Daska - Name

Name

The name Daska is said to be a distortion of "Dah Kos". The term "Dah" is the Persian word for the numeral ten, and "Kos" refers to a unit of distance used in Mughal times. The town was situated some ten "Kos" between neighbouring Gujranwala, Sialkot, Pasrur, Wazirabad and Sambrial, hence Dah Kos became Das Kos in the local Punjabi language, later shortened to Daska.

The principal Jatt clans of Daska and its environs include the Arian ,Jatt, Cheema, Sahi, Maher, Ghumman, Nagra, Waraich, Wahla, Basra, Kang, Goraya, Bajwa and Randhawa,Sandhu.Most of the villages surrounding daska are also named after jutt castes such as Adamkey cheema, Mundayki Goraya etc. The Jatts are said to have originated from Scythian invaders from Central Asia. Some people have wrongly confused Jatts with Chaudries which is simply an honorific given to land owners.The Mughals are also there, they have major role in the manufacturing industry of Daska.Major manufacturing industries in Daska are surgical equipment, axles and agriculture machines.The Rajputs are represented in the local population mostly by Mew,Khokhars,Bhatti,Minhas and Rana's. From Middle Ages, some Ghauris, originally from Afghanistan and having Hazara roots are also inhabitants of this area. A large number of Pathan (Kakars) and Afghan descendents of early ages, who had been living in Indian part of Punjab, migrated to Pakistan; and a good number of these people are living in Daska and around though it is hard to distinguish them by the language, as all of them are deeply integrated into Punjabi culture and so speak Punjabi as their mother tongue. A large numbers of Kashmiris, Maliks, Gujjars, and Thaheem are part of local population. A number of Biharis from Eastern India have reached here and have settled down as locals since 1971 and some Afghan refugees have also made this area as their home late 70's after Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. This makes Daska a land of all colours where all are living in examplery harmony. In fact Daska may be taken as a role model for the rest of the country.The nearest village name Bhroke which was founded by late sardar Jawala singh sahi before 1930s,which was left by there grandsons during 1947, one of them is sh.Gurcharan singh sahi s/o sh.Diyal singh sahi ,who is now living in vill.Kamali( F.G.S),Punjab,India.Mooranwalee Kothi (Peacock mansion) is a distinctive building in Daska. It was built during the 1930s by a prominent Jawala singh Sahi's family who later migrated to India in 1947. For many decades, the building was famous in the region for its grandeur, gardens and of course peacocks.And latest now Chand marriage hall is running publicly very well in Daska and become a sign in Daska.

The local dialect of Punjabi is the Western or Northern Dialect akin to that spoken in Sialkot. A native speaker from Daska and Sialkot District will easily recognise another native speaker of the area due its rhythmic melodious sound, the use of several distinct words and aspects of syntax.

The name Daska sounds very familiar in Serbian (Croatian, Macedonian) and means batten or sill. This is maybe in connection to Alexander the Great (Alexander III of Macedon).