Gurjar

History of Gurjara People
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Gurjar or Gujjar (also transliterated as Gurjara, Gujar, Gujjara and Gujjer) is a large tribal confederacy, consisting of various clans, kin bodies and local groups,[1][2] residing mainly in India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.[3] They are divided internally into 1788 to 2000[4] clan groups. They have, historically, been nomadic and pastoral. High-caste Hindus often call them Shudras but the Gurjars call themselves Suryavanshi or Raghuwanshi Kshatriyas.

Gurjar
Tribal confederacy
EthnicityPunjabi, Kashmiri, Gujarati, Sindhi, Haryanvi, Marathi
LocationSouth Asia
LanguagePunjabi, Kashmiri, Hindi-Urdu, Gujarati, Sindhi, Haryanvi, Gojri, Pashto, Balochi
ReligionIslam, Hinduism, Sikhism

The various clans are associated with different ethnic groups and native languages. The Punjabi Gurjars, mostly Muslims, are said to be the most widespread and are mostly concentrated in the Pakistani province Punjab, with a minority being in the Indian state of Punjab. Most of the Gurjars of Kashmir speak Kashmiri with a considerable amount speaking Punjabi, mainly descended from Punjabi Gurjar clans. Gojri, a variety of Rajasthani, is also spoken amongst some Gurjars of Kashmir and Rajasthan.

As per historical accounts parts of Rajasthan and Gujarat were known as Gurjar-bhumi or Gurjaratra, prior to the Mughal period in India.[5] The Gurjar-Pratihara dynasty acted as a barrier to invasions from Muslim Arabs for around 300 centuries.[6] However, in later times, circa the 14th century AD onwards, they were reduced to small principalities due to successful invasions and conquests by Muslim powers in northern and western India. During the 15th-16th century, there were Gurjar rulers in the areas of Meerut and Dadri.

After this time, with struggles against the rising Mughal power and later British India the Gurjars gradually fell into a decline. With Muslim rule in North India, the Hindu Gurjars of the area surrounding Delhi had to live in jungles in order to save their Hindu faith and to survive. Today, Hindu Gurjars are found in the Indian states of Rajasthan, Haryana, Western Uttar Pradesh and to a smaller extent Punjab. Muslim Gujjars are found in the Indian states of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and in the Pakistani provinces of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, as well as in parts of Azad Kashmir, and in the Nuristan region in Afganistan.

Reference change

  1. Thakur, Upendra (1974). Some Aspects of Ancient Indian History and Culture. Abhinav Publications. p. 80. ISBN 978-0-88386-289-6. The Gujars of the Punjab are unquestionably Aryan by race.
  2. Zelin, Madeleine (2015-10-06). Merchant Communities in Asia, 1600–1980. Routledge. p. 148. ISBN 978-1-317-31789-0.
  3. Rahi, Javaid, ed. (2012). The GUJJARS - A Book Series on History and Culture of Gujjar Tribe. Vol. 1.
  4. Govind Sadashiv Ghurye (1969). Caste and Race in India. Popular Prakashan. pp. 232–. ISBN 978-81-7154-205-5.
  5. Ramesh Chandra Majumdar; Achut Dattatrya Pusalker, A. K. Majumdar, Dilip Kumar Ghose, Vishvanath Govind Dighe, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan (1977). The History and Culture of the Indian People: The classical age. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. p. 153.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. Keay, John (2000). India: A History. Grove Press. pp. 95, 2001. ISBN 978-0-8021-3797-5.