Regions with significant populations | |
---|---|
India | |
Languages | |
Punjabi, Hindi | |
Religion | |
Hinduism, Sikhism | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Jat Khatri |
Sodhi (Punjabi: ਸੋਢੀ) is a clan of Khatris[1] and Jatts[2] originated from the Indian Punjab.
Some notable Sikh Gurus, from Hari Das, Guru Ram Das, Prithi Chand, to Guru Arjan were of Sodhi surname.[3][full citation needed][4][5]
In the Bachittar Natak Guru Gobind Singh wrote the origin of Sodhi clan and described them as linear descendants of Lava, one of the twin sons of Sita and Rama.[citation needed]
According to the legend, some of the descendants migrated to Sanaudh where the clan chieftain married the daughter of the king and had a son named Sodhi Rai whose descendants ruled over the Sanaudh region now known as east and west Punjab and Haryana and some parts of Himachal Pradesh in northern India.[5][need quotation to verify]
The Sodhis of Anandpur Sahib are descendants of Sodhi Suraj Mal,[citation needed] one of Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji's sons and brother of Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji. The Sodhis of Anandpur held revenue free lands in Anandpur Sahib and various other parts of Punjab.[6] They were the ruling family of Anandpur Sahib.[7]
At the time of the Sikh Empire, Maharaja Ranjit Singh awarded revenue-free grants to Sodhis, who were not strictly associated with any particular religion and usually "maintained a considerable number of horsemen". Towards the end of his reign, the total worth of jaigirs was ₹500,000 a year. Ranjit Singh lavishly patronised a descendant of Dhir Mahal, Sodhi Sadhu Singh, with a gift of several villages.[8]
The original copy of the Adi Granth, also known as the Kartarpuri Bir, is reported to be in the possession of the descendants of Sodhi Sadhu Singh at Kartarpur.[9][10]
His daughter, to whom he was devotedly attached, married Ram Das, a Jat youth of good family of the Sodhi sept of the tribe, who became a zealous Sikh.