View source for Khatri

{{Short description|Caste in South Asia}}
{{distinguish|Chhetri}}
{{other uses|Khatri (surname)}}
{{protection padlock|small=yes}}
{{pp-move}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2024}}
{{infobox caste
|caste_name    = Khatri
|image         = A Khattri nobleman, in 'Kitab-i tasrih al-aqvam' by Col. James Skinner, aka Sikandar (1778-1841).jpg
|caption       = Khatri nobleman in ''Kitab-i Tasrih al-Aqvam'' by [[James Skinner (soldier)|James Skinner]] (1778–1841)
|religions     = '''Majority''': [[Hinduism]] <br /> '''Minority''': [[Sikhism]], [[Islam]]
|languages     = Major: [[Lahnda]] variety of [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]] ([[Potohari]], [[Hindko]], [[Saraiki language|Multani/Saraiki]])<ref name="auto">{{Cite book|last1=Dīwānā|first1=Mohana Siṅgha Ubarāi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gxA3AAAAIAAJ&q=khatris+hindko|title=A History of Panjabi Literature (1100-1932): A Brief Study of Reactions Between Panjabi Life and Letters Based Largely on Important MSS & Rare and Select Representative Published Works, with a New Supplement|last2=Uberoi|first2=Mohan Singh|date=1971|publisher=Sadasiva Prakashan; selling agents, Bharat Prakashan|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":142" /><ref>{{Cite web|date=25 September 2016|title=Blame caste for Pakistan's violent streak, not faith |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/aakarvani/blame-caste-for-pakistans-violent-streak-not-faith/|access-date=17 September 2021|website=Times of India|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="Wagha 1990 6–7">{{Cite book |last=Wagha |first=Ahsan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IOljAAAAMAAJ&q=The+Siraiki+language+:+its+growth+and+development. |title=The Siraiki Language: Its Growth and Development |date=1990 |publisher=Dderawar Publications |pages=6–7|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Fenech|first1=Louis E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xajcAwAAQBAJ&dq=The+term+is+typically+used+dismissively+by+Jats+to+express+opprobrium+towards+Sikhs+of+these+castes.+Until+recently+it+was+never+used+in+polite+company+or+print%2C+but+today+the+word+is+used+quite+openly&pg=PA67 |title=Historical Dictionary of Sikhism |last2=McLeod |first2=W. H.|date=11 June 2014 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-1-4422-3601-1|language=en}}</ref><br/>Minor: [[Hindi]], [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]], [[Dogri language|Dogri]], [[Kangri language|Kangri]], [[Sindhi language|Sindhi]],<ref>{{cite book |author=K.S. Singh|title=People of India: A–G.|volume=4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jHQMAQAAMAAJ&q=brahman-khatri|publisher=Oxford University. Press |year=1998|isbn=978-0-19563-354-2|page=3285}}</ref> [[Pashto]], [[Urdu]],<ref>{{cite book |author=Christine Everaert|title=Tracing the Boundaries Between Hindi and Urdu: Lost and Added in Translation Between 20th Century Short Stories|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LqZ-6QRKc7wC&pg=PA259|year=1996 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=9789004177314|pages=259}}</ref> [[Kutchi language|Kutchi]]
|country       = [[India]], [[Pakistan]] and [[Afghanistan]]
|region        = [[Punjab]], [[Sindh]], [[Delhi]], [[Jammu and Kashmir (union territory)|Jammu and Kashmir]],<ref>{{cite book |author=A. H. Advani |title=The India Magazine of Her People and Culture|volume=16 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cAluAAAAMAAJ&q=khatris+delhi |year=1995|publisher=the University of Michigan|pages=56–58}}</ref> [[Himachal Pradesh]],<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hesse |first1=Klaus |title=No reciprocation? Wife-givers and wife-takers and the bartan of the samskara among the Khatris of Mandi, Himachal Pradesh |journal=Contributions to Indian Sociology |date=May 1996 |volume=30 |issue=1 |pages=109–140 |doi=10.1177/006996679603000105 |s2cid=53703281 |issn=0069-9667|url=http://resolver.sub.uni-goettingen.de/purl?gs-1/13005 }}</ref> [[Haryana]],<ref>{{cite book |author=Kiran Prem|title=Haryana District Gazetteers: Ambala|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IFXRAAAAMAAJ&q=khatris |year=1970|publisher=Haryana Gazetteers Organization|page=42}}</ref> [[Gujarat]],<ref>{{cite book |first=Satish Chandra |last=Misra|title=Muslim communities in Gujarat: preliminary studies their history and social organization |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H1k1AQAAIAAJ&q=khatris|year=1964|publisher=Asia Pub. House|page=97}}</ref> [[Maharashtra]],<ref name="Dandekar19512">{{cite book|author1=Irawati Karve|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uLc0AAAAIAAJ|title=Anthropometric Measurements of Mahārāṣhṭra|author2=Vishnu Mahadeo Dandekar|publisher=Deccan College Postgraduate and Research Institute, Pune|year=1951|quote=(Pg 16)Group I. Castes which follow various professions like teachers, doctors, clerks, pleaders, engineers etc:-All Brahmins,Non Brahmins: Kayastha Prabhu,Pathare Prabhu, Pathare Kshatriya, Khatri, Vaishya Vani (pg 29) Castes called Khatris are found in Gujarat Karnataka and Maharashtra. This sample represents the Marathi speaking khatris who claim to have living near the Bombay island for the last century at least. Khatris are found in other towns in the west maratha countries their hereditary profession is said to be that of silk weavers and merchants. Now they have entered into all services like clerks, teachers and higher administrative jobs and also follow professions like law and medicine.....}}</ref> [[Uttar Pradesh]]
|population=
}}

'''Khatri''' ({{ipa|pa|kʰət̪ɾiː|ipa}}) is a [[caste system in India|caste]] originating from the [[Malwa (Punjab)|Malwa]] and [[Majha]] areas of [[Punjab]] region<ref>{{Citation |last=Sarkar |first=Natasha |title=Glossary |date=19 April 2024 |work=The Last Great Plague of Colonial India |pages=219–222 |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/56235/chapter/444639909 |access-date= |edition=1 |place=Oxford |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |language=en |doi=10.1093/9780191986406.003.0012 |isbn=978-0-19-198640-6 |quote= Khatri: A predominantly merchant and trading community that originated from the [[Malwa (Punjab)|Malwa]] and [[Majha]] areas in the [[Punjab]]|url-access=subscription }}<br/>{{cite journal |author1=H. Singh Syan |title=Khatrīs and Aroṛās |journal=Encyclopedia of Sikhism Online |date=2017 |doi=10.1163/2589-2118_beso_com_031682 |url=https://doi.org/10.1163/2589-2118_BESO_COM_031682 |publisher=Brill |language=en|quote=|url-access=subscription }}<br/>{{Cite book |last=Bowker |first=John |date=2003 |title=Khatrī |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100035777 |access-date=29 April 2024 |publisher=The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions |language=en |isbn=9780191727221 |quote=}}<br/>{{Cite web |last=Singh |first=Pashaura |date=2019 |title=Khatrī |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780191831874.001.0001/acref-9780191831874-e-192 |access-date= |website=A Dictionary of Sikh Studies |publisher=Oxford University Press |language=en |doi=10.1093/acref/9780191831874.001.0001 |isbn=9780191831874 |quote=}}<br/>{{Cite book |last=Levi |first=Scott Cameron |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=niuDjwEACAAJ |title=Caravans: Punjabi Khatri Merchants on the Silk Road |date=2016 |publisher=Portfolio Penguin |isbn=978-0-14-342616-5 |language=en|page=4}}</ref> of [[South Asia]] that is predominantly found in [[India]], but also in [[Pakistan]] and [[Afghanistan]]. The Khatris claim they are warriors who took to trade.<ref name="McLeod_AtoZ"/> In the [[Indian subcontinent]], they were mostly engaged in mercantile professions such as banking and trade.<ref name="Lorenzen199522">{{cite book |author=Mark Juergensmayer|title=Bhakti Religion in North India: Community Identity and Political Action|date=1 January 1995|publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=978-0-7914-2025-6|editor=David N. Lorenzen |page=86 |chapter=The social significance of Radhasoami|quote=In the past members of such castes such as Khatris served as shopkeepers, moneylenders, traders and teachers. Their reputation for mastering knowledge sometimes extended to the spiritual realm: Guru Nanak and the other nine founding gurus of the sikh tradition were Khatris, member of the Bedi subcaste.|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rpSxJg_ehnIC&pg=PA86}}</ref><ref name="Brass3">{{cite book|author=Tom Brass |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VXlACwAAQBAJ&pg=PT96 |title=Towards a Comparative Political Economy of Unfree Labour: Case Studies and Debates |publisher=Routledge |year=2016 |isbn=9781317827351 |page=96 |quote=For the role of the khatri caste as village moneylender, shopkeeper and grain-dealer in pre-Independence Punjab, see ...}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Eaton |first=Richard Maxwell |title=India in the Persianate age, 1000-1765 |date=2019 |isbn=978-0-520-97423-4 |location=UK |pages=349, 347, 381 |oclc=1088599361}}</ref> They were the dominant commercial and financial administration class of late-medieval India.<ref name=":2" /> Some in Punjab often belonged to hereditary agriculturalist land-holding lineages,<ref name="Oldenburg 2002 41, 15422" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Dhawan |first=Purnima |title=Oxford Handbook of the Mughal World |publisher=Oxford Library Press |year=2020 |isbn=9780190222659}}</ref> while others were engaged in artisanal occupations such as silk production and weaving.<ref name="SinghIndia19982">{{cite book |author1=K. S. Singh|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1lZuAAAAMAAJ|title=India's Communities|author2=Anthropological Survey of India |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-19-563354-2 |page=1730|quote=The traditional and present - day occupation of the Khatri is silk and cotton weaving, colouring, dyeing of threads and making jari and garlands. Some of them are engaged in other occupations like business and government jobs}}</ref><ref name="GillowBarnard20082">{{cite book|author1=John Gillow|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=647rAAAAMAAJ |title=Indian Textiles |author2=Nicholas Barnard|publisher=Thames & Hudson|year=2008|isbn=978-0-500-51432-0|page=222|quote=KHATRI A caste of professional dyers}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Subramaniam |first1=Lakshmi |title=The Political Economy of Textiles in Western India: Weavers, Merchants and the transition to a Colonial Economy |journal=How India Clothed the World |date=2009 |pages=253–280 |doi=10.1163/ej.9789004176539.i-490.71 |isbn=9789004176539 |url=https://www.lse.ac.uk/Economic-History/Assets/Documents/Research/GEHN/GEHNConferences/conf8/PUNESubramanian.pdf}}</ref><ref name="Barendse20092">{{cite book|author=R. J. Barendse|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_qvq9dN8j5MC&pg=PA164|title=Arabian Seas, 1700-1763|publisher=M.E. Sharpe |year=2009|isbn=978-0-7656-3364-4|pages=164–|quote=The silk trade between Bengal and Gujarat was a domain of Khatri merchants, for example.}}</ref>

Khatris of Punjab, specifically, were [[scribe]]s and traders during the medieval period, with the [[Gurmukhi|Gurumukhi]] script used in writing the [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]] language deriving from a standardised form of the [[Lahnda|Lāṇḍa]] script used by Khatri traders;<ref>{{Cite book |last=McLeod |first=W. H. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vgixwfeCyDAC |title=The A to Z of Sikhism |date=2009-07-24 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0-8108-6344-6 |pages=82 |language=en}}</ref> the invention of the script is traditionally ascribed to [[Guru Angad]]. During the medieval period, with the rise of Persian as an elite vernacular due to Islamic rule, some of the traditional high status [[Forward caste|upper-caste]] literate elite<ref>{{Cite book |last=King |first=Christopher Rolland |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B8RjAAAAMAAJ |title=One Language, Two Scripts: The Hindi Movement in Nineteenth Century North India |date=1999 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-565112-6 |pages=10 |language=en |quote=Three Hindu communities had particularly strong ties with Persian and Urdu, namely the Kayasths, Kashmiri Brahmins and Khatris. Two of the three - Kayasths and Khatris could claim a high status among their fellow Hindus, while the third, Kashmiri Brahmins - ranked among the highest of the Brahmin castes.}}</ref> such as the Khatris, [[Kashmiri Pandits|Kashmiri Brahmins]] and [[Kayastha]]s took readily to learning Persian from the times of [[Sikandar Khan Lodi|Sikandar Lodi]] onwards and found ready employment in the Imperial Services, specifically in the departments of accountancy (siyaq), draftsmanship (insha) and offices of the revenue minister (diwan).{{citation needed|date=May 2024}}<ref name="Pollock200323">{{cite book|author=Muzzafar Alam|title=Literary Cultures in History: Reconstructions from South Asia|publisher=University of California Press |year=2003 |isbn=9780520228214|editor=Sheldon Pollock|page=163|chapter=The culture and politics of Persian in pre-colonial Hindustan|quote=Hindus—Kayasthas (of the accountant and scribe caste) and Khatris (of the trading and scribe caste of the Panjab) in particular—joined madrasahs in large numbers to acquire training in Persian language and literature, which now promised good careers in imperial service.|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ak9csfpY2WoC&pg=PA163}}</ref><ref name="McLeod_AtoZ" />

In the 15th century, the [[Sikhism|Sikh religion]] was founded by [[Guru Nanak]], a Bedi Khatri. The second guru, [[Guru Angad]] was a Trehan Khatri. The third guru, [[Guru Amar Das]] was a Bhalla Khatri. The fourth through tenth gurus were all [[Sodhi]] Khatris.<ref name="McLeod_AtoZ" /> During the [[Sikh Empire]], many Khatris formed the military vanguard of the [[Sikh Khalsa Army|Khalsa Army]] and its administrative class as [[Dewan]]s of all the provinces. [[Hari Singh Nalwa]], the commander-in-chief of the Sikh Khalsa Army, was an Uppal Khatri and responsible for most of the Sikh conquests up until the [[Khyber Pass]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=e-Book: English - General Hari Singh Nalwa by Autar Singh Sindhu; Pure |url=https://apnaorg.com/books/english/hari-singh-nalwa/book.php?fldr=book |access-date=24 November 2022 |website=apnaorg.com}}</ref><ref>Singh, Gulcharan (October 1976), "General Hari Singh Nalwa", ''The Sikh Review'', '''24''' (274): 36–54</ref> Others such as [[Dewan Mokham Chand|Mokham Chand]] commanded the Sikh Army against the [[Durrani Empire]] at [[Attock]] while those such as [[Diwan Sawan Mal Chopra|Sawan Mal Chopra]] ruled [[Multan]] after wrestling it from the Afghans.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sheikh |first=Mohamed |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HBOMDwAAQBAJ |title=Emperor of the Five Rivers: The Life and Times of Maharajah Ranjit Singh |date=17 March 2017 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-78673-095-4 |language=en}}</ref>

During the British colonial era, they also served as lawyers and engaged in administrative jobs in the colonial bureaucracy.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Jones|first1=Kenneth W.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RpvXCtNzrz8C&dq=khatris+lawyer+21&pg=PA176|title=Arya Dharm: Hindu Consciousness in 19th-century Punjab |last2=Jones |first2=Kenneth W.|date=1976|publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-02920-0 |pages=176 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Raj|first=Dhooleka Sarhadi |title=Where are you from?: Middle-class migrants in the modern world|date=2003|publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-92867-1 |location=Berkeley |pages=222 |oclc=56034872}}</ref> Some of them served in the [[British Indian Army|British Indian army]] after being raised as Sikhs.<ref name="Oldenburg 2002 41, 15422" />

During the [[Partition of India|Partition of British India]] in 1947, Khatris migrated en masse to India from the regions that comprise modern-day Pakistan.<ref name=":72">{{Cite book |last=Puri |first=Baij Nath |title=The Khatris, a socio cultural study |publisher=M.N Publishers and Distributors |year=1998 |location=India}}</ref><ref name=":1122">{{Cite book |last1=Bessel |first1=Richard |author1-link=Richard Bessel |title=Removing Peoples: Forced Removal in the Modern World |last2=B. Haake |first2=Claudia |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0199561957 |pages=324}}</ref> [[Hinduism in Afghanistan|Hindu Afghans]] and [[Sikhism in Afghanistan|Sikh Afghans]] are predominantly of Khatri and [[Arora]] origin.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Inderjeet |title=Afghan Hindus and Sikhs |publisher=Readomania |year=2019 |isbn=978-93-858543-8-5 |location=India |pages=24}}</ref>

Khatris have played an active role in the [[Indian Armed Forces]] since 1947, with many heading it as the [[Chief of the Army Staff (India)|Chief of Army]] or [[Chief of the Naval Staff (India)|Admiral of the Navy]]. Some such as [[Vikram Batra]] and [[Arun Khetarpal]] have won India's highest wartime gallantry award, the [[Param Vir Chakra]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Nalwa|first=Vanit|title=Hari Singh Nalwa, "Champion of the Khalsaji" (1791-1837) |year=2009 |isbn=978-81-7304-785-5|location=India}}</ref><ref name=":43">{{Cite book|last=Bansal|first=Bobby Singh|title=Remnants of the Sikh Empire: Historical Sikh Monuments in India & Pakistan|publisher=Hay House, Inc|year=2015}}</ref>

== Etymology ==
As per historian [[W. H. McLeod]] and Louis Fenech, ''Khattrī'' is a Punjabi form of the word ''Kṣatriya''.<ref name=":1532">{{Cite book |last1=Fenech |first1=Louis E.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xajcAwAAQBAJ&dq=w.h+mcleod+punjabi+form+of+kshatriya&pg=PA182 |title=Historical Dictionary of Sikhism|last2=McLeod|first2=W. H.|date=11 June 2014|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4422-3601-1 |language=en}}</ref> [[Peter Hardy (historian)|Peter Hardy]] and [[Akshay Ramanlal Desai|A. R. Desai]] also agree that ''Khattrī'' is derived from ''Kṣatriya''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Desai |first=A. R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0yqV1Ux0oGIC&dq=state+and+society+in+india+khatri+a.r.+desai&pg=PA530 |title=State and Society in India |date=1975 |publisher=Popular Prakashan |isbn=978-81-7154-013-6 |pages=539–540 |language=en |quote=Nanak was probably of a khatri jati, traditionally tradesmen and government officials in the Punjab, though the name Khatri is from the word Kshatriya. The nine Sikh gurus who came after him were certainly Khatris}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Hardy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RDw4AAAAIAAJ&dq=%22derived+from+kshatriya%22&pg=PA279 |title=The Muslims of British India |last2=Hardy |first2=Thomas |date=7 December 1972 |publisher=CUP Archive |isbn=978-0-521-09783-3 |pages=279 |language=en}}</ref> In the Shabdasāgara, the word ''Khattrī'' used for the caste of Hindus from Punjab derives from the Sanskrit ''Kṣatriya,'' with the female member being a ''Khatrānī (Skt. Kṣatrāṇī)'' <ref>{{Cite web |last=Dasa |first=Syamasundara |date=1965–1975 |title=Hindi Sabdasagara, pg 1126 |url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/app/dasa-hindi_query.py?page=1126 |access-date=2025-02-20 |website=dsal.uchicago.edu}}</ref>

[[Dharamvir Bharati|Dr. Dharamvir Bharati]] comments that in Punjabi language, ''Kṣatriya'' is pronounced as ''Khattrī''.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OgygQ3w77VYC&q=khatri+sanskrit+punjabi&pg=PA243|title=Dalit Chintan ka Vikas Abhishapt Chintan se Itihas|publisher=Vani Prakashan|pages=243|language=hi}}</ref> As per Dr. GS Mansukhani and RC Dogra, "Khatri appears to be unquestionably a Prakritised form of Sanskrit word Kshatriya."<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Dogra |first1=R. C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=upLXAAAAMAAJ&q=Khatri+or+Kshatriya+and+their+Castes+Khatri+appears+to+be+unquestionably+a+Prakritised+form+of+Sanskrit+Kshatriya,%22+Encyclopaedia+of+Sikh+Religion+and+Culture+-+Page+264,+by+R.+C.+Dogra,+%E2%80%8EGobind+Singh+Mansukhani. |title=Encyclopaedia of Sikh Religion and Culture |last2=Mansukhani |first2=Gobind Singh |date=1995 |publisher=Vikas Publishing House |isbn=978-0-7069-8368-5 |pages=264 |language=en}}</ref> According to philologist [[Ralph Lilley Turner]], in his etymological Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Lexicon, it is the Punjabi word "''khattrī''", meaning "warrior", that derives from Sanskrit "''kṣatriya''", whereas another the Gujarati word "''khātrī''", meaning "a caste of Hindu weavers", derives from Sanskrit "''kṣattr̥''", meaning "carver, distributor, attendant, doorkeeper, charioteer, son of a female slave".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Turner |first=Ralph Lilley |url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/soas/frontmatter/frontmatter.html |title=A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages |publisher=School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London |year=1985 |pages=189}}</ref>

John Stratton Hawley and Mann clarify that the word "Khatri" derives from the Sanskrit "Kshatriya", in Punjab's context Khatri refers to a "cluster of merchant castes including Bedis, Bhallas and Sodhis".<ref>{{cite book |author1=John Stratton Hawley |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bTCFDfh7Qv4C&pg=PA179 |title=Studying the Sikhs: Issues for North America |author2=Gurinder Singh Mann |publisher=State University of New York Press |year=1993 |isbn=9780791414255 |page=179 |quote=Khatri (khatri) "merchant-caste." Although the name derives from Sanskrit kshatriya, which designates the warrior or ruling castes, khatri in Punjabi usage refers to a cluster of merchant castes including Bedis, Bhallas and Sodhis}}</ref> Purnima Dhavan sees the claim as originating from a conflation of the phonetically similar words khatri and kshatriya, but refers to Khatris as a "trading caste" of the Sikh Gurus.<ref name="dhavan2">{{cite book |last=Dhavan |first=Purnima |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q0ZpAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA36 |title=When Sparrows Became Hawks: The Making of the Sikh Warrior Tradition, 1699-1799 |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-19987-717-1 |pages=36–37}}</ref>

==Early history==
According to [[S. Srikanta Sastri|S. Sasikanta Sastri]], Greek historians have mentioned that Alexander faced stiffed resistance from Indian army of "Kathiyo" warriors. Sastri further adds that "even in present day modern-India, a group of martial caste members called Khati (Khatri) exist in [[North India|North-India]]".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dr S. Srikanta Sastri |first=English Translation by S. Naganath |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7xg6EAAAQBAJ&dq=khatri&pg=PT167 |title=Indian Culture: A Compendium of Indian History, Culture and Heritage |date=28 July 2021 |publisher=Notion Press |isbn=978-1-63806-511-1 |language=en}}</ref> [[Michael Witzel]], writing in his paper "''Sanskritization of the Kuru State"'' states the ''Kathaiois'' were Kaṭha [[Brahmin]]s.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Witzel |first=Michael |date=1995 |title=Early Sanskritization Origins and Development of the Kuru State |url=https://crossasia-journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/ejvs/article/view/823/913 |journal=Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies |volume=1 |issue=4 |pages=22 |quote=Note also the fierce Kathaíoi “tribe” (i.e. Kaṭha Brahmins) who live in the same area as the Salva (and Mahāvr̥ṣa) at the time of Alexander, see Arrian, Anabasis 5.22). |archive-date=7 April 2022 |access-date=18 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407172825/https://crossasia-journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/ejvs/article/view/823/913 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== Medieval history ==
Emperor [[Jahangir]] in his autobiography [[Tuzk-e-Jahangiri|Jahangirnama]] while talking about the castes, he observed "The second highest caste (after Brahmins in the caste system) is the Chhatri which is also known as Khattri. The Chhatri caste's purpose is to protect the oppressed from the aggression of the oppressors".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nalwa |first=Vanit|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ULhgNexD92QC&q=khatris+jahangir|title=Hari Singh Nalwa, "champion of the Khalsaji" (1791-1837) |date=13 January 2009|publisher=Manohar, New Delhi|isbn=978-81-7304-785-5|pages=21|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Jahangir |first1=Emperor of Hindustan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T_QNAQAAMAAJ&q=the+second+caste+is+chhatri,+which+is+also+known+as+khattri+kachhi |title=The Jahangirnama: Memoirs of Jahangir, Emperor of India|last2=Hindustan)|first2=Jahangir (Emperor of|date=1999|publisher=Freer Gallery of Art, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery|isbn=978-0-19-512718-8|language=en}}</ref>

=== Punjab ===
Historian [[Muzaffar Alam]] describes the Khatris of Punjab as a "scribe and trading caste". They occupied positions in revenue collection and record keeping and learnt [[Persian language|Persian]] during Mughal era. However, this profession often created conflicts with the Brahmin scribes who discontinued the use of Persian and started using Marathi in the Deccan.<ref name="OHanlon201422">{{cite book|author=Rosalind O'Hanlon|title=Routledge Handbook of the South Asian Diaspora|year=2014|isbn=9781136018329|editor1=Joya Chatterji|pages=97–98|chapter=Scribal migrations in early modern India |publisher=Routledge |quote=In northern India and Rajput states, Persian assimilated Kayasths and the khatris were the leading scribal people. These communities were not Brahmans, but had early in the second millennium developed as specialised scribes and clerks. Popular literatures reviled them for the influence they were able to command as royal scribes, but they also appear in inscriptional literature represented as pious donors and great men in their own right. Originally serving medieval Hindu kings, the coming of the Muslim empires opened up new opportunities for them. In these new courtly contexts, their willingness to assimilate themselves to the Persianate language and the culture of Muslim courts gave them a sharp advantage - although often, in the process, attracting sharp hostility from Brahman scribal rivals(O'Hanlon 2010b:563-95)|editor2=David Washbrook|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1hCUAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT98}}</ref><ref name="Avari201322">{{cite book|author=Burjor Avari|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hGHpVtQ8eKoC&pg=PA142 |title=Islamic Civilization in South Asia:A History of Muslim Power and Presence in the Indian Subcontinent |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |isbn=9780415580618 |page=142|quote=Anyone who wished to enter the large Mughal bureaucracy as an accountant or a scribe had to be well qualified in Persian, since all papers and imperial orders (firmans) were written in that language. The elders of the Hindu castes such as Kayasths and Khatris, who were professional scribes, encouraged their children to learn Persian; and Hindu writers in Persian increased greatly in numbers through the eighteenth century.}}</ref><ref name="Pollock200323"/><ref name="Spruyt202022">{{cite book|author=Hendrik Spruyt|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3BzhDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA200|title=The World Imagined: Collective Beliefs and Political Order in the Sinocentric, Islamic and Southeast Asian International Societies |publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2020|isbn=978-1108811743|page=200|quote=Kayastha and Khatri caste members acted as scribes (monshi) throughout the Mughal dynasty, and in so doing occupied positions in revenue collection, and record keeping}}</ref><ref name="Adrahtas202022">{{cite book |author=Prashant Keshavmurthy|title=Islam, Civility and Political Culture|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2020|isbn=9783030567613|editor1=Milad Milani |page=121|chapter=The limits of Islamic civility in India|quote=Writing in the 1760s in the Deccan districts of the Mughal empire, he was witness to the rise there of the Brahmin Peshwas who took over the Mughal Bureaucracy and promoted Marathi in place of Persian, displacing the North Indian Persian-literate Hindu scribes of the Kāyastha and Khatri castes.|editor2=Vassilios Adrahtas|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5P0MEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA121}}</ref> According to McLane, them being a trading group, had spread into many parts of India, possibly long before the 1700s and to Bengal, possibly even before the Mughals arrived.<ref>{{cite book|last=McLane|first=John R.|title=Land and Local Kingship in Eighteenth-Century Bengal|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2002|isbn=978-0-521-52654-8|page=131|quote=The Khatris were a Punjabi mercantile caste who claimed to be Kshatriyas. Nineteenth-century Indians and British administrators failed to agree whether that claim should be accepted. The fact that overwhelming majority were engaged in Vaishya (mercantile), not Kshatriya (military), pursuits was balanced against the Khatri origin myths...By the eighteenth century, and probably long before, they were a dominant group in the trade of the Punjab and Afghanistan, and they had penetrated into Turkistan and also east and south into many parts of India. ...This raises the possibility that Khatris were resident in Bengal in pre-Mughal times.}}</ref>

According to a 17th-century legend, Khatris continued their military service until the time of [[Aurangzeb]], when their mass death during the emperor's Deccan Campaign caused him to order their [[Women in Hinduism#Widowhood and remarriage|widows to be remarried]]. The order was made out of sympathy for the widows but when the Khatri community leaders refused to obey it, Aurangzeb [[Termination of employment|terminated]] their military service and said that they should be shopkeepers and brokers.<ref name=":110">{{cite book|last=McLane|first=John R.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YH6ijJnUPmcC&pg=PA132|title=Land and Local Kingship in Eighteenth-Century Bengal|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2002|isbn=978-0-521-52654-8|pages=132–133}}</ref> This legend is probably fanciful: McLane notes that a more likely explanation for their revised position was that a Sikh rebellion against the Mughals in the early 1700s severely compromised the Khatri's ability to trade and forced them to take sides. Those who were primarily dependent on the Mughals went to significant lengths to assert that allegiance in the face of accusations that they were in fact favouring "[[Jat Sikh]] followers of the rebel leader, [[Banda Singh Bahadur|Banda]]". The outcome of their assertions - which included providing financial support to the Mughals and shaving their beards - was that the Khatris became still more important to the Mughal rulers as administrators at various levels, in particular because of their skills in financial management and their connections with bankers.<ref name=":110" />

Khatri standards of literacy and caste status were such during the early years of Sikhism that, according to [[W. H. McLeod]], they dominated it.<ref name="syan22">{{cite book|last=Syan|first=Hardip Singh|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9RzzxcEL4C0C&pg=PA35|title=Sikh Militancy in the Seventeenth Century: Religious Violence in Mughal and Early Modern India|publisher=I. B. Tauris|year=2013|isbn=978-1-78076-250-0|pages=35, 39}}</ref>

===Kashmir===
[[Sukh Jiwan Mal]], a [[Dewan]] of [[Ahmad Shah Durrani]], was a Khatri officer from [[Bhera]]. He liberated [[Kingdom of Kashmir (1754–1762)|Kashmir]] from [[Durrani Empire|Afghan]] dominancy in 1754 and ratified his control over the valley by assuming his duties as a [[Raja]]. Mal was subsequently defeated in 1762 by Nur-ud-Din Bamzai, a general deputed by Durrani himself.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Karthikeyan |first=Ananth |title=Raja Sukh Jiwan's Brief Defiance in Kashmir |url=https://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/column-raja-sukh-jiwan-s-brief-defiance-in-kashmir-2786486 |access-date=2025-02-08 |website=DNA India |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=eGangotri |url=https://archive.org/details/AHistoryOfMuslimRuleInKashmir13201819R.K.Parmu |title=A History Of Muslim Rule In Kashmir 1320 1819 R. K. Parmu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=University Of Panjab |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.53651 |title=Kashir A History Of Kashmir}}</ref>

=== Benares ===
According to scholars, the Khatri Hindus dominated the [[Textile industry in India|weaving industry]] in Benaras. When the first caravan of Muslim weavers arrived in [[Varanasi|Benaras]], the Khatri, who were considered low-caste Hindus at the time, helped them. The Muslims had to depend on the Khatri weavers because the Muslims found it difficult to interact with the high-caste Hindus directly at the time. Since these new immigrant Muslims were cheap labour, the Khatris took over marketing and thus transited from weavers to traders over time. The Muslims, who learned the technique of [[weaving]] from them, soon came to be known as ''Chira-i-Baaf'' or 'fine cloth weavers'.<ref name="alam172">{{cite journal|author=Parvez Alam|date=July 2017|title=Trade, Textile and other Industrial Activities: A Study of Banaras region in Medieval India|url=http://pu.edu.pk/images/journal/indianStudies/PDF/4_v3_1_17.pdf |journal=Journal of Indian Studies |volume=3 |issue=1|pages=49–56|quote=When the first caravan of Muslim weavers known as 'sat gharua' entered Banaras, there was monopoly of Khatri Hindus over the weaving industry in Banaras. The Khatri Hindus known as Pattikas or Pattakars assisted to these immigrant Muslim weavers in founding their craft both by cash and raw material. Since these Muslims were not allowed to have any direct connection with high caste Hindus, the finished products of Muslims were marketed by the Khatris. The Muslim weavers were good in weaving and their labour was cheap for they had to take whatever they were paid to establish themselves. Now the Khatris started focusing more on marketing. By this way, weaving from the Khatris passed into the hands of the Muslims. Gradually, the Khatris became traders.}}</ref><ref name="Pandey812">{{cite book|author=Badri Prasad Pandey|title=Banaras Brocades: Structure and Functioning|publisher=Gandhian Institute of Studies|year=1981|page=18|quote=Muslim community learned the art of weaving from the Pattikas khatris - a low Hindu caste at that time. It was easier to mix with low Hindu castes than higher one for muslims. The muslims who installed their own looms and learnt weaving were known as 'chira-i- Baaf' meaning 'Fine cloth weavers'. By and by Pattikas khatris withdrew from the scene and it was replaced by muslim community" When muslim community came to Varanasi after conquering Varanasi they settled at Alaipura and other muslim localities}}</ref>

===Bengal===
[[File:Burdwan_bahadur_96_4.jpg|right|thumb|225x225px|Mehtab Chand of Burdwan, c. 1860-65]]In Bengal, [[Burdwan Raj]] (1657–1955) was a Khatri dynasty, which gained a high social position for Khatris in the region resulting in greater migration of Khatris from Punjab to Bengal.<ref>{{cite book |last1=McLane |first1=John R. |title=Land and Local Kingship in Eighteenth-Century Bengal |date=25 July 2002 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-52654-8 |pages=125–133, 157 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YH6ijJnUPmcC&pg=PA125 |language=en}}</ref> When Guru [[Tegh Bahadur]] visited Bengal in 1666, he was welcomed by the local Khatris, thereby supporting earlier waves of migration of Khatris to Bengal as well.<ref name="McLane2">{{cite book |author=John R. McLane |title=Land and Local Kingship in Eighteenth-Century Bengal |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1993 |page=132 |language=en}}</ref>

===Gujarat===
Historian Douglas E. Hanes states that the Khatri weavers in Gujarat trace their ancestry to either [[Champaner]] ([[Panchmahal district|Panch Mahals District]]) or [[Hinglaj]] (Sindh) and the community genealogists believe that the migration happened during the late sixteenth' century.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-xS4O4yHQiMC&pg=PA31 |title=Small Town Capitalism in Western India:Artisans, Merchants and the making of the Informal Economy |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2012 |isbn=9780521193337 |page=31 |quote=Weavers and other artisans frequently moved to places where the prospects for international trade or state patronage were great. Khatri weavers living in Gujarat largely trace their ancestry to Champaner in the current Panch Mahals district or to Hinglaj in Sind. Community genealogists today preserve the memory of how Khatri families fanned out through towns in central and southern Gujarat during the late sixteenth century, a period of rapid expansion in the region's foreign trade.}}</ref>

[[Suraiya Faroqhi]], writes that, in 1742 Gujarat, the Khatris had protested the immigration of Muslim weavers by refusing to deliver cloth to the East India Company. In another case Khatris taught weaving to [[Patidar|Kunbis]] due to receiving excessive orders who soon became strong competitors to the Khatris much to their chagrin. In the mid-1770s, the Mughal governor granted the Kunbi rivals rights to manufacture [[sari]]s. This licence was later revoked in 1800 due to pressure from the British, after a deal was struck between the Khatris and the [[East India Company]], in which the Khatris would weave only for the EIC until certain quotas were met.<ref>{{cite book|author=Suraiya Faroqh|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DvalDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA254 |title=The Ottoman and Mughal Empires: Social History in the Early Modern World|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2019 |isbn=9781788318730 |page=254 |quote=In the study of the political economy of Gujarat in the second half of the eighteenth century, the author points out that castes and subcastes did not prevent inter-caste mobility. Thus, when the Khatri weavers found that they have more orders for high-quality cottons than they could fill on their own, they employed adjuncts from another caste known as Kunbis. The latter soon learnt the craft and turned into formidable competitors. Particularly, the Khatris resented that at some time in the mid-1770s, at the very end of the period studied here, the Mughal governor had granted their Kunbi rivals the right to manufacture saris, a popular female garment. In 1742, the Khatri weavers refused to deliver cloth to the EIC to protest against the immigration of Muslim weavers; it is difficult to say whether this strike was a purely economic matter or whether religion, status and caste were an issue as well.}}</ref><ref name="Qazi20142">{{cite book|author=Moin Qazi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4Y8uBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT147|title=Woven Wonders of the Deccan |publisher=Notion Press|year=2014|isbn=978-93-83808-62-5|pages=147–|quote=With the Muslim invasion the hereditary art fell on bad times, as the khatri community of weavers scattered far and wide in search of work}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Nadri|first=Ghulam A.|title=Eighteenth Century Gujarat: The Dynamics of Its Political Economy, 1750-1800|publisher=Brill|year=2009|isbn=978-90-04-17202-9|pages=26–28, 31}}</ref>

The [[Gujarat Sultanate]] (1407–1523) was a medieval Muslim dynasty founded by [[Muzaffar Shah I|Zafar Khan Muzaffar]], a member of the Tank caste of Punjabi Khatris according to the contemporary historian Shiekh Sikander<ref>{{Cite book |last=Subrahmanyam |first=Sanjay |author-link=Sanjay Subrahmanyam|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o5nsEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT60 |page=60|title=Across the Green Sea: Histories from the Western Indian Ocean, 1440-1640 |date=2024 |publisher=University of Texas Press |isbn=978-1-4773-2879-8 |language=en |quote=The latter sultanate was founded by a former Tughluq governor, perhaps from a family of Punjabi Khatri converts, who took the title Muzaffar Shah in the early fifteenth century but reigned for only a short time.}}<br />{{Cite book|last=Wink|first=André|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nyYslywJUE8C&q=muzaffar+khan+tank+khatri&pg=PA143|title=Indo-Islamic society: 14th - 15th centuries|date=2003|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-13561-1|pages=143|language=en|quote=Similarly, Zaffar Khan Muzaffar, the first independent ruler of Gujarat was not a foreign muslim but a Khatri convert, of low subdivision called Tank.}}<br />{{Cite book |last=Kapadia |first=Aparna |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qrxsDwAAQBAJ&q=in+praise+of+kings,+rajputs |title=Gujarat: The Long Fifteenth Century and the Making of a Region |date=16 May 2018 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-15331-8 |pages=120 |language=en |quote=the Gujarati historian Sikandar does narrate the story of their ancestors having once been Hindu 'Tanks', a branch of Khatris.}}</ref> or Rajputs.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kapadia |first=Aparna |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qrxsDwAAQBAJ |title= In Praise of Kings Rajputs, Sultans and Poets in Fifteenth-century Gujarat |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2018 |isbn= 9781107153318  |pages=8|quote= These men, a certain Saharan and his brother Sadhu, were, mostly likely peasants or pastoralists, non-Muslim Tank Rajputs from [[Thanesar]] in northwestern India (modern-day [[Haryana]]).}}<br />{{Cite book|last=Mahajan|first=VD|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JnscEAAAQBAJ&q=mahajan+zafar+khan+rajput&pg=PA245|title=History of Medieval India|publisher=S. Chand|year=2007|pages=245|isbn=9788121903646|language= en|quote= Zafar Khan, a son of Rajput convert to Islam was appointed as governor of Gujarat in 1391AD.}}</ref> He started as a menial but rose to the level of a noble in the [[Delhi Sultanate|Delhi Sultan's]] family and became the Governor of Gujrat. After Timur attacked the city, people fled to Gujarat and it became independent.<ref name="Wink 1990 1432">{{Cite book|last=Wink|first=André|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nyYslywJUE8C&pg=PA143 |title=Indo-Islamic society: 14th - 15th centuries |date=1990 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-13561-1 |pages=143 |language=en |quote=Similarly, Zafar Khan Muzaffar, the first independent ruler of Gujarat, was not a foreign muslim but a Khatri convert, of a low subdivision called Talk, originally from southern Punjab, but born in Delhi, where he rose from menial to noble status in the Delhi sultan's household. As the governor of Gujarat he became independent from Delhi after Timur devastated the city an immense number of people fled to Gujarat..}}</ref><ref name="Misra633">{{Cite book|last=Misra|first=S. C. (Satish Chandra)|url=https://archive.org/details/riseofmuslimpowe0000unse|title=The rise of Muslim power in Gujarat; a history of Gujarat from 1298 to 1442|date=1963|publisher=New York, Asia Pub. House|others=Internet Archive|pages=137–138|quote=[137]Khatris were an agrarian people belonging mainly to south Punjab; claiming descent from Kshatriyas of old. It is for this reason that Sikander gives a long genealogy that would link the Sultans of Gujarat with Ramachandra, in other words, with the Suryavanshis. Like most genealogies fabricated to glorify royalty, it is obviously a fake.}}</ref>

=== Trans-regional trading history ===
The Khatris, as a part of the diaspora community known as ''[[Multanis|Multani]]'' or ''Shikarpuri'', played an important role in India's trans-regional trade during the period,<ref>{{cite book |last=Oonk |first=Gijsbert |title=Global Indian diasporas |publisher=Amsterdam University Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-90-5356-035-8 |page=43}}</ref> being described by Levi as among the "most important merchant communities of early modern India."<ref name=":82">{{cite book |last=Levi |first=Scott Cameron |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9qVkNBge8mIC |title=The Indian Diaspora in Central Asia and Its Trade, 1550–1900 |publisher=BRILL |year=2002 |isbn=978-90-04-12320-5 |location=Leiden }}{{Dead link|date=May 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Levi writes: "[[Stephen Dale]] locates Khatris in [[Astrakhan]], [[Russia]] during the late 17th century and, in the 1830s, [[Mountstuart Elphinstone|Elphinstone]], was informed that Khatris were still highly involved in northwest India's trade and that they maintained communities throughout [[Afghanistan]] and as far away as [[Astrakhan]]".<ref name=":032">{{Cite book |last=Levi |first=Scott Cameron |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PriGAAAAIAAJ |title=The Indian Diaspora in Central Asia and Its Trade, 1550-1900 |date=2002 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-12320-5 |pages=108 |language=en}}</ref> According to Kiran Datar, they often married [[Tatars|Tatar]] local women in Astrakhan and the children from these marriages were known as ''[[Agrzhan|Agrijan]]''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Datar |first=Dr. Kiran |url=https://archive.org/details/ThePunjabPastAndPresent-Volume20Part1 |title=The Punjab Past and Present - Volume 20 Part 1 |date=April 1986 |editor-last=Ganda Singh |pages=85 |language=en}}</ref> As per Stephen Dale, the children born out of Indo-Turkic alliance were in sufficient number to form an Agrizhan suburb in the city.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dale |first=Stephen Frederic |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GqEWw_54uVUC&dq=agrizhan+communities&pg=PA107 |title=Indian Merchants and Eurasian Trade, 1600-1750 |date=15 August 2002 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-52597-8 |language=en}}</ref>

Dale states that most of the 10,000 (as estimated by [[Jean Chardin]]) Indian merchants and money-lenders in [[Isfahan]] (Iran) in 1670, belonged to the Khatri caste of Punjab and north-west India. In Iran's [[Bazaar]]s, Khatris sold cloth and various items and also practised money-lending. Dale believes that Khatris had possibly been travelling from Punjab via [[Caravan (travellers)|caravans]] since the era of [[Ziauddin Barani]] (around 1300 AD). Chardin specifically stereotyped and expressed disapproval of the money-lending techniques of the Khatri community. According to Dale, this racist criticism was ironic given Chardin's non-English background but adds that it was Chardin's way of giving an "ethnic explanation" to the economic disparity between Iran and India at that time.<ref name=":52">{{cite book |author=Stephen F. Dale |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vNmaBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT190 |title=The Muslim Empires of the Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2009 |isbn=9781316184394 |pages=190–191 |quote=Some of them, known in sources as banians, sold goods and lent money in the Persian gulf port of Bandar 'Abbas. However, most of the 10,000 Indians whom Chardin estimated resided in Isfahan in 1670 belonged to the prominent Khatri caste group, whose members were native to the Punjab and northwestern India. Khatris had probably been travelling from the Punjab since the days of Saltanate curmudgeon Zia al-Din Barani, whose denunciation of the Hindu dominance of the Indo-Muslim economy would have been appropriate for the Mughal period as well. Khatris would have found it easy to join caravans that has traversed the Khyber and other Indo Afgan passes since ancient times.[...]In Iran, Khatris both sold cloth and various other Indian goods in bazaars, such as Isfahan's Maidain-i Shah, and lent money to merchants in the cash starved Iranian economy. In the early eighteenth century, the Englishman Edward Pettus, who served the East India company in Isfahan, complained about Indian aggressive marketing techniques. Using Banian as a general term for all non-Muslim Indians he wrote:[beginquote] The bannians, the cheif[sic] Marchantes who vende Linene of India, of all sorts and prices, which this Countrye cannot bee without, except the people should goe naked...they vende most of the linene they bring to Spahan after a most base peddlinge, and unmarchante like manner...carying it up and down on their shoulders [in] the Bazar[endquote]. Later in the century Chardin criticized Indians for their moneylending and wrote stereotyped characterization of the Khatris that reminds readers of European Christian portrayals of Jews, ironic considering Chardin was a Huguenot who had taken refuge in England. He pictured the Khatris as a nefarious class of usurious moneylenders who drained Iran of its precious metals by repatriating their ill-gotten gains to India. His was an ethnic explanation for a fundamental economic imbalance between the two regions.}}</ref>

=== Afghanistan ===
According to historians Roger Ballard and [[Harjot Oberoi]], Afghan Hindus and Sikhs descend from the members of the country's indigenous Khatri population who resisted the conversion from [[Buddhism]] to Islam between 9th and 13th centuries. Later, they aligned themselves to the teachings of Guru Nanak, himself a Khatri and converted to Sikhism. Hence, Khatris of Afghanistan are in no way of "Indian origin" but are components of the original population of the region. [[George Campbell (civil servant)|George Campbell]] says "I do not know the exact limits of Khatri occupation to the West, but certainly in all Eastern Afghanistan they seem to be just as much part of the community as they are in the Punjab. They find their way into Central Asia."<ref name=":1822"/>[[File:Hari_Singh_Nalwa_on_Elephant.jpg|thumb|256x256px|ca. 19th century, paint on paper A military procession of Hari Singh Nalwa (1791–1837), one of the greatest generals of the Sikh Empire. The military procession depicted is led by two horsemen carrying battle standards]]

=== Sikh Empire ===
The Khatris took on a prominent role in the emerging Sikh milieu of post-Mughal Punjab. According to the Khalsa Durbar Records, [[Ranjit Singh|Maharaja Ranjit Singh]]'s army was composed of majorly Jats followed by Khatris.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Singh|first=Rishi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EPCICwAAQBAJ&q=khalsa+durbar+khatris|title=State Formation and the Establishment of Non-Muslim Hegemony: Post-Mughal 19th-century Punjab|date=23 April 2015|publisher=SAGE Publications India|isbn=978-93-5150-504-4|pages=199|language=en}}</ref> [[Sardar Gulab Singh Khatri]] founded the [[Dallewalia Misl|Dallewallia Misl]], an independent 18th century Sikh sovereign state in [[Ludhiana district|Ludhiana]] and [[Jalandhar district|Jalandhar]] district that would later on join Maharaja Ranjit Singh's kingdom.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Mandair|first1=Arvind-Pal S.|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781315028583 |title=Sikh Religion, Culture and Ethnicity|last2=Shackle|first2=Christopher|last3=Singh|first3=Gurharpal|date=16 December 2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-84627-4|doi=10.4324/9781315028583}}</ref>{{page needed|date=August 2021}}<ref>{{Cite book|last=Dhavan|first=Purnima|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199756551.001.0001|title=When Sparrows Became Hawks|date=22 November 2011|publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-975655-1 |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199756551.001.0001}}</ref>{{page needed|date=August 2021}} In the Sikh Empire, [[Hari Singh Nalwa]] (1791–1837) an Uppal Khatri from [[Gujranwala]], became the Commander-in-chief of the [[Sikh Khalsa Army]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Naīara|first=Gurabacana Siṅgha|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e5BHAAAAMAAJ|title=The Campaigns of General Hari Singh Nalwa|date=1995|publisher=Punjabi University |isbn=978-81-7380-141-9|language=en}}</ref>{{page needed|date=August 2021}} He led the Sikh conquests of [[Kasur]], [[Sialkot]], [[Attock]], [[Multan]], [[Kashmir]], [[Peshawar]] and [[Jamrud]]. He was responsible for expanding the frontier of Sikh Empire to beyond the [[Indus River]], up to the mouth of the [[Khyber Pass]]. At the time of his death, the western boundary of the empire was Jamrud.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kapūra |first=Prithīpāla Siṅgha |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v49HAAAAMAAJ |title=Perspectives on Hari Singh Nalwa |date=1993 |publisher=ABS Publications |isbn=978-81-7072-056-0 |language=en}}</ref>{{page needed|date=August 2021}}

[[Dewan Mokham Chand]] (1750-1814) became one of the most distinguished leaders of the Khalsa Army. He was the commander in chief of armies in [[Battle of Attock]] which defeated [[Durrani Empire]] Wazir Fateh Khan and [[Dost Mohammad Khan]]<ref>{{Citation|last=Singh|first=Khushwant|title=Constitutional Reforms and the Sikhs|date=18 November 2004|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195673098.003.0014|work=A History of the Sikhs |pages=216–234 |publisher=Oxford University Press|doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195673098.003.0014|isbn=978-0-19-567309-8|access-date=31 July 2021|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Other Khatris like [[Diwan Sawan Mal Chopra]] served as governors of [[Lahore]] and [[Multan]], after helping conquer the region<ref name="syan22"/> while his son [[Diwan Mulraj Chopra]] (1814-1851), the last [[Punjabis|Punjabi]] ruler of Multan led a Sikh rebellion against British suzerainty over Multan after the fall of the [[Sikh Empire]] in the [[Anglo-Sikh wars (disambiguation)|Anglo-Sikh Wars]]. He was arrested after the Siege of Multan and put to death.<ref>Hernon, Ian (2002). ''Britain's Forgotten Wars''. Sutton Publishing</ref>{{page needed|date=August 2021}}

Purnima Dhawan described that together with [[Jat people|Jat]] community, the Khatris gained considerably from the expansion of the Mughal empire, although both groups supported [[Guru Hargobind]] in his campaign for Sikh self-government in the Punjab plains.<ref>{{cite book |last=Dhavan |first=Purnima |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q0ZpAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA31|title=When Sparrows Became Hawks: The Making of the Sikh Warrior Tradition, 1699-1799 |publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2011|isbn=978-0-19987-717-1|pages=3, 30–31}}</ref>

In the 1830s, Khatris were working as [[governor]]s in the districts like [[Bardhaman district|Bardhaman]], [[Lahore]], [[Multan]], [[Peshawar District|Peshawar]] and [[Hazara region|Hazara]], but independent from the Mughal rule.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Nirad Baran|first=Sarkar|title=Bardhaman Raj|publisher=Sujata Sarkar|year=1999|pages=210}}</ref><ref name=":43"/>{{page needed|date=August 2021}}<ref name=":63">{{Cite book |last=Hans |first=Herrli |title=The Coins of the Sikhs|publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal|year=2004|isbn=8121511321|location=Delhi|pages=122–123}}</ref>

== British colonial era ==

===Punjab===
In Punjab, they were moneylenders, shopkeepers and grain-dealers among other professions.<ref name="Brass3"/>

=== Hyderabad ===
A Peshkari Khatri family in [[Hyderabad State]] would become part of the Hyderabadi nobility and occupy the post of Prime Minister of Hyderabad. Notable individuals of the family include [[Kishen Pershad|Maharaja Kishen Prasad]], [[Order of the Indian Empire|GCIE]] who would serve as Prime Minister of the State twice.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Patel|first1=Alka|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GU8zAQAAQBAJ|title=Indo-Muslim Cultures in Transition |last2=Leonard|first2=Karen|date=7 December 2011|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-21887-1|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Leonard|first=Karen Isaksen|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=32aMey7k-IYC&q=kishen+pershad+khatri&pg=PA183|title=Social History of an Indian Caste: The Kayasths of Hyderabad|date=1994|publisher=Orient BlackSwan|isbn=978-81-250-0032-7|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Bawa |first=Basant K. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h45uAAAAMAAJ&q=kishen+pershad+khatri|title=The Last Nizam: The Life and Times of Mir Osman Ali Khan |date=1992 |publisher=Viking|isbn=978-0-670-83997-1|language=en}}</ref> In [[Hyderabad]], around the mid-20th century, Khatris and [[Padmasali (caste)|Padmasalis]] were the leading "Hindu weaving castes" who owned 43% of the [[loom]]s. The Khatris specialised in silk, while the Padmasalis in cotton weaving.<ref name="RoyRoy19992">{{cite book|author1=Tirthankar Roy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZTo1tALvvEsC&pg=PA93|title=Traditional Industry in the Economy of Colonial India|author2=Roy|date=4 November 1999|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-65012-0|pages=93–|quote=43 percent of the looms were owned by the main Hindu weaving castes, Khatri(silk) and Salis/padmasalis(cotton)}}</ref>

===Rajasthan===
In the early 19th century, the Khatris, [[Bhatia caste|Bhatias]] and [[Lohana]]s were the main trading castes in [[Rajasthan]], [[Delhi]], [[Agra]], [[Sind]] and [[Punjab]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Tirthankar Roy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6tQBEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT44|title=The Economic History of India, 1857–2010|date=10 September 2020|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-099203-3|page=44}}</ref> Banking, trading and business were considered "traditional occupations of the Khatri in Rajasthan".<ref>{{Cite book|title=India's Communities|publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-19-563354-2|editor1-last=Singh|editor1-first=Kumar Suresh|editor1-link=Kumar Suresh Singh|volume=2 H–M|location=New Delhi, India|pages=1722, 1728–1729}}</ref>

==Post independence==
Harish Damodaran says the rise of Khatri industrialists in post-1947 India was a consequence initially of the cataclysmic [[Partition of India|Partition]], which pushed them in droves towards Delhi and its neighbourhoods. This exodus opened new opportunities for them. A combination of enterprise, articulation, and strategic closeness to the national capital— which, in itself, was becoming a major growth hub - created conditions for Khatri capital to flourish in the post-Partition period.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Damodaran|first=Harish|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=92F7DwAAQBAJ&q=cataclysmic|title=INDIA'S NEW CAPITALISTS: Caste, Business, and Industry in a Modern Nation|date=25 November 2018|publisher=Hachette India |isbn=978-93-5195-280-0|language=en}}</ref>

Damodaran adds that the land Khatris originally belonged to had very little industry and rail infrastructure until the 20th century and hence were not comparable to merchant groups like [[Bania (caste)|Banias]] in terms of scale and spread of operation. Before independence they were only regional players and their rise in phenomenal proportions was a post-independence feature. Since then, they have produced leading entities in fields of pharmaceuticals, two-wheelers, tractors, paper, tyre-making and hotels with the groups of [[Ranbaxy Laboratories|Ranbaxy]], [[Hero MotoCorp|Hero]], [[Mahindra & Mahindra|Mahindra]], [[Ballarpur Industries]], [[Apollo Tyres]] and [[The Oberoi Group|Oberoi]] respectively.<ref name=":32">{{Cite book |last=Damodaran |first=Harish|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=92F7DwAAQBAJ&q=khatris+little+rail+infrastructure|title=INDIA'S NEW CAPITALISTS: Caste, Business, and Industry in a Modern Nation|date=25 November 2018|publisher=Hachette India|isbn=978-93-5195-280-0|language=en}}</ref> They have also co-founded companies like [[Snapdeal]], [[Hotmail]], [[Yes Bank|YesBank]], [[India Today|IndiaToday]], [[Aaj Tak|AajTak]], [[IndiGo|IndiGo Airlines]], [[Sun Microsystems]], [[Max Group]] etc.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Damodaran|first=Harish|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=92F7DwAAQBAJ&q=12+oberoi|title=INDIA'S NEW CAPITALISTS: Caste, Business, and Industry in a Modern Nation|date=25 November 2018|publisher=Hachette India|isbn=978-93-5195-280-0|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":32" />

Punjabi Khatris and others, together with the traditionally "urban and professional" castes, formed a part of the elite middle class immediately after independence in 1947. According to P. K. Verma, "Education was a common thread that bound together this pan Indian elite" and almost all the members of these [[Forward caste|upper castes]] communities could read and write English and were educated beyond school.<ref>{{cite book |author=Pavan K. Varma |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pbgMy8KfD74C&pg=PA28|title=The Great Indian Middle class|publisher=Penguin Books |year=2007 |isbn=9780143103257 |page=28 |quote=...its main adherents came from those in government service, qualified professionals such as doctors, engineers, and lawyers, business entrepreneurs, teachers in schools in the bigger cities and in the institutes of higher education, journalists[etc]...The upper castes dominated the Indian middle class. Prominent among its members were Punjabi Khatris, Kashmiri Pandits, and South Indian brahmins. Then there were the 'traditional urban-oriented professional castes such as the Nagars of Gujarat, the Chitpawans and the Ckps (Chandrasenya Kayastha Prabhus)s of Maharashtra and the Kayasthas of North India. Also included were the old elite groups that emerged during the colonial rule: the Probasi and the Bhadralok Bengalis, the Parsis, and the upper crusts of the Muslim and Christian communities. Education was a common thread that bound together with this pan Indian elite...But almost all its members spoke and wrote English and had had some education beyond school}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=D.L. Sheth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eNtCDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA180 |title=At Home with Democracy: A Theory of Indian Politics |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2018 |isbn=9789811064128 |editor=Peter Ronald deSouza |quote=The old neocolonial upper-caste elite, with a long tradition of education in the language of the ruling elite, with a long tradition of education in the language of the ruling elite of the time -Sanskrit of Persian in the past or english today - still constitutes its core. However, the ranks of the 'national' elite have now expanded to include several new groups of castes, by and large of the dwija varna, which have acquired access to English education in the post Independence period[...]Sociologically viewed, the ranks of the pan-Indian elite are drawn from several groups ousted from the regions, such as Punjabi Hindus, Kashmiri Pundits and South-Indian Brahmins. Then there are the traditional urban-oriented professional castes such as the Nagars of Gujarat, the Chitpawans and the CKPs(Chandrasenya Kayastha Prabhus) of Maharashtra and the Kayasthas of North India whose members have joined the ranks, albeit more through responding to the pull factor than being subject to the push factor.Also included amound them are the old elite groups which emerged during the colonial rule: The Probasi and the Bhadralok Bengalis, the Parsis, and the upper crusts of the Muslim and Christian communities with a pronounced secular and nationalist persuation.}}</ref>

=== Delhi NCR ===
[[Delhi]]'s population increased by 1.1 million in the period 1941–1951. This growth of 106% largely resulted from the influx of [[Partition of India|Partition]] migrants among other reasons. These were members of the Hindu and Sikh Khatri/Arora castes of the [[West Punjab]]. Many moved to the city for better economic opportunities.<ref name=":1122"/>

=== Haryana ===
During 1947, Punjabis who migrated to Haryana during Partition were mostly Khatris or Aroras. As per a survey conducted by [[Maharshi Dayanand University|Maharishi Dayanand University]], the migrant population were forced to live in camps under open sky. Only a meager 5% received "grossly undervalued claims against their properties in shape of very poorly cultivable land, while remaining 95% though entitled for compensation could not get any thing to sustain". This migrant population is also referred to as ‘refugee’ and ‘sharnarthi’ (शरणार्थी) in a derogatory manner by some locals. A Punjabi organisation had approached the Haryana government with a demand to ban both words and to enact a law on the lines of the [[Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989|SC/ST Act]] with similar penalties. The community has a high literacy rate and are not dependent on money-lending and shopkeeping. They are engaged as doctors, engineers, administrators etc.<ref name=":162"/><ref>{{Cite news|author=Manvir Saini|date=25 September 2018|title=Ban the word 'refugee' in Haryana: Punjabis urge Manohar Lal Khattar {{!}} Gurgaon News |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/gurgaon/ban-the-word-refugee-in-haryana-punjabis-urge-manohar-lal-khattar/articleshow/65945554.cms|access-date=17 September 2021|website=The Times of India|language=en}}</ref>

=== Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh ===
Khatris of [[Kashmir]], also known as "Bohras" were traders and had the second largest Hindu population after the [[Kashmiri Pandits|Pandits]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Lawrence|first=Sir Walter Roper|url=https://rarebooksocietyofindia.org/book_archive/196174216674_10153460989311675.pdf|title=The Valley of Kashmir|year=1895|pages=296–302}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Sheikh|first=Tariq|date=January 2019|title=Cradle of Castes in Kashmir (From Medieval Period to Present Day)|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/330313369|access-date=24 August 2021|website=ResearchGate|language=en}}</ref> Many of these Khatris had to face the brunt of [[Exodus of Kashmiri Hindus|1990 Kashmiri Hindu Exodus]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Gigoo |first1=Siddhartha |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=InAwDQAAQBAJ&q=four+thousand+and+two+hundred+families+of+kashmiri+migrants+have+been+living+there&pg=PT145 |title=A Long Dream of Home: The persecution, exile and exodus of Kashmiri Pandits|last2=Sharma|first2=Varad|date=18 October 2016|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-93-86250-25-4|language=en}}</ref> Khatris of Himachal Pradesh are numerically most important commercial classes are mostly concentrated in [[Mandi district|Mandi]], [[Kangra district|Kangra]] and [[Chamba district|Chamba]].<ref name=":1322">{{Cite book |last=Minhas |first=Poonam |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_52-WyPfLG0C&dq=most+gaddis+are+khatri&pg=PA64|title=Traditional Trade & Trading Centres in Himachal Pradesh: With Trade-routes and Trading Communities|date=1998|publisher=Indus Publishing|isbn=978-81-7387-080-4|pages=64|language=en}}</ref>

===Maharashtra===
Anthropologist Karve, based on the post-Independence research of castes by a in [[Konkan]], [[Maharashtra]], classified [[Marathi people|Marathi]] Khatris{{efn|Khatris claimed to live near the Bombay island from at least the mid-1800s and would speak Marathi.}} as one of the "professional/advanced castes" as they were doctors, engineers, clerks, lawyers, teachers, etc. during independence. She states that their traditional professions were [[Weaving|silk weaving]] and working as merchants although they had entered other professions later.<ref name="Bowles19772">{{cite book|author=Gordon Townsend Bowles|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gaq0AAAAIAAJ|title=The People of Asia |publisher=Scribner |year=1977 |isbn=978-0-684-15625-5 |page=173|quote=Following Karve's classification in the Konkan, the Kayastha Prabhu, Pathare Prabhu, Pathare Kshatriya, Khatri and Vaisya Vani may be listed with the Brahmins as professional groups. The intermediate or artisan and service castes include the Sonar (goldsmiths), Kasar (coppersmiths), Shimpi (tailors), Teli (oil pressers), Khosti (weavers), Bhajvsar (dyers), Nhavi (barbers), Parit (washermen) ...}}</ref><ref name="Dandekar19512">{{cite book|author1=Irawati Karve|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uLc0AAAAIAAJ|title=Anthropometric Measurements of Mahārāṣhṭra|author2=Vishnu Mahadeo Dandekar|publisher=Deccan College Postgraduate and Research Institute, Pune|year=1951|quote=(Pg 16)Group I. Castes which follow various professions like teachers, doctors, clerks, pleaders, engineers etc:-All Brahmins,Non Brahmins: Kayastha Prabhu,Pathare Prabhu, Pathare Kshatriya, Khatri, Vaishya Vani (pg 29) Castes called Khatris are found in Gujarat Karnataka and Maharashtra. This sample represents the Marathi speaking khatris who claim to have living near the Bombay island for the last century at least. Khatris are found in other towns in the west maratha countries their hereditary profession is said to be that of silk weavers and merchants. Now they have entered into all services like clerks, teachers and higher administrative jobs and also follow professions like law and medicine.....}}</ref> Khatris in modern Maharashtra are divided into endogamous subgroups, such as the Brahmo Khatris and Kapur Khatris.<ref name="SinghIndia199817282">{{cite book|author1=K. S. Singh|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1lZuAAAAMAAJ|title=India's Communities |author2=Anthropological Survey of India|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1998|isbn=978-0-19-563354-2|page=1728|quote=In Maharashtra, the Khatri have different subgroups, such as Brahmo Khatri, Gujarathi Khatri, Kapur Khatri, Sahashtrarjun Khatri, Surthi Khatri, Somvanshiya Khatri, and Maratha Khatri which are territorial and endogamous. They are weavers by profession.}}</ref>

== Demographics ==
=== Before partition ===
The French traveller [[Jean de Thévenot]] visited India during the 1600s where he commented "At [[Multan]], there is another sort of gentiles whom they call Catry, the town is properly their country and from thence they spread all over the Indies." According to Dr. Madhu Tyagi, Thevenot is referring to the Hindu Khatri caste here.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Tyagi|first=Dr Madhu|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YMpJDwAAQBAJ&dq=khatris+multan+thevenot&pg=PA18 |title=THEORY OF INDIAN DIASPORA: DYNAMICS OF GLOBAL MIGRATION|date=1 January 2017|publisher=Horizon Books (A Division of Ignited Minds Edutech P Ltd) |isbn=978-93-86369-37-6|pages=18|language=en}}</ref>

The last caste-based census was conducted by the British in 1931 which regarded Khatri and [[Arora]] as a different caste. During 1931, Khatris were prominent in the [[West Punjab]] and [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|North-Western Frontier Province]] (NWFP), which is now known as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK).<ref name=":202">{{Cite book|last=Puri|first=Baij Nath|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7ytuAAAAMAAJ&q=khatris+a+socio+cultural+study|title=The Khatris, a Socio-cultural Study|date=1988|publisher=M.N. Publishers and Distributors|pages=19–20|language=en}}</ref> The Khatris spoke [[Hindko]] and [[Pahari-Pothwari|Potohari]] language.<ref name="auto"/><ref name=":213">{{Cite book|last1=Fenech|first1=Louis E.|title=Historical Dictionary of Sikhism |last2=McLeod |first2=W.H |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2014|isbn=978-1442236004|pages=67}}</ref> Highest percentage concentration of Khatris (excluding Aroras) were in Potohar regions of [[Jhelum District|Jhelum]] and [[Rawalpindi]].<ref name=":202" /> In NWFP, the Khatris were found mainly in [[Peshawar|Peshawer]] and [[Hazara Division|Hazara]].<ref name=":222">{{Cite book|last=Singer|first=André|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=asqdNQAACAAJ |title=Guardians of the North-West Frontier: The Pathans|date=1982|publisher=Time-Life Books|isbn=978-0-7054-0702-1|language=en}}</ref>

Arora-Khatris were centered in [[Multan]] and [[Derajat]] regions of Punjab and [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|NWFP]].<ref name=":1822">{{Cite book |last=Oonk |first=Gijsbert|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BkwsMTyShi8C&dq=they+are+the+only+hindus+known+in+central+asia+khatris&pg=PA44|title=Global Indian Diasporas: Exploring Trajectories of Migration and Theory|date=2007|publisher=Amsterdam University Press|isbn=978-90-5356-035-8|pages=43–45|language=en}}</ref> In the NWFP, the Aroras which are considered a sub-caste of Khatris by some scholars were concentrated in the districts of [[Bannu District|Bannu]], [[Kohat District|Kohat]] and [[Dera Ismail Khan District|Dera Ismail Khan]].<ref name=":222" /><ref name=":142">{{Cite book |last=Levi |first=Scott Cameron |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9qVkNBge8mIC |title=The Indian Diaspora in Central Asia and its Trade 1550-1900 |year=2002 |isbn=978-90-04-12320-5 |page=107 |publisher=Brill }}{{Dead link|date=May 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The Aroras spoke Jatki language which is the 9th century version of Saraiki (Multani) according to [[Denzil Ibbetson|Ibbetson]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=25 September 2016 |title=Blame caste for Pakistan's violent streak, not faith |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/aakarvani/blame-caste-for-pakistans-violent-streak-not-faith/|access-date=17 September 2021|website=Times of India Blog|language=en-US}}</ref>

They were also found in Afghanistan at a population of 300,000 in 1880. According to an 1800s colonial source referred by [[Shah Mahmoud Hanifi|Shah Hanifi]], "[[Hindki]] is the name given to Hindus who live in Afghanistan. They are Hindus of Khatri class and are found all over Afghanistan even amongst the wildest tribes. They are wholly occupied in trade and form numerous portion of the population of all the cities and towns, and are also to be found in the majority of large villages."<ref name=":172">{{Cite book|last=Hanifi|first=Shah|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VV7ZK8BLLOsC&q=khattris+hindki&pg=PA48|title=Connecting Histories in Afghanistan: Market Relations and State Formation on a Colonial Frontier|date=11 February 2011|publisher=Stanford University Press|isbn=978-0-8047-7411-6|pages=48|language=en}}</ref>[[File:Portret_van_een_onbekende_handelaar_uit_Lahore_Khatris._Hindoo_traders._Lahore_(titel_op_object),_RP-F-2001-7-1122D-51.jpg|thumb|207x207px|Photograph of a Hindu Khatri man of [[Lahore]] c. 1859-1869]] [[File:A Sodhee Sikh, Lahore.jpg|thumb|[[Sikhs|Sikh]] of [[Sodhi]] clan, Lahore.|171x171px]] [[File:Largest Hindu Caste by District (Census 1931).jpg|thumb|310x310px|Map depicting the most numerous community by district according to Census of India 1931.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Census of India, 1931, Vol. IV Baluchistan Parts I & II|url=http://indianculture.gov.in/census-india-1931-vol-iv-baluchistan-parts-i-ii|access-date=7 November 2021|website=Indian Culture|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Report, Part 1 Volume XVII, Punjab|url=https://censusindia.gov.in/DigitalLibrary/data/Census_1931/Publication/Punjab/26728%20_1931_REB.pdf|website=Census India}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Khan|first=Ahmad Hassan|title=Census of India, Part 2, Volume XVII, Punjab |year=1933 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.56042}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Census of India, 1931, Vol. VIII-Part II Bombay Presidency Statistical Tables|url=http://indianculture.gov.in/census-india-1931-vol-viii-part-ii-bombay-presidency-statistical-tables|access-date=7 November 2021|website=INDIAN CULTURE|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Census of India, 1931, Vol. XV North-West Frontier Province Part I- Report Part II- Tables|url=http://indianculture.gov.in/census-india-1931-vol-xv-north-west-frontier-province-part-i-report-part-ii-tables|access-date=7 November 2021|website=INDIAN CULTURE|language=en}}</ref>]]

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+Population Concentration of Khatris & Aroras by region (Note: The numbers are expected to be more since many Hindus boycotted the Census)<ref name=":202" />
!Region
!State
!Total % pop.
!Khatri
!Arora
!Year
!Ref
|-
|Amritsar district
|Punjab (East)
|05.47%
|03.30%
|02.17%
|1901
|<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Rose, H A|url=https://dspace.gipe.ac.in/xmlui/handle/10973/18839|title=Census of India, 1901. Imperial Tables Part: I-VIII, X-XV, XVII and XVIII for Punjab and the North-West Frontier Province.|year=1902|language=English}}</ref>
|-
|Attock dist.
|Punjab (West)
|09.90%
|07.32%
|02.58%
|1901
|<ref>{{Cite book|last=Government of Punjab|url=https://www.indianculture.gov.in/gazettes/punjab-district-gazetteers-attock-district-part-maps-1907 |title=Punjab District Gazetteers: Attock District Part A. With Maps, 1907|publisher=Lahore, Civil and Military Gazetteers Press |year=1909 |pages=96–97 |language=English}}</ref>
|-
|Bahawalpur dist.
|Punjab (West)
|07.36%
|00.50%
|06.86%
|1931
|<ref name=":24">{{Cite book|last=Khan Ahmad Hasan|url=https://dspace.gipe.ac.in/xmlui/handle/10973/18984|title=Census of India, 1931. Vol. XVII: Punjab. Part II: Tables|publisher=Government of Punjab|year=1931|pages=283–292}}</ref>
|-
|Balochistan
|Balochistan
|01.93%
|00.03%
|01.90%
|1931
|<ref>{{Cite book|last=Census of India, 1931|first=Gul Muhammad Khan|url=https://dspace.gipe.ac.in/xmlui/handle/10973/18968|title=Census of India, 1931. Vol. IV: Baluchistan. Part I: Report and Part II: Imperial and Provincial Tables|year=1934|pages=164}}</ref>
|-
|Bannu dist.
|KPK
|07.83%
|00.50%
|07.30%
|1921
|<ref name=":23">{{Cite book|last=Lehna Singh, R B Bhai|url=https://dspace.gipe.ac.in/xmlui/handle/10973/18930|title=Census of India, 1921. Vol. XIV: North-West frontier provinces: Part I: Reports and Part II: Tables|year=1922|pages=Part 2: Table XIII}}</ref>
|-
|DG Khan dist.
|Punjab (West)
|10.01%
|00.79%
|09.22%
|1891
|<ref>{{Cite book|last=Diack, A H (Punjab Government)|url=https://dspace.gipe.ac.in/xmlui/handle/10973/33520|title=Gazetteers of Dera Ghazi Khan District: Revised Edition 1893-97|year=1893–1897|pages=x (table IX)|publisher=Civil and Military Gazette Press, Lahore}}</ref>
|-
|DI Khan dist.
|KPK
|09.86%
|00.72%
|09.14%
|1901
|<ref name=":0"/>
|-
|Dir, Chitral & Swat
|KPK
|20.33%
|16.32%
|04.01%
|1901
|<ref name=":0"/>
|-
|Ferozpur dist.
|Punjab (East)
|03.57%
|01.11%
|02.46%
|1901
|<ref name=":0"/>
|-
|Gujranwala dist.
|Punjab (West)
|10.01%
|04.46%
|05.55%
|1931
|<ref name=":24" />
|-
|Gujrat district
|Punjab (West)
|06.30%
|02.46%
|03.84%
|1901
|<ref name=":0"/>
|-
|Gurdaspur dist.
|Punjab (East & West)
|01.98%
|01.83%
|00.15%
|1901
|<ref name=":0"/>
|-
|Hazara district
|KPK
|02.97%
|02.29%
|00.68%
|1901
|<ref>{{Cite book|last=Government of North-West Frontier Province|url=https://www.sikhnationalarchives.com/book/read/gazetteer-of-the-hazara-district-1907/#page/69/mode/2up|title=Hazara District Gazetteers 1907|pages=70}}</ref>
|-
|Jammu Province
|Jammu-Kashmir
|03.01%
|03.01%
|00.00%
|1901
|<ref>{{Cite book|last=Walter Lawrence, J.L. Kaye|url=https://indianculture.gov.in/gazettes/imperial-gazetteer-india-kashmir-and-jammu|title=Imperial Gazetteer of India: Kashmir and Jammu|publisher=Calcutta, Superintendent of Government Printing|year=1909|pages=32}}</ref>
|-
|Kangra district
|Himachal Pradesh
|00.87%
|00.85%
|00.02%
|1931
|<ref name=":24" />
|-
|Kohat district
|KPK
|05.07%
|01.50%
|03.57%
|1921
|<ref name=":23" />
|-
|Jalandhar dist.
|Punjab (East)
|02.88%
|02.78%
|00.10%
|1901
|<ref name=":0"/>
|-
|Jhang district
|Punjab (West)
|15.06%
|04.34%
|10.72%
|1931
|<ref name=":24" />
|-
|Jhelum district
|Punjab (West)
|09.77%
|07.27%
|02.50%
|1881
|<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.indianculture.gov.in/gazetteer-jhelam-district-1883-84|title=Gazetteer of the Jhelam District 1883-84|publisher=The Calcutta Central Press Co., Calcutta|year=1883–1884|pages=vi (Table IX)}}</ref>
|-
|Lahore district
|Punjab (West)
|08.01%
|05.10%
|02.91%
|1931
|<ref name=":24" />
|-
|Lyallpur district
|Punjab (West)
|07.50%
|01.82%
|05.68%
|1931
|<ref name=":24" />
|-
|Mianwali district
|Punjab (West)
|13.20%
|02.24%
|10.96%
|1931
|<ref name=":24" />
|-
|Montgomery dist
|Punjab (West)
|11.91%
|01.09%
|10.82%
|1901
|<ref name=":0"/>
|-
|Multan district
|Punjab (West)
|14.05%
|01.53%
|12.52%
|1901
|<ref name=":0"/>
|-
|Muzzafargarh dist
|Punjab (West)
|09.67%
|00.45%
|09.22%
|1931
|<ref name=":24" />
|-
|Patiala district
|Punjab (East)
|01.29%
|01.14%
|00.15%
|1901
|<ref name=":0"/>
|-
|Peshawar dist.
|KPK
|04.34%
|02.26%
|02.08%
|1921
|<ref name=":23" />
|-
|Rawalpindi dist.
|Punjab (West)
|10.01%
|07.71%
|02.30%
|1891
|<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://indianculture.gov.in/gazetteers-rawalpindi-district-1893-94|title=Gazetteers of the Rawalpindi District 1893-94|publisher=Civil and Military Gazette Press, Lahore|year=1893–1894|pages=295}}</ref>
|-
|Shahpur district
|Punjab (West)
|11.08%
|03.02%
|08.06%
|1901
|<ref name=":0"/>
|-
|Sheikhupura dist
|Punjab (West)
|05.50%
|02.18%
|03.32%
|1931
|<ref name=":24" />
|-
|Sialkot district
|Punjab (West)
|04.01%
|02.01%
|02.00%
|1921
|<ref>{{Cite book|last=Government of Punjab|title=Punjab District Gazetteers, Volume XV Part B, Sialkot District (Statistical Tables) - 1936 |year=1936 |pages=57–64}}</ref>
|}

=== After partition ===
Apart from [[Punjab, India|Punjab]], Khatris arrived in [[Delhi]] and [[Haryana]] among other regions after the partition where they make up 9% and 8.0% of the population respectively.<ref name=":1122"/><ref name=":162">{{Cite web|title=Report of Haryana Backward Classes Commission - 2012 {{!}} Welfare of Scheduled Caste & Backward Classes Department, Government of Haryana|url=http://haryanascbc.gov.in/report-of-haryana-backward-classes-commission-2012|access-date=29 August 2021|website=haryanascbc.gov.in}}</ref><ref name=":122">{{cite web|last=Kumar|first=Sanjay|title=A tale of three cities|url=http://www.india-seminar.com/2004/534/534%20sanjay%20kumar.htm}}</ref>

== Clan organisation ==
Historically, Khatris were divided into various hierarchal [[Endogamy|endogamous]] sections. This includes [[Dhai Ghar|u''rhai/dhai ghar'']], ''char ghar'', [[Bahri|''barah ghar/bahri'']] and ''bunjayee or bavanjah ghar'' which translated to House of 2.5, 4, 12 and 52 respectively. They formed the majority of Khatris and were deemed superior. This was followed by Sareen Khatris who formed a minority. Another sub-group of Khatris include [[Khukhrain]] which had split up from the ''bunjayees''.<ref name="Oldenburg 2002 41, 15422">{{Cite book |last=Oldenburg |first=Veena Talwar |title=Dowry Murder: The Imperial Origins of a Cultural Crime |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2002 |pages=41, 154}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
!Group
!Clan names<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hardip Singh Syan|title=The Indian Economic and Social History Review: The merchant gurus: Sikhism and the development of the medieval Khatri merchant family |publisher=Sage |pages=312|citeseerx=10.1.1.885.9901}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Singh|first=Pashaura|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ciwpDwAAQBAJ&dq=khatri+sub-castes&pg=PT79|title=Life and Work of Guru Arjan: History, Memory, and Biography in the Sikh Tradition|date=10 July 2006|publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-908780-8|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Damodaran|first=Harish|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=92F7DwAAQBAJ&dq=khatri+family+names&pg=PT360 |title=INDIA'S NEW CAPITALISTS: Caste, Business, and Industry in a Modern Nation|date=25 November 2018|publisher=Hachette India |isbn=978-93-5195-280-0|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Hanks|first=Patrick|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vG7MZ9J6dAgC |title=Dictionary of American Family Names: 3-Volume Set|date=8 May 2003|publisher=Oxford University Press, USA|isbn=978-0-19-508137-4|pages=Volume 1: (26, 86, 496, 122, 124, 162, 316, 325, 454, 477 491, 2340), Volume 2: (1,11, 32, 100, 127, 269, 288, 299, 567,600), Volume 3: (168,271, 277,572) |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Hanks|first1=Patrick|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0AyDDQAAQBAJ|title=The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland|last2=Coates|first2=Richard|last3=McClure|first3=Peter|date=17 November 2016|publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-252747-9|pages=111, 501|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1922">{{Cite book|last=Puri|first=Baij Nath|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tXX1MAAACAAJ|title=The Khatris, a Socio-cultural Study |date=1988|publisher=M.N. Publishers and Distributors|pages=7–8|language=en}}</ref><ref name="McLeod_AtoZ">{{Cite book|last=McLeod|first=W. H.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vgixwfeCyDAC&q=google+book+famous+punjabi+khatri|title=The A to Z of Sikhism|date=24 July 2009|publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0-8108-6344-6 |pages=21,86,115}}</ref>
|-
|House of 2.5
|[[Kapoor]], [[Khanna (name)|Khanna]] and [[Mehra]]/ [[Malhotra]]
|-
|House of 4
|Including the above 3, [[Seth (surname)|Seth]] (also known as [[Kakkar|Kakar]])<ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last=Hanks |first=Patrick |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vG7MZ9J6dAgC&dq=bahri+khatri&pg=PR97 |title=Dictionary of American Family Names: 3-Volume Set |date=8 May 2003 |publisher=Oxford University Press, USA |isbn=978-0-19-508137-4 |pages=84,266 |language=en}}</ref> is also added which forms this unit
|-
|House of 12
|Including the above 4, [[Chopra (surname)|Chopra]], [[Dhawan]], [[Mahindra (surname)|Mahindra]], [[Mehrotra]], [[Sehgal]], [[Talwar (surname)|Talwar]], [[Tandon]], [[Vohra]] and [[Wadhwan|Wadhawan]] is added<ref name=":02" />
|-
|House of 52
(Bunjahis)
|[[Abhi (surname)|Abhi]], [[Bagga]], [[Bahl]], [[Bakshi]], [[Bassi (surname)|Bassi]], [[Beri (surname)|Beri]], [[Bhambri]], [[Bhandari]], [[Chandok (surname)|Chandok]], [[Chhachi (Punjabi clan)|Chhachhi]], [[Chowdhury|Chaudhary]], [[Dheer (surname)|Dheer]], [[Dhoopar (surname)|Dhoopar]], [[Duggal]], [[Ghai]], [[Handa (surname)|Handa]], [[Jalota (surname)|Jalota]], [[Jhanjhi (surname)|Jhanjhi]], [[Johar (surname)|Johar]], [[Kandhari]], [[Katyal]], [[Khullar]], [[Kochhar (surname)|Kochhar]], [[Lamba (surname)|Lamba]], [[Mall (surname)|Mal]], [[Madhok]], [[Mago (surname)|Mago]], [[Maini (surname)|Maini]], [[Makkar (surname)|Makkar]], [[Mangal]], [[Nanda (surname)|Nanda]], [[Puri (surname)|Puri]], [[Rana (name)|Rana]], [[Rekhi (surname)|Rekhi]], [[Sachar (name)|Sachar]], [[Sial tribe|Sial]], [[Sibal (surname)|Sibal]], [[Soi (surname)|Soi]], Soni, [[Tangri (surname)|Tangri]], [[Thapar (surname)|Thapar]], [[Tuli (name)|Tuli]], [[Uppal (surname)|Uppal]], [[Vij]], [[Vinaik (surname)|Vinaik]] and [[Wahi (surname)|Wahi]]
|-
|Khukrains
|[[Anand (surname)|Anand]], [[Bhasin (surname)|Bhasin]], [[Chadha]], Kohli, [[Ghai]], [[Sabharwal]], [[Sahni]] (Sawhney), [[Sethi]] and [[Suri (name)|Suri]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gupta|first=Shilpy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vsBTFEC_mdkC&dq=kohli+sahni+suri+sabharwal&pg=PA121 |title=Human Rights Among Indian Populations: Knowledge, Awareness and Practice|date=2009|publisher=Gyan Publishing House |isbn=978-81-212-1015-7 |pages=121|language=en}}</ref>
|-
|Aroras<ref name=":142"/>
|[[Ahuja]], [[Allawadi (surname)|Allawadi]], [[Aneja (surname)|Aneja]], [[Babbar (surname)|Babbar]], [[Bajaj (surname)|Bajaj]], [[Batra]], [[Baweja (surname)|Baweja]], [[Bhutani (surname)|Bhutani]], [[Chhabra (surname)|Chhabra]], [[Chhimba]], [[Chhapola]], [[Channa (surname)|Channa]], [[Chandna]], [[Chawla]], [[Chugh]], [[Dawar (surname)|Dawar]], [[Dhingra]], [[Dhuria (surname)|Dhuria]], [[Dua (surname)|Dua]], [[Dudeja (surname)|Dudeja]], [[Gambhir]], [[Gaba (surname)|Gaba]], [[Gandhi (surname)|Gandhi]], [[Gera (surname)|Gera]], [[Grover (surname)|Grover]], [[Gulati]], [[Gumber (surname)|Gumber]], [[Hans (surname)|Hans]], [[Huria (surname)|Huria]], [[Kalra (surname)|Kalra]], [[Kamra (surname)|Kamra]], [[Kaura (surname)|Kaura]], [[Khattar (clan)|Khattar]], [[Khetarpal (surname)|Khetarpal]], [[Khurana (surname)|Khurana]], [[Luthra]], [[Madaan]], [[Manchanda (surname)|Manchanda]], [[Mehndiratta (surname)|Mehndiratta]], [[Mehmi]], [[Mehta]], [[Midha (surname)|Midha]], [[Miglani (surname)|Miglani]], [[Munjal]], [[Nagpal]], [[Nārang (disambiguation)#Surname|Narang]], [[Narula]], [[Pasricha (surname)|Pasricha]], [[Pruthi (surname)|Pruthi]], [[Rajpal (surname)|Rajpal]], [[Raval (surname)|Raval]], [[Sachdev]]a, [[Saini (surname)|Saini]], [[Saluja (surname)|Saluja]], [[Sardana (name)|Sardana]], [[Sethi]], [[Suneja (surname)|Suneja]], [[Taneja]], [[Tuteja]], [[Wadhwa]] and [[Walia]]
|-
|Others (including Sareens)
|[[Abrol]], [[Arya (surname)|Arya]], [[Ajimal (surname)|Ajimal]], [[Alagh]], [[Badhwar (surname)|Badhwar]], [[Baijal (name)|Baijal]], [[Bawa (surname)|Bawa]], [[Bedi (surname)|Bedi]], [[Bhagat]], [[Bhalla (surname)|Bhalla]], [[Bindra]], [[Chatrath (surname)|Chatrath]], [[Chhatwal (surname)|Chhatwal]], [[Chhura (surname)|Chhura]], [[Dang (surname)|Dang]], [[Dhaliwal (surname)|Dhariwal]], [[Dewan|Diwan]], [[Goindi (surname)|Goindi]], [[Gujral]], [[Jaggi]], [[Jolley (surname)|Jolly]], [[Julka (surname)|Julka]], [[Kunwar (surname)|Kanwar]], [[Kashyap (surname)|Kashyap]], [[Kaushal]], [[Keer (surname)|Keer]], [[Khalsa]] [[Kharbanda (surname)|, Kharbanda]], [[Khosla (surname)|Khosla]], [[Lal]], [[Majithia (surname)|Majithia]], [[Malik (surname)|Malik]], [[Marwaha|Marwah]] [[Nagrath (surname)|Nagrath]], [[Nayyar (surname)|Nayyar]], [[Nijhawan (surname)|Nijhawan]], [[Oberoi]], [[Ohri (surname)|Ohri]], [[Pahwa (surname)|Pahwa]], [[Passi (surname)|Passi]], [[Popat (surname)|Popat]], [[Kanungo (surname)|Qanungo]], Ratra, [[Rekhi (surname)|Rekhi]], [[Sagar (surname)|Saggar]] [[Sarna (Polish surname)|, Sarna]], [[Saund]], [[Shroff]], [[Sobti (surname)|Sobti]], [[Sodhi]], [[Takiar (surname)|Takiar]], [[Thakkar]], Trehan, [[Varma (surname)|Varma]] and [[Vig (surname)|Vig]] (Whig)
|}

== Varna status ==
{{disputed section|reason= Juergensmayer has summarised opinions of historians that the Kshatriya claim is generally not acccepted hence this looks like original research or POV. Wikipedia editors cannot form their own summary by synthesising sources.|date=May 2022}}

[[Mysore Narasimhachar Srinivas|M. N. Srinivas]] states that Khatri made different Varna claims at different times in the [[Census of India prior to independence|Census of India]] before Independence. In 1911, they did not make any [[Varna (Hinduism)|Varna]] claim, while in 1921 they made a claimed a [[Kshatriya]] status but later in 1931 they claimed a [[Vaishya]] status.<ref>{{cite book|author=Mysore Narasimhachar Srinivas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MBOb5X_VrDMC&pg=PA97 |title=Social Change in Modern India|publisher=University of California Press-Berkeley and Los Angeles|year=1967|page=97}}</ref>

However, most scholars do not agree with the Khatris' claims to Kshatriya varna. They consider castes in north India, like Khatri and [[Kayastha]] to be merchant castes who claim higher status based on the educational and economic progress they made in the past.<ref>{{cite book|author=Mark Juergensmayer|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rpSxJg_ehnIC&pg=PA86|title=Bhakti Religion in North India: Community Identity and Political Action|date=1 January 1995|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-0-7914-2025-6|editor=David N. Lorenzen|page=86|chapter=The social significance of Radhasoami|quote=In the past members of such castes such as Khatris served as shopkeepers, moneylenders, traders and teachers. Their reputation for mastering knowledge sometimes extended to the spiritual realm:Guru Nanak and the other nine founding gurus of the sikh tradition were Khatris, member of the Bedi subcaste.}}</ref>

According to [[Anand Yang|Yang]], the Khatris in the [[Saran district|Saran]] district of [[Bihar]], were included in the list of "Bania" along with Agarwals and Rastogis of the [[Vaishya]] Varna. According to Yang, their position in the Varna system should be "just below" the [[Dvija|twice-born]] varnas.<ref>{{cite book|author=Anand A. Yang|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ck4jmD7H34UC&pg=PA47|title=The Limited Raj: Agrarian Relations in Colonial India, Saran District, 1793-1920|publisher=University of California Press|year=1989|isbn=0520057112|access-date=22 September 2020}}</ref> Jacob Copeman  writes "[[Agarwal]], Khatri, and Bania usually denote people of merchant-trader background of middling clean-caste status, often of Vaishya varna".<ref name="Copeman20092"/>

While some historians agree with the claim of Khatris to be of [[Kshatriya]] varna,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Westerlund |first=David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hg2ZyH7nr9cC&dq=questioning+the+secular+state+punjabi+khatris+kshatriyas&pg=PA261 |title=Questioning the Secular State: The Worldwide Resurgence of Religion in Politics|date=1996|publisher=C. Hurst & Co. Publishers|isbn=978-1-85065-241-0|pages=261|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Lorenzen|first=David N.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oa0qAQAAMAAJ&q=caste+system+khatris|title=Religious Movements in South Asia 600-1800|date=2005|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-567876-5|pages=321|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Mooney |first=Nicola |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Hu4X3AOhS8C&q=khatris |title=Rural Nostalgias and Transnational Dreams: Identity and Modernity Among Jat Sikhs |date=17 September 2011|publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=978-1-4426-6268-1 |pages=152–153}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Clarke |first1=Peter B. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k8mLAgAAQBAJ&dq=khatri+caste+warrior&pg=PT981|title=The World's Religions: Continuities and Transformations|last2=Beyer|first2=Peter|date=7 May 2009|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-21099-1|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Melton |first1=J. Gordon|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v2yiyLLOj88C&dq=born+in+a+khatri+family+nanak&pg=PA2013|title=Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices, 2nd Edition [6 volumes]|last2=Baumann|first2=Martin|date=21 September 2010|publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-59884-204-3|pages=2013|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|author=Kamala Elizabeth Nayar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_oPeWqdoqJQC&q=born+in+a+khatri+family&pg=PA214|title=Religious Understandings of a Good Death in Hospice Palliative Care|last2=Harold Coward|date=13 June 2012 |publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-1-4384-4275-4|editor-last=Kelli I. Stajduhar|pages=214|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Rai |first1=Rajesh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YzkrDwAAQBAJ&dq=khatris+warrior&pg=PA104|title=Religion and Identity in the South Asian Diaspora |last2=Sankaran |first2=Chitra|date=5 July 2017|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-351-55159-5|pages=104|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Renard |first=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fCjVRqPD-HQC&dq=ravi+das+khatri&pg=PA18|title=Fighting Words: Religion, Violence, and the Interpretation of Sacred Texts|date=31 December 2012|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-95408-3|pages=18|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Nikky-Guninder Kaur|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k0s2dUUMHbkC&dq=khatri&pg=PA22|title=Sikhism|date=2004|publisher=Infobase Publishing |isbn=978-1-4381-1779-9|pages=22|language=en}}</ref> many others do not.<ref name="Lorenzen199522" /><ref name="auto1">{{cite book |author=Anand A. Yang |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ck4jmD7H34UC&pg=PA47 |title=The Limited Raj: Agrarian Relations in Colonial India, Saran District, 1793-1920 |publisher=University of California Press |year=1989 |isbn=0520057112 |access-date=22 September 2020}}</ref><ref name="Copeman20092">{{cite book |author=Jacob Copeman |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EbSXa5Fag9gC&pg=PA203 |title=Veins of Devotion: Blood Donation and Religious Experience in North India |publisher=Rutgers University Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-8135-4449-6 |pages=203 |quote=Agarwal, khatri, and bania usually denote people of merchant-trader background of middling clean-caste status, often of vaishya varna}}</ref><ref name=":04">{{cite book|author=Susan Bayly|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HbAjKR_iHogC&pg=PA329|title=Caste, Society and Politics in India from the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2001|isbn=9780521798426|pages=328–329|quote=Examples of continuing fascination with the Kshatriya ideal abound, as can be seen in the many post-Independence publications which exalt the doings of individual named jatis. The production of these ‘community’ histories has been as active an industry in the late twentieth century as it was in the pre-Independence period. As recently as 1988, a polemicist representing himself as an Oxford-trained Indian ‘socio-historian’ published an account of the supposed origins and heritage of north India's Khatris. Today, as in the past, those who call themselves Khatri favour the livelihoods of the pen and the ledger. In the colonial period, however, Khatri caste associations extolled the heritage of their ‘community’ as one of prowess and noble service (seva), claiming that their dharmic essence was that of the arms-bearing Kshatriya and therefore quite unlike that of the commercial Agarwals and other pacific Vaishyas. These same themes were recapitulated by the author of the 1988 text: the Khatris, ‘one of the most acute, energetic, and remarkable race [sic] in India’, are heirs to a glorious martial past, ‘pure descendants of the old Vedic Kshatriyas’. The writer even tries to exalt Khatris above Rajputs, whose blood he considers ‘impure’, being supposedly mixed with that of ‘inferior’ Kols or ‘aborigines’: in his view only Khatris are ‘true representatives of the Aryan nobility’.<39>Footnote: 39 Puri 1988: 3, 78, 163, 166. The writer appeals to the Khatri ‘race’ to ‘wake up’ and cherish their heritage as ‘followers of the Hindu Dharma Sastras’ (5). Above all they should guard against ‘hybridising’, i.e. marrying non-Khatris (166). These views closely resemble those of pre-Independence race theorists (see Chapters 3-4). Compare Seth 1904}}</ref><ref name="JonesJones19762">{{cite book|author1=Kenneth W. Jones |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RpvXCtNzrz8C&pg=PA4|title=Arya Dharm: Hindu Consciousness in 19th-century Punjab|author2=Kenneth W.Jones |publisher=University of California Press|year=1976|isbn=978-0-520-02920-0|pages=4–5|quote=Among Punjabi Hindus the Vaishyas would lead; among Vaishyas, the Khatri and his associates, the Saraswat Brahmins. The Khatris claimed with some justice and increasing insistence, the status of Rajputs, or Kshatriyas, a claim not granted by British but illustrative of their ambiguous position on the great varna scale of class divisions and their importance within the Hindu community. Processed of questionable and flexible status in the traditional hierarchy, literate, urban and often wealthy, in search of recognition for their achievements and pretentions, the Khatris acted as traditional innovators, leaders into new worlds}}</ref><ref name="McLane2002222">{{cite book|last=McLane|first=John R.|title=Land and Local Kingship in Eighteenth-Century Bengal|publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-521-52654-8|page=131|quote=The Khatris were a Punjabi mercantile caste who claimed to be Kshatriyas. Nineteenth-century Indians and British administrators failed to agree whether that claim should be accepted. The fact that overwhelming majority were engaged in Vaishya (mercantile), not Kshatriya (military), pursuits was balanced against the Khatri origin myths...By the eighteenth century, and probably long before, they were a dominant group in the trade of the Punjab and Afghanistan, and they had penetrated into Turkistan and also east and south into many parts of India. ...This raises the possibility that Khatris were resident in Bengal in pre-Mughal times.}}</ref> According to some historians, even though they participated in mercantile or other occupationally diverse professions such as Agriculture, they were originally Kshatriyas.<ref name=":032" /><ref>{{Cite book|last=Farhadian|first=Charles E.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5VV-BAAAQBAJ&q=khatri+sanskrit+punjabi&pg=PT293|title=Introducing World Religions: A Christian Engagement|date=9 June 2015|publisher=Baker Academic|isbn=978-1-4412-4650-9|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Jeffrey |first=Robin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qQO_DAAAQBAJ&dq=khatris+warrior&pg=PA52|title=What's Happening to India?: Punjab, Ethnic Conflict, and the Test for Federalism|date=27 July 2016|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-1-349-23410-3|pages=52|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Pechilis |first1=Karen|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kaubzRxh-U0C&dq=khatris+warrior&pg=PA239|title=South Asian Religions: Tradition and Today |last2=Singh |first2=Pashaura|last3=Raj|first3=Selva J.|date=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-44851-2|pages=239|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Oldenburg 2002 41, 15422" /> In Indian historian [[Satish Chandra (historian)|Satish Chandra]]'s opinion, certain castes like Khatris and Kayasthas "do not quite fit" in the Hindu Varna system. According to him, Khatris are neither Vaishyas nor Kshatriyas but are "par excellence traders".<ref name="Chandra20082">{{cite book |author=Satish Chandra|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i6xVm9lkknUC|title=Social Change and Development in Medieval Indian History|publisher=Har-Anand Publications|year=2008|isbn=978-81-241-1386-8|pages=43|quote=In fact, there are some castes which do not quite fit into any of the four varnas. I do not know enough about the situation in south India. But in Northern India, castes such as Khatris and Kayasths are difficult to fit into the varna system. The Khatris are par excellence traders, but they are not classified amongst vaishyas. Nor are they part of the Kshatriyas.}}</ref>

The [[Saraswat Brahmin]]s are the [[purohit]]s of Khatris and accept gifts only from them.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Nalwa|first=Vanit|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ULhgNexD92QC&q=khatris+sarsut|title=Hari Singh Nalwa, "champion of the Khalsaji" (1791-1837)|date=13 January 2009|publisher=Manohar, New Delhi |isbn=978-81-7304-785-5|pages=97|language=en}}</ref> Jürgen Schaflechner cites the historian Rowe who states that such Saraswat Brahmins who were considered a low caste, formed a symbiotic relationship with [[Vaishya]] castes such as [[Khatris]], [[Lohanas]], etc. who were trying to raise their varna status - which in turn would benefit the Saraswats as well. For this purpose, certain religious texts were written during the British Raj era<ref name="Schaflechner2018">{{cite book | author = Jürgen Schaflechner | date = 2018 | title = Hinglaj Devi: Identity, Change, and Solidification at a Hindu Temple in Pakistan | publisher = Oxford University Press | pages = 59–60 | isbn = 978-0-19-085052-4 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=khBADwAAQBAJ&pg=PA59}}</ref>

[[Susan Bayly]] states that the Khatris had scribal traditions and despite that Khatri caste organisations in the British Raj era tried to portray their caste as Kshatriyas. Similar caste glorifying ideas were written by the historian [[Baij Nath Puri|Puri]] who describes Khatris as "one of the most acute, energetic, and remarkable race [sic] in India", "pure descendants of the old Vedic Kshatriyas" and "true representatives of the Aryan nobility". Puri also tried to show the Khatris as higher than the Rajputs whose blood he considered "impure", mixed with ‘inferior’ Kolis or ‘aborigines’.<ref name=":04" /> She considers his views to represent those of "pre-Independence race theorists". Bayly further describes the Khatris as a "caste title of north Indians with military and scribal traditions".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bayly |first=Susan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HbAjKR_iHogC&dq=khatri+military+scribal+bayly&pg=PA385 |title=Caste, Society and Politics in India from the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age |date=22 February 2001 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-79842-6 |pages=385 |language=en}}</ref> Hardip Singh Syan says Khatris considered themselves to be of pure [[Vedic]] descent and thus superior to the Rajputs, who like them claim the Kshatriya status of the Hindu [[Varna (Hinduism)|varna system]].<ref name="syan22"/>

=== Punjab ===
Historian Kenneth W. Jones states that the Khatris of Punjab had some justification in claiming Kshatriya status from the British government. However, the fact that this claim was not granted at the time showing their ambiguous position in the varna system. Although Jones also classifies Khatris as one of the Vaishya caste of Punjabi Hindus, he shows that their social status was higher than the Arora, Suds and Baniyas in the 19th century Punjab. He quotes Ibbetson who states that the Punjabi Khatris who held prominent military and civil posts were traditionally different from the Aroras, Suds or Baniyas who were rural, of low status and mostly commercial. Punjabi Khatris, on the other hand, were urban, usually prosperous and literate. Thus, the Khatris led the Vaishyas in seeking a higher social position in the flexible Varna hierarchy based on their superior achievements. Similar social mobility efforts were followed by other Hindus in Punjab<ref name="JonesJones19762" /> McLane also describes them as a "mercantile caste who claimed to be Kshatriyas". In the 19th century, British failed to agree whether their claim of Kshatriya status should be accepted. [[John Nesfield|Nesfield]] and [[George Campbell (civil servant)|Campbell]] were leaning towards accepting this claim but [[Herbert Hope Risley|Risley]] and [[Denzil Ibbetson|Ibbetson]] cast doubts on it. McLane opines that the confusion was caused since Khatris pursued mercantile occupations and not military ones. However, he adds that this Vaishya occupation fact was balanced by their origin myths, the "possible" derivation of the word Khatri from ''Kshatriya,'' their large physical stature, the superior status accorded to them by other [[Punjabis]] as well as the willingness of the [[Saraswat Brahmin]]s, their [[Purohit|chaplains]], to accept cooked food from them.<ref name="McLane2002222" />

In the case of [[Sikhs|Sikh]] Khatris, their Kshatriya claim reflects a contradictory attitude towards the traditional Hindu caste system. It is evident in ''[[Guru Granth Sahib]]'', which on the one hand rises above the Hindu caste paradigm and on the other hand seeks to portray the Khatri gurus as a group of warrior-defenders of their faith, just as with the Kshatriya varna.<ref name="dhavan2"/>

Majority of the male members of the [[Arya Samaj]] in the late 19th century Punjab came from the [[Arora]] and Khatri merchant castes. In Punjab, the Kshatriya castes who were ritually higher than the Aroras and Khatris had been disempowered and thus the Brahmins who had lost their patrons had to turn to these non-Kshatriya castes. [[Christophe Jaffrelot]] explains the attraction of these trading castes to the Arya Samaj as a means of social mobility associated with their prosperity during the British rule. He cites N. G. Barrier to show that the philosophy of the Arya Samaj founder, [[Dayananda Saraswati]], was responsible for the aspirations of these [[Vaishya]] castes from Punjab to higher status:<ref name="Jaffrelot2010">{{cite book |author=Christophe Jaffrelot |date=2010 |title=Religion, Caste, and Politics in India |publisher=Primus Books |pages=98– |isbn=9789380607047 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XAO3i_gS61wC&pg=PA98 |quote=In 1891, more than half the 9,105 male members of the movement belonged to the Khatri and Arora merchant castes. This sociological composition reflected the same socio-cultural logic as in Gujarat where Dayananda had set up the Arya samaj with the support of traders seeking a better status more in keeping with their new prosperity (Jordens 1978) linked with the economic advance of British India; in the Punjab, his movement developed along the same lines among the merchant castes which felt that they could aspire all the more legitimately to the leadership of their community as the Brahmins and Kshatriyas, who had been hierarchically superior to them had been marginalized. Barrier hence explains the attraction that the Arya Samaj exercised over the merchant castes by the fact that: Dayananda's claim that caste should be determined primarily by merit not birth, opened new paths of social mobility to educated Vaishyas who were trying to achieve social status commensurate with their improving economic status.}}</ref>

{{blockquote| Dayananda's claim that caste should be determined primarily by merit not birth, opened new paths of social mobility to educated [[Vaishyas]] who were trying to achieve social status commensurate with their improving economic status<ref name="Jaffrelot2010"/>}}

=== Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra ===
[[Dasharatha Sharma]] described Khatris of [[Rajasthan]] as a mixed ''pratiloma'' caste of low ritual status but they could be a mixed caste born of Kshatriya fathers and Brahmin mothers.<ref>{{cite book|last=Sharma|first=Dasharatha|title=Early Chauhān dynasties: a study of Chauhān political history, Chauhān political institutions, and life in the Chauhān dominions, from 800 to 1316 A.D.|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|year=1975|page=279|author-link=Dasharatha Sharma}}</ref> [[Banking]], [[Trade|trading]], agriculture and service are traditional occupations of the Khatris in Rajasthan. The [[Literacy|literacy rate]] is appreciably high among them.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Singh|first=K.S|title=India's Communities A-G|publisher=OUP India |year=1998 |isbn=978-0195633542 |pages=1728}}</ref>

[[Ashok Malik]], former press secretary to the President of India, says that there were two groups of Khatris in Gujarat, that arrived right after the Mughal invasion and during the reign of [[Akbar]] respectively. The latter considered themselves superior to the former and they called themselves "Brahmakshatriyas" after arriving in Gujarat. When the older Khatri community of Gujarat started prospering, they also started calling themselves "Brahmakshatriya", causing the new Khatri community to panic and adopt the name "Nayar Brahmakshatriyas" for themselves. In addition, another community - the Gujarati [[Teli]]s, considered an [[Other Backward Class|Other Backward Class (OBC)]] in India began to call themselves ''Khatris.'' Malik calls this as [[Sanskritization]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Malik|first=Ashok|date=2010|title=Caste Census|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23006464|journal=India International Centre Quarterly|volume=37|issue=1|pages=142–147|issn=0376-9771|jstor=23006464}}</ref>

Historian Vijaya Gupchup from the [[University of Mumbai]] states that in [[Maharashtra]], Brahmins showed resentment in the attempt by the [[Marathi people|Marathi]] Khatris or Koshti to elevate themselves from ritually low status to Kshatriya by taking advantage of the British neutrality towards castes. She quotes a translation from a [[Marathi language|Marathi]] publication that gave a Brahminic opinion of this attempt:

{{blockquote|Everyone does what he wants, Sonars have become Brahmins, Treemungalacharya was insulted by throwing cowdung at him in Pune, but he has no shame and still calls himself a Brahmin. Similarly a Khatri or Koshti who are included in Panchal at places other than Bombay, call themselves Kshatriya in Bombay and say their needles are the arrows and their thimbles are the sheaths. How surprising that those Sonars and Khatris at the hands of whom even Shudras will not take water have become Brahmins and Kshatriyas. In short day by day higher castes are disappearing and lower castes are prospering.<ref name="Gupchup1993">{{cite book|author=Vijaya V. Gupchup|title=Bombay: Social Change, 1813-1857|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BeXZAAAAMAAJ |year=1993 |publisher=Popular Book Depot|page=191|quote=The cynical remarks of the Brahmin point out that there was a general tendency of the castes to elevate themselves in the social strata, no doubt taking advantage of the British policy of neutrality towards castes. Thus he says: Everyone does what he wants, Sonars have become Brahmins, Treemungalacharya was insulted by throwing cowdung at him in Pune, but he has no shame and still calls himself a Brahmin. Similarly a (Marathi) Khatri or Koshti (weavers) who are included in Panchal at places other than Bombay, call themselves Kshatriya in Bombay and say their needles are the arrows and their thimbles are the sheaths. How surprising that those Sonars and Khatris at the hands of whom even Sudras will not take water have become Brahmins and Kshatriyas. He continues, in short day by day higher castes are disappearing and lower castes are prospering.}}</ref>}}

==Religious groups==
===Hindu Khatris===
The vast majority of Khatris are Hindu.<ref name=":1532"/> Many Hindu Khatris made their first newborn a Sikh. Daughters were married into both Hindu and Sikh families according to the Khatri sub-hierarchy rules.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Singh|first=Manpreet J.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3KL8DwAAQBAJ&q=many+hindu+families+made+their+firstborn+a+sikh+manpreet+j+singh&pg=PT39|title=The Sikh Next Door: An Identity in Transition |date=31 August 2020|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-93-89165-58-6|language=en}}</ref> Hindu-Sikh intermarriages among Khatris and [[Arora]]s were common in the cities of [[Peshawar]] and [[Rawalpindi]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Mooney|first=Nicola|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k1B2vdLBizIC&dq=khatris+aroras+peshawar+rawalpindi&pg=PA12|title=Rural Nostalgias and Transnational Dreams: Identity and Modernity Among Jat Sikhs|date=1 January 2011 |publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=978-0-8020-9257-1|pages=12|language=en}}</ref> They worship [[Hinglaj Mata mandir|Hinglaj Mata]], [[Chandi|Chandi Mata]], [[Shiva]], [[Hanuman]] and [[Dashavatara|Vishnu's avatars]]. Worship of [[totem]]istic symbols such as snakes and trees used to be common among them. [[Meditation]] upon the flame while reciting [[Vindhyavasini|Vidhyavasini's]] hymns was a common practice and reverence was paid to the dead ancestors.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Hertel|first1=Bradley R.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r-OYL6Khg0UC&dq=khatris+worship&pg=PA199|title=Living Banaras: Hindu Religion in Cultural Context|last2=Humes|first2=Cynthia Ann|date=1 January 1993|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-0-7914-1331-9|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":9222">{{Cite book|last=Puri|first=Baij Nath|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tXX1MAAACAAJ|title=The Khatris, a Socio-cultural Study |date=1988|publisher=M.N. Publishers and Distributors|pages=67–72, 149–150|language=en}}</ref> They are both vegetarian and non-vegetarian depending on their affiliations with the sects of [[Vaishnavism]] and [[Shaktism]] respectively.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Nayar|first1=V. G.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3sAn2eNvF7EC&dq=khatris+vegetarian&pg=PA124|title=Sociology of Religion in India|last2=Nayar|first2=M. G.|date=2001|publisher=Cosmo Publications |isbn=978-81-7755-151-8|pages=124|language=en}}</ref> Sects of [[Arya Samaj]], [[Nirankari]] and [[Radha Soami|Radhasoami]] are also followed.<ref name=":9222"/>

===Sikh Khatris===
All the ten Sikh Gurus were from various Khatri clans.<ref>{{cite book|last=Singha|first=H. S.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gqIbJz7vMn0C&pg=PA125 |title=The Encyclopedia of Sikhism|publisher=Hemkunt Press|year=2000|isbn=978-81-7010-301-1|page=125}}</ref> The early followers of [[Guru Nanak]] were Khatris but later a large number of [[Jat]]s joined the faith.<ref>{{cite book|author=Richard M. Eaton|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aIF6DwAAQBAJ&pg=PP168|title=India in the Persianate Age: 1000-1765 |publisher=Penguin |year=2019 |isbn=9780141966557 |pages=168–169 |quote=The Sikh community grew rapidly in the sixteenth century. Nanak's earliest followers had been fellow Khatris engaged in petty trade, shopkeeping, or lower level civil service in the Lodi or Mughal bureaucracies. But as the movement grew, it experienced a significant influx of Jat cultivators.}}</ref> Khatris and Brahmins opposed "the demand that the Sikhs set aside the distinctive customs of their castes and families, including the older rituals."<ref>{{cite book |last=Dhavan |first=Purnima |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q0ZpAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA42|title=When Sparrows Became Hawks: The Making of the Sikh Warrior Tradition, 1699-1799|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2011|isbn=978-0-19987-717-1|pages=42, 47, 184}}</ref>

[[Bhapa]] (pronounced as Pahpa) is a term used in a derogatory sense to denote Sikhs who left [[Pothohar Plateau|Potohar Region]] of modern-day Pakistan during [[Partition of India|Partition]], specifically of Khatri and [[Arora]] caste. Bhapa translates to elder brother in the [[Pahari-Pothwari|Potohari]] dialect spoken around [[Rawalpindi District|Rawalpindi]] region. [[W. H. McLeod|McLeod]], referring to the Khatris and Aroras says "The term is typically used dismissively by [[Jat Sikh|Jats]] to express opprobrium towards Sikhs of these castes. Until recently it was never used in polite company or print, but today the word is used quite openly"<ref name=":213"/><ref>{{Cite news|last=Singh|first=Pukhraj|date=31 May 2014|title=Bluestar Baby Boomers |work=Newslaundary |url=https://www.newslaundry.com/2014/05/31/bluestar-baby-boomers|access-date=25 August 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Kumar |first=Dharminder|date=3 January 2016|title=The Sardar Joke Is On You|work=Mumbai Mirror|url=http://www.mumbaimirror.com/columns/columnists/by-invitation/The-Sardar-joke-is-on-you/articleshow/50422145.cms|access-date=25 August 2021}}</ref> According to Birinder Pal Singh, [[Jat Sikh]]s consider only themselves as Sikhs and consider Khatris as "bhapas".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Singh|first=Birinder Pal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=be1GDwAAQBAJ&q=khatris|title=Sikhs in the Deccan and North-East India|date=12 January 2018|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-351-20105-6|language=en}}</ref> In Nicola Mooney's opinion, Jat Sikhs consider Arora Sikhs as "Hindu Punjabis" which reserves Sikhism for the Jats alone, denying even the fully [[Amrit Sanskar|baptised]] Arora as Sikhs.<ref name=":1" />

=== Muslim Khatris ===
{{main|Muslim Khatris}}
According to Historian [[Baij Nath Puri|B. N. Puri]], [[Muslims|Muslim]] Khatris are commonly known as [[Khawaja Shaikh|Khojas]] in Punjab.<ref name=":92">{{Cite book|last=Puri|first=Baij Nath|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tXX1MAAACAAJ|title=The Khatris, a Socio-cultural Study |date=1988 |publisher=M.N. Publishers and Distributors|pages=149–150|language=en}}</ref> [[Khattak]] tribe of [[Pashtuns]] is credited with origin from the Khatris but was divided in belief to its descent according to the 1883 book "Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North-West Frontier Province".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Nalwa|first=Vanit|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ULhgNexD92QC&dq=khattak+khatris&pg=PA360|title=Hari Singh Nalwa, "champion of the Khalsaji" (1791-1837)|date=13 January 2009|publisher=Manohar, New Delhi|isbn=978-81-7304-785-5|pages=98|language=en}}</ref>

== Culture and lifestyle ==
According to [[Prakash Tandon]], during Khatri weddings, a ritual is carried out to test the Khatri groom's strength. The groom is supposed to slice the thick branch or stem of a [[Prosopis cineraria|Jandi Tree]] (Prosopis cineraria) in one blow using a sword.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tandon |first=Prakash |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p6zTk-ibjTwC&q=punjabi+khatri+history |title=Punjabi Century, 1857-1947 |date=1968 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-01253-0 |pages=136 |language=en}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=Tandon was a businessman, see [[WP:HISTRS]]|date=August 2021}} During the pregnancy period of a female, a [[baby shower]] ceremony called "reetan" or "goadbharai" is carried out amongst Khatris and Aroras. During the event, gifts are showered to the pregnant mother from family and friends among other traditions.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rait |first=S. K. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hRfkTq1ykSIC&q=born+in+a+khatri+family&pg=PA71 |title=Sikh Women in England: Their Religious and Cultural Beliefs and Social Practices |date=2005 |publisher=Trentham Books |isbn=978-1-85856-353-4 |pages=71 |language=en}}</ref>

== Literature and in popular culture ==
Khatris are mentioned in a popular Punjabi literature "[[Heer Ranjha]]" written by [[Waris Shah]].

<blockquote>Heer's beauty slays rich [[Khwaja|Khojas]] and Khatris in the [[bazaar]], like a murderous [[Qizilbash|Kizilbash]] trooper riding out of the royal camp armed with a sword
:— Waris Shah (Translated by Charles Frederick Usborne)<ref>{{Cite book|last=Shāh|first=Vāris̲|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Exo2AAAAMAAJ&q=the+adventures+of+hir+and+ranjha+khatri|title=The Adventures of Hir & Ranjha|date=1966|publisher=Lion Art Press|pages=41|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Shah|first=Waris|url=http://crossasia-repository.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/246/1/hir.pdf|title=The Adventure of Hir and Ranjha |publisher=Rupa |year=2003 |isbn=978-8129103796|translator-last=Usborne|translator-first=Charles Frederick}}</ref></blockquote>

== Sikh theology ==

According to ''[[Bichitra Natak]]'', traditionally said to be the autobiography of the last Sikh Guru, [[Gobind Singh]], but possibly not so,<ref>The Sikh Struggle in the Eighteenth Century and Its Relevance for Today, W. H. McLeod, History of Religions, Vol. 31, No. 4, Sikh Studies (May 1992), pp. 344-362, The University of Chicago Press/ quote: "Although Bachitar Natak is traditionally attributed to Guru Gobind Singh, there is a strong case to be made for regarding it as the work of one of his followers..."</ref> the Bedi sub-caste of the Khatris derives its lineage from [[Kusha (Ramayana)|Kush]], the son of [[Rama]] (according to Hindu epic ''[[Ramayana]]''). Similarly, according to the same legend, the [[Sodhi]] sub-caste claims descent from [[Lava (Ramayana)|Lav]], the other son of Rama.<ref name="Bichitra2">The Cosmic Drama: Bichitra Natak, Author Gobind Singh, Publisher Himalayan International Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy of the U.S.A., 1989 {{ISBN|0-89389-116-9}}, {{ISBN|978-0-89389-116-9}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=not [[WP:HSC]]|date=August 2021}}

In [[Guru Granth Sahib]], the primary scripture of [[Sikhism]], Khatri is mentioned as one among the four [[Varna (Hinduism)|varnas]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Singh|first=Nikky-Guninder Kaur|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8daLDwAAQBAJ&dq=khatri+brahmin+shudra+vaishya+guru+nanak&pg=PT62 |title=Sikhism: An Introduction|date=22 February 2011|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-0-85773-549-2|language=en}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|text=ਖਤ੍ਰੀ ਬ੍ਰਾਹਮਣ ਸੂਦ ਵੈਸ ਉਪਦੇਸੁ ਚਹੁ ਵਰਨਾ ਕਉ ਸਾਝਾ ॥ (SGGS, ang 747)
''Khatri brahman sud vais updesu cahu varna ku sanjha''
[[Kshatriya]]s, [[Brahmin]]s, [[Shudra]]s and [[Vaishya]]s all have the same mandate
|multiline=yes
}}

[[File:Portret van een onbekende handelaar uit Hazara Khutree. Hindoo trader. Hazara (titel op object), RP-F-2001-7-1122E-20.jpg|thumb|Photograph of a Hindu Khatri man of [[Hazara region|Hazara]] c. 1868-1872|188x188px]]

[[Guru Gobind Singh]], said the following in a [[Savaiya|swayya]]:

{{Blockquote|text=''Chattri ko poot ho, Baman ko naheen kayee tap aavat ha jo karon; Ar aur janjaar jito greh ko tohe tyaag, kahan chit taan mai dharon, Ab reejh ke deh vahey humko jo-oo, hau binti kar jor karoon ; Jab aao ki audh nidaan bane, att hi ran main tab jujh maroon.''
I am the son of a Chhatri (Khatri), not of a [[Brahmin]] and I will live according to my [[Dharma]]. All other complications of life are meaningless for me, and I set my heart on the path of righteousness. I humbly beseech thee God Almighty that when the time comes for me to fulfill my Dharma, may I die with honour in the field of battle.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Nalwa|first=Vanit|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ULhgNexD92QC&q=chhatri+ko+poot |title=Hari Singh Nalwa, "champion of the Khalsaji" (1791-1837) |date=2009-01-13 |publisher=Manohar, New Delhi |isbn=978-81-7304-785-5 |pages=329 |language=en}}</ref>
|multiline=yes
|author=Translated by Vanit Nalwa
}}

== Related communities ==
=== Arora ===
The [[Arora]] is a community that Levi describes as a sub-caste of Khatris.<ref name=":142"/> They originate in [[Punjab]] and [[Sindh]] region. The name is derived from their native place [[Aror]] and the community comprises both Hindus and Sikhs.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hans |first=Patrick |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0AyDDQAAQBAJ&q=Aror |title=The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland |year=2016 |isbn=9780192527479 |page=78|publisher=Oxford University Press }}</ref> As per [[W. H. McLeod]], a historian of Sikhism, "traditionally the Aroras, though a relatively high caste were inferior to the Khatris, but the difference has now progressively narrowed. Khatri-Arora marriages are not unknown nowadays."<ref name="McLeod_AtoZ"/>

=== Lohana, Bhatia, and Bhanushali ===
According to Claude Markovits, castes such as [[Bhatia caste|Bhatia]] and [[Lohana]] were close to the Khatris and intermarried with them.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Markovits|first=Claude|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M2vu7Odjz6kC&q=claude+markovits+india+and+the+world+2000|title=The Global World of Indian Merchants, 1750–1947: Traders of Sind from Bukhara to Panama|date=22 June 2000|publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-43127-9 |pages=47 |language=en}}</ref> Jürgen Schaflechner mentions that many Khatris and [[Bhatia caste|Bhatias]] were absorbed into Lohanas when they arrived in Sindh during the 18th century from cities in Punjab such as [[Multan]].<ref name=":102">{{Cite book |last=Schaflechner |first=Jürgen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=khBADwAAQBAJ&q=schaflechner+hinglaj+devi|title=Hinglaj Devi: Identity, Change, and Solidification at a Hindu Temple in Pakistan|date=2018|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-085052-4|pages=73–74|language=en}}</ref> He further adds that the genealogy of communities such as Khatri, Lohana and Arora is described in the composition of Hiṃgulā Purāṇ that brings them all into one mytho-historic narrative. He also notes that common mythologies found among Khatris and Lohanas. Some members, around 10-15% of the [[Lohana|Sindhi Lohanas]] began working for the local rulers and hence achieved a higher status than Khatris and Lohanas. These people came to known as "[[Amils]]" while the ones who continued with their merchant professions came to be known as "[[Bhaiband]]s". The Amils then started to recruit members from the general Khatris and Lohanas.<ref name=":102" />

Upendra Thakur mentions that there is a strong connection between the Khatris, Aroras, Lohanas and the [[Bhanushali]]s who all recruit the Saraswat Brahmins as their priests.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Thakur|first=Upendra|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wubpGAAACAAJ|title=Sindhi Culture |date=1997 |publisher=Sindhi Academy|isbn=978-81-87096-02-3|pages=61|language=en}}</ref>

=== Gaddi ===
Gaddi is a [[nomad]]ic [[Sheepherding|shepherding]] [[tribe]] that resides in the mountainous terrains of the [[Himalayas]]. Gaddi is an amalgamation of various groups such as Khatris, Rajputs, Brahmins etc.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Sharma|first=Manorma|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CDxa5G2S0AwC&q=gaddi+khatri&pg=PA10|title=Tribal Melodies of Himachal Pradesh: Gaddi folk music|date=1998|publisher=APH Publishing |isbn=978-81-7024-912-2 |pages=9 |language=en}}</ref> Most [[Gaddis]] of Himachal Pradesh call themselves Khatris.<ref name=":1322"/> There is a popular saying among them "Ujreya Lahore te baseya Bharmaur" meaning that when [[Lahore]] was deserted (possibly by the Muslim invasion), [[Bharmour]] was inhabited. Some Khatris clans are known to have settled there during Aurangzeb's reign.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hāṇḍā |first=Omacanda |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2EaFNQ7Zfl8C&dq=Ujreya+Lahore+te+baseya+Bharmaur&pg=PA29 |title=Gaddi Land in Chamba: Its History, Art & Culture: New Light on the Early Wooden Temples |date=2005 |publisher=Indus Publishing |isbn=978-81-7387-174-0 |pages=29 |language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of Khatris]]
* [[Roman Catholic Kshatriya]]s
* [[Caste system]]

==References==
{{notelist}}
{{reflist|2}}

== External links ==
* {{Commons category-inline}}

{{Ethnic groups, tribes and clans of the Punjab}}{{Social groups of Gujarat}}{{Social groups of Maharashtra}}{{Social groups of Rajasthan}}

[[Category:Punjabi tribes|*]]
[[Category:Indian castes]]
[[Category:Merchant castes]]
[[Category:Sikh communities]]
[[Category:Social groups of Punjab, India]]
[[Category:Social groups of Punjab, Pakistan]]
[[Category:Social groups of Rajasthan]]
[[Category:Sindhi tribes]]