Moga district
Moga district is one of the twenty-three districts in the state of Punjab, India. It became the 17th district of Punjab state on 24 November 1995, being cut from the Faridkot and Firozpur districts. Moga district is among the largest producers of wheat and rice in Punjab, India. People from Moga city and Moga district belong to the Malwa culture. The district is noted for being the homeland for a high-proportion of Indian Punjabi expatriates who emigrated abroad and their descendants, which has given it the nickname of "NRI district".
Moga city, the headquarters of the district, is situated on Ferozpur-Moga-Ludhiana road. Moga is well-known for its Nestlé factory, Adani Food Pvt Ltd, and vehicle modifications. Highways connected with Moga are Jalandhar, Barnala, Ludhiana, Ferozpur, Kotkapura, Amritsar. Bus services and Railway services are well connected with some major cities like Ludhiana, Chandigarh, and Delhi.
Moga district is notable for its higher standards-of-living compared to neighbouring Punjabi districts, based upon metrics such as access to education, electrification, and medical-care. Much of this is attributed to the economic development of the district in the agricultural sector, such as the dairy industry.
Etymology
The name of Moga may be ultimately derived from the Indo-Scythian king, Maues, who invaded and ruled the area in the 1st century BCE after conquering the Indo-Greek polities of the region. "Moga" is the Indianized form of "Maues". Another theory states Moga was named after Moga of the Gill clan, who owned a jagir that was located on the present-day location of Moga city.History
Ancient era
Structures and sites dating before the reign of the Mughal emperor Akbar are exceedingly rare due to the changing course of the Sutlej river throughout the centuries. As a result, very few sites dating back to antiquity have been uncovered in the local area of Moga. This effect is more pronounced in the western parts of the district.The location of ancient villages and towns can be inferred to the present of mounds of earth, brick, and pottery that have been excavated called thehs. These mounds are evidence that the banks of the river were inhabited in ancient times. A number of coins have been discovered at the site of these mounds.
Indus Valley Civilization
Sites identified as belonging to the Indus Valley Civilization have been discovered in the area. Scholars have linked these finds to other sites uncovered in the Rupnagar area of Punjab. The findings, such as pottery found in mounds, have been categorized as belonging to the pre-Harappan and late-Harappan periods of the IVC.Vedic period
The composition of the Rigveda is proposed to have occurred in the Punjab circa 1500 and 1200 BCE.Post-Vedic period (After 600 BCE)
The region of Moga belongs to the Malwai cultural zone, named after the ancient Malava tribe who inhabited the area in ancient times. During the reign of Porus in the 4th century BCE, the southern area of Punjab was ruled by both the Kshudrakas and Malavas. Some scholars believe they were pushed southwards due to martial and social pressures occurring in the north. Alexander of Macedon warred with the Malavas for control of the region. This wrestle for power is recorded as being fierce and bitter in Greek historical accounts. After the withdrawal of Macedonian forces in the area, the Malavas joined with anti-Greek forces to usurp Hellenistic power and control of the region, leading to the formation of the Mauryan dynasty.The decline of the Mauryan dynasty coincided with an invasion of Bactrian Greeks, who successfully took control of the region in the second century BCE. This seizure of power in the Punjab by the Bactrians led to the migration of the Malavas from the area to Rajasthan, and from there to the now-called Malwa plateau of Central India.
Medieval era
The region of Moga was under the control of the Hindushahi dynasty in the early-mediaeval period. However, the initial Muslim invasions of the northwestern Indian subcontinent in the 11th century led to the end of the Hindushahis, with the defeat of the native ruler Bhimapala, and the onset of Islamic-rule in the region.The area is believed to have been under the writ of the Punwar clan of Rajputs during the early-mediaeval period. They were headquartered in Janer, at the old riverbed location of the Sutlej river, over six kilometres north of the present-day city of Moga. Later on, the Bhati clan of Rajputs, originating from Jaisalmer, established themselves in the area, superseding the previous Punwars for authority of the region.
Jat tribes, who had been practicing migratory, nomadic-pastoralism for much of their recorded history, began to permanently settle the Moga area during this time and take up a sedentary lifestyle of settled agriculture. First of them being the Dhaliwal clan, who firmly established themselves southeast of Moga at Kangar. They appear to have possibly obtained high repute, seeing as a woman of the clan, Dharm, who was the daughter of Chaudhary Mihr Mitha Dhaliwal, was wedded to the Mughal emperor Akbar. The Gill clan of Jats, originally based in Bathinda, dispersed to the western parts of Moga district around this time. At the end of the 16th century, the Sidhu clan of Jats migrated northwards to the area from Rajasthan. A branch of the Sidhus, the Brars, established themselves in the south of Gill territory, pushing its former inhabitants northwards whilst taking control of their key places in the process. The Brars founded a chieftainship at Kot Kapura, 40 kilometres west of present-day Moga, and rebelled against the overlordship of Nawab Ise Khan, the Manj governor.
Kot Ise Khan was established by a relative of Mokalsi, named Isa Khan. Mokalsi was the founder of a chieftainship in Faridkot. There were tensions between the Brar Jatts and Isa Khan, with the latter being killed by the Brars, allowing the Brars to become hegemonic in the region.
The region of Moga is mentioned in Punjabi folklore. The settlement of Moga was established around 500-years-ago in around the late 15th or 16th century, as per one source. However, other sources date the establishment of Moga to a later period. According to the 2011 district census handbook for Moga district, the Wadan Gills, one of the twelve branches of the Gill Jats, were settled in the southern and western areas of the present-day district in around the early 17th century. However, a branch of the Sidhu Jats, known as the Brars, particularly the Sangar clan of the Brars, attacked the Gills and therefore the Gills settled further northword, establishing the settlements of Moga, Chhirak, and Chal. Peace was made between the antagonistic Gill and Sangar Jatts through a marital alliance, with a daughter of the Sangar Jatts being married to a Gill Jat, which improved the social-standing of the Brars in the area. Two sons were produced from this marriage: Vega and Moga. The settlement of Moga was named after the son Moga, born from a Wadan Gill father and Sangar Brar mother.
However, there are variations to the same tale. A per another local dictum, the two brothers were named Moga Singh and Joga Singh. Joga Singh's successors established two different villages called Moga Mehla Singh and Moga Ajit Singh. The settlement of Moga was formed by combining these two villages together, with the village being divided into five pattis, named after Moga Singh's sons: Chirag Patti, Sangali Patti, Ausang Patti, Bagha Patti, and Rupa Patti.
A similar background story is recounted in Visakha Singh's Malwa Itihās. According to Visakha Singh, Moga had been established in the 1st century CE by Raja Mog, who established Mog Badh on the southern bank of Sutlej. However, the settlement was destroyed during the Huna invasion of the Indian subcontinent, with Tihara and Janer also being annihalated. As for the establishment of the re-built Moga, the Gills of Moga are credited by Visakha Singh. According to him, the Gills of Moga trace their origin back to Bathinda, specifically the ruling dynasty of Binaypal. When Binaypal's dynasty in Bathinda was destroyed by a ruler named Mahmud, the Gills are said to have dispersed from the area to settle elsewhere, establishing new villages in the process. One branch of the Gills who left Bathinda went-on to found the settlement of Vairoke, headed by an individual named Moga Gill. It was Moga Gill's group who re-established the settlement of Moga on-top of the ruins of the much earlier 'Mog Badh'. Local folklore claims that Moga Gill and Rattan Mal, who had betrayed the Binaypal dynasty of Bathinda, were in conflict with one another, with Rattan Mal attacking the Gills at Vairoke, causing its destruction. The folktales involve curses and religious sages, with Moga Gill apparently being cursed by Rattan Mal to die childless. However, a Muslim sai heard of Moga Gill's curse and supposedly blessed him after forty-two days of praying that Moga's descendants will found forty-two villages, on the grounds of the first-child being given to the sai. The first child of Moga was named Aval Khair, who founded the settlement of Aval Khurana, becoming its chaudary. There were also other descendants of Moga Gill apart from Aval Khair, who founded their own villages as well. The feud between Rattan Mal and the Gills of Moga reach a conclusion in the tales, with the Gills allying with Kalu Nath and Sidh Bhoi to defeat Rattan Mal. To commemorate Sidh Bhoi of the Dhaliwals, the Gills constructed many memorials to him, such as on the outskirts of Lopo near Badhni, at Rajeana near Bagha Purana, and another nearby Lallu Wal village.
Despite the Moga region being under nominal Muslim-rule, in-reality the influences of the dominant Jatt tribes of the area prevailed, namely the Gills and Dhaliwals, consisting of clan-chieftainships. During the early Mughal-Sikh Wars, in 1634 Guru Hargobind left Amritsar to avoid Mughal persecution and arrived near Moga with fresh recruits enlisted en route to stage a counter-attack against the Mughal government. When near Moga, he sent his family to safety in Kartarpur and whilst he remained in the Malwa region with his army. According to Visakha Singh, the local Gill and Dhaliwal tribes of the Moga region, provided military assistance to Guru Hargobind during the Battle of Mehraj.
Most of the Jat tribes of the local area were converted to Sikhism by the missionary works of the seventh Guru of the Sikhs, Har Rai. At Dagru village in Moga district, it is believed Guru Har Rai stayed there for some time whilst on a tour of the Malwa region. Gurdwara Tambu Sahib was later constructed to commemorate his stay in the area.File:Folio of a historical Guru Granth Sahib manuscript containing the official seal of Guru Gobind Singh within the margin of the page.jpg|thumb|A folio of a historical Guru Granth Sahib manuscript bearing Guru Gobind Singh’s Gurmukhi seal is preserved by releative of Mata Damodari at Gurdwara Daroli Bhai ki, village, Moga district, Punjab.According to Sikh tradition, the village of Dina located near the district's border with the neighbouring Bathinda district is where Guru Gobind Singh rested for a few days after the Second Battle of Chamkaur. Furthermore, it is said he wrote and dispatched the Zafarnama letter to Aurangzeb from here. Scholar Louis E. Fenech states the Guru rested at Dina at the house of a local Sikh named Bhai Desu Tarkhan after sending the Zafarnama from Kangar village, entrusted in the hands of Bhai Dharam Singh and Bhai Daya Singh. A gurdwara, Zafarnama Gurdwara Lohgarh Sahib Pind Dina Patishahi Dasvin, commemorates his stay at Dina, Moga, and a sign there claims the Guru stayed at the location for 3 months and 13 days. The Encyclopedia of Sikhism states the Guru only stayed at Dina for a few days conversely to the claims of the Gurdwara. It further states that he stayed with two local Sikhs named Chaudhry Shamir and Lakhmir, the grandsons of a local chieftain named Rai Jodh, who had served the sixth Sikh guru, Hargobind, and fought and died at the Battle of Mehraj. Guru Gobind Singh gathered an army of hundreds of locals from Dina and the surrounding area and continued on his journey.
In 1715 CE, Nawab Ise Khan, the Manj governor, stirred a rebellion against the Mughal hegemony but was defeated and killed. In 1760 CE, the ascendency of Sikh power became grounded after the defeat of Adina Beg, who was the last Mughal governor of Lahore.