The Chatha Jutts first resided in Gujranwala District, where they still control 184 villages. They assert that they are descended from Chattha, the brother of the ancestor of the Cheema (from a different mother) and the grandson of Prithvi Rai Chauhan, the Chauhan King of Delhi.
Their first mention in British colonial writings appears in J.H. Morris’s 1860 Settlement Report Gujranwala. He writes:
“Chatta, said to have formerly been Chauhan Rajputs, now classed as a got of the Jats, entirely Musalman. Dheroo, the founder of the tribe came from Delhi some 500 years, and settled in Nadala Kham (Nadala Pakka) in the Ramnagar pergunah, whence his decedents spread over the country. They were once a very powerful tribe, but their power and influence were greatly reduced by Ranjit Singh. They now possess 78 villages, chiefly in the vicinity of Ramnagar, in the two tehsils of Wazirabad and Hafizabad. The old perganah Ramnagar was in imperial times known by the name perganah Chattha Cheema, from the great preponderance of the two clans in it.”
Sikhism. R. P Nisbet, author of the 1874 Settlement Report adds about Chatha Jutts:
“A powerful tribe, claiming to be Chauhan Rajputs and descended from Raja Rrithi Rai, whose grandson was Chatta from whom they their name. In the 10th from Chatta was Dehru, who came from Sambhal in Hindustan and settled for a time in Mauza Sankhatra, district Sialkot, where he married a girl of the Deo clan; he then went to Mauza Jarkotli, and married another wife of the Kahlon tribe, and afterward came to reside in Mauza Jagowali in this district, and gave his daughter in marriage to a zamindar of the Sarai tribe, and with her as a dowry his estates in the Sialkot District, and himself occupied land in Jagowala. He had 11 sons, four by his first wife; and seven by his second wife, of all these one died childless (Maipal), and another (Jaggu) went beyond the Chenab, and founded a village after his own name; the remaining nine sons founded villages in this district. So the colony rapidly spread, and their descendants now occupy 81 villages. The tribe are chiefly Musalman; there are no recognized sub-divisions; all other tribes esteem marriages with them; the Musalman of the tribe make marriages of very close affinity amongst themselves, but not so the Hindus. This tribe has enjoyed considerable political importance in the persons of Nur Muhammad Ahmad Khan, Jan Muhammad, powerful chiefs and brave soldiers, the last of whom was final reduced by Ranjit Singh, and the power of the Chattas forever destroyed.”
Here, the British account differs slightly in that Dheroo or Dehru now hails from Sambhal in what is now Uttar Pradesh rather than Delhi. This city also appears in the narrative of the Chauhan Ranghars as a location where their ancestors sought safety after the Muslim Turks conquered the Chauhan kingdom. Lepel Gryphon describes them as follows in his book Punjab Chiefs:
“The Chatas are a numerous Mahomedan tribe, chiefly inhabiting the Hafizabad and “Wazirabad parganas of the Gujranwala district, where they hold seventy-eight villages. They claim to be by origin Chauhan Rajput and to have emigrated to the Punjab from the Delhi district. The date of the emigration is not exactly known, but it was probably about three hundred years ago. They rapidly increased in numbers, spreading along the banks of the Chenab, and founded Nadala, Manohar, Bangli, Pandorian and other villages. One Gagu seems to have been the first to adopt the Islamic faith, about the year 1600, and his example was followed by the remainder of the tribe.”
We return to Delhi in his narrative rather than Sambhal. Both cities served as the power centre for the Chauhans at various times. About ten years later, in a letter, H. A. Rose described the tribe as follows:
“Jat tribe apparently confined to Gujranwala, in which district they hold 81 villages. They claim to be descended from Chatta, a grandson of Prithi Rai, the Chauhan King of Delhi, and brother of the ancestor of the Cheema. In the 10th generation from Chatta or, as otherwise stated, some 500 years ago, Dahru came from Sambhal in Moradabad, where the bards of the Karnal Chauhans still live, to the banks of the Chenab and married among the Jat tribes of Gujranwala. They were converted to Islam about 1600 A.D. They rose to considerable political importance under the Sikhs; and the history of their leading family is told by Sir Lepel Griffin on pages 402 ff of his Punjab Chiefs.”
Rose mentions Sambhal once more as their place of origin and links them to the Cheemas, a well-known Jat tribe who also happen to be their neighbours. Edward H. Lincoln, the creator of the 1936 Gujranwala District Gazetteer, concludes by saying:
“The Chathas own 108 estates equally distributed over the western part of Wazirabad and eastern part of Hafizabad. Like the Cheemas they are mainly Musalmans and lay claim to Rajput origin. During the last century they were independent rulers of a large portion of the district. Their brave struggle against the Sikhs has been described in Chapter I-B., and they are now prone rather to recall their former glories than to endeavour to improve their present condition. The men of most influence among them are Chaudhri Nasirud- Din, Retired Extra Assistant Commissioner, Zaildar and Chairman, District Board, of Ahmadnagar, Khan Sahib Chaudhri Ryasat Ali, Advocate and Member of the Legislative Council, of Ahmadnagar, Chaudhri Ghulam Qadir, Zaildar of Kot Bhaga and Chaudhri Daswandi Khan, Zaildar of Kot Panah.”
Lincoln reiterates the claim of Rajput ancestry while also acknowledging that they are primarily Muslims.
It is evident from all of these accounts that the Chatha have asserted their claim to have immigrated from elsewhere and to be descended from Chauhan Rajputs.
Political History
After the Mughal Empire in Punjab fell, the Chatha arose to become a significant force in Rechna Doaba; if the Sikhs hadn’t gained power, they might have established a principality. Noor Muhammad, who became well-known during the time of Taimur’s invasion of India, was the first to come into power.
Before losing his possession of these lands to Ranjit Singh of the Sukerchakia Sikhs, who later rose to the position of Maharaja of Punjab, the Chatha tribe, led by the warlord Pir Mohammad Khan of Rasulnagar and Alipur Chatha, controlled sizable areas of land.
According to Edward H. Lincoln, who wrote the 1936 Gujranwala District Gazetteer, the city’s ascent and decline were as follows:
“The decaying power of the Mughals at the beginning of the last century had given the Chatha tribe the opportunity of making a bold push for political ascendency in this part of the Rechna Doab. Under Nur Muhammad, the first leader of note amongst them, and Pir Muhammad and Ahmad Khan, his more famous sons, they built and fortified the strongholds of Manchar, Alipur (Akalgarh) and Rasulnagar (Ramnagar), and about 1750 raised the standard of independence by refusing to pay tribute to the Mughal governor at Lahore. The Mughals were unable to exact allegiance or revenue, but Mir Mannu, the representative of Ahmad Shah Durrani, who had now seized the empire, laid siege to Manchar in 1764. The siege was ineffectual, and soon afterwards the Mughal Emperor recognised the Chatha chiefs and confirmed them in their possessions, probably as a counterpoise to the rising power of the Sikh confederacies in Gujranwala. At this time, they held sway over 150 villages or more than half of the Wazirabad tahsil, and their increasing power soon brought them into collusion with Charat Singh, the head of the Sukarchakia confederacy, who was extending his possession in Gujranwala.”
“Charat Singh, after the occupation of Gujranwala, had found himself strong enough to turn his arms against the Chathas. The struggle was carried on with varying success for 10 years between Charat Singh and Ahmad Khan. On the death of the former in 1773 and of the latter in 1775, it was continued by their sons Mahan Singh and Ghulam Muhammad, the bravest and ablest of the Chatha chiefs. Under his leadership the Chathas gamed several successes over the Sikhs, in one of which they captured the famous Bhangi gun, and it at one time looked as if the progress of the Sikh arms had been arrested and their dominion in the Doab annihilated. Mahan Singh at this crisis strengthened himself by an alliance with his rival, Sahib Singh, the son of Gujar Singh Bhangi, to whom he gave his sister, Raj Kaur, in marriage and the combined forces of the two Sikh chiefs proved too strong for the raw levies of brave but untrained peasants of the Chathas opposed to them. Ghulam Muhammad was driven back into his fortress at Manchar to which siege was laid by the Sikhs, and seeing that further resistance was ineffectual he offered to surrender on promise of permission to retire in safety to Mecca. The promise was given but basely broken; most of the garrison was put to the sword; Ghulam Muhammad himself was shot at the instigation of Mahan Singh; the fortress was razed to the ground, and the possessions of the Chatha chiefs were appropriated by Mahan Singh, or distributed as rewards among his followers Dal Singh, Kalianwala, of Akalgarh, who had married the sister of Charat Singh, Jowahir Singh Bastani, Sohel Singh Bhangi, who had married the sister of Mahan Singh and Jai Singh Maan, who had married his daughter to the Sukarchakia chief. To mark the overthrow of the Muhammadan chiefs and the triumph of the Sikhs, the names of Rasulpur and Alipur were altered to Ramnagar and Akalgarh, but the old names are sometimes used by Muhammadans in this part of the Doab, and the heroic resistance of Ghulam Muhammad and his treacherous end are celebrated in many a local ballad”
“The local Musalman tribes had still to be reduced, the rival Sikh chieftains had to be overcome or conciliated. The Chathas made another struggle for independence, Jan Muhammad, the son of Ghulam Muhammad, had fled to Kabul after the fall of Manchar, and returning in 1799 with aid from Zaman Shah— the Afghan king. Ranjit Singh being then occupied with the Bhatti and Tarar tribes of Hafizabad—the country rose in his favour, the Sikh garrisons were expelled, and Jan Muhammad re-established himself in Ramnagar. His success was, however, short lived. Ranjit Singh took the independence till his death in A. D. 1801, when his possession were forcibly annexed by Ranjit Singh, who, took the field with a large army and laid siege to Ramnagar. Jan Muhammad was killed in the siege, the garrisons surrendered, the power of the Chatha tribe which had played so prominent a role in the politics of the 18th century was broken, and their villages quietly submitted to the Maharaja’s sway.”
While Lepel Griffin, author of the Punjab Chiefs describes their fall like this:
“Nur Mahomed was born in 1704. When he grew up his friendship was sought by Raja Ranjit Deo of Jammu and by the Chiefs of Multan; for the Chathas had now grown powerful, and Nur Mahomed was their acknowledged Chief. When Nur Mahomed grew old, Ahmad Khan, his younger son, a brave and skilful soldier, led the Chathas to battle. The great enemies of the tribe were the Sukarchakia Chiefs of Gujranwala, who were ever striving to extend their possessions. In the time of Sardar Charat Singh the Chathas held their own, and Ahmad Khan in 1765 captured the celebrated Bhangi gun which Charat Singh had placed in Gujranwala. Soon after this, Ahmad Khan arid his brother Pir Mahomed quarrelled, and fought for some time with varying success ; and among the killed were Bahram Khan and Kadar Bakhsh, sons of Ahmad Khan and Fateh Mahomed his nephew. At last, Pir Mahomed sought help from Gujar Singh and Sahib Singh Bhangi, who invited Ahmad Khan to a conference, captured him, and shut him up without water till he agreed to resign the great gun, which was carried to the fort of Gujrat.”
“The towns founded in the Gujranwala district by these chiefs are neither few nor unimportant. Among those founded by Nur Mahomed were Ahmadnagar, Garhi Gul Muhommed, and Rasulnagar, re-named Ramnagar by the Sikhs while Pir Mahomed built three different forts called after his own name; also Kot Mian Khan, Alipur, re-named by the Sikhs Akalgarh ; Kaiwala, Kot Salim, Kot Ali Mahomed and Fatehpur. Ghulam Mahomed, who succeeded to the estate, succeeded also to the hatred of the Sukarchakias. Both Sardar Mahan Singh, son of Charat Singh, and Ghulam Mahomed were able and brave men, and it was clear that peace could only result from the death of one or the other. For a longtime the advantage lay with the Chatas, and Mahan Singh was defeated on several occasions. Once he besieged Jokian, held by Mian Khan, uncle of Ghulam Mahomed, who came down in haste to relieve it”
“The history of the family contains little worthy of notice after the fall of Rasulnagar. The sons of Jan Mahomed received a small jagir from Ranjit Singh, and were employed by him in the irregular cavalry. Several members of the family have served under the English Government both in 1849 and 1857. Karam Ilahi, grandnephew of Kadar Bakhsh and Bahram Khan, at the head of the family, holds a small muafi, yielding Rs. 52 per annum, and his patrimony in Ahmadnagar brings in about a thousand rupees a year. He is a member of the District Board, Zaildar of Ahmadnagar, Gujranwala, and receives a chair, in Provincial Darbars.”
Even though Ranjit Singh put an end to their independence, the Chathas gained a lot of political clout during his rule. Generals in Ranjit Singh’s army included Chaudhary Khuda Buksh Chattha and Chaudhary Nawab Khan Chattha. From 1848 to 1947, a century of British rule, the Chathas continued to be significant landowners.
