LuciaStonor at 04:52, 11 February 2026

2026-02-11T04:52:59Z

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{{Short description|Muslim caste of India}}
{{About||the Rajput clan|Gaur Rajputs|the Brahmin Hindu caste|Gaur Brahmins|other uses|Gour (disambiguation){{!}}Gour}}
{{pp-extended|small=yes}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{ethnic group|
| group = Gada
Muslims
| poptime =
| popplace ={{Flag|India}}, {{Flag|Pakistan}}
| langs = Hindi • [[Urdu language|Urdu]] • [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]]
| rels = {{symbol|Star and Crescent.svg}} Islam
}}
'''Garha''' (also spelled '''Gaud''', '''Gada''' ) are a Muslim community in the [[subcontinent]]. They live pre-dominantly in the states of [[Punjab region|Punjab]], Delhi, [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[Haryana]], [[Uttarakhand]] and [[Rajasthan]].

==History and origin==
The Garha have 51 sub-divisions,<ref name="poi">Manohar, K S Singh, ed. (2005) ''People of India Uttar Pradesh''. Vol. XLII Part 2. p. 509</ref> known as [[Baradari (brotherhood)|biradari]]. Some of these are based on territorial groupings and some on the sects and castes they belonged prior to their conversion to Islam. Their main biradari is the [[Gaur Brahmin]]. Some Garha sub-groups descent from the [[Gaur (clan)|Gaur (Clan)]] of [[Rajput]]. But most of Gada groups are descent from the Gaur Brahmin community, and Garha is the khadi boli transformation of the original Sanskrit word "Gauda" which means "fair one" an allusion to the learnedness and high status.

Some Garha Biradari sub-groups also descent from the tribe of Muhammad Ghouri or [[Muhammad of Ghor]]. They merged with the Gaur Muslims through marriage and political alliance and use surname Ghouri or Gouri and Ghazi. Although as per Historical evidences, Muhammad Ghori didn't have any sons, his only child was his daughter who died in his lifetime.

Thus it can be concluded that Gaur Muslims are a mixed community of [[Gaur Brahmin]] (major and the main part), [[Rajput]] and [[Ghurid dynasty|Gauri Turk]].

The Garha have a caste association, called the Anjuman Garha (Garha association), whose primary purpose is to look after their socio-economic welfare. The association runs schools imparting education and making arrangements of boarding house for poors. They live in multi-caste villages, occupying their own quarters and they are landlords and well educated as well as powerful. They are upper caste and Swarn or [[Ashraaf]].<ref name="ReferenceA">Manohar, K S Singh, ed. (2005) ''People of India Uttar Pradesh''. Vol. XLII Part 2. p. 511</ref>

The community comprises mostly peasants called Lambardaar, Gour, Padhaan, Zamindaar, Jagirdar, Chaudhary, Gauri and Ghazi concentrated in the [[Doab]] region of Uttar Pradesh and neighbouring [[Haridwar District]] of [[Uttarakhand]] and [[Yamuna Nagar district]] of [[Haryana]]. Each of their settlements contains a village-based caste council, known as a ''biradari panchayat'', which acts as an instrument of social control and resolves intra-community disputes. In terms of religion, they are fairly orthodox [[Sunni]] Muslims, and have customs similar to other neighbouring Muslim peasant castes such as [[Tyagi|Muslim Taga]]s, [[Jat Muslim|Muslim Jat]]s, [[Ranghar]]s and [[Rohilla]]s. The Garha speak [[Urdu]], Hindi, [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]] and the local [[Kauravi dialect|Khari boli]] dialect.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

==See also==
* [[Gaur Brahmins]]
* [[Gaur Rajputs]]
* [[Muhammad ibn Suri]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Indian Muslim}}

[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.48115/page/n117/mode/2up]

[[Category:Muslim communities of Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:Social groups of Haryana]]
[[Category:Muslim communities of Haryana]]
[[Category:Muslim communities of Rajasthan]]

Garha - Revision history

LuciaStonor at 04:52, 11 February 2026