History

The land of Jhajjar shows signs of early inhabitation. Various historical buildings can be seen here. During 1191 AD when there was a war between Gori and King Prithvi Raj, the area of Jhajjar was not inhabited and was a forest with no one living there. In the eastern part was a town by the name Malokan where the Jats lived and was amongst the worst affected areas due to the war. Most of the people living there relocated to different places after the war. Chajju Jat who was a resident of the village made an appeal so that rehabilitation of the village could be done. However the appeal was rejected by Emperor Gori. He ordered that the village should be rehabilitated somewhere else. Hence, the jats of Malokan came to live in the city of Jhajjar. After it got established, the city of Jhajjar had to go through a lot of political unrest in the hands of many rulers i.e. Mughal rulers, Muslim rulers and the Britishers too. While many people say that the city derived its name from the founder i.e. Chajju which was changed later to Jhajjar, many others are also of the opinion that it was derived from the natural fountain by the name Jharnagar. It was a part of Rohtak district until July 15th 1997, when it was separated from it.

Culture of Jhajjar

The culture of Jhajjar which is a part of Haryana is a mixture of Punjabi and Haryanvi culture. Here Haryanvi as well as Punjabi festivals are celebrated with equal enthusiasm. The customs of  yoga, meditation and Vedic mantras are observed by many. The language that is mostly spoken in this region is “Jatu” or ” Haryanvi”. Though the language is considered rude by many, however, it is full of honesty and simple humor. The people of Jhajjar celebrate different festivals such as Basant Panchami, Lohri, Gangore, Holi, Teej, Gudda Naumi, Janmastami, Diwali and Dusshera amongst others. Folk dance, folk music and folklore form an integral part of the culture of Jhajjar. The songs are mostly classical in nature and most of them are sung in different festivals that are held at different times of the year. The Jogis, Bhats and Saangis have taken the initiative to make the folk music popular in Jhajjar and other parts of Haryana too. During different festival traditional folk dances are also performed by the woman and men population of the region.