Sial (tribe)

[
Jhang District (in green) in Punjab (Pakistan)]

Sial (Punjabi: ਸਯਾਲ, سیال, Sindhi: स्याल, سيال) is a Punjabi tribe originating and predominantly from the Jhang District of northern Punjab, Pakistan. The Sials are predominantly Muslim by faith but there are also Christian, Sikh and Hindu Sials.

After the partition of India, Hindu and Sikh Sials had to leave their ancestral homelands in areas of West Punjab which now fall in Pakistan . They now live in India. Muslim Sials are usually found in Pakistan. Among Hindus, the Sials are predominantly Khatris. However, there are Rajput and Jat Sials as well .

Origins

Seu, Teu and Gheu

One theory says that Seu, Teu and Gheu were three brothers from a tribe of the Agnikula clan. It is believed that the Tiwanas are the descendants of Teu, the Ghebas of Rawalpindi are the descendants of Gheu while the Sials of Jhang are the descendants of Seu (also known as Rai Sial).

Theory of migration from Rajputana

According to another theory, the Sials migrated from Rajputana to the Pakpattan area, where they embraced Islam after coming under the influence of Baba Fariduddin Masud Ganj Shakar at Ajodhan and Hazrat Syed Jalaluddin Surkh-Posh Bukhari. From there, they came to Jhang which was then administered by the Nauls, who represented the rulers of Delhi.

History

Rai Sial married the daughter of Bhai Khan Mekan, the chief of the Mekan tribe, who lived at that time in the Sahiwal area of present-day Shahpur tehsil of the Sargodha District. A village named "Kot Bhai Khan" (the fort of Bhai Khan), exists to this day in the Jhawarian area in Shahpur.

The Sials clashed with the Nauls and finally captured a wide portion of the Sandal Bar and Vichanh areas in the Chaj Doab (The Doab (fluvial tract) between the rivers Jhelum and Chenab).

Sials today

Sials are divided into more than a hundred clans. All sub-clan names have the suffix "Ana". For example, Hissoana,Jabboana, Malkana, Ladhiana, Mirjana, Chucchkana, Mighiana, Bhojoana, Tarhana, Hasnana, Janjiana, Bharwana and Gagrana. During British Rule, because of local tribal feuds, one Sial clan migrated from Jhang to the princely state of Khairpur in Sindh and became trusted deputies of the "Talpur", the ruler of state. Their descendants now live in the "Sami" village of Khairpur district in Sindh province. Except Khairpur, a large number of people belonging to siyal tribe live in Larkana, Shikarpur, Gohtaki, Naushehero Feroz, Hyderabad, Dadu and Badin districts of Sindh, Pakistan.