| Arain Raeen, Rain or Arai | |
|---|---|
 Raeens or Arains, Lahore | |
| Ethnicity | Punjabi |
| Location | Punjab, Sindh and Western Uttar Pradesh |
| Language | Punjabi, Saraiki, Sindhi |
| Religion |  Islam |
Arain (also known as Raeen) are a large Punjabi Muslim[1] agricultural community with a strong political identity and level of organisation.[2][3]
At the beginning of the last century, they numbered around 1 million and were mainly rural cultivators and landowners concentrated in four districts: Lahore, Jalandhar, Amritsar and Ambala, all in the British Punjab province.[1] Following the 1947 partition of India, they are now mainly present in the Pakistani provinces of Punjab and Sindh with a small population in parts of Indian Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
A self-conscious community,[1] several meetings were held to establish an organisation to represent the Arain community in the 1890s. Eventually, in 1915, Anjuman Ra’iyan-i-Hind emerged as such a body in Lahore and a national community newspaper, titled Al-Rai, was established.[4]
- ^ a b c Koul, Ashish (3 December 2016). "Making new Muslim Arains: reform and social mobility in colonial Punjab, 1890s-1910s". South Asian History and Culture. 8 (1): 1–18. doi:10.1080/19472498.2016.1260348. ISSN 1947-2498.
- ^ "Arain". The Punjab Record: Or, Reference Book for Civil Officers (page 24) via Google Books website. 1905. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
- ^ Katherine Pratt Ewing (1997). Arguing sainthood: modernity, psychoanalysis, and Islam. Duke University Press. p. 145. ISBN 9780822320265.
- ^ Ibrahim, Muhammad (2009). Role of Biradari System in Power Politics of Lahore: Post-Independence Period (Thesis).