1 Glossary
2 OF
3 Punjab Tribes and. Castes,
4 L
5 Labana.— Although generally associated with the Alahtams, the Labcinas are
6 totally distinct from that caste. Tnuy are almost wholly con6nod to the
7 sub-inontano districts and Kdiigra, but are numerous in Lahore and
8 also found in Lujraiiwala and I’eruzepur. Muzaffargarh and Lah^lwal-
9 })ur also contain Labana colonies, i'iioy are the carriers and hawkers
10 of the hills, and are merely the Panjabi rei^resentatives of that class of
11 Banjaras who inhabit the sub-montane tracts oast of the Ganges. The
12 Labiinas of Gujrao were thus described by Captain'Mackonize :
13 “ Tho Labanas are also a peculiar people. Their status amongst Sikhs is much the
14 same as that of the Alahtams. They correspond to tho Banjiras of Hindustan, carrying on
15 an extensive trade by means of large herds of laden bullocks. Latterly they have taken
16 to agriculture, but as an additional means of livelihood, not as a substitute for trade. As
17 a section of the community they deserve every consideration and encouragement. They
18 are generally tine substantially built people. They also possess much spirit. In anarchical
19 limes when the freaks or feuds of potty governors would drive the Jats or Gujars to seek a
20 temporary abiding place away from their ancestral village, the Labdn'as avould stand their
21 ground, and perhaps improve the opportunity by extending their grasp over the best
22 lands in tho village, in which their snorter-sighted and less provident lords of the llanor
23 had, in some former period, permitted tliem to take up their abode for purposes of com-
24 merce. Several cases of this nature came to light during settlement, and in most of them
25 the strength and spirit of progress were as apparent in the Labanas as were tho opposite
26 qualities conspicuous in their Gujar opponeuls. Their principal village is Tanda (which
27 means a large caravan of laden bullocks) and is an instance of what I have above alluded
28 to. Allowed to reside by the Gujar proprietors of Alota, they got possession of the soil,
29 built a kasha, and in every point of importance swamped the original proprietors. They
30 have been recognized as proprietors, but feudatory to their former landlords, the Gujars of
31 Mota, paying to them annually in recognition thereof a sum equal to one- tenth of tho
32 Government demand.”
33 There is a curious colony ol' Labanas on the lower Indus who were
34 settled there under Sikh rule by DiwAn Sdwan Mai, and who aro almost
35 all Munna ISiklis or followers of Bdba NAnak, though many of them
36 are Hindus in BahAwalpur. These men have almost entirely givou up
37 tralHc and trade, and settled on the banks of tho river where they load
38 a sort of semi-savage life, hunting aud making ropes and gi’ass mats
39 for sale. They liurdly cultivate at all, and Hindus do not as.sociatc with
40 thorn from fear of the Muliaintnadans who object tc^ iheir eating wild
41 pig. The Labanas of J hang are said to have come from Jaipur and
42 Jo^llipur and to be the same as the Mahtams of Montgomery. On tho
43 whole the Labanas appear to be by origin closely allied with, if not
44 actually belonging to, tho vagrant and possibly aboriginal tribes which
45 will be discussed in tho Introduction (Vol. Ij ; aud it may be that at
46 least some sections of the Labanas are of the same stock as they, (bee