History of the Qaraunah Turks in India c6.79

c6.79

³⁵ The Khokhars are distinct from the Gakkars. They are a tribe found among Jats, Rajputs, Arians and Chuhres. As a tribe of varying Rajput and Jat status, the Khokhars are most numerous along the valleys of the Jhelum and the Chenab, and especially in the Jhang and Shahpur districts. They are also found on the lower Indus and the Sutlej, especially in Lahore and also all along the foot of the hill from the Jhelum to the Sutlej. The Khokhars were originally Hindus and many Hindu customs are still preserved among them. Mr. J. G. Delmerick in an article contributed to the Journal, Asiatic Society of Bengal in 1871 confounded the Khokhars with the Gakkars. Firishta invariably makes the same confusion. Major Raverty writes in a note in his translation of the Tabqat-i-Nasiri that there are still some 20,000 families of Khokhars in the Punjab. They are found in the Multan district and districts further to the north-west, towards the Indus in the Sind Sagar Doab. The Gakkars are still further northwards. Mr. Denzil Ibbetson writes in his ‘Punjab Castes’ that the Khokhars are ordinarily considered a Rajput tribe though some of them call themselves Jats also. The Gakkars according to him are the ancient rulers of the northern portion of the Cis-Indus Salt range tract, just as are the Awans and Janjuas of the southern portion of the same tract and it appears probable that at one time they overran Kashmir. For a detailed account of the Khokhars and Gakkars see the following. A glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab compiled by H. A. Rose, Vol. II, pp. 539—549. (For a History of Gakkars, pp. 274—77.) Raverty, Tabqat-i-Nasiri, Translated, I, p. 455. Denzil Ibbetson, Punjab Castes, pp. 165—69, 172-73. J. Delmerick’s article in the J. A. S. B., 1871, pp. 67—107.