The headquarters of the Virk

The headquarters of the Virk appear to be the Gujranwala and Sheikhupura districts, especially, the former in which they own 132 villages. They claim origin from a Rajput called Virk, who left Jammu and settled at Ghuchli in Amritsar, Sheikhupura and, Gujranwala, nearly a third of them have returned themselve as Rajputs, but they marry freely with the Jat tribes in their neighbourhood. They say that their ancestor, Virk, had descended from Raja Malan Hans Dev of Jammu, the founder of the Manhas or Minhas clan of Rajputs. Leaving Paragowal (founder of paragowal was Raja parago Minhas) in Jammu, Virk settled in Amritsar and married a Gill Jat girl. His descendants, shortly afterward, moved westwards into Gujranwala. There are three main sections of the tribe, the Jopur, Vachra, and Jan. The tribes rose to some political importance about the end of last century, ruling a considerable tract in Gujranwala and Lahore, till subdued by Ranjit Singh.

Sheikhupura

According to the historians, the present-day city of Sheikhupura in the province of Punjab (Pakistan), was the site of Virkgarh till the Mughal emperor, Jahangir built the city of Sheikhupura. The epical ancestor of Virks, Raja Virk Vardhan, was a ruler of the area with its capital being the present-day city of Sialkot, Punjab (Pakistan). The eastern extent of his Raj included Amritsar (India) which still belongs to the Virks. The Virks are still strong in this area politically and economically. There are 132 villages in this area which belong to the Virks.

Muslim and Sikh Virk

Whether Muslim, Hindu or Sikh, Virks always took pride in being members of the Jat community. The majority of Virks on the western side of Punjab converted to Islam while the majority of Virks on the eastern side of Punjab converted to Sikhism. The famous Virk chieftain, Nawab Kapur Singh founded the Dal Khalsa and, later, divided it into twelve Misls.He belonged from the "Fyzallapur" village which remained his headquarters. This village was, later, renamed as Singhpur. The Misl that he headed was, consequently, known as theSinghpuria Misl..