History of Chanarthal Kalan (English)

The History of Chinarthal Kalan
The village of Chinarthal was found in about A.D. 1460 by a person named Chand. Chand consulted Baba Bhor Nath, the head of sadhus who had been living in the area for a long time. With the advice from Baba Bhor Nath, he struck a thick wooden staff (Mohri) at the spot indicating his possession of the land, which he later on named as Chandthal.
There are various stories regarding how the village came to be known as Chinarthal. One of the stories include that Chand saw a grove of chinar (platanus orientalis) trees and named the village after it. However, the climate and the altitude in the village rule out this possibility.
Another story indicates that there were four brothers with the same last name of Nath, they named the village after themselves as Charnathal. Four Naths translates to “Char Nath” in Punjabi.
A third story suggests that Chand named the village after himself. For example, Chand originally came from his name to which he added Thal, thus making it as Chandthal and that the village later became Chinarthal. The original Chinarthal was given a suffix of “Kalan” (a Persian word meaning large) and the new settlers of a nearby village also named Chinarthal gave it a suffix of “Khurd” (a Persian word meaning small).
Chinarthal Kalan village is an epicenter of Tiwanas of Punjab in India. It can be rightly optimized with Dharanagri of Malwa, where Parmars have very close sentiments attached to it. It will not be any exaggeration if we say:
“Chinarthal is for Tiwanas”
“Tiwanas are for Chinarthal”
“Wherever there are Tiwanas, Chinarthal is always near them”
This village is situated on the left bank of Bhakhra Main Line canal about 22 kilometers in the north of Patiala and about 12 kilometers in south of Sirhind (a town located on Grand Trunk Road near Fatehgarh Sahib, a District Headquarter of Punjab). It is situated 30 degrees and 32′ in the North latitude and 76 degrees and 22′ in the East latitude. It is the largest village of Tiwanas in Punjab in India, having approximately 1300 house holds with a total population of about 10,000.
The total area (mauza) of the village is 16,000 bighas (3306 acres). Most Tiwanas living in Chinarthal believe in Sikhism. The village has three gurdwaras, two Hindu temples and a mosque. Chinarthal was once a part of Patiala, however after the creation of a new district it is now part of district Fatehgarh Sahib.
The village was divided into three different sections (known as patties in Punjabi). These three sections were Nanda Patti, Tiloka Patti, and Gaddo Patti. Tiloka patti is the major patti. Gaddo and his descendants had embraced Islam in A.D. 1533. Before 1947 there were about 20 Muslim Tiwana families in Chinarthal. However, since the Maharaja at the time did not give any assurance regarding their land, the Muslim families departed to Pakistan at the end of 1947. Two Tiwana Muslim Chaudharis descendants of Gaddo, Majlas Khan and Wazir Khan, were the prominent chiefs in the Mughal times. Sardar Sawai Singh of Chinarthal held an important post under Maharaja Karam Singh and Maharaja Narinder Singh of Patiala. He was a chief of Chaurasi of Chinarthal Tiwanas and was declared a special durbari of the Patiala Durbar.
Among the Muslim Tiwanas of Chinarthal, Sher Muhammad also known as Chajju was a very nice individual. His son Noor Muhammad owned a large piece of land and was a rich farmer who generously distributed 100 mounds (40 quintals) of wheat grain to Sikh refugees who came into this village in 1947. Sher Muhammad had two more sons Jammal Muhammad and Barru Khan, who were known for their well kept bullocks, cows, and buffaloes.
Abar Muhammad popularly known as Abri was a numberdar. His brother Suleman was known for his agronomic practices and new agriculture innovations. Other Muslims of Tiwana clan included Abdullah Tiwana and Peer Muhammed Tiwana who also had a large amount of land in the village. Naurata Singh Tiwana of the same village escorted Barru Khan to Ambala refugee camp. All Muslim families reached Pakistan safely and were allotted agriculture land in Sindh province near Chachro. At present there is only one Tiwana Muslim family living at the village.
This village remained in lime light due to the resistance of Chinarthal Tiwanas against Mughal oppression in Payal. Balaka Singh Tiwana, the chief of Chaurasi, fought the battle at Sirhind along with Banda Bahadur in A.D. 1710. Banda, at the request of Balaka Singh, provided him a strong detachment of Khalsa army and he killed the Masands of village Ghadani and other tormentors of the Tenth Guru. Sardar Tara Singh Tiwana, a Sikh from Chinarthal, who was a well trained soldier, repulsed a strong army detachment sent by Nawab Sher Khan of Maler kotla, to help Wazir Khan of Sirhind in 1710. With the help of a small group of Tiwana Sikhs from Chinarthal, confronted Maler Kotla detachment in between village Tohra and Suhagheri. The Maler Kotla army was defeated and in the ensuring battle Sardar Tara Singh and his small band of soldiers achieved martyrdom. A memorial was placed on the land where the war was fought. The memorial was named “Saheedan Dian Smadhaan” (memorial of martyrs) by the surrounding Tiwana villages.
Besides Balaka Singh, Sardar Sawai Singh Tiwana, Agghar Singh Tiwana, Shamsher Singh Tiwana, Budh Singh Tiwana, Kartar Singh Tiwana and Dalip Singh Tiwana were well known personalities of Chinarthal.
This village also produced many eminent Akali and Congress political leaders. Among the Tiwanas, the name of Jathedar Balwant Singh Chinarthal shines like a brilliant star. He overshadowed the politics of P.E.P.S.U. for many years and had a hand in grooming a legendary personality like Gurcharan Singh Tohra (Tiwana). Besides him many other people have achieved high ranks in the service field among whom Col. Ranjeet Singh Tiwana, Col. Gurbachan Singh Tiwana, Lt col Amarjit Singh Tiwana, Maj. Amarjit Singh Sathi Tiwana, Late Sardar Sukhdev Singh Tiwana and many others are worth mentioning. Many people from this village have settled in foreign countries like United States of America, Canada, and European countries. In Canada Ajitpal Kaur Tiwana of Chinarthal has the unique honor of being the first South Asian Women to become a police officer with R.C.M.P (Royal Canadian Mounted Police)
Another conspicuous feature of this village is that many other villages as offshoots of this village were founded in later years. The villages Chinarthal Khurd, Dittupur Jattan, Turkheri Khurd, Lassoi, Rabbon Uchi. Robbon Nichi, Manki, Baghor, Madhopur, Barra, and Madofal have their roots in Chinarthal.
This village has many facilities like Higher Secondary School, Veterinary Hospital, Primary Health Center, Post Office, State Bank of Patiala and a Co-operative Bank. All the streets of the village are now pucca lanes. There are two roads connecting the village with Sirhind, Patiala and Nabha. The Dusehra festival at Chinarthal is well known in the whole district.
Note: ‘History of Chinarthal Kalan’ is still incomplete and more information is being obtained. History of Chanarthal has been taken from the book 'History of the Tiwanas' written by Prof. Dr. Darbara Singh Tiwana. This is the most important book about the history of Tiwanas and can be obtained from the following places: Karm Singh Jodh Singh Book Sellers Adalat Bazar Patiala ***** SCO 1094-95 2nd Floor Sec 22B Chandigarh. 98155-45815 on History of Chanarthal Kalan (English)