Sial (tribe)

According to Bardic traditions, Sials descended from a certain Rai Shankar, a Parmar Rajput. Rai Shankar had three sons: Seo, Teo and Gheo, the ancestors of the Sial, Tiwana and Gheba clans, respectively. Denzil Ibbetson, an administrator of the British Raj, classified the Sial as a Rajput tribe. However, they are also classified as Jats. == History ==

During the fifteenth- and sixteenth-century periods of the Mughal Empire, the Sial and Kharal tribes were dominant in parts of the lower Bari and Rachna doabs of Punjab. In the 18th century, Sial chief Walidad Khan gained control of Rechna Doab including the cities of Chiniot, Pindi Bhattian, Jhang and Mankera. Theext chief Inayatullah Khan Sial (1747–1787) was a successful General who won 22 battles against the Bhangi Misl and Multan chiefs. The Sials in Jhang, as in many other areas of the Punjab, had once been nomadic pastoralists. They did not necessarily cultivate all of the land they controlled and it was the actions of the Sikh Empire and, later, the land reforms of the Raj administration that caused them to turn to cultivation. == Popular culture ==

The Heer Ranjha and Mirza Sahiban, epic poems of Punjabi literature are pieces of fictional writing which refer to the Sials, who were the dominant tribe at the time. The two heroines, Heer is depicted as young and independent-minded daughter of a Sial chieftain in revolt against traditional tribal conservatism. Heer is portrayed as a Sial Rajput, and Sahiban is also from a Sial Rajput family. ==Clans==

The Sial tribe has more than one hundred branches, the names of which commonly end with the suffix -ana. Some of the major clans include Bharwana, Fatiana, Sargana, Tarhana, Rajbana, Kamlana, Jangiana, Umrana, Handlana, Mukhiana, Jabboana, Daultana, Hiraj, Thiraj and Mirali. They usually use the title of Mehr except the Jangiana clan, which uses Mian. ==Notable people with this surname==

Pakistani people • Inayatullah Khan Sial, Sardar of Jhang from 1747 until 1787 • Muhammad Arif Khan Rajbana Sial, former federal and provincial minister • Najaf Abbas Sial (1959–2018), Member, Provincial Assembly of Punjab (2002 - 2007) from Jhang District • Omar Sial (born 1969), Pakistani judge • Amjad Hussain B. Sial, Pakistani diplomat • Fateh Muhammad Sial (1887–1960), Pakistani landlord and missionary • Ghazalla Sial, member, Provincial Assembly of Sindh (2018–2023) and (2013–2018) from Khairpur • Ghazi Sial (1933–2019), Pakistani poet • Khurram Abbas Sial (born 1981), Pakistani politician • Mehr Irshad Ahmed Sial (born 1967), Pakistani politician • Sohail Anwar Siyal (born 1975), Pakistani politician • Swaran Lata (1924–2008), Pakistani actress • Wahid Baksh Sial Rabbani (1910–1995), Pakistani army veteran, Islamic saint and scholar Indian people • Amit Sial, Indian actor • Brijender Syal (1920–2001), Indian army veteran and sculptor • Meera Syal (born 1961), British writer and actress == References ==