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A Khap is a traditional community organization representing a clan or group of villages. They are mainly associated with Indian communities such as the , Hindustan Times Modern khaps are mainly found in the states of Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh, and are especially common in these specific caste-dominated villages. Khaps also exists in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
A Khap Panchayat is an assembly of Khap elders, while a Sarv Khap is an assembly of many Khap Panchayats. These bodies are not part of the formal government system and hold no official authority. However, they often exert significant social influence and handle affairs within the community they represent.
Notable khaps include the Baliyan Khap, led by the famous farmer's rights activist Mahendra Singh Tikait until 2011, the Dahiya Khap in Haryana, and the Gathwala Khap who were Zamindar since Mughal era and took title of Malik.
Khaps have been dated back to the 14th or 15th century, as part of the social structure of the Hindu people, who lived in the region that is now north eastern Rajasthan, eastern Haryana, and Western Uttar Pradesh.Thakur, Ratika; Sinha, A. K.; Pathak, R.K. (2015). " Khap Panchayats in Transition with Contemporary Times: An Anthropological Evaluation." Panjab University.
There are historical documentational evidences that reveal the organization of Meerut division's khaps into the sarvkhap panchayat as far back as the 13th century. Haryana Sarwakhap Panchayat was established in 664 A.D. There is also a native belief that claims that Harsha systematized the sarv–khap panchayat in the 7th century at Prayag (modern Prayagraj) during his quinquennial assemblage.
These Khaps enabled clans to organize and expand their influence. The Baliyan Khap established its headquarters in Sisuali village in the 12th century, from where the clan launched campaigns of "territorial expansion, conquest and colonization" until the first decades of the 16th century. By the late 16th century, various clan members ruled the 84 villages of Pargana Sisuali. During the reign of Mughal emperor Akbar, certain Khaps (including the Baliyan Khap) would be granted internal autonomy in exchange for their support of the new revenue system.
"...Akbar made several concessions to the local clans of the upper Doab region... The Khap councils were to carry on as before without interference. Imposts that the Jats had resisted for centuries were to be waived. In return, however, the clan councils accepted the new revenue system... They asked for local agency in collection, but did not quarrel with its implementation. In this region at least, imperiwal policy relied both upon force and conciliation."
During British colonial rule, influential Khap members were chosen as officials for their local areas.
Members of khap panchayats are all male, though they often make decisions affecting women. In Haryana, women are not allowed to be present at a panchayat and are represented by their male relatives. Members of Sarva Jaateeya Venain Khap, one of the largest khap panchayats in Haryana, have instead said there are no female khap members because they feel uncomfortable attending, not because they are not allowed." In rural Haryana women blamed for rape where men make the rules." The New York Times. 12 October 2012.
Khaps have attracted attention in recent times for their decisions on marriage. Khaps have opposed marriages between members of different castes, of certain gotras from which intermarriage is prohibited, and of the same village. In July 2000, a panchayat nullified the marriage of Ashish and Darshana, two years after they had married and produced a son, on the basis that they were from two Gotra (clans) prohibited to marry, and should have a brother-sister relationship. Punishments handed down by khap panchayats in marriage cases include fines, social ostracism, public humiliation, and expulsion from the village.Yadav, Bhupendra (26 December 2009). " Khap Panchayats: Stealing freedom?" Economic and Political Weekly.
Khap Panchayats are a "useful instrument" of society and carry out social reforms and "one or two mistakes don't make them wrong as a whole," said Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar in an interview.
Naresh Tikait, head of Baliyan Khap, criticized Love marriage, saying "Marriage is a union of two consenting families and not just two individuals. So all stakeholders should have a say in that. If parents take all the pains to educate their girls then they also have right over their marriages too."5. Rai, Sandeep (23 November 2019). " Love marriages not acceptable, we won't allow them: Balyan khap leader". Times of India. The Satrol Khap in Haryana, which allowed inter-caste marriage in 2014, soon reverted its decision as no couple in that Khap is going against previous laws and hence further boycotting inter-caste marriages.The Khap also State that the marriage should not be within the same gotra, village, or neighbouring villages.
A 2015 Sarv Khap meeting launched a "Save Daughters, Educate Daughter" movement. बेटी बचाओ, बेटी पढ़ाओ मुद्दे पर सर्वखाप महापंचायत, May – 17 – 2015
Several Haryana Khap panchayats organized public meeting to make a call for a strong law against gun violence and vulgar music.
Khap Panchayats, played a significant role in strengthening the farmers' protests, particularly during the 2020-2021 agitation against the controversial farm laws. They provided support, organized rallies, and even formed committees to coordinate with other farmer organizations and instruct that at least one individual from each house should join the protests. Khaps acted as representative bodies for Jats community, advocating for the farmers' demands, particularly the legal guarantee of Minimum Support Price (MSP).
In June 2025, A Khap Panchayat was conducted in Rohtak to address different social issues and to conduct several drives in nearby cities and villages to prohibit same Gotra and to avoid consumption of Alcohol and Drug.
The decisions of the patriarchal Khap Panchayats have often been associated with the practice of honour killing. In 2007, a khap panchayat ordered the killing of Manoj and Babli, who married within the same gotra, in spite of their brother-sister relationship. The two were killed by members of Babli's family.
Death Sentence in Honour killing: In State Of Haryana v. Ganga RajState Of Haryana v. Ganga Raj,Times Of India, 26 March 2010, p. 8- Delivered on 23 March 2010 in the Manoj Babli Honor Killing case, the sessions Judge Vani Gopal Sharma of Karnal district in Haryana has awarded capital punishment under Section 302 IPC (Indian Penal Code) 1860 to five family members of Babli including her brother Suresh, Uncles Rejender, Baru Ram and cousins Satish and Gurdev for killing the couple on 15 June 2007, considering it the "rarest of rare" case and life sentence to the meeting leader Ganga Raj under Section 302 IPC read with section 120B, IPC for hatching the conspiracy to kill the couple.Manoj–Babli honour killing caseSingh, Gajinder (31 March 2010). " Death for honour killings". Calcutta, India: The Telegraph. Retrieved 4 April 2010.
The Supreme Court of India has declared Khap Panchayats to be illegal because they often decree or encourage honour killings or other institutionalised atrocities against boys and girls of different castes and religions who wish to get married or have married.
In a 2012 report to the Supreme Court, Raju Ramachandran, a Senior Advocate appointed by the Court to assist it in public interest litigation actions against Khap Panchayats, called for the arrest of "self-styled" decision makers and for proactive action by the police to protect the fundamental rights of the people. He also asked for the recommendations to be converted into directions applicable to all states and union territories of India until a law is enacted by the federal parliament.
Sometimes, the Indian government avoids a direct confrontation with the panchayat especially in rural areas. In some cases in Haryana, the police and locally elected leaders have supported the decisions of the khap panchayat.
Former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in an interview told that, there is no need to ban or intervene in Khap System because they are having their own cultural purpose.
Om Prakash Chautala, the former Chief Minister of Haryana, said in 2004 that "whatever the panchayat decides is right."
Om Prakash Dhankar, member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said that khap panchayats "are a deciding factor in the electoral success of a candidate."" Panchayats under the shadow of the khaps." Livemint. 1 May 2013. Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tributes to former Palam 360 Khap chief Chaudhary Ramkaran Solanki on his fourth death anniversary and lauded the "Cancer Free Delhi Rural" campaign that was launched in his memory."I pay my tribute to respected Chaudhary Ramkaran Solanki ji on his fourth death anniversary. On this occasion, I was happy to know about the Cancer Free Delhi Rural programme organised by Chaudhary Surendra Solanki ji in his memory in Dwarka, Delhi. The work done by Chaudhary Ramkaran Solanki ji for the society and this effort to carry forward his ideals and values is commendable," a letter written by Modi.
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