Khatris, who are they ?

[Rajputra]

who are the khatris ? recently i was talking with a Khatri from Delhi and after few minutes he started to insult Rajputs, claiming that he is pure vedic Kshatriya and Rajputs are Huns, and scythians who re assimilated Kshatriyas hence, sudras.

based on quick google search and wiki artical it seems he was right that khatris are pure kshatriyas and feel superior to Rajputs. (wiki/Khatri)

but most of sikhs, Jats and gujjars calls them "Bapphe" and say that they are not kshatriyas but non baniya treading caste of punjab.

there as some khatri clans who claim descend from bhagwan Ram's son kush(and love). like kushwaha Rajputs. are these claims are fabricated ?

what makes khatriys interesting is that some bollywood khatris claim to be Hindu Pathan and marry among pathan nobility in India such as Kareena kapoor married to saif pataudi recently. @Mian Babban

if you are a khatri or know any khatri can you give me answers of these question ?

1) what are you ? Indian Kshatriyas or Afghan Pashtuns ?
2) Treading clan or Martial Clan ?
3) what is the origins of your Community ?
4) what is your original homeland or region ?
5) do you consider yourself superior to Rajputs or any other warrior clan ?

i know only one khatri on this forum @Śakra i hope he/she will reply. @Burhan Wani @DESERT FIGHTER @ghoul @Raja.Pakistani @Proudpakistaniguy @ranjeet @padamchen @Juggernaut_is_here @niaz @Icarus and @Josef K @Joe Shearer

this is not thread on caste system or castism, this thread is about History of various warrior tribes that migrated to India and formed their own communities based on degree of assimilation. i have tagged our respected Historians and some Rajputs, please contribute if you are know anything on this subject.

 

[Burhan Wani]

who are the khatris ? recently i was talking with a Khatri from Delhi and after few minutes he started to insult Rajputs, claiming that he is pure vedic Kshatriya and Rajputs are Huns, and scythians who re assimilated Kshatriyas hence, sudras.

based on quick google search and wiki artical it seems he was right that khatris are pure kshatriyas and feel superior to Rajputs. (wiki/Khatri)

but most of sikhs, Jats and gujjars calls them "Bapphe" and say that they are not kshatriyas but non baniya treading caste of punjab.

there as some khatri clans who claim descend from bhagwan Ram's son kush(and love). like kushwaha Rajputs. are these claims are fabricated ?

what makes khatriys interesting is that some bollywood khatris claim to be Hindu Pathan and marry among pathan nobility in India such as Kareena kapoor married to saif pataudi recently. @Mian Babban

if you are a khatri or know any khatri can you give me answers of these question ?

1) what are you ? Indian Kshatriyas or Afghan Pashtuns ?
2) Treading clan or Martial Clan ?
3) what is the origins of your Community ?
4) what is your original homeland or region ?
5) do you consider yourself superior to Rajputs or any other warrior clan ?

i know only one khatri on this forum @Śakra i hope he/she will reply. @Burhan Wani @DESERT FIGHTER @ghoul @Raja.Pakistani @Proudpakistaniguy @ranjeet @padamchen @Juggernaut_is_here @niaz @Icarus and @Josef K

this is not thread on caste system or castism, this thread is about History of various warrior tribes that migrated to India and formed their own communities based on degree of assimilation. i have tagged our respected Historians and some Rajputs, please contribute if you are know anything on this subject.

My Grandfather used to call all Hindu residents of Poonch as Khatris and according to him they were all businessmen. I don't know much about them.

 

[Rajputra]

i am waiting for the answer(views) from our golden members and historians like @niaz @Mian Babban @Juggernaut_is_here and @Joe Shearer with great anticipation as they have studied History of India and Culture more Deeply.

 

[Juggernaut_Flat_Plane_V8]

One thing...You have to see Ramayana and Mahabharata as complete fiction if you want to be grounded in real history

As for the genealogy of Khatris dating back to Mbh/Ramayana------
People invent genealogies all the time..Shivaji's genealogy was invented during his coronation, Jesus's genealogy is completely fabricated, etc.....It pains me to no end that people donot know about Bimbisara,Ajatashatru,Skandagupta,Harsha and then they sing paeans to fictional characters like Arjun,Karna and so forth

There are many credible historians who say that Mahabharata is a colourful folk exaggeration of a very real historical battle that took place around 1500 BC and was recorded in the Rig Veda--The Battle of Ten Kings (Rig Veda VII.18 primarily)

There may have been a historical Krishna, as noted in Chandogya Upanishad, but the historical Krishna lived around 800-900 years later than the events of the historical Mbh war (Battle of Ten Kings), if he ever lived that is...We are walking on threadbare evidence here

As for Ramayana, there is minutest of evidence that a character connected with the narrative , may have been a historical figure..Raja Janaka of Brihad arayanaka Upanishad.....going by that evidence the best we can do is support renowned and earnest Indologist, AL Basham's claim:

The historical Ram may have been a petty warlord in Iron Age North India ...(ca. 700 BC)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What I have written above is the basic consensus as well as the historical framework regarding Indology..Ask @Joe Shearer to correct any mistakes contained above..But as long as you donot accept what's written above as the basic premise, you would be staggering around in the world of mythology rather than history
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Those who have religious conviction, please refrain from responding to my post as historical analysis and accounts coming down from religious traditions rarely agree with eachother

 

[niaz]

The nickname Rajputs meaning sons of the Raja; pointing towards non-indigenous origins of the ruling class. There is no mention of Rajputs until after the time of Harshavardhana (d. 647 CE) the last great king ruling most of the Northern subcontinent from Kanauj. However, during the 500 year period from 7th century on wards, we find most of the Northern & Western subcontinent ruled by the Rajput clans.

This is just after the time when white Huns /Hephtalites were defeated by the Sasanians and kicked out of Gandhara (South-eastern Afghanistan + KPK). It is therefore logical to deduce that Rajputs are a product of fusion between the Huns & the inhabitants of the 6th to 7th century Punjab.

Most Khatri’s in Punjab were to the best of my info merchants and traders. Understand that Auroras of India are also Khatri by caste. However, it is quite possible that Khatris originally were Kshatriya warriors but forced to become traders after Muslim invasion in the 11th century

Regret my inability to go into the subject in greater detail.

 

[Big Tank]

Here in Sindh, Khatris belong from Sindhi and Memon Community. I had a Khatri Manager where I worked before.

 

[third eye]

Khatri is a caste from the northern Indian Sub Continent . Khatris in India and Pakistan are mostly from the Punjab. According to a 19th-century Khatri legend, the Khatris followed the military profession until the time of the Mughal emperor Auirangzeb . Several Khatris were killed during the Aurangzeb's Deccan Campaign, and the emperor ordered their widows to be remarried. When the Khatris refused to obey this order, Aurangzeb terminated their military service, and directed them to be shopkeepers and brokers.

For the most part, Khatris have been in the civil, government, and military administrators roles for centuries. Some subgroups of Khatris have gone into the merchant business as traders, and have participated in trade well beyond India's borders, for many centuries from Burma to Russia. At one time, the Khatris controlled a significant share of the trade in the central Asian region. The Hindu fire-temple of Baku, Azerbaijan, supported for centuries by Khatri merchants flourished until the middle of 19th century. The Hindu temples of Kabul built by the Khatris reportedly still exist.

Muslim Khatris are originally from Hindu Khatri community of Punjab who converted to Islam . In western districts of the Punjab (Sargodha, Mianwali,Murree, Attock , Chakwal,Pindi and Gujrat), converted Khatri traders called themselves "Khoja". Some times they are called "Khoja Sheikh".

The conversion started in 12th century. In western districts of the Punjab .

Many prominent historical figures have emerged from the Khatri. All ten Sikh Gurus were Khatri, belonging to the Bedi, Trehan, Bhalla and Sodhi subcastes. Raja Todar Mal was a Tandon Khatri who codified the revenue collection system as Revenue Minister for Akbar.Haqiqat Rai was a Puri Khatri whose martyrdom was celebrated on Basant Panchami in Lahore until independence. Hari Singh Nalwa , was also reportedly a an Uppal Khatri. The father and son pair of the Diwans Sawan Mal and Mul Raj Chopra were successive governors of Multan under Ranjit Singh. The former instituted vast improvements in agriculture, while the latter was instrumental in leading the revolt against the British to prevent the annexation of the Sikh kingdom into the East India Company territory.

@Rajputra

 

[Joe Shearer]

i am waiting for the answer(views) from our golden members and historians like @niaz @Mian Babban @Juggernaut_is_here and @Joe Shearer with great anticipation as they have studied History of India and Culture more Deeply.

I am very sure about their origins and their present role in society. Apart from that, my soft corner for Khatris is due to their close association with the Khalsa, with Sikhism; all the Gurus were Khatris, and in those early years, Sikhism was dominated by this educated, forward-looking and prosperous class.

As for the rest, my love for and affection towards the Sikhs leads me to hope that one of them, preferably a Bedi or a Sodhi, will answer in detail.

Bless them.

 

[Proudpakistaniguy]

Khatri is primarily a caste of traders, shopkeepers/businessmen, ,moneylenders and financiers. They are very much equivalent of Baniyas found elsewhere in India. Khatri virtually had a monopoly over trade in Punjab and neighbouring Afghanistan. Khatri were settled mainly in the western part of pre-partition Punjab (now in Pakistan) and were migrated to India after partition. They often use surname like Kapoor, Khanna, Chadda, Chopra, Sethi, Mehta, Mehra, Bedi, Malhotra ,Sehgal etc . They have large presence in bollywood industry

They actually claim that this word Khatri is a corrupt derivation of the Sanskrit word Kshatriya. They think that they are real Kshatriya while Rajputs were white huns who got settled in India over time and were assimilated into the Kshatriya category during the 6th century .There are many theories about origin of Khatri just like there are many theories about origin of Rajputs. Some say that "khatri" word come from word " Khata" which was given to them because of their accounting work . Some suggest that khatri is actually a mixed caste created through union of Kshatriya fathers and Brahmin mothers. Some say that they are the descendants of Shudra fathers and Kshatriya mothers so this origin game is all about speculation and guess work lol

 

[Jaggu]

Khatri is a corrupted word for Kshatri. In Punjabi language, the sanskrit sh sound evolved into kh sound. So that is why they are called Khatri. Khatri in Punjabi means Kshatri. But it is true, they are the original Kshatriys of the olden times that we read about in the epics. But over time they abandoned their warrior profession and adopted the profession of trading. The Rajputs of India are said to be the descendents of white huns, sythians who were turned into Kshatriys by the Brahmins.

 

[django]

I doubt the Rajputs of Bihar have anything to do with Huns/Scythians etc,,,,,,, some of Indias most beautiful women are of Khatri origin.

 

[Shahzaz ud din]

who are the khatris ? recently i was talking with a Khatri from Delhi and after few minutes he started to insult Rajputs, claiming that he is pure vedic Kshatriya and Rajputs are Huns, and scythians who re assimilated Kshatriyas hence, sudras.

based on quick google search and wiki artical it seems he was right that khatris are pure kshatriyas and feel superior to Rajputs. (wiki/Khatri)

but most of sikhs, Jats and gujjars calls them "Bapphe" and say that they are not kshatriyas but non baniya treading caste of punjab.

there as some khatri clans who claim descend from bhagwan Ram's son kush(and love). like kushwaha Rajputs. are these claims are fabricated ?

what makes khatriys interesting is that some bollywood khatris claim to be Hindu Pathan and marry among pathan nobility in India such as Kareena kapoor married to saif pataudi recently. @Mian Babban

if you are a khatri or know any khatri can you give me answers of these question ?

1) what are you ? Indian Kshatriyas or Afghan Pashtuns ?
2) Treading clan or Martial Clan ?
3) what is the origins of your Community ?
4) what is your original homeland or region ?
5) do you consider yourself superior to Rajputs or any other warrior clan ?

i know only one khatri on this forum @Śakra i hope he/she will reply. @Burhan Wani @DESERT FIGHTER @ghoul @Raja.Pakistani @Proudpakistaniguy @ranjeet @padamchen @Juggernaut_is_here @niaz @Icarus and @Josef K @Joe Shearer

this is not thread on caste system or castism, this thread is about History of various warrior tribes that migrated to India and formed their own communities based on degree of assimilation. i have tagged our respected Historians and some Rajputs, please contribute if you are know anything on this subject.

Our elders used to tell us that our forefathers were Kshatriyas.Family tree shows that they were the decendents of Beer Bikarma jeet and RAM CHANDER JEE.They never did any trade or business.Till today people prefer to do GOVT job rather than doing any business.