Gurjar
The Gurjar are an agricultural ethnic community, residing mainly in India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, divided internally into various clan groups. They were traditionally involved in agriculture, pastoral and nomadic activities and formed a large heterogeneous group. The historical role of Gurjars has been quite diverse in society: at one end they have been found related to several kingdoms and, at the other end, some are still nomads with no land of their own.
The pivotal point in the history of Gurjar identity is often traced back to the emergence of a Gurjara kingdom in present-day Rajasthan and Gujarat during the Middle Ages. It is believed that the Gurjars migrated to different parts of the Indian Subcontinent from the Gurjaratra.
The Gurjaras started fading from the forefront of history after the 10th century CE. Thereafter, history records several Gurjar chieftains and upstart warriors, who were rather petty rulers in contrast to their predecessors. Gujar or Gujjar were quite common during the Mughal era, and documents dating from the period mention Gujars as a 'turbulent' people.
The Indian states of Gujarat and Rajasthan were known as Gurjaradesa and Gurjaratra for centuries prior to the arrival of the British. The Gujrat and Gujranwala districts of Pakistani Punjab have also been associated with Gurjars from as early as the 8th century CE, when there existed a Gurjara kingdom in the same area. The Saharanpur district of Uttar Pradesh was also known as Gurjargadh previously, due to the presence of many Gurjar zamindars in the area.
Gurjars are linguistically and religiously diverse. Although they are able to speak the language of the region and country where they live, Gurjars have their own language, known as Gujari. They mostly follow Islam followed by Hinduism: As per a 1988 estimate, out of the total Gurjar population in the Indian subcontinent, 53% were followers of Islam, 46.8% were adherents of Hinduism while 0.2% were Sikhs.
The Hindu Gurjars are mostly found in Indian states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab Plains and Maharashtra. Muslim Gurjars are mostly found in Pakistani province of Punjab, mainly concentrated in Lahore and northern cities of Gujranwala, Gujrat, Gujar Khan and Jhelum; and in Indian Himalayan regions such as Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Garhwal and Kumaon divisions of Uttarakhand; and Afghanistan.
Etymology
The word Gujjar represents a caste, a tribe and a group in India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, locally referred to as jati, zaat, qaum or biradari.It has been suggested by several historians that Gurjara was initially the name of a tribe or clan which later evolved into a geographical and ethnic identity following the establishment of a janapada called 'Gurjara'. This understanding has introduced an element of ambiguity regarding ancient royal designations containing the word 'gurjara' such as gurjaraeshvara or gurjararaja, as now it is debatable whether the kings bearing these epithets were tribal or ethnic Gurjaras.
History
Origin
Historians and anthropologists differ on the issue of Gurjar origin. According to one view, circa 1 CE, the ancient ancestors of the Gurjars came in multiple waves of migration and were initially accorded status as high-caste warriors in the Hindu fold in the North-Western regions. Aydogdy Kurbanov states that some Gurjars, along with people from northwestern India, merged with the Hephthalites to become the Rajput clan.Previously, it was believed that the Gurjars had migrated earlier on from Central Asia as well, however, this view is generally considered to be speculative.
According to B. D. Chattopadhyaya, historical references speak of Gurjara warriors and commoners in North India in the 7th century CE, and mention several Gurjara kingdoms and dynasties. However, according to Tanuja Kothiyal, the historical image of Gurjars is that of "ignorant" herders, though historical claims of Gurjar past also associate them with Gurjara-Pratiharas. She cites a myth that any Rajput claim Gurjars may have comes through a Rajput marrying a Brahmin woman, and not through an older Kshatriya clan. She says that the historical process suggests the opposite: that Rajputs emerged from other communities, such as Gurjars, Jats, Raikas etc.
The oldest known reference to the word Gurjara is found in the book called Harshacharita, a biography of king Harshavardhana written around 630 CE. Banabhatta, the author of Harshacharita, mentions that Harsha's father Prabhakravardhana was "a constant threat to the sleep of Gurjara"—apparently a reference to the Gurjara king or kingdom. Inscriptions from a collateral branch of Gurjaras, known as Gurjaras of Lata, claim that their family was ruling Bharakucha as early as 450 CE from their capital at Nandipuri.
According to scholars such as Baij Nath Puri, the Mount Abu region of present-day Rajasthan had been an abode of the Gurjars during the medieval period. These Gurjars migrated from the Abu mountain region and as early as in the 6th century CE, they set up one or more principalities in Rajasthan and Gujarat. The whole or a larger part of Rajasthan and Gujarat had been long known as Gurjaratra or Gurjarabhumi for centuries prior to the Mughal period.
In Sanskrit texts, the ethnonym has sometimes been interpreted as "destroyer of the enemy": gur meaning "enemy" and ujjar meaning "destroyer").
Medieval period
Babur, in the context of revolt, wrote that Jats and Gujjars poured down from hills in vast numbers in order to carry off oxen and buffaloes and that they were guilty of the severest oppression in the country.Many Gurjars were converted to Islam at various times, dating back to Mahmud of Ghazni's raid in Gujarat in 1026. Gurjars of Awadh and Meerut date their conversion to Tamerlane, when he sacked Delhi and forcibly converted them. By 1525, when Babur invaded India, he saw that the Gurjars of northern Punjab were already Muslims. Until the 1700s, conversions continued under Aurangzeb, who converted the Gurjars of Himachal Pradesh by force. Pathans and Balochis drove Gurjar converts out of their land, forcing them into vagrancy.
British rule
In the 18th century, several Gurjar chieftains and small kings were in power. A fort in Parikshitgarh in Meerut district, also known as Qila Parikishatgarh, is ascribed to a Gurjar king Nain Singh Nagar. Morena, Samthar, Dholpur, Saharanpur and Roorkee were also some of the places ruled by Gurjar kings. Bhati Clan of Gurjars had significance influence in Bulandshahr joint magistracy. Rao Roshan Singh of Bhati clan was a landlord of wide area till 1812, other chiefs of this clan were, Shambu Singh, Ajit singh and Dargahi Singh Bhati. The Bhati Gurjars in this area had somewhat similar position as the Gurjar Rajas of Saharanpur area.In Delhi, the Metcalfe House was sacked by Gurjar villagers from whom the land had been taken to erect the building. In September 1857, the British were able to enlist the support of many Gurjars at Meerut.
Culture
Afghanistan
The Gurjar people are a tribal group who have lived in Afghanistan for centuries. According to the Afghanistan news agency Pajwok Afghan News, there are currently an estimated 1.5 million Gurjar people residing in the country. The Gurjar people are predominantly found in the northeastern regions of Afghanistan, including Kapisa, Baghlan, Balkh, Kunduz, Takhar, Badakhshan, Nuristan, Laghman, Nangarhar, and Khost. They have a distinct culture and way of life.The old Afghanistan constitution officially recognised 14 ethnic groups, including the Gurjar ethnic group being one of them.
Many Gurjar tribal people in Afghanistan are deprived of their rights and their living conditions are poor. They have sometimes been internally displaced in the past by illegal militias; for example, during 2018 around 200 Gurjar families were displaced from their homes in Farkhar district in Takhar province.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Gurjar people in the northeastern province of Badakhshan used Andak meat to treat the corona virus, due to lack of clinics and other health facilities in their areas. The Gurjar Tribe Council deemed the meat of the Andak animal as haram but many Gurjar people in the area said they had no choice.
Gurjar tribal leaders met with Hamid Karzai when he was President of Afghanistan. They demanded schools and hospitals be built in their areas and the Afghan government give scholarships to Gurjar students to study abroad.
India
Today, the Gurjars are classified under the Other Backward Class category in some states in India. However, in Jammu and Kashmir and parts of Himachal Pradesh, they are designated as a Scheduled Tribe under the Indian government's reservation program of positive discrimination. Hindu Gurjars were assimilated into several varnas.Delhi
Gurjars form an important component of Delhi. They have combined their traditional occupation of pastoralism and marginal cultivation over a large area in and around Delhi.Haryana
The Gurjar community in Haryana has set elaborate guidelines for solemnizing marriages and holding other functions. In a mahapanchayat, the Gujjar community decided that those who sought dowry would be excommunicated from the society.Rajasthan
The Rajasthani Gurjars worship Surya, Devnarayan, Shiva and Bhavani.Gurjar Goth is collective chant-like singing sung by Gurjar men and women, the themes of songs generally being Devnarayan Katha. In Rajasthan, some members of the Gurjar community resorted to violent protests over the issue of reservation in 2006 and 2007. They demanded a change in their status from Other Backward Class to Scheduled Tribe. They felt marginalized and faced livelihood crises. During the 2003 election to the Rajasthan assembly, the Bharatiya Janata Party promised them Scheduled Tribe status. However, the party failed to keep its promise after coming to the power, resulting in protests by the Gurjars in September 2006.
In May 2007, during violent protests over the reservation issue, members of the Gurjar community clashed with the police. Subsequently, the Gurjar protested violently, under various groups including the Gurjar Sangarsh Samiti, Gurjar Mahasabha and the Gurjar Action Committee. Presently, the Gurjars in Rajasthan are classified as Other Backward Class.
On 5 June 2007, Gurjars rioted over their desire to be added to the central list of tribes who are given favoured treatment under the reservation system. However, other tribes on the list oppose this request, as it would make it harder to obtain the few positions already set aside.
In December 2007, the Akhil Bhartiya Gurjar Mahasabha stated that the community would boycott the BJP, which was in power in Rajasthan. But in 2009 the Gurjar community was supporting BJP so that they could be politically benefitted. Kirori Singh Bainsla fought and lost on the BJP ticket. In the early 2000s, the Gurjar community in Dang region of Rajasthan was also in news its falling sex ratio, unavailability of brides, and the resultant polyandry.