Maliar - History and Origin

History and Origin

The term Maliar comes from the Sanskrit Malakara makers of garland or from the Persian and Arabic word Mal which means wealth or land e.g. Malir Kotla in India or Malir an area in Karachi the equivalent of Bagh in Urdu or garden in English. According to their traditions their ancestor Mahbub accompanied Sultan Mahmud of Ghazna to India. The Sultan assigned him gardening as a vocation, and as such the community became horticulturists. There is no consensus as to the ethnic identity of this Mahbub. This concocted tradition is not tenable because the Maiar/Baghbanan or Phularay were basically son of the soil and converted to Islam en masse otherwise who was tilling small land or orchards and gardens. If we accept this account, the community thus settled in India at the start of the 11th century. Historically, the community was at a disadvantage, particularly in the Peshawar valley, where it suffered at the hands of Pashtun landlords.

Unlike other tribes found in the Potohar region, military recruitment was not open to them, because they were deemed not to be a martial race.

According to the 1901 Census of India, there numbers in Jhelum District were 23,000, in Rawalpindi District, they numbered 17,000 and in Attock District they numbered 37,000. In that particular district, they are the fourth largest tribe. Shahpur District, the modern day Sargodha District was home to a further 4,000.