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Labana

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Labana
Classificationkashatriyas[1]
ReligionsSikhism, Hinduism & Islam
LanguagesLabanki, Punjabi and its dialects
Populated statesNorth America, Punjab and other parts of South Asia.

Labanas are a Punjabi tribe. The Labanas of Punjab region are mostly Sikhs with a small minority of Muslims and Hindus.

History

According to British[citation needed] records 33% of them were Baptised Sikhs and were found primarily in the Lahore, Gujranwala and Sialkot areas. The Labanas (along with many other groups) saw the highest conversions into Sikhism during 1881–1891.[2]

According to George Armand Furse "The Jut and Lobana castes of Sikhs possess in a high degree the useful knowledge of the lading and care of beasts of burden".[3]

Origin

The attributes the name Laban to the transport of salt. "The term Labana appears to be derived out from lun (salt) and bana means trade, and the lubana, Lobana or libana was doubtless the great salt-carrying and salt trading caste".[4]. Labana's are sometimes known as Banjara as well as Bahrupia, on account of of their versatility in adopting many professions.

Labanki the dialect of labanas have mixture of Marwari, Sairaki, Gujrati & Marathi.

Sikhism

After Guru Harkrishan, there was a confusion about the identification of his successor. According to Sikh legends, Makhan Shah, a great merchant of the Lobana tribe, identified Guru Teg Bahadur as the successor of Guru Harkrishan. Makhan Shah was very helpful to Guru Teg Bahadur during his pontificate.

The Lobanas participated in the battles fought by the tenth Guru.

During the Misl period, the Lobanas joined the services of various "Misldars"

During the eighteenth century the Lobanas began to follow a settled way of life. The Lobanas of Lower Indus, Gujranwala and Jhang, settled as cultivators during the Sikh rule.

Wherever the Lobanas settled they named their villages as Tandas. Tanda in Labanki dialect means a travelling body or gang. In Kangra district the Lobanas had four hamlets each called Tanda. In this way the Lobanas replaced their nomadic and pastoral life by settled way of life. By the mid-nineteenth century, the Lobanas at some places owned not only parts of villages, but also entire villages and even groups of villages. They were chiefly found in the Panjab during the Sikh rule.

Labanas were listed as a martial race by the British[citation needed].

Labanas are said to have nomadic roots but are not related to the Lambada or Labada tribe of Andhra. There are some who believe that they are of the same stock as the Gypsies or Roma people in Europe.[citation needed] Labanas also have been linked with Gypsies from Turkey.[citation needed]

Labanas today

Today Lobana is a landholding rich community of Punjab. Majority of the community people are settled abroad and have well settled businesses in foreign countries. The community people proved to be hard working and uplifted the community again to its pride which was in crisis during the early years of partition. Most sikh labanas are of western Punjab origin (now in Pakistan) and are called Panahi, while a smaller ratio are of East Punjab origin and are called Jaddi.

Demographics

Labana sikh community's main regions of concentration are: United States - Tri State Area (NY City, NJ, CT), Michigan; Canada - Greater Toronto Area (GTA); Italy - Brescia, Mantova, Pralboino; East Panjab: Hoshiarpur/Jalandhar/Kapurthala/Gurdaspur region and Haryana - Ambala/Yamunagar/Pehowa(Distt. Kurukshetra) region. In addition, there is a sizeable labana community present in California, Indiana, Illinois (USA); Frankfurt area(Germany); Birmingham, Southall (UK); Jammu region (J&K); Mohali and Panchkula (Chandigarh); Karnal and Panipat region (Haryana); NCR (Delhi etc.); Rajasthan; Spain, Portugal, France, Greece and Australia.

Hindu labanas live mostly in Himachal pradesh(Kangra, Mandi, Sundernagar).

Muslim Labanas (also called Rahmani) are scattered across Sheikhupura, Sargodha, Pakpattan, Gujrat, Sahiwal Sukkar, Rahimyarkhan, Khanpur, Bahawalpur, Hasilpur, Khanewal, Chichwatni and Lahore districts of Punjab in Pakistan.

Most of the Sikh and Muslim Labanas speak Punjabi. Hindu Labanas speak other languages like Pahari-Potwari (Punchhi), Haryanvi (Bagdi), Harauti and Mewari. Older generation of sikh and Muslim Labanas used to speak a language called Labanki, which is now extinct.

Labana Personalities

Makhan Shah Labana

See also

Dr Dev K Singh World famous medical Scientist at University of Illinois at Chicago USA Department of Pediatrics

References

  1. ^ http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Th3Mu-_RwjQC&pg=PA2&dq=labana+caste+status#v=onepage&q=labana%20caste%20status&f=false A glossary of the tribes and castes of the Punjab and North-West frontier ... By H.A. Rose
  2. ^ Transformation of the Sikh Society (Ethene K. Marenco) p. 120
  3. ^ Studies on military transport By George Armand Furse P. 215
  4. ^ Raj Kumar (1 Jan 2008). Encyclopaedia Of Untouchables : Ancient Medieval And Modern. Kalpaz Publications. p. 380. ISBN 8178356643. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
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