While researching the ancient origins of Lahore, and Punjab, in the ‘Vishnu Purana’ one name kept repeatedly coming up in almost every ancient text consulted, and that was the name ‘Vrkan.’

There was good reason to research this clan of ancient settlers of Loh’s settlement, for they were among the very first Aryans in recorded history, even though more in the mythological texts. Who were these people who assisted the Bharatas, the ancient rulers of Lahore, and who it seems were central to the rulers of their kingdom, especially in the ‘Battle of the Ten Kings’, or Dasanrajna as described in the ‘Mahabharata.’

Scholars call this era the ‘primitive mytho-heroic stage of Hindu beliefs.’ The area of their influence included Lahore, Sialkot, Virkgarh (today’s Sheikhupura) and right up to the Indus. The Vrkan, or as we today spell it as the ‘Virk’ clan, today live in the western villages around Lahore and Sheikhupura. After 1947 the Virks of Sikh and Hindu faith moved eastwards across the ‘dividing line.’ The Muslim Virks remained in their ancestral lands, if you can call it that. They are after all a very ancient people, the first of the Aryans that moved from the Caucasian region towards Iran and then to the sub-continent.

My fascination for these people stems from a small incident that many years ago I experienced as young journalist in Lahore. An official of the electricity department told me: “We can eke out power dues from a stone, but not from the inhabitants of the Virk villages near Sheikhupura.” I was to later learn that even removing their meters, let alone the distribution equipment had fatal consequences. But then this was the exception not the rule.

Since then I had wanted to understand this unique clan. I first heard of these people when hitch-hiking to Europe in the late 1970 when I was at an age where you can ‘fly on thin air.’ A sailor we met on the Black Sea told us that the nearby Caspian Sea was originally called the Sea of Vrkans, or of the Virk people who now inhabit villages around Lahore.

That a sailor on the Black Sea knew about Lahore pleased me to no end. Today the entire area between Sheikhupura, originally named Virkgarh till Mughal emperor Jahangir renamed it, up to Lahore and northward till Sialkot was the territory ruled by Raja Virk Vardan. The Punjabi poet Waris Shah was born in Jandiala, considered the epicentre of Virk country.

The history of the Virk clan goes back quite a few thousand years. If you happen to go through the Rig Veda you will time and again come across their mention, mostly as the doings of Prince Dasyave Vrika. These Jats have been identified as among the first Aryans to come over from Iran’s province of Varkania, which from Persian translates as the ‘land of Virks’.

But if we consult the ancient texts of Punjab, especially the Patanjali Bhashya and the famous Ashtadyavi, we come across the Virk rulers building forts and cities all over Punjab. It is in the Mahabhasya that we see reference to Lahore being an abode of the Virk, or the ‘Virkan’ as they are named. Amazingly, even today that is how they address each other.

An Indian scholar T. Yugendra Pal after intense research is of the opinion that the city of Bahawalpur was built by the Virk, who he claims are the Vahilkas warriors mentioned in the Mahabharata, who were based in Madradesa, or Sialkot as we know it today. Their kingdom “spread alongside the river right up to the citadel of Loh.” We all know that Lahore is named after Loh, the son of Ram, or Rama, whose origins we have dwelt on considerably in these columns.

These warrior people extracted a sixth of all incomes of the small rulers’ right across the sub-continent. Which means that the Virks must have been an important clan when the battle of the Ten Kings took place on the banks of the Ravi at Lahore.

The Virks are known to have built 11 major forts across their kingdom, including the one at Virkgary, or Virkgarh (Sheikhupura). The remains of that crumbling fort need to be conserved and excavations carried out to understand the past of these magnificent people. Other traces of their kingdom can be seen in the rock pillars of Yasodharman of 462 AD, where the Virk are clearly mentioned.

But then we can see a much more ancient trace of these Jat people, and they in the 2,200 BC, that is 4,200 years ago, find mention as the conquerors of the last of the Gutian kings. These people are said to have come from the land of Wark, which most experts believe was from Virk country. Researchers have pinned them down to Caucasian origins. In Daksiputra Panini’s great Sanskrit grammar classic ‘Ashtadhyayi’, we find the Sanskrit work Vrik as meaning a ‘wolf’, which has the same origin as the Russian word ‘Volka’ after which is named the river Volga.

The Greek historian Herodotus describes the Vraks as being “tall, muscular, loyal, sharp witted and very courageous.” Over the ages they have shown their determination to remain a free people. While researching for this piece it was a delight to find out that the very first lady fighter pilot of the Islamic world was a Pakistani woman named Hina Tahir Virk, whom Pakistan Air Force sources tell us is an exceptionally daring fighter pilot. So we have before us a clan who over the last 5,000 years have shown their bravery and mental agility. Today they are fighters in both the Pakistani and Indian armies, not to forget mention of some very “intelligent” politicians on both sides the border.

Over the last 500 years we have seen that the Virk Jats convert either to Islam or to Sikhism. There is a sizeable Hindu Virk population in India. Relatively recently, in historical terms, the rise of the militant Sikhs can be seen in the shape of an outstanding Virk chief, Nawab Kapur Singh Virk, who founded the Dal Khalsa. He then divided it into 12 ‘misls’. So the real force of militant Sikhism were the Virks. Nawab Kapur Singh Virk founded Singhpura of Lahore and the Misl of this area is known in history as Singhpuria Misl. In a way the rise of the Sikhs owe a lot to the brave Virks.

If you read the Sikh scriptures of Bhai Gurdas, you will see that the Virks are attributed as being horse and buffalo traders. British records tell us of the finest trackers (khojees) of lost animals as belonging to the Virk clan. So they know now to respect and look after their animals.

The most famous quote about the Virk came from Maharajah Ranjit Singh, who advised that if on a journey between Lahore (where he ruled) and Gujranwala (where he belonged to), it was best to avoid Virk territory. Such was their influence and clout, both economic and political, then and still remains.

It is interesting just how in ancient texts of the sub-continent, mostly written about events that took place in the area today called Pakistan, we find events that need to be recognised, for it is the amazing past of our land. We must learn to appreciate our history and learn lessons from it. There is much more to our soil than meets the eye.