Dhruggi-Rajgan is a village situated in the Chakwal District of the Punjab province, Pakistan. The village is located on main Chakwal-Jehlum road.
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The etymology of the word "Dhruggi" comes from the word "Dhrugg" used in the old version of pothohari language, which means uneven place or piece of land / landscape / a place.
It is full of greenery with lots of scenic views. The surrounding villages of Dhrugi are Bhoober, Saba Mohra, Maswal, Dohk Momin and Mulhal-Mughlan. Four roads lead towards Dhruggi and among those, three are made of red bricks and one is unpaved. There are two Government schools each for boys and girls. Recently a school for children of army personnel was opened. There are total six mosques three of which are Jamia Mosque and a spacious Janaza Gah and a large dam named "Manrka".
Initial history of Dhruggi and vicinity
The village Dhruggi has witnessed its second rehabilitation. First place is near old graveyard and the area is called now in local language "Haell" means a burnt place. I guess the reasons for its destruction could have been any natural calamity, loot & plunder, wildfire or any epidemic. The area was predominantly inhabited by Hindu populace.
People of this area including this village were mainly converted to new religion of Islam when Mughal dynasty was taking grounds in South Asia. In the present surroundings of this village, Islam is the third religion, the first one was Buddhism and second was Hinduism. Introduction of Islam is a recent history because salt range has seen all the human civilization recorded history.
It is believed that Dhruggi village is in the near vicinity of a famous place called "Pir-Kaddh" (near village of Nochindi). The "Pir-Kaddh" is attributed to a Kashmiri saint who sat on it, ordered this hill to move and stop where it is located now for to provide spring water for healing. The spring is with sulphuric mixed water flowing from the foot of a small rocky hill since centuries. This water used to be drunk in the months of March and April (on the occasion of Baisakhi Festivity) for the purpose of purging of stomach. Other notable shrines are of -Pirs of Dhruggi, surrounding area Pir-Mitha-Shaheed and Pir-Paruchlee.
After drinking it, the person will get cramps and loose motion are caused which ultimately will clean the bowels. This was a primitive method for purging and treating intestinal cleansing as well as worms. Now this practice is almost given up owing to access to health facility of allopathic medicines and lethargy of people for going to this so-called far-flung area.
Another worth mentioning place is called "Ghori-Galla" which is located near "Pir- Kaddh". Here water was deposited by streams / channels of rain water and springs. The hill next to it had locked the waters of "Ghori-Galla ". People were so simple and they thought as well as believed that it was of unmeasurable depth. They never ventured to swim across it.
The myth was broken during the second expedition of Mughal King Baber to Kabul and he stayed at the famous "Diljabba hill" (now there is a beautiful small dam / a rest house at foothill of Diljabba) of this area around 1533–34. Baber being an adventurer enquired about this water reservoir in terms of its depth but no one knew it. A tall Hindu man whose name was "Galla" volunteered to enter into water riding on his tall horse while holding a long bamboo in his hand to measure the depth of water. But the man never emerged from water once he entered in the middle of it depths.
As the parable goes, the place was named after him and it was known later on as "Ghori-Galla" till today. Baber gathered his skilled masonry and local people to chisel the hill which was holding water. It took a long time to chisel the hill down and water was allowed to flow into "Nala-Ghan" for letting those waters joining river Jhelum.
Later on Baber, being an expert in land measurement and settlement, invited local representatives who were counted to number 84. He allotted them land of the very area which is now known to us from the district Chakwal and to the boundaries of Sohawa Tehsil. This how the word "Dhan-Chorasee" came into existence.
Demographics
The majority of Dhruggi Rajgan's population comprises Chauhan Rajput people, whose ancestors are believed to have lived in Dhruggi Rajgan since Prithvi Raj Chauhan was defeated, his family / army were arrested by Ghauri and were then being taken to Afghanistan via Jhelum. It is believed some of the members of Chauhan tribe managed to escape the captors and settled in Dhruggi and its adjacent villages.
Before partition there was a considerable Hindu population who were well learned at that time. Locally, they were known as Khatri. They eventually left for India after partition. Some of the families of Dhruggi Rajgan have emerged in the fields of civil services (CSS), generalist of electronic media, medicines, engineering, education (including Phd), poultry farming and ICT. Majority of the people of Dhruggi are serving in police, Pakistan Armed forces and overseas. Many have excelled in private businesses of merchandise, real estate, import / export, transport as well. People of this village are also very active in local politics.