1 MINOR LAND-OWNING A.ND AGRICULTURAL CASTES. 183
2 said to have been built or restored by Ali Khiia Gujar in the time of Akbar.
3 The grounds for General Cunningham's identification will be found in full
4 detail at pages 61 to 82 of Vol. II, of the Arc/iaso logical Reports.
5 The present distiibution of the Gujai-s in India is thus described by Gener-
6 al Cunningham : —
7 " At the present day the Gujiuvs are found iu great numbers in every jiarfc of the Xorth-
8 " West of India, from the Indus to the Gangoi, and from the Hazara mountain i to the Peninsula of
9 '• Gnjrat. They are specially numerous along the banks of the Upper Jamiia, near Jagadri and
10 " Buriya, and in the Saharanpnr district, which during the last century was actually called
11 " Gujarat. To the east they occupy the petty State of Samptar in Bandclkhaad, and one of the
12 " northern districts of Gwalior, which is still called Gujargar. They are founl only in small bodies
13 "and much scattered throughout Eastern Rajputana and Gwalior; but they are more numerous in
14 " the Western States, and specially towardjs Gujarat, where they form a large part of the
15 " population. The Rajas of Eewari to the south of Dehli are Gujars. In the -Southern Panjab
16 " they are thinly scattered, but their numbers incease rapidly towards the nov:h, where they have
17 " given their name to several important places, such as Gujr.mwala in the Rechna-Doab, Gnjrat
18 •'in the Chaj Doab, and Gujar Khan in the Sindh Sagar Doab. They are numerous about Jaalam
19 " and Hassan Abdal, and throughout the Hazara districts ; and they are alsj found in considerable
20 " numbers in the Dardu districts of Chilas, Kohli, and Palas, to the east of the Indus, and in the
21 " contiguous districts to the west of the river."
22 In the Panjab they essentially belong to the lower ranges and siib-montane
23 tracts ; and though they have sjiread down the Jamua in considerable numbers,
24 they are almost confined to the riverain lowlands. In the higher moimtains
25 they are almost unknown. The figiu-es showing their distribution are given
26 166- in Abstract Xo. S3 at page -54*. Gujrat is still their stronghold, and in
27 that district they form 13| per cent, of the total population. There alone
28 have they retained their dominant position. Throughout the Salt-range
29 Tract, and probably under the eastern hills also, they are the oldest inhabitants
30 among the tribes now settled there ; but in the west the Gakkhars, Janjuas,
31 and Pathans, and in the east the Rajputs have always been too strong for
32 them, and long ago deprived them of poliiical importance. In the Peshawar
33 district almost any herdsman is called a Gujar, and it may be that some of
34 those who are thus retiu'ned are not true Gujars by race.^ But throughout
35 the hill country of Jammu, Chihhal, and Hazara, and away in the Independent
36 Temtory lying to the north of Peshawar as far as the Swat river, true Gujar
37 herdsmen are found in great numbers, all possessing a common speech, which
38 is a Hindi dialect quite distinct from the Panjalji or Pashto current in those
39 parts. Here they are a purely pastoral and almost nomad race, taking their
40 herds up into the higher ranges in summer and deseeudiu^- with them into
41 the valleys during the cold weather ; and it may be said that the Giijar is
42 a cultivator only in the plains. Even there he is a bad cidtivator, and more
43 given to keeping cattle than to following the plough.
44 It is impossible without further investigation to fix the date of the Gujai'
45 colonization of the lower districts. They are almost exclusively Slusalman
46 except in the Jamn^ districts and Hushyarpm', and th ij must therefore
47 have entered those districts before the conversion of the great mass of the caste.
48 The Jalandhar Gtijars date their conversion from the time of Aurangzeb, a
49 very probable date. The Firozimr Gujars >ay that they came from Daranagar
50 in the south of India, that they moved thence to Rania in Sirsa, and thence
51 again to Firozpur rid Kasur. The !Musalman Gujars of all the eastern half
52 * On the other hand, Mr. Steedman Ls of opinion that the tigures for the Gujars of Rawal-
53 pindi are very much under the mark, and that many of them must have been returuet as Jats,
54 Bajputs, or perhaps even Mughals.