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The Gurjar (or Gujjar, Gujar, Gurjara) 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 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 Gurjaradesa in present-day Rajasthan and Gujarat during the Middle Ages (around 570 CE). It is believed that the Gurjars migrated to different parts of the Indian Subcontinent from the Gurjaratra. "we have noted that Gurjaratra or Gurjarabhumi was the base from which several lineages tracing descent from the Gurjaras emerged"
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 Empire 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 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 variously follow Hinduism, Islam, and Sikhism.
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; Indian Himalayan regions such as Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Garhwal and Kumaon divisions of Uttarakhand; and Afghanistan.
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 (tribal kingdom) 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.
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 (Harsha's Deeds), a biography of king written around 630 CE. Banabhatta, the author of Harshacharita, mentions that Harsha's father Prabhakravardhana (560-580 CE) 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 (Bharuch district) as early as 450 CE from their capital at Nandipuri.
According to scholars such as Baij Nath Puri, the Mount Abu (ancient Arbuda Mountain) 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 (country ruled or protected by the Gurjars) or Gurjarabhumi (land of the Gurjars) for centuries prior to the Mughal period.
In Sanskrit texts, the ethnonym has sometimes been false etymology as "destroyer of the enemy": gur meaning "enemy" and ujjar meaning "destroyer").
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.
The old Afghanistan constitution recognised 14 ethnic groups officially with 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 ; for example, during 2018 around 200 Gurjar families were displaced from their homes in Farkhar District in Takhar province.
During the corona virus 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 (forbidden) 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.
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 (OBC) to Scheduled Tribe (ST). They felt marginalized and faced livelihood crises. During the 2003 election to the Rajasthan assembly, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) 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 Classes.
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 ("All-India Gurjar Council") 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.
They are listed among the Other Backward Classes of Gujarat.
A few scholars believe that the Leva Patil (or Kambis) of Gujarat, a section of the , are possibly of Gurjar origin. However, several others state that the Patidars are or (Kanbis); Gurjars are included in the OBC list in Gujarat but Patidars are not.
Gurjars of North Gujarat, along with those of Western Rajasthan and Punjab, worship Shitala and Bhavani.
, the Gurjars and the Bakarwals in Jammu and Kashmir were classified as Scheduled Tribes constitute 12% of the total population of Jammu and Kashmir. However, they claim that they constitute more than 20% of the population, and allege undercounting because of their transhumance lifestyle, saying that when the censuses were held in 2001 and 2011, half of their population had been in the upper reaches of the Himalaya. According to the 2011 Census of India, Gurjars are the most populous scheduled tribe in Jammu and Kashmir, having a population of nearly 1.5 million. Nearly all of them follow Islam.
The Gurjars of Jammu and Kashmir in 2007 demanded that this tribal community be treated as a linguistic minority in the erstwhile state and provided with constitutional safeguards for their language Gojri. They also pressured the state government to urge the central government to include Gojri in the list of official languages of India.
In 2002, some Gurjars and in Jammu and Kashmir demanded a separate state called Gujaristan for Gujjar and Bakarwal communities, under the banner of All India Gurjar Parishad. Gurjars and Bakarwals have at times been targeted by militants of the insurgency in the territory, such as during the Kot Charwal and Teli Katha massacres.
The Van Gujjars have had conflicts with forest authorities, who prohibited human and livestock populations inside reserved parks. However, India's Forest Rights Act of 2006 granted rights to "traditional forest dwellers" to the lands they have relied on for generations. The conflict between local forest officials, who claim rights over the newly created parks, and the thousand year nomadic traditions of the Van Gujjars has been ongoing.
In 1999, British anthropologist Stephen Lyon estimated their total population in Pakistan to number 30 million and theorized the notion of "Gujarism", the fact that Gujjars in Pakistan are conscious of their identity and often base their social activities, such as local political participation, on this basis, what he calls kin-network activism.
In Swat, Pir Samiullah was a Gujjar community leader who was the first to raise a private tribal army against the Pakistani Taliban, with around 10,000 men, but was eventually defeated and executed by the Taliban in 2008, who then desecrated his dead body by hanging it publicly.
Himachal Pradesh
, the Gurjars in parts of Himachal Pradesh were classified as a Scheduled Tribe.
Jammu and Kashmir
The Gurjars and Bakerwals tribes of Jammu and Kashmir were declared a Scheduled Tribe (ST) in 1991. At the 2001 census, they were found principally in Rajouri District, Poonch, Reasi District, Kishtwar district, with presences elsewhere. It is believed that Gurjars migrated to Jammu and Kashmir from Gujarat (via Rajasthan) and Hazara district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Uttarakhand
The Van Gujjars ("forest Gurjars") are found in the Shivalik Hills area of Uttarakhand. The Van Gujjars follow Islam, and they have their own clans, similar to the Hindu . They are a pastoral semi-nomadic community, practising transhumance. In the winter season, the Van Gujjars migrate with herds of semi-wild water buffalo to the Shivalik Hills at the foot of the Himalayas, and in summer, they migrate to alpine pastures higher up the Himalayas. The Gurjars sell milk to local peoples as their primary source of income. They treat their animals with great care and do not eat them nor sell them for meat.
Pakistan
It has been estimated that Gujjars comprise 20% of Pakistan's total population.
Punjab
Gujjars are mostly found in the country's Punjab province, where they gave their name to cities and towns such as Gujranwala, Gujar Khan and Gujrat, but for economics reasons recently they have emigrated to cities such as Karachi.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Gujjars are also present in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where they're the third largest ethnic groups after the Pashtuns and the Awan, found in the Hazara region region as well places like Dir District, Swat District, and Bajaur District, often being conversant in Pashto, the provincial language.
Azad Kashmir
In Azad Kashmir, they are one of the region's largest communities, by some estimates even being considered the single largest group with 800,000 individuals.
See also
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Further reading
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Categories: Ethnic Groups In India, Ethnic Groups In Afghanistan, Social Groups Of Rajasthan, Social Groups Of Gujarat, Social Groups Of Jammu And Kashmir, Social Groups Of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Social Groups Of Uttar Pradesh, Social Groups Of Madhya Pradesh, Social Groups Of Maharashtra, Social Groups Of Haryana, Social Groups Of Punjab, Pakistan, Social Groups Of Punjab, India, Social Groups Of Himachal Pradesh, Ethnic Groups In Kunar Province, Hindu Dynasties, Punjabi Tribes, Hindkowan Tribes, Demographic History Of India, Pastoralists, Scheduled Tribes Of Jammu And Kashmir, Scheduled Tribes Of Himachal Pradesh, Indian Castes
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