84-662: Luthra is a surname originating with the Khatri Arora Hindu and Sikh communities of the Punjab. It is part of the broad Kshatriya caste. The Kshatriyas in Hinduism are one of the four varnas . They are traditionally members of the military or ran in an administrative capacity. The Kshatriya were assigned to protecting the Hindu dharma . They are from the Aryan race and have been ruling in
168-630: A castle celebrated for its strength, accessible only by one road. In it there are Musulmáns , and it has a town, in which are infidels from Hind ." The first confirmed mention of a Hindu in Afghanistan appears in the 982 AD Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam , where it speaks of a king in "Ninhar" ( Nangarhar ), who shows a public display of conversion to Islam, even though he had over 30 wives, which are described as " Muslim , Afghan , and Hindu" wives. These names were often used as geographical terms. For example, Hindu (or Hindustani ) has been historically used as
252-606: A geographical term to describe someone who was native from the region known as Hindustan (Indian subcontinent), and Afghan as someone who was native from a region called Afghanistan . When Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni began crossing the Indus River into Hindustan (land of Hindus) in the 10th century, the Ghaznavid Muslims began bringing Hindu slaves to what is now Afghanistan. Martin Ewans in his 2002 book writes: Even then
336-590: A sun god by the name of Zun , from which they derived their name. André Wink writes that "the cult of Zun was primarily Hindu , not Buddhist or Zoroastrian"; nonetheless he still mentions them having parallels with Tibetan Buddhism and Zoroastrianism in their rituals. The Kabul Shahi ruled north of the Zunbil territory, which included Kabulistan and Gandahara . The Arabs reached Kabul in 653–654 CE when Abdur Rahman bin Samara , along with 6,000 Arab Muslims, penetrated
420-606: A Hindu dynasty the Hindu Shahis, held Gandhara and the eastern borders. From the tenth century onwards as Persian language and culture continued to spread into Afghanistan, the focus of power shifted to Ghazni , where a Turkic dynasty, who started by ruling the town for the Samanid dynasty of Bokhara , proceeded to create an empire in their own right. The greatest of the Ghaznavids was Mahmud who ruled between 998 and 1030. He expelled
504-533: A Sikh rebellion against the Mughals in the early 1700s severely compromised the Khatri's ability to trade and forced them to take sides. Those who were primarily dependent on the Mughals went to significant lengths to assert that allegiance in the face of accusations that they were in fact favouring " Jat Sikh followers of the rebel leader, Banda ". The outcome of their assertions - which included providing financial support to
588-556: A Turkic rebel, with the command given to a Hindu named Tilak according to Baihaki . In his war on Peshawar and Waihind says al-Utbi , Mahmud acquired 500,000 slaves that included children and girls. Men were sold as slaves to even common merchants. The amount of slaves captured in Nardin plummeted their price and male slaves were even bought by common merchants. After raiding Thanesar , he acquired 200,000 slaves. The renowned 14th-century Moroccan Muslim scholar Ibn Battuta remarked that
672-727: A group of martial caste members called Khati (Khatri) exist in North-India ". Michael Witzel , writing in his paper " Sanskritization of the Kuru State" states the Kathaiois were Kaṭha Brahmins . The Khatris played an important role in India's trans-regional trade during the period, being described by Levi as among the "most important merchant communities of early modern India." Levi writes: " Stephen Dale locates Khatris in Astrakhan , Russia during
756-631: A medieval Muslim dynasty founded by Zafar Khan Muzaffar , a member of the Tank caste of Punjabi Khatris according to the contemporary historian Shiekh Sikander or Rajputs. He started as a menial but rose to the level of a noble in the Delhi Sultan's family and became the Governor of Gujrat. After Timur attacked the city, people fled to Gujarat and it became independent. According to historians Roger Ballard and Harjot Oberoi , Afghan Hindus and Sikhs descend from
840-556: A sect of Ancient Hinduism , mixed with tribal cultural identities. Pashtuns , the majority ethnic group in Afghanistan (officially, no ethnic census ever made), have a component of Vedic ancestors from the Pakthas . "The Pakthas, Bhalanases, Vishanins, Alinas, and Sivas were the five frontier tribes. The Pakthas lived in the hills from which the Kruma originates. Zimmer locates them in present-day eastern Afghanistan, identifying them with
924-519: A significant minority in Afghanistan until the 21st century, when its number of followers fell to a few hundred. By roughly 2000–1500 BCE, Indo-Aryan inhabitants of the region (mainly in the eastern parts of present-day Afghanistan) were adherents of Hinduism . Notable among these were the Gandharis and Kambojas . The Pashayi and Nuristanis are present day examples of these Indo-Aryan Vedic people. Most historians maintain that Afghanistan
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#17328807815041008-560: A standardised form of the Lāṇḍa script used by Khatri traders; the invention of the script is traditionally ascribed to Guru Angad . During the medieval period, with the rise of Persian as an elite vernacular due to Islamic rule, some of the traditional high status upper-caste literate elite such as the Khatris, Kashmiri Brahmins and Kayasthas took readily to learning Persian from the times of Sikandar Lodi onwards and found ready employment in
1092-554: A statue of Gardez Ganesha being found in Paktia province . Most of the remains, including marble statuettes, date to the 7th–8th century, during the time of the Turk Shahi . The statue of Ganesha from Gardez is now attributed to the period of Turk Shahis in the 7-8th century CE, rather than to their successors the Hindu Shahis (9th-10th century) as has also been suggested. The dating
1176-515: A sub-caste of Khatris by some scholars were concentrated in the districts of Bannu , Kohat and Dera Ismail Khan . The Aroras spoke Jatki language which is the 9th century version of Saraiki (Multani) according to Ibbetson . They were also found in Afghanistan at a population of 300,000 in 1880. According to an 1800s colonial source referred by Shah Hanifi , " Hindki is the name given to Hindus who live in Afghanistan. They are Hindus of Khatri class and are found all over Afghanistan even amongst
1260-465: Is also seen, in the context of Hindi. Hence the change from kshatriya to khatri is in consonance with the Prakrit rule and Hindi usage. The same is also testified by scholars R. G. Bhandarkar and Shapurji Edalji . As per historian W. H. McLeod and Louis Fenech, Khatri is a Punjabi form of the word Kshatriya. Peter Hardy and A. R. Desai also agree that Khatri is derived from Kshatriya. Despite
1344-599: Is another sort of gentiles whom they call Catry, the town is properly their country and from thence they spread all over the Indies." According to Dr. Madhu Tyagi, Thevenot is referring to Hindu Khatri caste here. The last caste-based census was conducted by the British in 1931 which regarded Khatri and Arora as a different caste. During 1931, Khatris were prominent in the West Punjab and North-Western Frontier Province (NWFP), which
1428-563: Is essentially based on stylistic analysis, as the statue displays great iconographical and stylistic similarities with the works of the Buddhist monastery of Fondukistan , which is also dated to the same period. Hinduism further flourished under the rule of Hindu Shahis , but went into sharp decline with the advent of Islam through the Ghaznavids , who defeated the Shahis. Nonetheless, it continued as
1512-474: Is estimated to be 60:40 according to historian Inderjeet Singh. With a wide range of population approximations in the absence of official census data and with much of the community concentrated in the provinces of Kabul, Nangarhar, Ghazni, and Kandahar, the Afghan Hindu population was estimated to be between 80,000 and 280,000 in the 1970s, as per estimates by historian Inderjeet Singh, Ehsan Shayegan with
1596-489: Is mostly based in the city of Kabul . The 2002 loya jirga had two seats reserved for Hindus and former President Hamid Karzai 's economic advisor, Sham Lal Bhatija was an Afghan Hindu. During the Taliban 1996 to late 2001 rule, Hindus were forced to wear yellow badges in public to identify themselves as non-Muslims. Hindu women were forced to wear burqas , a measure which was claimed to "protect" them from harassment. This
1680-658: Is now known as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK). The Khatris spoke Hindko and Potohari language. Highest percentage concentration of Khatris (excluding Aroras) were in Potohar regions of Jhelum and Rawalpindi . In NWFP, the Khatris were found mainly in Peshawer and Hazara . Arora-Khatris were centered in Multan and Derajat regions of Punjab and NWFP . In the NWFP, the Aroras which are considered
1764-440: Is supposed to slice the thick branch or stem of a Jandi Tree (Prosopis cineraria) in one blow using a sword. During the pregnancy period of a female, a baby shower ceremony called "reetan" or "goadbharai" is carried out amongst Khatris and Aroras. During the event, gifts are showered to the pregnant mother from family and friends among other traditions. Harish Damodaran says the rise of Khatri industrialists in post-1947 India
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#17328807815041848-604: Is to protect the oppressed from the aggression of the oppressors". According to scholars, the Khatri Hindus dominated the weaving industry in Benaras. When the first caravan of Muslim weavers arrived in Benaras , the Khatri, who were considered low-caste Hindus at the time, helped them. The Muslims had to depend on the Khatri weavers because the Muslims found it difficult to interact with
1932-535: The Arians and established settlements of his own, but Seleucus Nicator gave them to Sandrocottus ( Chandragupta ), upon terms of intermarriage and of receiving in exchange 500 elephants. When the Chinese travelers Faxian , Song Yun , and Xuanzang explored Afghanistan between the 5th and 7th centuries CE, they wrote numerous travelogues in which reliable information on Afghanistan was stored. They stated that Buddhism
2016-818: The Dallewallia Misl , an independent 18th century Sikh sovereign state in Ludhiana and Jalandhar district that would later on join Maharaja Ranjit Singh's kingdom. In the Sikh Empire, Hari Singh Nalwa (1791–1837) an Uppal Khatri from Gujranwala , became the Commander-in-chief of the Sikh Khalsa Army . He led the Sikh conquests of Kasur , Sialkot , Attock , Multan , Kashmir , Peshawar and Jamrud . He
2100-597: The Hindu Kush meant the "slayer of Indians", because slaves brought from India who had to pass through there died in large numbers due to the extreme cold and quantity of snow. The Ghaznavid Empire was further expanded by the Ghurids . During the Khalji dynasty , there was also free movement between people from India and Afghanistan. It continued this way until the Mughals followed by
2184-752: The Indian Armed Forces since 1947, with many heading it as the Chief of Army or Admiral of the Navy . Some such as Vikram Batra and Arun Khetarpal have won India's highest wartime gallantry award, the Param Vir Chakra . The word khatri , in the Hindi Language , comes from the Sanskrit " kshatriya ", according to the Śabdasāgara Lexicon by Shyamasundara Dasa. According to B. N. Puri , philologists agree that
2268-717: The Islamic conquest of Afghanistan , the Afghan people were multi-religious. Religious persecution , discrimination , and forced conversion of Hindus in Afghanistan perpetrated by Muslims , has caused the Afghan Hindus , along with Buddhist and Sikh population, to dwindle from Afghanistan. Apart from the Hindkowans, the Indo-Aryan native inhabitants of the region, including Pashayi and Nuristanis , were also known to be followers of
2352-557: The Saffarids from medieval Zaranj , located at the Nad-e Ali site of modern-day Iran (not to be confused with the similarly named modern city of Zaranj in Afghanistan), conquered most of Afghanistan, establishing Muslim governors throughout the land. It is reported that Muslims and non-Muslims still lived side by side before the arrival of the Ghaznavids in the 10th century. "Kábul has
2436-803: The Sikh Empire , many Khatris formed the military vanguard of the Khalsa Army and its administrative class as Dewans of all the provinces. Hari Singh Nalwa , the commander-in-chief of the Sikh Khalsa Army, was an Uppal Khatri and responsible for most of the Sikh conquests up until the Khyber pass . Others such as Mokham Chand commanded the Sikh Army against the Durrani Empire at Attock while those such as Sawan Mal Chopra ruled Multan after wrestling it from
2520-614: The Suris and the Durranis . The main ethnic groups in Afghanistan which practice Hinduism today are the Punjabis and Sindhis who are believed to have come along with Sikhs as merchants to Afghanistan in the 19th century. Till the collapse of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan , there were several thousand Hindus living in the country but today their number is only about 1,000. Most of
2604-519: The 8th and 9th centuries AD the eastern terroritries of modern Afghanistan were still in the hands of non-Muslim rulers. The Muslims tended to regard them as Indians (Hindus), although many of the local rulers and people were apparently of Hunnic or Turkic descent. Yet, the Muslims were right in so far as the non-Muslim population of eastern Afghanistan was, culturally linked to the Indian sub-continent . Most of them were either Hindus or Buddhists. " In 870 AD
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2688-642: The Afghans. During the British colonial era, they also served as lawyers and engaged in administrative jobs in the colonial bureaucracy. Some of them served in the British Indian army after being raised as Sikhs. During the Partition of British India in 1947, Khatris migrated enmasse to India from the regions that comprise modern-day Pakistan. Hindu Afghans and Sikh Afghans are predominantly of Khatri and Arora origin. Khatris have played an active role in
2772-514: The Brahmin scribes who discontinued the use of Persian and started using Marathi in the Deccan. According to McLane, them being a trading group, had spread into many parts of India, possibly long before the 1700s and to Bengal, possibly even before the Mughals arrived. According to a 17th-century legend, Khatris continued their military service until the time of Aurangzeb , when their mass death during
2856-523: The Hindus from Ghandhara, made no fewer than 17 raids into India. He encouraged mass conversions to Islam, in Pakistan as well as in Afghanistan." Al-Idirisi testifies that until as late as the 12th century, a contract of investiture for every Shahi king was performed at Kabul and that here he was obliged to agree to certain ancient conditions which completed the contract. The Ghaznavid military incursions assured
2940-510: The Imperial Services, specifically in the departments of accountancy (siyaq), draftsmanship (insha) and offices of the revenue minister (diwan). In the 15th century, the Sikh religion was founded by Guru Nanak , a Bedi Khatri. The second guru, Guru Angad was a Trehan Khatri. The third guru, Guru Amar Das was a Bhalla Khatri. The fourth through tenth gurus were all Sodhi Khatris. During
3024-529: The Khatri men since the seventeenth century. In the early 19th century, the Khatris, Bhatias and Lohanas were the main trading castes in Rajasthan , Delhi , Agra , Sind and Punjab . Banking, trading and business were considered "traditional occupations of the Khatri in Rajasthan". According to Prakash Tandon , during Khatri weddings, a ritual is carried out to test the Khatri groom's strength. The groom
3108-513: The Khatri weavers in Gujarat trace their ancestry to either Champaner ( Panch Mahals District ) or Hinglaj (Sindh) and the community genealogists believe that the migration happened during the late sixteenth' century. Suraiya Faroqhi , writes that, in 1742 Gujarat, the Khatris had protested the immigration of Muslim weavers by refusing to deliver cloth to the East India Company. In another case Khatris taught weaving to Kunbis due to receiving excessive orders who soon became strong competitors to
3192-401: The Khatris much to their chagrin. In the mid-1770s, the Mughal governor granted the Kunbi rivals rights to manufacture saris . This licence was later revoked in 1800 due to pressure from the British, after a deal was struck between the Khatris and the East India Company , in which the Khatris would weave only for the EIC until certain quotas were met. The Gujarat Sultanate (1407–1523) was
3276-432: The Mughals and shaving their beards - was that the Khatris became still more important to the Mughal rulers as administrators at various levels, in particular because of their skills in financial management and their connections with bankers. Khatri standards of literacy and caste status were such during the early years of Sikhism that, according to W. H. McLeod , they dominated it. Historian Douglas E. Hanes states that
3360-419: The Muslim and Kunbi weavers purchased imported yarn in the 1840s. In Mandvi , the silk products were highly valued and the Khatri dyers would work in the pits on the bank of the river Rukmavati because the water was supposed to have special properties to give steadfast colours. These products were often exported to east Africa. In Dhamadka, Kutch , "block printing cloth" was the traditional occupation of
3444-435: The Porsesh Research and Studies Organisation and Rawail Singh, an Afghan Sikh civil rights activist. In the time of 1980's after the Afghan civil war 1979 the population of Hindus and Sikh fell at a very fast rate due to Taliban's rise to power and religious persecution and discrimination and they migrated from Afghanistan to other countries, The continue rise of Islamization and Taliban insurgency also contributed in
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3528-454: The Punjab plains. In the 1830s, Khatris were working as governors in the districts like Bardhaman , Lahore , Multan , Peshawar and Hazara , but independent from the Mughal rule. In Punjab, they were moneylenders, shopkeepers and grain-dealers among other professions. A Peshkari Khatri family in Hyderabad State would become part of the Hyderabadi nobility and occupy the post of Prime Minister of Hyderabad. Notable individuals of
3612-458: The Punjabi word " khattrī ", meaning "warrior", derives from Sanskrit " kṣatriya ", whereas the Gujarati word " khātrī ", meaning "a caste of Hindu weavers", derives from Sanskrit " kṣattr̥ ", meaning "carver, distributor". John Stratton Hawley and Mann clarify that although the word "Khatri" derives from the word "Kshatriya", in Punjab's context Khatri refers to a "cluster of merchant castes including Bedis, Bhallas and Sodhis". Purnima Dhavan sees
3696-403: The United States wore yellow badges with the inscription "I am a Hindu", on the floor of the Senate during the debate as a demonstration of their solidarity with the Hindu minority in Afghanistan. Since the 1990s, many Afghan Hindus have fled the country, seeking asylum in countries such as India , Germany and United States. In July 2013, the Afghan parliament refused to reserve seats for
3780-404: The Zunbil territory and made their way to the shrine of Zun in Zamindawar , which was believed to be located about five kilometres (three miles) south of Musa Qala in today's Helmand Province of Afghanistan. The General of the Arab army "broke of a hand of the idol and plucked out the rubies which were its eyes in order to persuade the Marzbān of Sīstān of the god's worthlessness." Though
3864-413: The autobiography of the last Sikh Guru, Gobind Singh , but possibly not so, the Bedi sub-caste of the Khatris derives its lineage from Kush , the son of Rama (according to Hindu epic Ramayana ). Similarly, according to the same legend, the Sodhi sub-caste claims descent from Lav , the other son of Rama. In Guru Granth Sahib , the primary scripture of Sikhism , Khatri is mentioned as one among
3948-408: The city. Historian Stephen Dale states that most of the 10,000 (as estimated by Jean Chardin ) Indian merchants and money-lenders in Isfahan (Iran) in 1670, belonged to the Khatri caste of Punjab and north-west India. In Iran's Bazaar 's, Khatris sold cloth and various items and also practised money-lending. Dale believes that Khatris had possibly been travelling from Punjab via caravans since
4032-546: The claim as originating from a conflation of the phonetically similar words khatri and kshatriya, but refers to Khatris as a "trading caste" of the Sikh Gurus. Baij Nath Puri mentions that the modern descendants of these Kathaiois, Khathrois & Khatriaoi tribes mentioned by the Greeks in West Punjab are the Khatris of India. According to S. Sasikanta Sastri , Greek historians have mentioned that Alexander faced stiffed resistance from Indian army of "Kathiyo" warriors. Sastri further adds that "even in present day modern-India,
4116-420: The diaspora. The decline was seen mostly in Pashtuns -dominated areas, due to Pashtunistan and Pashtun nationalism , with the Afghan Hindu population declining to 3,000 by 2009. As per the 2017 data, more than 99% of Afghan Sikhs and Hindus have left the country in the last 3 decades. Many of Afghan Hindus and Sikhs have been settled in Germany , France , United States , Australia , India , Belgium ,
4200-432: The dominant commercial and financial administration class of late-medieval India. Some in Punjab often belonged to hereditary agriculturalist land-holding lineages, while others were engaged in artisanal occupations such as silk production and weaving. Khatris of Punjab, specifically, were scribes and traders during the medieval period, with the Gurumukhi script used in writing the Punjabi language deriving from
4284-415: The domination of Sunni Islam in what is now Afghanistan and Pakistan. Various historical sources such as Martin Ewans, E.J. Brill and Farishta have recorded the introduction of Islam to Kabul and other parts of Afghanistan to the conquests of and Mahmud: The Arabs advanced through Sistan and conquered Sindh early in the eighth century. Elsewhere however their incursions were no more than temporary, and it
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#17328807815044368-471: The early Arab invaders spread the message of Islam, they were not able to rule for long. Hence, many contemporary ethnic groups in Afghanistan, including the Pashtuns , Kalash , Pashayi , Nuristanis and Hindkowans continued to practice Hinduism, Buddhism, and Zoroastrianism. The Kabul Shahis decided to build a giant wall around the city to prevent more Arab invasions, and this wall is still visible today. Willem Vogelsang in his 2002 book writes: "During
4452-404: The emperor's Deccan Campaign caused him to order their widows to be remarried . The order was made out of sympathy for the widows but when the Khatri community leaders refused to obey it, Aurangzeb terminated their military service and said that they should be shopkeepers and brokers. This legend is probably fanciful: McLane notes that a more likely explanation for their revised position was that
4536-450: The era of Ziauddin Barani (around 1300 AD). Chardin specifically stereotyped and expressed disapproval of the money-lending techniques of the Khatri community. According to Dale, this racist criticism was ironic given Chardin's non-English background but adds that it was Chardin's way of giving an "ethnic explanation" to the economic disparity between Iran and India at that time. According to Bichitra Natak , traditionally said to be
4620-415: The etymology, Hardy says that Khatri is "a mercantile class" and Desai says the Khatris were "traditionally tradesmen and government officials". Dr. Dharamvir Bharati comments that in Punjabi language, Kshatriya is pronounced as Khatri. As per Dr. GS Mansukhani and RC Dogra, "Khatri appears to be unquestionably a Prakritised form of Sanskrit word Kshatriya." According to philologist Ralph Lilley Turner ,
4704-457: The exact limits of Khatri occupation to the West, but certainly in all Eastern Afghanistan they seem to be just as much part of the community as they are in the Punjab. They find their way into Central Asia." The Khatris took on a prominent role in the emerging Sikh milieu of post-Mughal Punjab. According to the Khalsa Durbar Records, Maharaja Ranjit Singh 's army was composed of majorly Jats followed by Khatris. Sardar Gulab Singh Khatri founded
4788-439: The family include Maharaja Kishen Prasad , GCIE who would serve as Prime Minister of the State twice. In Hyderabad , around the mid-20th century, Khatris and Padmasalis were the leading "Hindu weaving castes" who owned 43% of the looms . The Khatris specialised in silk, while the Padmasalis in cotton weaving. In Gujarat , during the colonial rule, Khatris contributed greatly to the weaving industry there. They as well as
4872-549: The four varnas . ਖਤ੍ਰੀ ਬ੍ਰਾਹਮਣ ਸੂਦ ਵੈਸ ਉਪਦੇਸੁ ਚਹੁ ਵਰਨਾ ਕਉ ਸਾਝਾ ॥ (SGGS, ang 747) Khatri brahman sud vais updesu cahu varna ku sanjha Kshatriyas , Brahmins , Shudras and Vaishyas all have the same mandate Guru Gobind Singh , said the following in a swayya : Chattri ko poot ho, Baman ko naheen kayee tap aavat ha jo karon; Ar aur janjaar jito greh ko tohe tyaag, kahan chit taan mai dharon, Ab reejh ke deh vahey humko jo-oo, hau binti kar jor karoon ; Jab aao ki audh nidaan bane, att hi ran main tab jujh maroon. I am
4956-480: The groups of Ranbaxy , Hero , Mahindra , Ballarpur Industries , Apollo Tyres and Oberoi respectively. They have also co-founded companies like Snapdeal , Hotmail , YesBank , IndiaToday , AajTak , IndiGo Airlines , Sun Microsystems , Max Group etc. Punjabi Khatris and others, together with the traditionally "urban and professional" castes, formed a part of the elite middle class immediately after independence in 1947. According to P. K. Verma, "Education
5040-424: The high-caste Hindus directly at the time. Since these new immigrant Muslims were cheap labour, the Khatris took over marketing and thus transited from weavers to traders over time. The Muslims, who learned the technique of weaving from them, soon came to be known as Chira-i-Baaf or 'fine cloth weavers'. In Bengal, Burdwan Raj (1657–1955) was a Khatri dynasty, which gained a high social position for Khatris in
5124-480: The land Khatris originally belonged to had very little industry and rail infrastructure until the 20th century and hence were not comparable to merchant groups like Banias in terms of scale and spread of operation. Before independence they were only regional players and their rise in phenomenal proportions was a post-independence feature. Since then, they have produced leading entities in fields of pharmaceuticals, two-wheelers, tractors, paper, tyre-making and hotels with
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#17328807815045208-498: The late 17th century and, in the 1830s, Elphinstone , was informed that Khatris were still highly involved in northwest India's trade and that they maintained communities throughout Afghanistan and as far away as Astrakhan ". According to Kiran Datar, they often married Tatar local women in Astrakhan and the children from these marriages were known as Agrijan . As per Stephen Dale, the children born out of Indo-Turkic alliance were in sufficient number to form an Agrizhan suburb in
5292-451: The majority of Khatris and were deemed superior. This was followed by Sareen Khatris who formed a minority. Another sub-group of Khatris include Khukhrain which had split up from the bunjayees . (Bunjahis) Emperor Jahangir in his autobiography Jahangirnama while talking about the castes, he observed "The second highest caste (after Brahmins in the caste system) is the Chhatri which is also known as Khattri. The Chhatri caste's purpose
5376-410: The members of the country's indigenous Khatri population who resisted the conversion from Buddhism to Islam between 9th and 13th centuries. Later, they aligned themselves to the teachings of Guru Nanak, himself a Khatri and converted to Sikhism. Hence, Khatris of Afghanistan are in no way of "Indian origin" but are components of the original population of the region. George Campbell says "I do not know
5460-430: The minority group as a bill reserving seats for the mentioned was voted against. The bill by the then president Hamid Karzai , had tribal people and "women" as "vulnerable groups" who got reservation, but not religious minorities as per the religious equality article in the constitution. As both populations are frequently merged in historic and contemporary estimations, the population ratio between Afghan Sikhs and Hindus
5544-425: The modern Pakthun ." Gandhara , a region encompassing the South-east of Afghanistan, was also a center of Hinduism since the time of the Vedic Period ( c. 1500 – c. 1200 BCE ), along with Buddhism . Later forms of Hinduism were also prevalent in this south-eastern region of the country during the Turk shahis , with Khair Khaneh , a Brahmanical temple being excavated in Kabul and
5628-487: The others immigrated to India, the European Union , North America or elsewhere. Afghan Hindus and Afghan Sikhs often share places of worship. Along with the Sikhs, they are all collectively known as Hindki . Linguistic demographics among the Hindu community are diverse and generally follow regional origins: those hailing from Punjab generally speak Punjabi , Sindhis speak Sindhi , and the northern and southern dialects of Hindko . The local Hindu community in Afghanistan
5712-434: The past through their kingdoms. Today, Luthras live in numerous regions within India, but are mostly concentrated in Punjab , Haryana , Delhi and Uttar Pradesh . Luthras can be both Sikh and Hindu, as the religions are generally very close in the Punjab region. Luthras have also immigrated to various countries, with a notable population in Canada , United Kingdom , United States and Australia Notable people bearing
5796-507: The region while his son Diwan Mulraj Chopra , (1814-1851) the last Punjabi ruler of Multan led a Sikh rebellion against British suzerainty over Multan after the fall of the Sikh Empire in the Anglo-Sikh Wars . He was arrested after the Siege of Multan and put to death. Purnima Dhawan described that together with Jat community, the Khatris gained considerably from the expansion of the Mughal empire, although both groups supported Guru Hargobind in his campaign for Sikh self-government in
5880-492: The region resulting in greater migration of Khatris from North to Bengal. When Guru Tegh Bahadur visited Bengal in 1666, he was welcomed by the local Khatris, thereby supporting earlier waves of migration of Khatris to Bengal as well. Historian Muzaffar Alam describes the Khatris of Punjab as a "scribe and trading caste". They occupied positions in revenue collection and record keeping and learnt Persian during Mughal era. However, this profession often created conflicts with
5964-432: The son of a Chhatri (Khatri), not of a Brahmin and I will live according to my Dharma . All other complications of life are meaningless for me, and I set my heart on the path of righteousness. I humbly beseech thee God Almighty that when the time comes for me to fulfill my Dharma, may I die with honour in the field of battle. French traveller Thevenot visited India during the 1600s where he commented "At Multan , there
6048-547: The surname include: Khatri Khatri is a caste originating from the Malwa and Majha areas of Punjab region of South Asia that is predominantly found in India , but also in Pakistan and Afghanistan . The Khatris claim they are warriors who took to trade. In the Indian subcontinent , they were mostly engaged in mercantile professions such as banking and trade. They were
6132-596: The terms "khatri" and "kshatriya" are synonymous. The Sanskrit conjunct ksha (क्ष) turns into the Prakrit kha (ख), as per the grammarian Vararuchi . This change is not only accepted in Prakrit, but in all Indian vernaculars derived by it, such as Gujarati , Urdu , Gurumukhi as well as Farsi or Persian . Certain Sanskrit words have very close counterparts, such as: kshetra (kheta), kshama (khama), laksha (lakha), and iksha (ikha). The substituition of ri (ऋ) from riya
6216-609: The town for the Samanid dynasty of Bokhara, proceeded to create an empire in their own right. The greatest of the Ghaznavids was Muhmad who ruled between 998 and 1030. He expelled the Hindus from Gandhara, made no fewer than seventeen raids into northwestern India and succeeded in conquering territory stretching from the Caspian Sea to Varanasi. Bokhara and Samarkand also came under his rule. He encouraged mass conversions to Islam, of Indians as well as Afghans, looted Hindu temples and carried off immense booty, earning for himself, depending on
6300-472: The viewpoint of the observer, the titles of 'Image-breaker' or 'scourge of India'. Mahmud used his plundered wealth to finance his armies which included mercenaries. The Indian soldiers, presumably Hindus, who were one of the components of the army with their commander called sipahsalar -i-Hinduwan lived in their quarter of Ghazna practicing their own religion. Indian soldiers under their commander Suvendhray remained loyal to Mahmud. They were also used against
6384-662: The wildest tribes. They are wholly occupied in trade and form numerous portion of the population of all the cities and towns, and are also to be found in the majority of large villages." Apart from Punjab , Khatris arrived in Delhi and Haryana among other regions after the partition where they make up 9% and 8.0% of the population respectively. Historically, Khatris were divided into various hierarchal endogamous sections. This includes u rhai/dhai ghar , char ghar , barah ghar/bahri and bunjayee or bavanjah ghar which translated to House of 2.5, 4, 12 and 52 respectively. They formed
6468-655: Was a common thread that bound together this pan Indian elite" and almost all the members of these upper castes communities could read and write English and were educated beyond school. Hinduism in Afghanistan Hinduism in Afghanistan is practiced by a tiny minority of Afghans , about 30-40 individuals as of 2021, who live mostly in the cities of Kabul and Jalalabad . Afghan Hindus are ethnically Pashtun , Hindkowan (Hindki), Punjabi , or Sindhi and primarily speak Dari , Pashto , Hindko , Punjabi , Sindhi , and Hindustani ( Hindi - Urdu ). Before
6552-419: Was a consequence initially of the cataclysmic Partition , which pushed them in droves towards Delhi and its neighbourhoods. This exodus opened new opportunities for them. A combination of enterprise, articulation, and strategic closeness to the national capital— which, in itself, was becoming a major growth hub - created conditions for Khatri capital to flourish in the post-Partition period. Damodaran adds that
6636-821: Was inhabited by ancient Arians followed by the Achaemenid before the arrival of Alexander the Great and his Greek army in 330 BC. It became part of the Seleucid Empire after the departure of Alexander three years later. In 305 BCE, the Seleucid Empire lost control of the territory south of the Hindu Kush to the Indian Emperor "Sandrocottus" as a result of the Seleucid-Mauryan War . Alexander took these away from
6720-528: Was inhabited by various peoples, including Persians , Khalaj , Turks , and Pashtuns . Parts of the territory South of Hindu Kush were ruled by the Zunbils , offspring of the southern-Hephthalite. The eastern parts ( Kabulistan ) were controlled by the Turk Shahis . The Zunbil and Kabul Shahis were connected with the Indian subcontinent through common Buddhism and Zun religions. The Zunbil kings worshipped
6804-507: Was not until the rise of the Saffarid dynasty in the ninth century that the frontiers of Islam effectively reached Ghazni and Kabul. Even then a Hindu dynasty the Hindushahis , held Gandhara and eastern borders. From the tenth century onwards as Persian language and culture continued to spread into Afghanistan, the focus of power shifted to Ghazni , where a Turkish dynasty, who started by ruling
6888-788: Was part of the Taliban's plan to segregate "un-Islamic" and "idolatrous" communities from Islamic ones. The decree was condemned by the Indian and U.S. governments as a violation of religious freedom. Widespread protests against the Taliban regime broke out in Bhopal , India. In the United States, Abraham Foxman , chairman of the Anti-Defamation League , compared the decree to the practices of Nazi Germany , where Jews were required to wear labels identifying them as such. Several influential lawmakers in
6972-557: Was practiced in different parts between the Amu Darya (Oxus River) in the north and the Indus River . However, they did not mention much about Hinduism although Song Yun did state that the Hephthalite rulers did not recognize Buddhism but "preached pseudo gods and killed animals for their meat". Before the Islamic conquest of Afghanistan , the territory was a religious sediment of Zoroastrianism , Zunbils , Hinduism and Buddhism . It
7056-703: Was responsible for expanding the frontier of Sikh Empire to beyond the Indus River , up to the mouth of the Khyber Pass . At the time of his death, the western boundary of the empire was Jamrud. Dewan Mokham Chand (1750-1814) became one of the most distinguished leaders of the Khalsa Army. He was the commander in chief of armies in Battle of Attock which defeated Durrani Empire Wazir Fateh Khan and Dost Mohammad Khan Other Khatris like Diwan Sawan Mal Chopra served as governors of Lahore and Multan , after helping conquer
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