Sansi people

Sansi (Devnagari: सैंसी) (Gurmukhi: ਸੈਂਸੀ) are a formerly nomadic people from India that were classified as a criminal tribe in the 19th century by the British during the Raj period. They were stealing food supply from British Government. That's why the British government declared them thief They claim Rajput descent. There were two distinct offshoots of the tribe: the first was a vagrant community connected to the Jat tribes of Central Punjab; the second was an agricultural Jat clan found in Sahiwal, Amritsar and Gujranwala.

The Sansis community traces its origins to their leader and ancestor, maharaja Sansmal, and their name reflects this heritage. They claim to be Rajputs whose ancestors were expelled from Rajasthan by Allaudin Khilji, a Muslim invader who devastated Chittorgarh in the early 13th century A.D. Today; the community is mainly divided into two social divisions - Mahla and Beehdoo - named after the two sons of Sansmal (Sher 97). They have been subdivided into 23 sub-castes and more than 500 exogamous clans (Sher 97). Recently, the Sansis community has preferred formal Hinduism and Sikhism, distancing themselves from the primitive form of Hinduism adhered to by their ancestors.