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The Mughals (also spelled Moghul or Mogul) are a number of culturally related peoples in modern-day North India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, who claimed they are descended from the various Central Asian Mongolic and Turkic tribes and Persians that settled in Mughal India. The term Mughal (or Moghul in Persian) literally means Mongol.

History and origin

In North India, the term Mughal refers to one of the four social groups that are referred to as the Ashraaf in Pakistan, the Gheba and Kassar in Punjab claim from the Barlas, a Mongol tribe that had later been Turkicised. Sir Denzil Ibbetson, the eminent British student of Punjabi tribal structures, noted a tendency among many tribes of the Pothohar and Upper Hazara regions of Northern Pakistan to claim Barlas Mughal ancestry.

In North India

In North India, the term Mughal refers Gürkani or Timurids. They are also sometimes referred to as Chughtais or Chagatai Türks named after Chagatai Turkic language spoken by the Barlas and other Central Asian tribes. But one of the social groups that are claim to as the Ashraaf.

In Uttar Pradesh

The Sambhal, who claim Turkic descent, identify as a Biradari, literally translating to "brotherhood", which is the word used for a social unit based on kinship such as tribe or clan. The chief of the Biradari is the "Sardar", who is usually an elder man annually elected as the greatest man in the Biradari. Decisions on important matters are taken only after consulting the Biradari, and once taken binding on every member.

Present circumstances

North India

The community had traditionally served as soldiers in the armies of the various Indo-Muslim dynasties which ruled the Indian subcontinent. They were and still are a community of small to medium-sized farmers. A good many are also traders. Like other Gujarati Muslims, they have a caste association known as the Jamat, which acts both as a welfare organization and an instrument of social control.

See also

• Khan Mughal
• Turco-Mongol tradition

References

1. Сабитов Ж. М., Баймуханов Н. Б. (2015). "Y-STR гаплотипы узбеков, уйгуров, таджиков, пуштунов, хазарейцев, моголов из базы данных Family Tree DNA". The Russian Journal of Genetic Genealogy (in Russian) (2): 22–23.
2. Liz Wyse and Caroline Lucas (1997). Atlas Of World History. Scotland: Geddes & Grosset.
3. Collins Compact Dictionary. Glasgow: HarperCollins. 2002. ISBN 0-00-710984-9.
4. B.F. Manz, The rise and rule of Tamerlan, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1989, p. 28: "... We know definitely that the leading clan of the Barlas tribe traced its origin to Qarachar Barlas, head of one of Chaghadai's regiments ... These then were the most prominent members of the Ulus Chaghadai: the old Mongolian tribes — Barlas, Arlat, Soldus and Jalayir ..."
5. M.S. Asimov & C. E. Bosworth, History of Civilizations of Central Asia, UNESCO Regional Office, 1998, ISBN 92-3-103467-7, p. 320: "... One of his followers was Timur of the Barlas tribe. This Mongol tribe had settled in the valley of Kashka Darya, intermingling with the Turkish population, adopting their religion (Islam) and gradually giving up its own nomadic ways, like a number of other Mongol tribes in Transoxania ..."
6. Muslim Caste in Uttar Pradesh (A Study of Culture Contact), Ghaus Ansari, Lucknow, 1960
7. Shenila Khoja-Moolji (2018). Forging the Ideal Educated Girl:The Production of Desirable Subjects in Muslim South Asia. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-97053-3.
8. Khan Amanat (1938). Agriculture and Live Stock In India Vol-viii. The Imperial Council Agriculture Research. p. 485.
9. People of India Gujarat Volume XXI Part Three edited by R.B Lal, P.B.S.V Padmanabham, G Krishnan & M Azeez Mohideen pages 1394-1399

• Mongol peoples
• Turkic peoples
• Surnames
• Punjabi tribes
• Mughal clans of Pakistan
• Tribes of India
• Tribes of Pakistan
• India–Mongolia relations
• Ethnic groups in India
• Mongolia–Pakistan relations