TomOcampo9313 at 16:37, 24 September 2025

2025-09-24T16:37:42Z

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{{short description|Community of Muslim Rajputs}}
{{Other uses|Khanzada (disambiguation)}}
{{pp-extended|small=yes}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2015}}
{{infobox ethnic group
| image =
| group = Khanzada
| popplace = [[India]], [[Pakistan]], [[Bangladesh]], [[Nepal]]
| langs = {{hlist|[[Hindi language|Hindi]]|[[Awadhi language|Awadhi]]|[[Mewati]]|[[Khari Boli]]|[[Urdu language|Urdu]]|[[English language|English]]}}{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}
| rels = [[Islam]] 100%
| related = {{hlist|[[Thakurai]]|Bhatti Khanzada|[[Khokhar Khanzada]]}}{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}
}}

The '''Khanzada '''or '''Khan Zadeh''' are a cluster community of [[Muslim Rajputs]] found in the [[Indian states]] of [[Uttar Pradesh]] and [[Rajasthan]]. A notable community is the [[Khanzadas of Mewat]], the descendants of [[Raja Nahar Khan]], who are a sub-clan of the [[Jadaun]] clan of Rajputs.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}} They refer to themselves as Muslim Rajputs. After the [[partition of India]] in 1947, many members of this community migrated to Pakistan, forming a part of the [[Muhajir (Pakistan)|Muhajir]] community.

== Etymology ==
The term ''Khanzada'' or ''Khan Zadeh'' is a literal [[Persian language|Persian]] translation of the [[Hindi]] word ''Rajput'', which originates from the [[Sanskrit]] word ''rājaputra'' ({{Langx|sa|राजपुत्र}}; literally "son of a king"). The Sankrit term finds mention in some ancient [[Hindu]] scriptures like the ''[[Rigveda]]'', ''[[Ramayana]]'' and ''[[Mahabharata]]''.<ref>{{Cite book|author=Rima Hooja|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tosMAQAAMAAJ |title=A History of Rajasthan |year=2006| publisher=Rupa & Co. |isbn=9788129108906 |language=en |oclc=80362053 |page=181}}</ref>

==History and origin==
The term ''khanzada'' originally applied to the Bachgoti Rajput family of the Rajahs of [[Hasanpur]]. They were said to have converted to Islam during the rule of [[Sher Shah Suri]]. This family claimed descent from Bariar Singh, a Bachgoti Rajput, who said to have emigrated from [[Sultanpur district|Sultanpur]] in the 13th century. The Bachgoti had started off as a clan of the [[Chauhan dynasty|Chauhan]] Rajputs of [[Mainpuri]]. Bariar Singh's grandson, Tilok Chand is said to have converted to Islam, and the family took the name Khanzada.<ref>pages 94 and 95 in Daughters of the earth : women and land in Uttar Pradesh by Smita Tewari Jassal New Delhi : Manohar, 2001 {{ISBN|8173043752}}</ref>

==Present circumstances==
In northern Awadh, a region comprising roughly [[Barabanki District]] in south east to [[Lakhimpur Kheri District]] in the north west, the Khanzada have a followed a slightly different path, with a stronger identification with Islam. In a recent study of a Chauhan Khanzada village in Raisenghat Tehsil of [[Barabanki District]], this particular community was seen to be strongly identifying with neighbouring [[muslim]] rajput of Uttar Pradesh communities, and there was increasingly intermarriage between the two groups. There economic condition in this region is also been affected, with a dwindling in the size of their farms, especially in [[Shravasti district|Shravasti]] and [[Balrampur district, Uttar Pradesh|Balrampur]] districts. Many are now, in fact, landless agricultural labourers.<ref>Family, kinship and marriage among Muslims in India / edited by Imtiaz Ahmad {{ISBN|0-88386-757-5}}</ref>{{full citation needed|date=October 2023}}<ref>[https://medium.com/@khalid.afzal67/history-of-bisen-khanzada-community-in-awadh-region-33884696b9d7 History of Bisen Khanzada Community in Awadh region; Khalid Hameed, 2018]</ref>
The Khanzada, however have been badly affected by abolition of the [[zamindar]]i system, with many now destitute. They still remain a land owning community, but those especially in [[Balrampur district, Uttar Pradesh|Balrampur]], [[Gonda district|Gonda]] and [[Bahraich district|Bahraich]] are now simply agricultural labourers. The community are also divided on sectarian lines, with the majority being [[Sunni]], while a minority, mainly the ex-taluqdar families being [[Shia]]. Like other [[Indian Muslim]]s, there is growing movement towards orthodoxy, with many of their villages containing [[madrasa]]s. The madrasas have also facilitated the growth of [[Urdu]], with it beginning to replace the [[Awadhi language|Awadhi]] dialect they traditionally spoke.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://findarticles.com/p/news-articles/times-of-india-the/mi_8012/is_20070708/muslim-rajputs-india/ai_n39451474/?tag=content;col1 |title=Muslim Rajputs of UP [India], The | Times of India, The Newspaper | Find Articles at BNET |publisher=Findarticles.com |date=2007-07-08 |access-date=2010-08-18 |first=Atul |last=Sethi }}{{dead link|date=May 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>{{better source needed|date=October 2023}}

==See also==
* [[Khokhar Khanzada]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book |title=Kin, Clan, Raja, and Rule: Statehinterland Relations in Preindustrial India |first=Richard Gabriel |last=Fox |publisher=University of California Press |year=1971 |isbn=978-0-52001-807-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FHEcBTmxlOEC}}

== External links ==
{{Commons}}{{Indian Muslim}}

[[Category:Khanzada]]
[[Category:Rajput clans of Rajasthan]]
[[Category:Rajput clans of Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:Muhajir communities]]

Khanzada Rajputs - Revision history

TomOcampo9313 at 16:37, 24 September 2025