{{short description|Community of Muslim Rajputs}} {{Other uses|Khanzada (disambiguation)}} {{pp-extended|small=yes}} {{Use Indian English|date=May 2015}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2015}} {{infobox ethnic group | image = | group = Khanzada | popplace = India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal | langs = {{hlist|Hindi|Awadhi|Mewati|Khari Boli|Urdu|English}}{{citation needed|date=April 2020}} | rels = Islam 100% | related = {{hlist|Thakurai|Bhatti Khanzada|Khokhar Khanzada}}{{citation needed|date=April 2020}} }}
The '''Khanzada '''or '''Khan Zadeh''' are a cluster community of Muslim Rajputs found in the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. A notable community is the Khanzadas of Mewat, the descendants of Raja Nahar Khan, who are a sub-clan of the Jadaun clan of Rajputs.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}} They refer to themselves as Muslim Rajputs. After the partition of India in 1947, many members of this community migrated to Pakistan, forming a part of the Muhajir community.
== Etymology == The term ''Khanzada'' or ''Khan Zadeh'' is a literal Persian translation of the Hindi word ''Rajput'', which originates from the Sanskrit word ''rājaputra'' ({{Langx|sa|राजपुत्र}}; literally "son of a king"). The Sankrit term finds mention in some ancient Hindu scriptures like the ''Rigveda'', ''Ramayana'' and ''Mahabharata''.<ref>{{Cite book|author=Rima Hooja|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tosMAQAAMAAJ |title=A History of Rajasthan |year=2006| publisher=Rupa & Co. |isbn=9788129108906 |language=en |oclc=80362053 |page=181}}</ref>
==History and origin== The term ''khanzada'' originally applied to the Bachgoti Rajput family of the Rajahs of Hasanpur. They were said to have converted to Islam during the rule of Sher Shah Suri. This family claimed descent from Bariar Singh, a Bachgoti Rajput, who said to have emigrated from Sultanpur in the 13th century. The Bachgoti had started off as a clan of the Chauhan Rajputs of Mainpuri. Bariar Singh's grandson, Tilok Chand is said to have converted to Islam, and the family took the name Khanzada.<ref>pages 94 and 95 in Daughters of the earth : women and land in Uttar Pradesh by Smita Tewari Jassal New Delhi : Manohar, 2001 {{ISBN|8173043752}}</ref>
==Present circumstances== In northern Awadh, a region comprising roughly Barabanki District in south east to Lakhimpur Kheri District in the north west, the Khanzada have a followed a slightly different path, with a stronger identification with Islam. In a recent study of a Chauhan Khanzada village in Raisenghat Tehsil of Barabanki District, this particular community was seen to be strongly identifying with neighbouring muslim rajput of Uttar Pradesh communities, and there was increasingly intermarriage between the two groups. There economic condition in this region is also been affected, with a dwindling in the size of their farms, especially in Shravasti and Balrampur districts. Many are now, in fact, landless agricultural labourers.<ref>Family, kinship and marriage among Muslims in India / edited by Imtiaz Ahmad {{ISBN|0-88386-757-5}}</ref>{{full citation needed|date=October 2023}}<ref>[https://medium.com/@khalid.afzal67/history-of-bisen-khanzada-community-in-awadh-region-33884696b9d7 History of Bisen Khanzada Community in Awadh region; Khalid Hameed, 2018]</ref> The Khanzada, however have been badly affected by abolition of the zamindari system, with many now destitute. They still remain a land owning community, but those especially in Balrampur, Gonda and Bahraich are now simply agricultural labourers. The community are also divided on sectarian lines, with the majority being Sunni, while a minority, mainly the ex-taluqdar families being Shia. Like other Indian Muslims, there is growing movement towards orthodoxy, with many of their villages containing madrasas. The madrasas have also facilitated the growth of Urdu, with it beginning to replace the Awadhi dialect they traditionally spoke.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://findarticles.com/p/news-articles/times-of-india-the/mi_8012/is_20070708/muslim-rajputs-india/ai_n39451474/?tag=content;col1 |title=Muslim Rajputs of UP [India], The | Times of India, The Newspaper | Find Articles at BNET |publisher=Findarticles.com |date=2007-07-08 |access-date=2010-08-18 |first=Atul |last=Sethi }}{{dead link|date=May 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>{{better source needed|date=October 2023}}
==See also== * Khokhar Khanzada
==References== {{reflist}}
==Further reading== *{{cite book |title=Kin, Clan, Raja, and Rule: Statehinterland Relations in Preindustrial India |first=Richard Gabriel |last=Fox |publisher=University of California Press |year=1971 |isbn=978-0-52001-807-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FHEcBTmxlOEC}}
== External links == {{Commons}}{{Indian Muslim}}
Category:Khanzada Category:Rajput clans of Rajasthan Category:Rajput clans of Uttar Pradesh Category:Muhajir communities