Sodhi


Sodhi is a Khatri subcaste from the Punjab region. Seven of the Sikh Gurus, from Guru Ram Das on, were Sodhis.
In the Bachittar Natak, attributed to Guru Gobind Singh, Sodhis are described as linear descendants of Lava, one of the twin sons of Sita and Rama. According to the legend, some of the descendants migrated to Sanaudh, where the clan chieftain married the daughter of the king and had a son Sodhi, whose descendants ruled over the Sanaudh country.
At the time of the Sikh Empire, Maharaja Ranjit Singh awarded aristocratic Sodhi patricians grants of jagirs, feudal, titular land grants and lordships bestowed upon subjected noblemen and patrons by a ruling monarch, worth 500,000 a year. Ranjit Singh lavishly patronised a descendant of Dhir Mal, Sodhi Sadhu Singh, with a gift of several villages. The original copy of the Adi Granth, also known as the Kartarpuri Bir, is reported to be in the possession of the descendants of Sodhi Sadhu Singh at Kartarpur.