APRPOS the article (Jan 22). The article is in fact about the ancestry of the Paracha tribe which inhabits certain areas of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The write-up is based --supplemented by the observations made by a scholar like Dr A.H. Dani-- on a book published in early 1900 and was authored by H. Arthur Rose, a British bureaucrat. It covers detailed reports on the census conducted by the colonial set-up in Punjab and NWFP in 1883 and 1892.

The Punjab census was in fact carried-out in 1881 by Sir Denzil Ibbetson of the Indian Civil Service. Keeping in view the importance of the chapter on Races, Castes and Tribes of the Census Report, it was published in 1883. Its first re-print, under the title Punjab Castes, was published in Pakistan by Sh. Mubarak Ali book-sellers in 1974.

According to the introductory note, the chapter on the races, castes and tribes of Punjab contains much valuable information that cannot be obtained elsewhere. The chapter was always applauded and recognised for its comprehensive treatment of the subject. This report should therefore get an edge over others on the subject.

The observations made by Sir Denzil (pps. 188-190) can be summarised as follows: “Parachas, like Khojahs, are Mohammadan traders. There is a definite section of them, with HQs at Mukhand on the Indus in Rawalpindi, who are a true caste, being converted Khatries and marrying only among themselves.

There are also large colonies of Parachas at Attock and Peshawar where they carry on extensive trade with Central Asia, chiefly in cloth, silk, indigo and tea. They say that their place of origin is the village Dangot in Bannu District and that they moved to Mukhand in Shah Jehan’s reign, but another account is that they are Khatries of Lahore, deported by Zaman Shah. Parachas account for their name by deriving it from “Párcha” i.e. cloth, one of the principle staples of their trade.”

Sh. Khurshid Hasan

Karachi

Published in Dawn February 2nd, 2017