The Khinger or Khingar are a gotra

Gotra

In the Hindu society, the term Gotra broadly refers to people who are descendants in an unbroken male line from a common male ancestor. Panini defines gotra for grammatical purposes as apatyam pautraprabhrti gotram , which means "the word gotra denotes the progeny beginning with the son's son"...

 (clan) of Bhatti Rajputs, found in the Potohar region 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...

.

History and origin

The Khingar are found mainly in Jhelum District

Jhelum District

Jhelum District is in the Punjab province of Pakistan. According the 1998 census the district had a population of 936,957, of which 31.48% were urban. Jhelum is known for providing a large number of soldiers to the British and later to the Pakistan armed forces due to which it is also known as...

, and Gujar Khan Tehsil

Gujar Khan Tehsil

Gujar Khan Tehsil, head-quartered at Gujar Khan, is one of the seven Tehsils of Rawalpindi District in the Punjab province of Pakistan...

 of Rawalpindi District

Rawalpindi District

Rawalpindi is a district of Pakistan in the north of the Punjab province which contains the city of Rawalpindi. The district has an area of . It was part of Rawalpindi Division, until the year 2000 when the division was abolished...

. Like many other Potohar tribes, they claim to both of Jat and Bhatti Rajput

Rajput

A Rajput is a member of one of the patrilineal clans of western, central, northern India and in some parts of Pakistan. Rajputs are descendants of one of the major ruling warrior classes in the Indian subcontinent, particularly North India...

 status. The Jhelum branch tend generally calls itself Jat, while in Rawalpindi

Rawalpindi

Rawalpindi , locally known as Pindi, is a city in the Pothohar region of Pakistan near Pakistan's capital city of Islamabad, in the province of Punjab. Rawalpindi is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad...

 and Gujar Khan

Gujar Khan

Gujar Khan is a city in Rawalpindi District, Punjab, Pakistan. It is the headquarters of Gujar Khan Tehsil, the largest tehsil of Punjab. It is approximately 55 kilometres southeast of Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan and 220 km to the north west of Lahore, capital of Punjab...

, they claim to be Bhatti Rajput

Rajput

A Rajput is a member of one of the patrilineal clans of western, central, northern India and in some parts of Pakistan. Rajputs are descendants of one of the major ruling warrior classes in the Indian subcontinent, particularly North India...

. There are also several Khingar villages in the Thal

Thal Desert

The Thal desert is situated in Punjab, Pakistan. It is vast area mainly between the Jhelum and Sindh rivers near the Pothohar Plateau. Its total length from north to south is 190 miles, and its maximum breadth is while minimum breadth is 20 miles. This region is divided into the districts of...

 portion of Mianwali District

Mianwali District

Mianwali is a district in the northwest of Punjab province, Pakistan. It borders eight districts: Attock District in the north, Chakwal District in the northeast, Khushab District in the east, and Bhakkar District in the south, while Lakki Marwat lies to the west, Kohat and Karak districts to the...

. The tribe claims descent from Khingar, who was said to be a Chandravanshi Rajput

Rajput

A Rajput is a member of one of the patrilineal clans of western, central, northern India and in some parts of Pakistan. Rajputs are descendants of one of the major ruling warrior classes in the Indian subcontinent, particularly North India...

 descendants of Rai Sandal Khan Bhatti and Rai Abdullah Khan Bhatti popularly known as Dulla Bhatti

Dulla Bhatti

Rai Abdullah Khan Bhatti Rajput, popularly known as Dulla Bhatti , was a famous legendary Rajput hero of the Punjab, who led a rebellion against the Mughal emperor Akbar...

 and belongs to the Rawal Jaisal Singh who founded "The Golden City" of Jaisalmer

Jaisalmer

Jaysalmer , nicknamed "The Golden City", is a town in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is located west from the state capital Jaipur. It was once known as Jaisalmer state. The town stands on a ridge of yellowish sandstone, crowned by a fort, which contains the palace and several ornate Jain...

.

Like other Potoharis, many Khinger have emigrated to Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, particularly Britain

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 and Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

.

Villages

There are several Khingar villages in Gujar Khan Tehsil

Gujar Khan Tehsil

Gujar Khan Tehsil, head-quartered at Gujar Khan, is one of the seven Tehsils of Rawalpindi District in the Punjab province of Pakistan...

, the important ones are Sandal Khingar, Supiyal Khingar, Sihal Khinger, Kahali Khinger, Mamdal Khinger and Bhangali Khinger. In Rawalpindi Tehsil, Maira Khinger, Khinger Khurd

Khinger Khurd

Khinger Khurd is a village located in Rawalpindi Tehsil of Rawalpindi District] in the [[Potohar]] region of [[Pakistan]]. It co-ordinates are in N A 52 [[Pakistan]]. Its beautiful village,specially mosque is very beautiful. The population is [[Muslim]] . Crime rate is very low. The total...

 and Khinger Kalan

Khinger Kalan

Khinger Kalan is a small village located in Rawalpindi District in Pakistan. It is 34 km to the southwest of Rawalpindi in the Punjab province of Pakistan. Khinger Kalan is in the Union Council of Jhatta Hathial . It islocated on the Chak Beli Khan Road, which links it to the Nakraalil/Bagh...

 are important villages. Khinger in Attock District

Attock District

Attock District is a district in the north-west Punjab Province of Pakistan.The district was created in April 1904 by the merger of Talagang Tehsil in the Jhelum District with the Pindigheb, Fatehjang and Attock tehsils from Rawalpindi District of the Punjab province of British India.Attock...

, is a centre of the tribe in that district. There are also several villages of Khingar in Chakwal District

Chakwal District

Chakwal is a district in the Punjab province of Pakistan. Chakwal district was created in 1985; until the year 2000 when divisions were abolished, it was part of Rawalpindi Division.-Administration:...

, all of whom consider themselves to be Jats.