history of this region (the Salt Range) from the thirteenth century onward had been a sickening record of wars between Janjua and [[Gakhars]] for political ascendancy.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LRg5NSW1BisC&pg=PA142 |page=142 |title=Advanced History of Medieval India |first=S. R. |last=Bakshi |publisher=Anmol Publ. |year=1995|isbn=9788174880284}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rekhta.org/ebooks/detail/rajpoot-gotain-mohammad-afzal-khan-ebooks|title=Rajpoot Gotain by mohammad afzal khan|website=Rekhta}}</ref>}}

=== Mughal period ===
In the 16th century, the [[Mughal Emperor]] [[Humayun]] was usurped by the [[Pashtun]] king [[Sher Shah Suri]], who constructed the [[Rohtas Fort]] in [[Punjab]] to check Humayun's entry into [[Hindustan]], and also to keep a check on the local tribes including [[Gakhars]] as well as Janjuas.<ref>''The Life and Times of Humāyūn'' by Ishwari Prasad, Published by Orient Longmans, 1956, p. 36</ref><ref>''Temples of Koh-e-Jud & Thar: Proceedings of the Seminar on Shahiya Temples of the Salt Range, Held in Lahore, Pakistan'' by Kamil Khan Mumtaz, Siddiq-a-Akbar, Publ Anjuman Mimaran, 1989, p. 8</ref>{{request quotation|date=May 2020}}

=== Sikh period ===
The expansion of the [[Sikh Empire]], spearheaded by [[Ranjit Singh]], was met with a rebellion by the Janjua Sultan of Watli, Sultan Fateh Muhammad Khan. A six-month siege of [[Kusak Fort|Kusuk Fort]] in Watli followed<ref>{{cite book |title=Archaeological reconnaissances in north-western India and south-eastern Iran |first=Marc Aurel |last=Stein |author-link=Aurel Stein |location=London |year=1936 |page=46}}</ref> and this was ended when the inhabitants ran short of water.<ref>''The Land of the Five Rivers and Sindh: Sketches, Historical and Descriptive'' David Ross, Publ.Languages Dept., Punjab, 1970, p. 153</ref> The ''Kala Khan'' branch of [[Rawalpindi district|Rawalpindi]] Janjuas fortunes were also eclipsed by the rise of the Sikh Empire.<ref name="talbot">{{cite book |title=Khizr Tiwana, the Punjab Unionist Party and the Partition of India |first=Ian |last=Talbot |publisher=Psychology Press |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-7007-0427-9 |pages=21–22 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4w0HDZxXvlwC}}</ref>

===British period===
By the time the [[British Raj]] took an interest in conquering the [[Sikhs]] in 1848–49, they were joined by opportunistic tribes such as the Janjua, [[Gakhars]] who had lost control of their centuries-old ancestral kingdoms to the imperial [[Sikh Empire]] and sought revenge. [[Tan Tai Yong]] says that "Besides being impressed with their track record, the British saw in them, with their traditional and historical enmity against the Sikhs, an effective counterpoise against the latter."<ref>{{cite book |title=The Garrison State: The Military, Government and Society in Colonial Punjab 1849–1947 |first=Tai Yong |last=Tan |publisher=Sage |year=2005 |pages=61–62 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d5ZiMV7rqWUC |isbn=978-0-7619-3336-6}}</ref>

The Janjua rebellion against the [[Sikh Empire]] was a political rebellion, as the Janjua were initially keen allies to the [[Sukerchakia Misl]].<ref name="singh">{{cite book |title=Sikhism and Punjab's Heritage |first=Wazir |last=Singh |publisher=Publication Bureau, Punjabi University |year=1990 |page=160}}</ref>

During the nineteenth century, they were listed as a [[martial race]].<ref name=":0" /> During this period, due to their high aristocratic status, the Janjuas refused to serve in any regiment that was not commanded by either a Janjua or another commander of equal social standing.<ref name=":0" /> This preference was honoured by the British when selecting regiments for them.<ref name=":0">{{cite book |title=The Garrison State: The Military, Government and Society in Colonial Punjab 1849–1947 |first=Tai Yong |last=Tan |publisher=Sage |year=2005 |page=75 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d5ZiMV7rqWUC |isbn=978-0-7619-3336-6}}</ref>

==Notable people==
*[[Tikka Khan]], [[Pakistan Army|Pakistan army]] [[general]] who served as the Military Governor of [[East Pakistan]] in [[Bangladesh Liberation War|1971]] and later became the first [[Chief of Army Staff (Pakistan)|Chief of Army staff]] from 1972 to 1976, admired in Pakistan as the Victor of the [[Operation Desert Hawk|Rann of Kutch]]
*[[Asif Nawaz Janjua]], [[Chief of Army Staff (Pakistan)|Chief of staff]] for the [[Pakistan Army]] from 1991 till his poisoning and death in 1993
*[[Iftikhar Khan Janjua|Iftikhar Janjua]], [[major general]] of the [[Pakistan Army]], fought and died in the [[Battle of Chamb]]
*[[Amir Gulistan Janjua]], [[brigadier general]] of the [[Pakistan Army]], Governor of North West Frontier Province, Ambassador of Pakistan to Nepal, Saudi Arabia & United Arab Emirates.
*[[Saif Ali Janjua]], a [[Lance Naik]] Platoon Commander in the [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948|1947 Indo-Pakistani War]] who inflicted heavy losses on the enemy and repulsed ventures on his post, posthumously awarded [[Nishan-e-Haider]]
* [[Muhammad Hussain (soldier)|Muhammad Hussain Janjua]], [[Pakistan Army|Army]] [[Soldier]] who fought in the [[Zafarwal Tehsil|Zafarwal]] Sector of the [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1971|1971 Indo-Pakistani War]], destroyed 16 Indian tanks on a reconnaissance mission or 20% of India's tank losses in the 1971 war and was posthumously awarded [[Nishan-e-Haider]] for highest Military Gallantry

* [[Altaf Gauhar]], intellectual and writer close to Pakistan's military dictator [[Ayub Khan (President of Pakistan)|General Ayub Khan]]
*[[Raja Muhammad Afzal Khan]], [[Senator]], he was elected more than multiple times as Member National Assembly of Pakistan from [[Jhelum]].
*[[Malik Iqbal Mehdi Khan]], [[politician]] he was provincial minister of Punjab province & elected more than multiple times as Member National Assembly of Pakistan from [[Pind Dadan Khan]].
* [[Zaheer-ul-Islam]], (Urdu: ﻇﻬﻴﺮ ﺍﻹﺳﻼﻡ) is a retired Lieutenant-General who served as the 20th Director General of the ISI.
* [[Mawlānā|Maulana]] [[Zafar Ali Khan]], Islamic scholar
* [[Amir Khan (boxer)|Amir Khan]], [[British Pakistanis|British-Pakistani]] boxer, his paternal grandfather Lal Khan Janjua was in the Pakistan Army
* [[Amna Nawaz]], [[Pakistani Americans|Pakistani-American]] broadcast journalist and a co-anchor of the ''[[PBS NewsHour]]'', her uncle was [[Asif Nawaz Janjua]].
* [[Shah Nawaz Khan (General)|Shah Nawaz Khan]], (January 1914 – 9 December 1983) was an Indian politician who served as a General in the [[Indian National Army]] (INA) during World War II.
* [[Adam Azim]], [[British Pakistanis|British Pakistani]] boxing prospect
* [[Hamzah Sheeraz]], [[British Pakistanis|British Pakistani]] boxer
* [[Tehmina Janjua]], Foreign Secretary of Pakistan, 2017 to 2019

==References==
{{Reflist}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Janjua Rajput}}

{{Ethnic and social groups of the Punjab}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Rajput clans]]
[[Category:Jat clans of Punjab]]
[[Category:Social groups of Haryana]]
[[Category:Surnames of Hindu origin]]
[[Category:Surnames of Indian origin]]
[[Category:Social groups of Jammu and Kashmir]]
[[Category:History of Punjab]]
[[Category:Rajput clans of Punjab]]

Janjua - Revision history

CallGirlMumbai at 16:37, 9 October 2025