| Regions with significant populations |
|---|
| • Afghanistan • Pakistan • India |
| Languages |
| Religion |
|
• Islam 100% • |
| Related ethnic groups |
|
• Pashtun • Rohilla • Pathans of Bihar • Pathans of Gujarat • Pathans of Uttar Pradesh • Pathans of Punjab • 30-35% of the Muhajir people |
The Pathans of Rajasthan (Pashto: د راجستھان پښتانه, Rajasthani: राजस्तानी पठान (Devanagari), راجستھانی پٹھان (Perso-Arabic)), are a Pathan community found in the state of Rajasthan in India.[1]
The community are descendants of Pashtun (Pathan) soldiers and adventurers who came to Rajasthan to serve in the armies various Rajput princes. While the principality of Tonk was found by Ameer Khan in 1817, a Yousafzai Pathan, and was the only non-Hindu state in Rajputana, and the community is sometimes referred to as the Tonkia Pathan. Tonk was incorporated into the Indian Union in 1948. The failure of the 1857 Indian mutiny also led to an influx of Rohilla Pathans from the Rohilkhand region. Other than Tonk, they are also found in the districts of Dungarpur, Banswara, Ajmer, Jaipur, Bharatpur and Udaipur. They have three sub-divisions, the Swati, Buneri and Bagodi. Most of the Rajasthan Pathans belong to the Yousafzai tribe. They have long since abandoned Pashtu, and now speak Urdu, as well as various dialects of Rajasthani.[1]
The traditional occupation of the Rajasthani Pathan was serving in the armed forces of the various states in Rajputana. Now many are employed by state police, as government clerks, as well in the transport industry. Some also land, especially in Tonk, and are a community of cultivators. They are entirely endogamous, very rarely marrying out of the community.[1]
Each Pathan settlement has its own community council, known as a jamaat. The head of the jamaat was historically chosen from a locally prominent family, but now is elected. If the matters concerns the Pathan community as a whole, then members of the various local jamaats come together. The Rajasthani Pathan are entirely Sunni, and have been effected by the influence of the Tablighi Jamat, a reformist Deobandi organization, which is active in Rajasthan.[1]
Some Rajasthani Pathans have migrated to Pakistan after the partition of India and have settled in Mirpurkhas and Karachi, Sindh.
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