Falguni pathak maine payal hai chhankai
The Phatak are a clan of Ahir herdsmen, one of the agricultural castes bearing considerable resemblance to Rajputs, claim to be descended from a Sisodia prince of Chittore and the daughter of an Ahir King Digpal of Mahaban, to whom he was married.
Contents
Railway phatak old style
Origin
Locally in Braj region, Which includes Mathura, Jalesar, Agra, Hathras, Aligarh, Etah, Mainpuri and Farrukhabad districts of Uttar Pradesh, Phataks are regarded as more Rajput than the average Yadav(Ahir). The Phatak clan claim to be descended from a Sisodia Raja of Chittore who was married to the daughter of Digpal, Raja of Mahaban, an Ahir.
The legend goes as : "once the Raja of Chittor was invaded by the emperor of Delhi. One out of the 12 gates (Phataks) of the city resisted. To commemorate the signal of bravery of the guard of the 12 gate, the king issued a decree that they and their descendants should forever be known after the name of Phatak."
In History
Uttar Pradesh district gazetteers, Volume 24 gives an account of Phatak Ahirs as-"The Phatak Ahirs who lived along the borders of the Yamuna in Mainpuri district gave Sher Shah Suri much trouble and finally later had to send a huge force consisting of 12000 horses to crush them."
The fort at Mahaban is said to have originally been built by Rana Katera, the grand ancestor of Phataks, to whom is also ascribed the fort at Jalesar.
The Phatak prince Bijay Singh took possession of Samohan Chaurasi area, dispossessing the Mewatis owners of the land in 1106 (samvat era). After the capture of Samohan Chaurasi area, the Phataks proceeded towards Yamuna river, displacing aborigines they established themselves in the whole Shikohabad Pargana. The lawless Phataks remained a great anxiety to Mainpuri district authorities of British rule.
The evidences show that female infanticide was practiced commonly among Chauhan Rajputs and Phatak Ahirs. In 1865, Mr. Colvin observed census of the Chauhan and Phatak villages in Mainpuri and found six villages without a single female infant.
1857 Mutiny
In the mid nineteenth century, Kansia. a Phatak Ahir robber leader conspired with his brother Kalyan Singh to kill Urwin, the District Magistrate, Mainpuri, for taking revenge of strict law and order keeping measures adopted by him. Urwin, however, exchanged his doli(Royal Vehicle) with a British Officer Captain Alcock, who in turn was cut into pieces on the roads between Bharaul and Ghiror, by the two brothers. At the trial, Kalyan turned King's evidence and Kansia was convicted. His execution exerted a salutary influence on rest of the Ahirs.
During 1857 mutiny, the Ahirs defeated Tej Singh,the rebel Raja of Mainpuri and captured two of his guns. For this act of bravery, the Ahir leaders Mek Singh and Gulab Singh were rewarded grant of a village by British Government. In the district Mainpuri, no active participation was noticed as a national attempt at the subversion of government authority. British Officials later took the view that "there was no mass rising of the agricultural communities in Mainpuri but rather a struggle for the mastery between two land owning castes, the Chauhans and the Ahirs."
The Author of the Mainpuri District Gazetteer described that "the money lenders who intruded into a Thakur or Ahir village to oust the original owners (Thakur or Ahir) of the land would have needed more than a common degree of courage, and the adventure was not generally considered to be worth the risk."
Under the influence of Rahim-ud-din Khan, Tehsildar of Mustafabad, the Phataks remained most of the time loyal to the British Government and aided Bharaul Ahirs in resisting rebel Raja Tez Singh of Mainpuri.
The Ahirs of Bharaul successfully repulsed Tez Singh while their Ahir caste brethren, Ram Ratan and Bhagwan Singh of Rampur Village kept the whole Mustafabad in a state of rebellion and fought against British rule.