Sipra,Jutt
Sipra / Sapra Jat
In this post I will look at the Sipra, sometimes pronounced as Sapra. They are a branch of the Gill Jats, a well-known tribe found in central Punjab.
Origin
Little has been written about their history. The early 20th Century British ethnologists H. A Rose gives the following description:
The Sipra appear to be a sub-division of the Gill tribe of Jats, which gives its name to the famous battlefield of Sabraon. They too are found chiefly on the Jhelum and lower Chenab and are most numerous in Jhang, in which District they form a powerful tribe. There they claim to be of Hindu Rajput origin, and still employ Brahmans, or in default a Mirasi, for ceremonial purposes. Their wives aretaken from the Chadhar and Mahun Jats, or sometimes from the Sials: but they only give daughters to the Bharwana clan of the latter tribe or within their own circle
The author of the 1929 District Gazetteer of Jhang adds the following:
The Sapras are a numerous tribe found associated with the Bharwana Sials in almost all their villages, and hold very large grants in the colony portion of the Jhang Tahsil. The Sapras are a fine manly lot and can give a good account of themselves in a fight
There also a brief description in the Shahpur District Gazetteer 1917:
In the same neighbourhood are three estates owned by the Sipras, another Jhang tribe, who own about 7,000 acres in the Chenab Valley and are chiefly tenants elsewhere in the district
The same neighbourhood refered to the valley of Chenab, that formed the boundary between the old Shahpur District (now Sargodha) and the old Jhang District (now Chiniot District). Ghulam Akbar Malik, author of Jats of Punjab also calls the Sipra a branch of the Gill tribe, with their headquarters in Jhang. The famous Sufi Shaikh Bahlol Daryai is said to belong to this tribe. His direct descendants are still found in Tibba Shah Behlol, which is a town near Pindi Bhattian on the Chiniot-Lahore road. While Lal Bux Naich gives the Sipra a Janjua ancestry, making Sapra the son of Janjua. According to this genealogy Sapra had several son, the main ones being Basra pal, Sara pal, Sapar Pal, Naru Pal, Sarot Pal, Sarda, Saral, Marral, Malhi and Jhammat. The Sapra are desceneded from Sapar Pal. However the majority view is that the Sipra are a branch of the Gill.
According to their own tribal traditions, they get their name from Sipra, who was the first to convert to Islam, sometimes in the 16th Century. Sipra and his clansmen settled in Shorkot and were found mainly in Sial dominated villages. It is interesting to note that in 1911 Census of India, many Sipra put down Gill as their clan. H. A Rose describes the Gill clan as follows:
one of the largest and most important of the tribes. Its main settlements are in the Lahore and Ferozepur districts; but it is found all along the Beas and Upper Sutlej, and under the hills as far west as Sialkot. Gil its ancestor, and the father of Sher Gil, was a Jat of Raghobansi Rajput descent who lived in the Ferozepur district
Raghubansi or Raghuvanshi is the dynasty is named after Raghu, a legendary king, to which the god Ram belonged.
Sipra Population According to the 1911 Census of India
| District | Population |
| Jhang | 3,092 |
| Shahpur | 1,763 |
| Gujrat | 1,084 |
| Lyallpur | 1,043 |
| Gujranwala | 658 |
| Total | 7,640 |
Most Sipra lived and still live in the Chenab river valley on the borders of Chiniot and Sargodha District.
Map of Chiniot District
The tribe is chiefly found along the banks of Chenab, Jhelum and Indus River, in the districts of Gujrat, Mandi Bahauddin, Sargodha, Jhelum, Jhang, Gujranwala, Hafizabad, Sheikhpura, Kasur, Okara, Faisalabad, and Sahiwal districts. However, most Sipra are found in Jhang District, and important Sipra villages include Kharal Sipra, Mal Sipra and Waryamwala. In Jhang District they are found in Chak Number 305/JB Mansoorwali, Chak Number 437 Jb Kunjaraan, Chak No. 159 J.B, Chela and Wehir Sipra, in Tehsil Jhang, Chak numbers 203, 211,199,198 JB, in Tehsil Bhowana. In Layyah District they are found in Chak Number 522/TDA, and Chak Number 524/TDA. In Mandi Bahauddin, they are found in Sohawa Julani and in Okara in Chak no. 27/4.L
In Chakwal District, the Sipra claim descent from Jewa Sipra, who left Qadirabad in Mandi Bahauddin District in the 18th Century and settled in Bal Kasar. Presently, in addition to Bal Kassar, they are also found in the villages of Narang Syedan and Sikriala in Chakwal.
