Chhina

Jat Clan: Chhina
Distribution	Punjab (Pakistan) and Punjab (India)
Branches:	Chhimba
Religion	Islam and Sikhism
Languages	Punjabi

Chhina is a Jat clan of India and Pakistan.

Traditional origin and history

Main article: Jat people

According to Horace Rose, the Bahawalpur Chhina genealogy gives them common origin with the Wattu. They claim origin from Chhina, a descendant of Jaypal, the brother of Rajpal, from whom are descended the Wattu. The Muslim Chhina claim that they were converted to Islam by Baba Farid-ud-Din of Pakpattan. This is said to have occurred during the time of Pheru, eighteenth in descent from the eponymous Chhina. They are mentioned as a courageous and hardworking people. Rose also lists an alternate theory of the Chhina being descended from Raja Agarsen Surajbansi. According to the Majha tradition, the Chhina are a Jadubansi clan. The eponym of the clan, Chhina Rao was one of the sixteen sons of Raja Salwan. He held the lands between the Ravi and the Beas. However, Sir Lepel Henry Griffin alludes to Miru, the founder of the Chhina villages in Amritsar district, as a Gill Jat.

Migrations

Rose mentions that there was a migration of various Jat clans, including the Chhina from Bahawalpur and Multan, in the early 15th century. These clans went up the Indus, gradually occupied the country on the edge of the Mianwali Thal, and then crossed the Indus. The Chhina also held onto large tracts in the Thal. Jamki, near Sialkot, is considered the oldest Chhina settlement in the north of Punjab. It is said to be founded by a Chhina Jat who held the title of Jam. Sir Lepel Henry Griffin dates the founding of the Chhina villages in Amritsar district to around 1600 CE.

Distribution

In Pakistan, the Chhina country lies between the Thal Desert and the part of Chenab, which flows after its confluence with the Jhelum River at Atharan Hazari in Jhang district. Parts of the districts of Bhakkar, Muzaffargarh, Layyah and Kot Addu form this region. In Mianwali, the Chhina lands extend across from Chhina, Behal, Lappi and Notak, on the edge of the Kachha, to Mankera and Haidarabad on the further side of the Thal. The Chhina have three landowning septs in Bahawalpur: Tareka, Maharamka and Azamka. The town of Jamki near Sialkot is considered to be the oldest settlement by the northern Chhina. There are also a number of Chhina settlements in Rawalpindi District.^{[citation needed]} In India, the Chhina are found mainly in the Amritsar district. Chhina population is 5838 in Amritsar district.

Prominent Chhinas

Pir Sahari Chhina a Muslim Jatt Pir Who later Converted to Sikhism During the time of Guru Amar Dass and Followed Sikhism all his life.

• Bhai Bidhi Chand Chhina, renowned Sikh warrior and preacher, famed for the recovery of the horses, Dilbagh and Gulbagh for Guru Hargobind.
• Sardar Karam Singh Chhina, of the Bhangi misl.
• Sardar Jai Singh Chhina, jagirdar of Chhina, Nagran and Firozki under Maharaja Ranjit Singh
• Achhar Singh Chhina, freedom fighter and political activist.
• Jagbir Singh Chhina, freedom fighter.
• Hardev Singh Chhina, former Chief Secretary of the Punjab Government.
• Malik Ghulam Yasin Chhina, Senior Advocate & Chairman, Election Board of Bhakkar Court.

Places bearing the Chhina name in the Subcontinent

India

• Harsha Chhina in Amritsar district.