Salt Range - History

History

The Gakhars and Janjua Rajputs had engaged in an endless battle for sovereignty over the Salt Range.

The history of this region (the Salt Range) from the thirteenth century onward had been a sickening record of wars between the Janjuhas and the Gakkhars for political ascendancy.

But later in 16th century Awan (tribe) of ancient repute drove out Janjuas and ghakhars from the western parts of salt range. According to the Emperor Babar the Jud and the Janjuha were "two races descended from the same father, " who from old times had been rulers of the hills between Nilab and Bhera, that is, of the salt range. "On one-half of the hill lived the Jud, and on the other half the Janjua." The Awans now occupy western half of these hills towards Nilab.

Christophe Jaffrelot states:

"The Awan deserve close attention, because of their historical importance and, above all, because they settled in the west, right up to the edge of Baluchi and Pashtun territory. Legend has it that their origins go back to Imam Ali and his second wife, Hanafiya. Historians describe them as valiant warriors who imposed their supremacy on the Janjua and other Rajput tribes in part of the Salt Range, and established large colonies all along the Indus to Sind, and a densely populated centre not far from Lahore.