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Gakhars (also Gakkhar or Ghakhar or Ghakkar) are a Punjabi community living in India with an ancient recorded history, originally belonging to the areas of West Punjab which now fall in the territory of Pakistan. Gakhars are found among Hindus and Sikhs in India and also among Muslims, and a large section of Muslim Gakhars are settled in Pakistan.

The Gakhars are an ancient tribe settled in Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Jhelum, Kashmir, Gilgit, Baltistan (Tibet), Chitral, and Khanpur regions in modern day Pakistan and India.

Before the independence of Pakistan, the Gakhar Hindus shared their ancestral homes with the rest of the tribe. After independence the Gakhar Hindus moved to India and they now live in various parts of north India.

Conversion to Islam

The Islamic conquest of Persia (637-651) led to the end of the Sassanid Empire and the eventual decline of the Zoroastrian religion in Persia and predominant section of Gakhars converted to Islam. However, the achievements of the previous Persian civilizations were not lost, but were to a great extent absorbed by the new Islamic polity. See

Genealogical records and clan histories of the Gakhars at Pehowa and Kankhal

The pandas or record keeping pandits of the Gakhars are located in Pehowa near Kurukshetra and Kankhal near Haridwar, both places in India, which are visited for spiritual reasons as well as to complete religious ceremonies after death. These are primary sources for the clan histories of the Gakhars. Often these Pandas are able to shed considerable light on Muslim clans as well converted from Hindus.

See also

• Gakhars

References

1. Muslim conquest of Persia

• Indian castes
• Surnames
• Pre-Islamic heritage of Pakistan
• Ethnic groups in India
• Indian family names
• Jhangochi Dialect speaking areas
• Hindu communities
• Punjabi tribes
• Rajput clans of Punjab