View source for Arora

{{short description|Community in India}}
{{distinguish|Aurora}}
{{Other uses}}
{{pp|small=yes}}
{{EngvarB|date=April 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Infobox caste
|caste_name=Arora
|languages = [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]] ([[Lahnda]] − [[Saraiki language|Saraiki]], [[Thali dialect|Thali]], [[Riasti dialect|Riasti]], [[Pahari-Pothwari]], [[Hindko]], [[Khetrani language|Khetrani]], [[Jatki language|Jatki]]),<ref name=":1822">{{Cite book|last=Oonk|first=Gijsbert|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BkwsMTyShi8C&dq=they+are+the+only+hindus+known+in+central+asia+khatris&pg=PA44|title=Global Indian Diasporas: Exploring Trajectories of Migration and Theory|date=2007|publisher=Amsterdam University Press|isbn=978-90-5356-035-8|pages=43–45|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":222">{{Cite book|last=Singer|first=André|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=asqdNQAACAAJ|title=Guardians of the North-West Frontier: The Pathans|date=1982|publisher=Time-Life Books|isbn=978-0-7054-0702-1|language=en}}</ref>{{sfnp|Levi|2002|p=107}}<ref>{{Cite web|date=25 September 2016|title=Blame caste for Pakistan's violent streak, not faith|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/aakarvani/blame-caste-for-pakistans-violent-streak-not-faith/|access-date=17 September 2021|website=Times of India Blog|language=en-US}}</ref> [[Sindhi language|Sindhi]], [[Hindustani language|Hindustani]]
|religions= [[Hinduism]] • [[Sikhism]]
|region = '''Contemporarily'''<br/>[[Punjab|Punjab (India)]] • [[Sindh]] • [[Haryana]] • [[Delhi]] • [[Rajasthan]] • [[Uttar Pradesh]]<br/><br/>'''[[Partition of India|Historically]]'''<br/>[[Derajat]] ([[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]] • [[Balochistan, Pakistan|Balochistan]] • [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]]), [[Sindh]] and [[Pothohar Plateau]]
| related= [[Khatri]] • [[Bhatia caste|Bhatia]] • [[Sood (surname)|Sood]] 
}}

'''Arora''' is a [[caste system in India|caste]] originating from northern [[Sindh]] and southern [[Punjab]] comprising both [[Hindus]] and [[Sikhs]].<ref name="Boivin2020">{{cite book |last1=Boivin |first1=Michel |title=The Sufi Paradigm and the Makings of a Vernacular Knowledge in Colonial India |chapter=The Transmission of Colonial Knowledge |date=2020 |pages=74 |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-41991-2_3 |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-41991-2_3 |publisher=Springer International Publishing |isbn=978-3-030-41990-5 |language=en|chapter-url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Bhardwaj |first=Surinder M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D6XJFokSJzEC&pg=PA231 |title=Hindu Places of Pilgrimage in India: A Study in Cultural Geography |date=8 July 1983 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-04951-2 |pages=231 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="bka" /> The name is derived from their ancestral place of  [[Aror]], [[Sindh]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Experts |first=Disha |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V89CEAAAQBAJ&q=aror+ancestral+place |title=Errorless 16 Year-wise MPPSC General Studies Prelims Solved Paper 1 (2003 - 21) 2nd Edition |date=2021-09-01 |publisher=Disha Publications |isbn=978-93-91551-70-4 |quote=Aror is the ancestral town of the Arora Community. In 711, Aror was captured by the army of Muslim general Muhammad bin Qasim .}}</ref><ref name="one">{{Cite book|last=Hanks|first=Patrick|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FJoDDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA58|title=Dictionary of American Family Names|date=8 May 2003|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-977169-1|pages=58}}</ref>{{efn|Now known as [[Rohri]], a city near [[Sukkur]] in present-day [[Sindh]], Pakistan.}} In 712, the Arora people are said to have left Aror and started to settle in the cities of [[Punjab]],<ref name="Malhotra2002">{{cite book|last=Malhotra|first=Anshu|title=Gender, Caste, and Religious Identities: Restructuring Class in Colonial Punjab|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_ykqAAAAYAAJ|accessdate=8 October 2014|year=2002|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780195656480|quote=The Aroras were also said to be the Khatris of Arorkot, or Aror, the ancient capital of Sindh.}}</ref> mainly in South [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]].<ref name="bka"/> However, according to [[W. H. McLeod]], many Aroras originally came from the [[Pothohar Plateau|Pothohar]] area in North Punjab.<ref name="McLeod">{{Cite book|last=McLeod|first=W. H.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vgixwfeCyDAC&pg=PA21|title=The A to Z of Sikhism|date=24 July 2009|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-6344-6|pages=21, 213, 128}}</ref>

Their traditional occupations were [[Shopkeeper|shopkeeping]], petty-business and moneylending in late pre-colonial and colonial times and even as of 2009 many were prominent shopkeepers in Punjab.

Historically, the Arora section of the [[Khatri]] community had been principally found in [[West Punjab]], in the districts to the south and west of [[Lahore]]. Scott Cameron Levi, believes that they are a "sub-caste of the Khatris".{{sfnp|Levi|2002|p=107}}

After the [[partition of India]], Punjabis who migrated from erstwhile West Punjab were mostly Khatris and Aroras. Studies reveal that "Arora Khatri, Bedi, Ahluwalia, etc. are some of the important castes among the [[Punjabis]]".<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Government of Haryana|first=Department of Welfare|title=Report of Backward Classes Commission|url=http://haryanascbc.gov.in/report-of-haryana-backward-classes-commission-2012|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210515063352/http://haryanascbc.gov.in/report-of-haryana-backward-classes-commission-2012|archive-date=15 May 2021|access-date=15 May 2021|website=Welfare of Scheduled Caste & Backward Classes Department|pages=05,135}}</ref>

[[File:The town of Roree and the fortress of Bukker, on the Indus.jpg|thumb|The town of [[Rohri]] in [[Sukkur District]] of [[Sindh]], sketched in 1842.]]

== Divisions in Sikh traditions ==
Per Sikhism, the Arora are divided into four territorial groups: the Uttarādhīs from the north, the Ḍakhaṇās from the south, the Dāhrās from the West and the Sindhīs, from [[Sindh]]. The Dāhrās and Ḍakhaṇās are sometimes classed as one groups.<ref name="bka">{{cite journal |author1=H. Syan Singh |title=Khatrīs and Aroṛās |journal=Encyclopedia of Sikhism Online |date=2017 |doi=10.1163/2589-2118_beso_com_031682 |url=https://doi.org/10.1163/2589-2118_BESO_COM_031682 |publisher=Brill |language=en|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

== History ==
=== Origin ===
{{See also|Battle of Aror|Umayyad conquest of Sindh}}

Aror is the ancestral town of the Arora community.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hanks |first=Patrick |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FJoDDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA58 |title=Dictionary of American Family Names |date=8 May 2003 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-977169-1 |pages=58 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Garg |first=Gaṅgā Rām |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0U2QRpDv2KMC |title=Encyclopaedia of the Hindu World |date=1992 |publisher=Concept Publishing Company |isbn=978-81-7022-373-3 |language=en |quote=When Muhammad-bin-Qāsim plundered the place Arora in 712 and defeated Rājā Dāhar, who belonged to the Arorā dynasty, the Arorā people left Sind and settled in the Punjāb cities, situated on the banks of the rivers Sind, Jhelum, Cenāb and Rāvī.}}</ref><ref name="Malhotra2002" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Thakur |first=U. T. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FuItAAAAMAAJ |title=Sindhi Culture |date=1959 |publisher=University of Bombay |pages=58 |language=en |quote=This Arorkot is Arore or Alore and the Aroras are called after the name of the ancient capital Arore.}}</ref><ref name="Vikas Publishing House">{{Cite book |last1=Dogra |first1=R. C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=upLXAAAAMAAJ |title=Encyclopaedia of Sikh Religion and Culture |last2=Mansukhani |first2=Gobind Singh |date=1995 |publisher=Vikas Publishing House |isbn=978-0-7069-8368-5 |pages=40 |language=en}}</ref> Little is known about the city's history prior to the Arab invasion in the 8th century CE.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hughes |first1=Albert William |url=https://archive.org/details/agazetteerprovi00unkngoog |title=A Gazetteer of the Province of Sind |date=1876 |publisher=G. Bell and Sons |page=[https://archive.org/details/agazetteerprovi00unkngoog/page/n712 677] |quote=aror. |accessdate=19 December 2017}}</ref>

The [[Sauvira Kingdom]] was an ancient kingdom of the lower [[Indus Valley]] mentioned in [[Vedic period|Late Vedic]] literature.<ref>Michael Witzel (1987), "On the localisation of Vedic texts and schools (Materials on Vedic Śākhās, 7)" in G. Pollet (ed.), ''India and the Ancient world. History, Trade and Culture before A.D. 650''</ref> Roruka (Aror), capital of the Sauvira Kingdom, is mentioned as an important trading center in early Buddhist literature. In the Chachnamah, members of the Brahman group were noted in the city of Aror.<ref>Derryl N. MacLean (1989), [https://books.google.com/books?id=xxAVAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA63 ''Religion and Society in Arab Sind''], p.51,136</ref> Aror was the capital of the Arora dynasty,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Garg |first=Gaṅgā Rām |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0U2QRpDv2KMC |title=Encyclopaedia of the Hindu World |date=1992 |publisher=Concept Publishing Company |isbn=978-81-7022-373-3 |pages=624 |language=en |quote=When Muhammad-bin-Qāsim plundered the place Arora in 712 and defeated Rājā Dāhar, who belonged to the Arorā dynasty, the Arorā people left Sind and settled in the Punjāb cities, situated on the banks of the rivers Sind, Jhelum, Cenāb and Rāvī.}}</ref> which was followed by the [[Rai dynasty]] and then the [[Raja Dahir|Brahman dynasty]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=MacLean|first=Derryl N.|title=Religion and Society in Arab Sind|publisher=BRILL|year=1989|isbn=9004085513}}</ref>

In 711, Aror was captured by the army of Umayyad general [[Muhammad ibn al-Qasim]].<ref>History of the Punjab, Volume 1 by Fauja Singh, Published by the Department of Punjab Historical Studies, Punjabi University, 1977</ref>

=== Mughal decline and Afghan revival ===
On 13 April 1752, Lahore and Multan in Punjab were ceded to [[Ahmad Shah Durrani]] after the fall of Kaura Mal in the battlefield and retreat of [[Adina Beg]]. Afghanistan was the conduit for the trade between [[Central Asia]] and [[India]]. [[Grain trade]] in Afghanistan was in the hands of the Hindu Punjabi Arora/Khatris. Reportedly, they gave loans to the Durrani rulers to carry out military expeditions in India. Moreover, the disappointed princes of India "encouraged [[Zaman Shah Durrani]] to invade the subcontinent and overthrow the British" in 1798.<ref>{{cite book|author=Roy|first=Kaushik|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ps5JDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT64|title=War and Society in Afghanistan From the Mughals to the Americans, 1500–2013|publisher=Oxford University Press India|year=2015|isbn=978-0-19-908944-4|page=64|chapter=Mughal Decline and Afghan Revival :1707-1810}}</ref>

To restrict the Afghans in Punjab, Hindu Diwan [[Kaura Mal|Kaura Mal Arora]] "died while fighting against the army of Ahmed Shah Durrani on March 6, 1752". He was the Governor of Multan and had also served as the Minister of Lahore twice. Earlier, he led the Lahore Darbar and "made a joint-attack on Multan in 1749", along the Sikhs led by Jassa Singh. Post his victory over Multan, "Diwan Kaura Mall was given the title of Maharaja Bahadur" by the Mughals.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Dilagīra|first=Harajindara Siṅgha|url=http://archive.org/details/sikhreferenceboo0000dila|title=The Sikh reference book|date=1997|publisher=Edmonton, Alb., Canada : Sikh Educational Trust for Sikh University Centre, Denmark; Amritsar : Available from Singh Bros.|others=Internet Archive|isbn=978-0-9695964-2-4|pages=480}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Ahluwalia|first=M. L.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FpBHAAAAMAAJ|title=Life and Times of Jassa Singh Ahluwalia|date=1989|publisher=Publication Bureau, Punjabi University|pages=43|language=en}}</ref>

Prior to the British colonial rule, Aroras were one of the three main money-lending castes of Punjab. The Aroras were often subjected to humiliation by peasant communities of Punjab. They could not wear a [[turban]] and only granted permission to ride on a donkey.<ref name="Chaudhari08">{{cite book|title=Peasant History of Late Pre-colonial and Colonial India-Volume 8|author=B.B.Chaudhari|editor=D.P.Chattopadhayaya|publisher=Pearson Longman|year=2008|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ljmIJySEm4UC&pg=PA137|pages=137–138|isbn=9788131716885}}</ref><ref name="bose94">{{cite book|title=Credit, Markets, and the Agrarian Economy of Colonial India|chapter=Introduction |author=[[Sugata Bose]]|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1994 |pages=7 |isbn=978-0195633085}}</ref>

The Aroras were often good farmers, and also engaged in metalworking, goldsmithery, and weaving.<ref>{{Cite book|author=[[Malcolm Lyall Darling]]|title=The Punjab Peasant In Prosperity And Debt|date=1928|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|pages=212|language=en|quote=Often a good farmer, even when he does not actually drive the plough, he looks after his land with care, and any improvement to be found in his neighbourhood is generally due to his capital, industry and thrift. He will turn his hand to anything that promises gain, and may be found weaving baskets and mats, beating out vessels of copper and of brass, working as a goldsmith, or even plying the tailor's needle and thread.}}</ref>

=== British colonial era ===
[[File:Portrait of an unidentified Arora Storekeeper from Lahore with coins in hand and in front of him, ca.1862–72.png|thumb|Portrait of an unidentified Arora Storekeeper from Lahore with coins in hand and in front of him, ca.1862–72]]
Pettigrew notes that in the 19th century, the Aroras were working as shopkeepers and small traders within the Sikh community in Punjab.<ref>{{cite book|title=Robber Noblemen: A Study of the Political System of the Sikh Jats|author=Joyce Pettigrew|publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul|year=1975|page=41|quote=The Aroras, who formed 9 per cent of the Sikh population and who generally supplied most of Punjab's petty traders and small shopkeepers...}}</ref> During the [[British Raj]], in some parts of Punjab their population was so high that they had to seek employment outside their traditional occupations shopkeeping, accountancy and money-lending<ref name= "abbi97">{{cite book|title=Post-green revolution rural Punjab: A profile of economic and socio-cultural change, 1965-1995|page=36|editor1=B. L. Abbi|author= Kesar Singh | year=1997 |quote=Of the clean caste households in the village, Arora, a traditional shopkeeping and petty - business caste, is lacking in the Jat's prestige and power in this village}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Imperial Rule in Punjab: The Conquest and Administration of Multan 1818-1881|author=J. Royal Roseberry|year= 1987 |page=4|quote=The Aroras were so numerous that many had to find employ outside the traditional caste occupations of shopkeeper, moneylender and village accountant.}}</ref> For the Hindu merchant castes, Agarwal Banias, Khatris and Aroras, [[Timber trade]] was also one of the trades they followed before 1900. However, since 1900 the smallest merchant sect, the Suds, started this trade and later dominated it in eastern Punjab.<ref>{{cite book|title=A Forest History of India|author=Richard P. Tucker|quote=Others represented several Hindu merchant castes, who invested in timber as only one of several lines of trade. They included Agarwal Banias, Khatris, and Aroras. From about 1900 the smallest Hindu merchant sect, the Suds, began moving toward their later dominance in the timber trade of eastern Punjab.|publisher=SAGE|year=2011|page=79|isbn=9788132119524|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jaKoDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT79}}</ref>

The ''Amritsar Gazetteer'' says:{{blockquote| Aroras trace their origin from the Khatris. It is said that Khatris are Khatris of Lahore and Multan, whereas Aroras are Khatris of Aror, modern Rori and Sukkar (Sind) in Pakistan. There is a street in Amritsar named as ‘Arorianwali Gali’. The Aroras seem to have settled in Amritsar during the time of Maharaja Ranjit Singh or even earlier. It is presumed that they migrated to Amritsar from Lahore to which place they might have originally migrated from Sind or Multan.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gazetteers of India|first=Barkat Rai Chopra|title=Amritsar|publisher=Government of Punjab|year=1976|location=Chandigarh|pages=88}}</ref>}}

The ''Hoshiarpur Gazetteer'' says: {{blockquote|Before independence, the Aroras did not constitute a sizeable population in the district.  With the migration of the non-Muslim population from Pakistan to India in 1947, they settled here, though in small numbers.  The Aroras were generally settled in West Punjab (Pakistan) and in the Firozepur District.  Their representation in the eastern districts of the Punjab was not notable. Whatever be their origin, the fact is that they resemble Khatris in certain traits. They are also divided into many groups and castes, Uchanda, Nichanda, etc., but in social life, these groups are of no importance.  They intermarry in their groups like others. They also intermarry among Khatris.  In the All-India meeting in 1936, held by the Khatris at Lahore (Pakistan), it was decided that the Aroras, Soods and Bhatias were Khatri for all intents and purposes.  And, as such, they should be admitted to the Khatri stock.  This interpretation did not find much favour then, but with the lapse of time, it has almost been accepted.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://punjabrevenue.nic.in/gaz_hsp4.htm |title=Chapter Iii<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=21 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101024205011/http://punjabrevenue.nic.in/gaz_hsp4.htm |archive-date=24 October 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref>}}

[[Uttaradhi Arora|Uttaradhi]] (north), Dakhanadhi (south) and Dahre (west) are three major sub-groups of the Arora people based on territorial differentiations.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Singh|first=Surely Kumar|title=People of India: India's communities|publisher=Anthropological Survey of India|year=1997|location=Kolkata|pages=126}}</ref> Before the independence of India, Arora used to marry in their own sub-group i.e. Uttradhi, Dakkhna or Dahra but after the independence, spheres of permissible arranged matrimonial alliances were widened to include other sub-groups of Arora.<ref name=DistGazAmritsar>{{cite web |url=http://punjabrevenue.nic.in/gaz_asr9.htm |title=Religions And Castes |work=District Gazetteer - Amritsar |year=1976 |publisher=Department of Revenue, Rehabilitation and Disaster Management, Government of Punjab |access-date=23 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926235916/http://punjabrevenue.nic.in/gaz_asr9.htm |archive-date=26 September 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

British ethnographer [[Denzil Ibbetson]] observed that Arora-Khatris were centered in [[Multan]] and [[Derajat]] (region consisting of [[Dera Ismail Khan District|Dera Ismail Khan]] and [[Dera Ghazi Khan District|Dera Ghazi Khan]]) which are now part of [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]] and [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]] regions of modern-day Pakistan. They conducted business throughout [[Afghanistan]] and [[Central Asia]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Oonk|first=Gijsbert|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BkwsMTyShi8C&q=arora+sub+caste+of+khatris&pg=PA43|title=Global Indian Diasporas: Exploring Trajectories of Migration and Theory|date=2007|publisher=Amsterdam University Press|isbn=978-90-5356-035-8|pages=43|language=en}}</ref>

=== Post-independence ===

In the census of 1951, Aroras that were settled in Punjab returned their caste names as Khatris, Arora Khatris, Arorae, Rore, Aror, Rora Khatris, Arore, Aror Khatris etc. Some of the Aroras simply returned their caste names with Arora sub-caste names such as Arya, Ahuja, Batheja, Bathla, Kukreja, Chawla, Chhabra, Dang, Juneja, Taneja, Upneja, Wadhwa etc.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|last=Government of India|first=Deputy Registrar General|date=23 August 1956|title=GLOSSARY OR CASTE NAMES RETURNED AT THE CENSUS OF 1951 IN THE DISTRICTS OF PEPSU|url=http://lsi.gov.in:8081/jspui/bitstream/123456789/7127/1/47712%20_1951_GLO.pdf|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210504060550/http://lsi.gov.in:8081/jspui/bitstream/123456789/7127/1/47712%20_1951_GLO.pdf|archive-date=4 May 2021|access-date=4 May 2021|website=Linguistic Survey of India}}</ref>

According to the Commission Reports by [[Magistrate|Justice]] Gurnam Singh (1990) and [[Magistrate|Justice]] K.C. Gupta (2012), Arora is a [[forward caste]] socially, educationally and economically. It was reported that "despite of being uprooted from their homeland",  Arora community has high [[Literacy|literacy rate]]. An economic survey conducted by [[Maharshi Dayanand University|Maharishi Dayanand University]] states that Arora/Khatri people have good representation both in government as well as private sector. They are both in business, services and other fields. They are "economically well-off and not dependent on money-lending or shopkeeping". They are engaged as "[[Physician|doctors]], [[engineer]]s, [[Public administration|administrators]] and are represented in [[White-collar worker|white-collar jobs]]". The  Arora were divided in two main sub groups, namely [[Hindus|Hindu]] Arora and [[Sikhs|Sikh]] Arora depending upon the religion pursued.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|last=Government of Haryana|first=Department of Welfare|title=Report of Backward Classes Commission|url=http://haryanascbc.gov.in/report-of-haryana-backward-classes-commission-2012|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210515063352/http://haryanascbc.gov.in/report-of-haryana-backward-classes-commission-2012|archive-date=15 May 2021|access-date=15 May 2021|website=Welfare of Scheduled Caste & Backward Classes Department|pages=135–136}}</ref>

[[Punita Arora]] became the first lady [[Lieutenant general (India)|Lieutenant General]] of the Indian Army in 2004.<ref>{{Cite web |title=First Lady Lt Gen of Indian Army |url=https://archive.pib.gov.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=3623 |access-date=22 August 2022 |website=archive.pib.gov.in}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=rediff.com: The General in a Sari - A Slide Show |url=http://specials.rediff.com/news/2004/sep/16army1.htm |access-date=22 August 2022 |website=specials.rediff.com}}</ref>

As of 2009, many Aroras were prominent shopkeepers in several cities of Punjab including [[Amritsar]].<ref name="McLeod"/> McLeod adds that they played prominent role in the [[Singh Sabha Movement|Singh Sabha movement]]. Aroras such as [[Vir Singh (writer)|Vir Singh]] and Mehtab Singh{{efn|Mehtab Singh, a Sikh Arora, was an eminent political leader in the early 20th century.<ref name="McLeod"/>}} were influential within the Sikh community.<ref name="McLeod"/>

In the [[2022 Punjab Legislative Assembly election]], 11 legislatures in the majority government, come from Arora community.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Punjab Election |date=20 March 2022 |title=Arora community seeks representation in ministry |work=[[The Tribune (Chandigarh)]] |url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/arora-community-seeks-representation-in-ministry-379269 |access-date=20 April 2023}}</ref>

==Culture==

[[W. H. McLeod|McLeod]] notes that marriages between Aroras and the [[Khatri]]s are common.<ref name="McLeod"/>

According to the [[University of Utah]] sociologist, Bam Dev Sharda, in the "status allocation in village India", the Aroras are considered a mercantile caste belonging to the [[Vaishya]] varna - like the Khatris, [[Agarwal]], [[Bania (caste)|Bania]] and [[Ahluwalia (caste)|Ahluwalia]], and they claim "[[Dvija|twice-born]]" status.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Shape of Social Inequality: Stratification and Ethnicity in Comparative perspective  |editor=David Bills|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Lf3q3zePi2UC&pg=PA253|page=253|year=2005|author=Bam Dev Sharda|publisher=Elsevier |isbn=9780080459356}}</ref> So does historian Kenneth Jones by citing [[Denzil Ibbetson]]'s study.<ref name="JonesJones1976">{{cite book|author1=Kenneth W. Jones|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RpvXCtNzrz8C&pg=PA4|title=Arya Dharm: Hindu Consciousness in 19th-century Punjab|author2=Kenneth W.Jones|publisher=University of California Press|year=1976|isbn=978-0-520-02920-0|pages=4–5}}</ref>

According to the [[University of Toronto]] anthropologist, Nicola Mooney, the Aroras are of [[Kshatriya]] varna, along with the Khatris.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Mooney|first=Nicola|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Hu4X3AOhS8C|title=Rural Nostalgias and Transnational Dreams: Identity and Modernity Among Jat Sikhs|date=17 September 2011|publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=978-1-4426-6268-1|pages=152|language=en|quote=Aroras, however, are significantly higher than Jats in the caste hierarchy: along with Khatris, they are of the warrior varna, Kshatriya, the second of the four varna}}</ref> Similarly, [[Grant Evans (scholar)|Grant Evans]] describes Arora as a "sub-group of the Khatri jati of the Kshatriya Varna".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Evans|first=Grant|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cySBAAAAMAAJ|title=Asia's Cultural Mosaic: An Anthropological Introduction|date=1993|publisher=Prentice Hall|isbn=978-0-13-052812-4|pages=299|language=en|quote=An example of a jati might be to be the member of a Lahore Arora, a regional sub - group within the Khatri jati of the Kshatriya varna.}}</ref>{{clarify|reason=The page 299 also mentions:"Some non - Khatri would assign the Arora to the lower, Vaisya category". Please can we get full context for the quote?|date=October 2021}}

According to one legend, the Aroras are of Kshatriya stock.<ref name="one"/><ref name="Vikas Publishing House"/>

In the opinion of a "Ford-Maxwell Professor of South Asian Studies" at [[Syracuse University]], the merchant-type castes such as the Rajasthani Baniyas, Agarwals, Guptas, Mittals, Goels are [[Dvija|twice born]] castes. However in Punjab, there is a large number of merchant type jatis, "Arora" being their generic name, both Hindu and Sikh, and they are not [[twice-born]]. Yet they share about the same status in the wide regional ranking". He calls this "deferred caste denial" which he explains as the rule that "hierarchy persists in the Hindu mind even where caste is denied in any of the senses and by any of the strategies adumbrated".<ref>{{cite book|title=Dimensions of Social Life: Essays in Honor of David G. Mandelbaum|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|year=1987|isbn=9783110846850|editor=Paul Hockings|page=518|chapter=The Denial of Caste in modern Urban Parlance|quote=..hindi speaking Aggrawals, Guptas Mittals, Goels, i.e. all of them are mostly twice born, most vegetarians. In Punjab, there is a large number of merchant type jatis, "Arora" being their generic name, both Hindu and Sikh, and they are not twice-born and in an all Hindu ranking would classify as clean shudras. Yet they share about the same status in the wide regional ranking.|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ERQp5YCXiWsC&pg=PA518}}</ref>

In the opinion of a Professor of Sociology at [[University of Lucknow|Lucknow University]] (India), "every Hindu is supposed to have a caste" and Aroras (including its sub-castes) are identified as a sub-division of the [[Khatri]]s. It is noted that "whether Khattris belong to Kshatriya varna or Vaishya varna is a point of controversy".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Madan|first=Gurmukh Ram|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z4rCn2C5eHUC|title=India And The West: A Cultural Contrast|date=2004|publisher=Mittal Publications|isbn=978-81-7099-862-4|pages=5|language=en}}</ref> According to Ethne K. Marenco, the [[Jat Sikh]]s were placed at the top in the [[Sikh]] caste hierarchy, above the Khatri and Arora Sikhs. In contrast, per the [[Hindu]] traditions, "the Khatris and Aroras were accorded Kshatriya status", while "the status of the Jat Sikhs was equated with that of Shudras".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Marenco|first=Ethne K.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OeseAAAAMAAJ|title=The Transformation of Sikh Society|date=1974|publisher=HaPi Press|pages=167–168, 296|language=en}}</ref>

Majority of the male members of the [[Arya Samaj]] in the late 19th century Punjab came from the Arora and [[Khatri]] merchant castes. He cites N.G.Barrier to show that the philosophy of the Arya Samaj founder, [[Dayananda Saraswati]], was responsible for the aspirations of these [[Vaishya]] castes from Punjab to higher status:<ref name="Jaffrelot2010">{{cite book | author = Christophe Jaffrelot | date = 2010 | title = Religion, Caste, and Politics in India | publisher = Primus Books | pages = 98– | isbn = 9789380607047 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=XAO3i_gS61wC&pg=PA98|quote=In 1891, more than half the 9,105 male members of the movement belonged to the Khatri and Arora merchant castes. This sociological composition reflected the same socio-cultural logic as in Gujarat where Dayananda had set up the Arya samaj with the support of traders seeking a better status more in keeping with their new prosperity (Jordens 1978) linked with the economic advance of British India; in the Punjab, his movement developed along the same lines among the merchant castes which felt that they could aspire all the more legitimately to the leadership of their community as the Brahmins and Kshatriyas, who had been hierarchically superior to them had been marginalized. Barrier hence explains the attraction that the Arya Samaj exercised over the merchant castes by the fact that: Dayananda's claim that caste should be determined primarily by merit not birth, opened new paths of social mobility to educated Vaishyas who were trying to achieve social status commensurate with their improving economic status.}}</ref>{{blockquote| Dayananda's claim that caste should be determined primarily by merit not birth, opened new paths of social mobility to educated [[Vaishyas]] who were trying to achieve social status commensurate with their improving economic status<ref name="Jaffrelot2010"/>}}

In a study of cultural geography and [[Hindu pilgrimage sites in India|pilgrimage in India]], it was recorded that "Khatri-Aroras are surely among the most numerous Hindu caste groups" in the areas of [[Punjab]] and Delhi. Khatri-Arora along with [[Brahmans]] and Mercantile castes "dominated the total mass of pilgrims" at [[Badrinath temple|Badrinath]] Dham. Similarly, the total number of pilgrims at [[Haridwar]] and [[Jwala Ji Temple|Jwalaji]] were also predominated by the Khatri-Arora. At [[Chintpurni|Chintapurni]] pilgrim, the Arora was found to be numerically dominant pilgrim group particularly during the [[Shravana Kumara|Shravan]] [[Ashtami|Ashtmi]] fair.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bhardwaj |first=Surinder M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D6XJFokSJzEC&q=arora+ |title=Hindu Places of Pilgrimage in India: A Study in Cultural Geography |date=8 July 1983 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-04951-2 |pages=176–179 |language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Arora (surname)]]

==External links==
{{Wikivoyage}}
*[https://arorakhatri.com/ Arora-Khatri Web site]

==References==
'''Citations'''
{{notelist}} 
{{reflist}}
'''Bibliography'''
{{refbegin}}
*{{citation |title=The Indian Diaspora in Central Asia and Its Trade, 1550–1900 |first=Scott Cameron |last=Levi |publisher=BRILL |location=Leiden |year=2002 |isbn=978-90-04-12320-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9qVkNBge8mIC |access-date=23 October 2011 }}{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
{{refend}}

{{Ethnic groups, tribes and clans of the Punjab}}

[[Category:Indian castes]]
[[Category:Punjabi tribes]]
[[Category:Sindhi tribes]]
[[Category:Social groups of Haryana]]
[[Category:Social groups of Punjab, India]]
[[Category:Social groups of Delhi]]
[[Category:Arora clans| ]]
[[Category:People from Sukkur District]]