The Ranyal or as sometimes pronounced Arnyal is a Jat gotra

Gotra

In the Hindu society, the term Gotra broadly refers to people who are descendants in an unbroken male line from a common male ancestor. Panini defines gotra for grammatical purposes as apatyam pautraprabhrti gotram , which means "the word gotra denotes the progeny beginning with the son's son"...

 (clan) found in Azad Kashmir

Azad Kashmir

Azad Jammu and Kashmir or Azad Kashmir for short, is the southernmost political entity within the Pakistani-administered part of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir...

, and parts of northern Punjab, Pakistan.

Almost all the villages near Mirpur city in Azad Kashmir

Azad Kashmir

Azad Jammu and Kashmir or Azad Kashmir for short, is the southernmost political entity within the Pakistani-administered part of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir...

, are held by the Ranyal.

History and origin

A dominant Jat clan found predominately in Mirpur, the majority of Arnyal villages were uprooted in the 1960s with the construction of Mangla Dam

Mangla Dam

The Mangla Dam is located on the Jhelum River in the Mirpur District of Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. It is the sixteenth largest dam in the world. It was built from 1961 to 1967 with funding from the World Bank. The project was designed and supervised by Binnie & Partners of London, and it was built...

. Most Arnyal hamlets in old Mirpur were dotted around the Rajput

Rajput

A Rajput is a member of one of the patrilineal clans of western, central, northern India and in some parts of Pakistan. Rajputs are descendants of one of the major ruling warrior classes in the Indian subcontinent, particularly North India...

 village of Tharchak, the largest village being Burban. The nearest point in modern New Mirpur to this area are the villages of Khambal, Nimaal and Kharrak.

Due to accent and lingistic differences, some people pronounce it as Arnyal.

Distribution

Today Arnyals are found in not just Mirpur but also nearby towns such as Jhelum

Jhelum

Jhelum or Jehlum may refer to:* Jhelum, a city in Pakistan on the banks of the Jhelum River* Jhelum District, an administrative division in Punjab, Pakistan surrounding the city of Jhelum...

, and Sarai Alamgir

Sarai Alamgir

Sarai Alamgir Sarai Alamgir (Urdu: سرائے عالمگیر) Sarai Alamgir (Urdu: سرائے عالمگیر) (pop. 175, 288 (as per DCR 1998) is the chief town of the tehsil of the same name. It is part of Gujrat district in the north of Punjab province. The town is located on the eastern bank of the Jhelum River...

, there are also pockets found in Gujrat

Gujrat

Gujrat is a city in Pakistan. It is the capital of Gujrat District and the Gujrat Tehsil subdivision in the Punjab Province. People living in Gujrat refer to themselves as Gujratis, which sometimes leads to confusion with people from the Indian state of Gujarat which adjoins Pakistan...

, Sargodha

Sargodha

Sargodha is a city in the Sargodha District of Punjab province, Pakistan.Sargodha is located in the northwest of Pakistan. It is the eleventh largest city of Pakistan and also known as Pakistan's best citrus-producing area. It is an agricultural trade centre with various industries...

 and even as far afield as Multan

Multan

Multan , is a city in the Punjab Province of Pakistan and capital of Multan District. It is located in the southern part of the province on the east bank of the Chenab River, more or less in the geographic centre of the country and about from Islamabad, from Lahore and from Karachi...

. In Jhelum District

Jhelum District

Jhelum District is in the Punjab province of Pakistan. According the 1998 census the district had a population of 936,957, of which 31.48% were urban. Jhelum is known for providing a large number of soldiers to the British and later to the Pakistan armed forces due to which it is also known as...

, there main settlement is the village of Ranial Phulan.

See also

• Dhamial Jats
  Dhamial Jats
  The Dhamial or sometimes pronounced Dhamyal, are a Rajput tribe found in Punjab, Pakistan and Azad Kashmir. According to the 1931 census they numbered 9,500 of which Jats numbered 1,500 and Rajas, 8,000.- History :...
  
  
• Jats
• Ethnic Groups of Azad Kashmir
  Ethnic groups of Azad Kashmir
  The population of Azad Kashmir is composed of many communities and tribes. According to the 1998 Census of Pakistan, the total population of Azad Kashmir was 3,271,000....
  
  
• List of Jat Clans of West Punjab