Mair (caste)

Mair Kshatriya',Mair Rajput or Mede Rajput (Punjabi language pronunciation) is the name of a oldest warriors from Aryan community of India. Mair, Meyer, Meir, Mayr, Medes and Khmer are same surname all over the World, many of them are Catholic, Jews and Muslim. In India Mair Rajputs are Hindu/Sikh by religion and comprise of the warrior race of Rajputs who had migrated from the regions of Ajmer-Merwara and Rajputana thousands of years ago. originally related to Mehrgarh, (Urdu: م‍ﮩ‍رگڑھ ) one of the most important Neolithic (7000 BCE to c. 2500 BCE) sites in archaeology, with the movement of the armies that brought Rajput rule over many parts of the country many in other times due to Islamic invasions on their homeland of Ajmer-Merwara (in present day Rajasthan) and had settled down in all over world several hundred years ago.

Background

During the ensuing prolonged period of lasting peace thereafter when Indian warriors could not be supported by the intruders and could not accept any work for intruders armies, who had come to rule after many successive invasions on India, those ancient Hindu Original Kshatriya/Rajputs who came to be known as Mair or Mades Rajputs. They were become a businessman after golden age of India, and many of them had gone outside of the country and north east (The Varman dynasty Bhauma dynasty ruled Kamarupa (Assam) from 350 to 650)part of India. Shandilya,Gargos,Bhama,Augastyas,Gautem etc. are big gotras of mair kshatriyas.Some spiritually converted for the peacefulness of life. Ancient rajputs were trying to do some precious business and they decided for specializing in selling gold, silver, other precious metals including precious stones and jewelry / ornaments crafted from these. They are not only Punjabi Mair Rajput, many of them in Rajisthan, Punjab, Gujrat, M.P and rest of India from Big Gotras called Mair kshatriyas but most of the mairs are "Nanagotri" blong to warriors community and they are Mair Rajputs. Now a days Mair kshatriyas/Rajputs have migrated and settled down all over the world from India they are living every where in the World.

History

According to Bhagvata, Mair Kshatriyas are one of the oldest. Mair Kshatriyas from Brahamaji vanshavali King Ajmeerd, Ajmer Jesalmer Badmer are some of ancient cities of mer or mair kshatriyas. After Golden age the Mahabharat fall of the Mairs Empire a power vacuum shortly existed in the region.(In the Sanskrit Mahabharat The Word MAIRBHUTI used for Rajas so many times), Kurukshetra War against the Kauravas which is detailed in the Hindu epic, the Mahabharata. In this war, the Kshatriyas assumed the role of warriors for either side of the battle,Dispersal and dissolving of Mairs resulted in a foreign forces invasion of most of India Many Kshatriyas/rajput were unemployed and wanted in the country by the Semitic intruders, so many were arrested and thereafter they were killed or kept as slave. Ancient Median Empires also belongs Indian mair kshatriyas.The Medes are credited with the foundation of the first Iranian empire, the largest of its day until Cyrus the Great established a unified Iranian empire of the Medes and Persians, often referred to as the Achaemenid Persian Empire, by defeating his grandfather and overlord, Astyages the shah of Media. According to the Sumerian(mair) king list, the first five rulers of Akkad (Sargon, Rimush, Manishtusu, Naram-Sin,(NARSING) and Shar-kali-sharri) ruled for a long time. Sargon built a large empire in the late 8th or the 7th century B C lists no fewer than 65 cities and lands belonging to that empire. Yet, even if Magan and Kapturu (Crete) are given as the eastern and western limits of the conquered territories, Sargon appointed one of his daughters priestess of the moon god in Ur. She took the name of Enheduanna and was succeeded in the same office by Enmenanna, a daughter of Naram-Sin. Enheduanna must have been a very gifted woman; two Sumerian hymns by her have been preserved, and she is also said to have been instrumental in starting a collection of songs dedicated to the temples of Babylonia. (Mesopotamia to the end of the Old Babylonian period » Sumerian civilization » Sumer and Akkad from 2350 to 2000 bc)

Mair Kshatriyas had ruled over in Cambodia as Suryavarman II (Khmer) (posthumous name Paramavishnuloka) was king of the Khmer Empire from 1113 A.D. to 1145-1150 A.D. and the builder of Angkor Wat, which he dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu. His reign's monumental architecture, numerous military campaigns and restoration of strong government have led historians to rank Suryavarman as one of the empire's greatest kings.

With the partition of India in 1947 into India and Pakistan the Indian state of Punjab was also split in two. Hindus and Sikhs including Mair Rajputs living in the portion of Punjab that was given to the newly created Muslim country of Pakistan had to leave by force to save themselves from communal slaughters and forceful conversion to Islam, many of them fled their ancestral homeland now in Pakistan in a complete destitute state and had to start life afresh in India. All their ancestral land, property and wealth was left behind in what was now Pakistan.

Life was tough for the refugees including the Mair Rajputs at the beginning after partition; they had to live in a destitute state in refugee camps in India before they were allotted specially constructed houses in the Refugee colonies by the government of India. Many of them settled in Delhi and other parts of India after partition.

Today they are again a very successful clan of people and have brought pride for their families and country by excelling in all walks of life, many of them joined the Armed Forces. The British recruited from this clan too from amongst the Rajputs for their Rajput Regiments due to their famous Rajput warrior bloodline and today the Indian Army continuous this tradition.

A small percentage of them still continue to do business however majority of them were abruptly shocked to find that in portions of India outside Punjab where they had to migrate to (after the partition of India),Mair Rajputs in their recent history having been business working with Gold and precious metals, to enable them to better their situation but as Rajputs they would be classified under Forward class with no additional privileges. Mair Rajputs are of the warrior cast "Kshatriya" which is the second highest cast in India after the learned "Brahmins". "Kshatriya" or the Rajputs are the ruling cast of India, a cast of Warriors and Kings / Rajas. Thus the Mair Rajput families after having migrated out of Punjab (the portion that was given to create the Muslim country of Pakistan) to India during partition in 1947 were embarrassed to mention their family craft and business as that of having known to be that of Sunars in the most recent past. They instead preferred to call themselves as "Mair Rajputs", which is of course also true and hid any association to Sunars / Goldsmiths / Jewelers. Many had already left practicing as Sunars many generations ago and entered other professions especially after higher education was more readily available.

Hinduism, Sikhism and Punjabi Hindu Rajputs

Main article: Sikh Rajputs

Punjabi Hindus hold Sikhism in high regard, many Punjabi Hindus not only in India but worldwide today visit their local Gurudwaras regularly and adhere to the preaching’s of the Guru Granth Sahib. Sikhism is traditionally seen as a religion of warriors who were protectors of Hindus and Dharma against Islamic invaders who sought to convert Hindus to Islam by lethal force and against oppressive Mughal government and religious extremism of Mughal Emperors and specially that of Aurangzeb.

There has been a long standing practice in Punjab which still continuous where Hindu families give their first born son to the Guru to be baptized as a Khalsa Sikh and join the Guru’s army of protectors. This practice started when Guru Gobind Singh in 1699 asked the Hindu families to give him their eldest sons to help raise the new Khalsa Army to protect Dharma and all against Mughal tyranny and forced conversions to Islam. As it is the Hindu religious duty of every Kshatriya including every Rajput to bear arms and protect society and the Dharma, local Punjabi Hindu Kshtriya families including Rajputs living in Punjab keenly supported the Guru and offered him their eldest sons all too willingly and the tradition continued hence many Punjabi Rajput families too have been giving their eldest sons to be enrolled in the Guru’s Army and baptized as Khalsa Sikhs. Thus there are many Hindu, Punjabi Hindu Rajput and Punjabi Hindu Mair Rajput families whose kin are proud followers of Sikhism today with their eldest sons as baptized Khalsa Sikhs. Thus there are many Sikhs who call themselves "Sikh Rajputs" today and still use Rajput family names. Early migrated mairs are doing very well for themselves in all fields, many Mair / Punjabi Rajput associations have cropped up all over the world specially in UK, USA and Canada .

See also

• Kshatriya
• Sunar (caste)
• Rajput Mers (also known as the Maher, Mihir, Mair or Mehr)
• Ajmer-Merwara
• Jats/Jatts (Jatt Sikh, Muslim Jat), Hindu, Jat)
• Rajput Clans
• Bhati (Rajasthan) / Bhatti (Punjab)
• Martial Race
• Sikh Rajputs
• The Rajput Regiment, Indian Army
• Raja
• Luthra
• Mair - Mair-Minhas, see Minhas, the Rajput tribe of Chakwal in the Punjab Province of Pakistan, named after Raja Mair (whose name before conversion to Islam in 1190 was Raja Bhagir Dev), the ancestor of Minhas Rajputs in Punjab (mair means brave in Sanskrit)
• Minhas
• Kamboj people
• Khatri
• Gujjars

• Punjab (India) State of Punjab, India.
• British Raj (colonial era in British India)
• Punjab (Pakistan)
• Punjab (British India)
• History of the Punjab
• Muslim League Attack on Sikhs and Hindus in the Punjab 1947
• Hinduism
• Tarkhan (Punjab)
• Lohars
• Hinduism and Sikh Panth
• Singh (Lion), the traditional middle name of Rajputs
• Lohars

References

• Blunt, E.A.H. The Caste System of Northern India. Delhi: S. Chand & Co., 1969.
• Chattopadhyaya, Brajadulal. The Making of Early Medieval India. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1994.
• Ibbetson, Sir Denzil. Panjab Castes. Lahore: Superintendent, Gov't. Printing, Reprint 1916 (from 1883 original of 1881 census).
• Jain, Kailash Chand. Ancient Cities and Towns of Rajasthan. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1972.
• Rose, H.A. A Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North-West Frontier Province. Lahore: Civil and Military Gazette Press, 1914.
• Saggar, Balraj. Who's Who in the History of Punjab: 1800-1849. New Delhi: National Book Organisation, 1993.
• Singh, K.S. National Series Volume VIII: Communities, Segments, Synonyms, Surnames, & Titles. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1996.
• Srivastava, Ashirbadi Lal. The History of India: 1000 A.D.-1707 A.D. Jaipur, Shiva Lal Agarwala & Co., 1964.
• Tod, Lt. Colonel James. Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, Vol. 1 (1829), Vol. 2 (1832).
• Walker, Benjamin. The Hindu World: An Encyclopedic Survey of Hinduism. New York: Frederick Praeger, 1968.
• Talib, Gurbachan (1950). Muslim League Attack on Sikhs and Hindus in the Punjab 1947. India: Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee.
• "The Mair Rajputs of Punjab" by Mr. Rajesh K Verma
• Gothras of the Mair Rajputs from "The Mair Rajputs of Punjab" by Mr. Rajesh K Verma.
• Chapter on "The Meds" from the book (available online): "The History of India as told by its own Historians. The Muhammadan Period", by Sir H. M. Elliot, Edited by John Dowson; London, Trubner Company; 1867–1877 Chapter on "The Meds" From the online version of this historical book, check all three pages of this chapter & Also see page: NOTE (C.).—ETHNOLOGICAL. Native Opinions on the Aborigines of Sind.

External links

• The Mair Rajputs of Punjab
• Gothras of the Mair Rajputs from "The Mair Rajputs of Punjab" by Mr. Rajesh K Verma.
• Rajputs Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition; 2005
• Rajput Encyclopedia Britannica; 1911