Chiniotis - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Chinyoti are one of the leading industrialists of Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

. They come from a small town of Chiniot

Chiniot

Chiniot is a city and administration headquarter of Chiniot District, in the state of Punjab, Pakistan. Located between the heart of river Chenab with the heads of small rocky hills, it is known for its wooden furniture architecture which has a great attraction in all over the world.- Name and...

. Chiniot is the headquarters of Chiniot District

Chiniot District

Chiniot District became the 36th district of the Punjab province of Pakistan in February 2009. Earlier it was a tehsil of Jhang District.- History :...

of Punjab

Punjab (Pakistan)

Punjab is the most populous province of Pakistan, with approximately 45% of the country's total population. Forming most of the Punjab region, the province is bordered by Kashmir to the north-east, the Indian states of Punjab and Rajasthan to the east, the Pakistani province of Sindh to the...

province of Pakistan with a catchment area population of nearly 1 million inhabitants (rural and urban), is located on the banks of Chenab, southwestern Punjab. Chinioti term is reserved only for those residents and their descendants who migrated to far off Indian cities in the late 19th or early 20th century to set up small businesses. They are also known as Chinioti Shaikhs.

The Chinioti Shaikh are a multi-ethnic community who are partly descended from Arabs, Persian

Persian people

The Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...

s, Afghans and Turks. The Muslim

Muslim

A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

s of Middle East

Middle East

The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...

and Central Asia

Central Asia

Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...

have historically, travelled to South Asia

South Asia

South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...

as technocrats, bureaucrats, soldiers, traders, scientists, architects, teachers, theologians and Sufis during the Islamic Sultanates and Mughal Empire

Mughal Empire

The Mughal Empire ,‎ or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...

and settled permanently.

Out of 100,000 people who proudly call themselves Chiniotis, only 5,000 live in Chiniot. A small number of these Punjabi families were settled in Kolkatta (Calcutta) where they had migrated from Punjab in the 19th century to set up businesses near the source. The group remains endogamous and marries within the Punjabi Khatri community only. Beside Chiniot, they are living in Faisalabad

Faisalabad

Faisalabad , formerly known as Lyallpur, is the third largest metropolis in Pakistan, the second largest in the province of Punjab after Lahore, and a major industrial center in the heart of Pakistan. Before the foundation of the city in 1880, the area was very thinly populated. The population has...

, Lahore

Lahore

Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...

and Karachi

Karachi

Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...

.

The ancestors of these traders belonged to two Hindu caste groups ; Khatri

Khatri

Khatri is a caste from the northern Indian subcontinent. Khatris in India are mostly from Punjab, region but later they migrated to regions like Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Jammu, Uttarkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Balochistan, Sindh and Khyber...

and Arora

Arora

Arora is an Indo-Aryan community of the Punjab region. Commentators differ in their opinions regarding the relationship between the Arora and the Khatri community....

. After embracing Islam they called themselves Khoja and adopted Sheikh or Mian as title. They are also known as Chinioti Sheikh or Khoja Sheikh. The Khatri gotras of these traders are: Adal, Behrara, Churra, Maggun (or Maghoon), Sahgal, Wadhaun (or Vadhavan), Vohra (Wihara), Talwar, Puri, Topra, etc.. Where Arora gotra is Goruwala. Hence these groups are hetrogenous and Chiniotis themselves are not an ethnic group but a collection of various castes of Khatris and Aroras who came to live in close proximity due to their common occupation with trade. Originally these were upper caste Kashatriya tribes who took to trade a few hundred years ago. The extended clan extends from the Kashmiri Khatris of the valley to the Potohar plateau and also to Western Punjab in Chiniot within Jhang district.

After independence of Pakistan

Pakistan

in 1947, nearly all Chinioti Shaikh of East Punjab

Punjab (India)

Punjab ) is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani province of Punjab to the...

, Haryana

Haryana

Haryana is a state in India. Historically, it has been a part of the Kuru region in North India. The name Haryana is found mentioned in the 12th century AD by the apabhramsha writer Vibudh Shridhar . It is bordered by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, and by Rajasthan to the west and south...

, Calcutta and other parts of northern India

North India

North India, known natively as Uttar Bhārat or Shumālī Hindustān , is a loosely defined region in the northern part of India. The exact meaning of the term varies by usage...

migrated from India and settled in Pakistan.

Historical background

The exact date of their ancestors' conversion to Islam is not certain. The People of the Punjab starting accepting in 11th century. There is an interesting reference of rich Khatris and Khojas in the Heer Ranjha
Heer Ranjha
For 1970 Hindi movie of same name and characters, see Heer Raanjha.Heer Ranjha is one of the four popular tragic romances of the Punjab. The other three are Mirza Sahiba, Sassi Punnun and Sohni Mahiwal. There are several poetic narrations of the story, the most famous being 'Heer' by Waris Shah...

of Waris Shah

Waris Shah

Waris Shah was a Punjabi Sufi poet, renowned for his contribution to Punjabi literature. He is best-known for his seminal work Heer Ranjha, based on the traditional folk tale of Heer and her lover Ranjha. Heer is considered one of the quintessential works of classical Punjabi literature...

(1735-1790 AD).

"The beauty of her (Heer) red lips slays rich Khojas and Khatris in bazar, like murderous Kizilbash (Afghan soldiers) troopers riding out of the royal camp in to bazar with a sword"

These verses of "Heer Ranjha
Heer Ranjha
For 1970 Hindi movie of same name and characters, see Heer Raanjha.Heer Ranjha is one of the four popular tragic romances of the Punjab. The other three are Mirza Sahiba, Sassi Punnun and Sohni Mahiwal. There are several poetic narrations of the story, the most famous being 'Heer' by Waris Shah...

" written by Waris Shah

Waris Shah

in 1766 AD was probably the earliest reference to the emerging role of Muslim Khojas in the economy of the Post-Mughal Punjab.

The British Raj

British Raj

British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...

(1848-1947 AD) provided stability in the Punjab. The improved communication provided opportunities to those who wanted to progress. Chinioti traders took full advantage and expanded their activities beyond Punjab. Most of these traders started leather and hide trade in undivided India.

Historical background

See also