Bharatpedia - User contributions [en]

Dharmangadpur

2023-09-17T00:47:49Z

PhillisVennard3: Finished writing a new contribution.

{{Short description|Village in Uttar Pradesh, India}}
{{Use dmy dates}}
{{Use Indian English}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name = Dharmangadpur
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| other_name =
| nickname =
| settlement_type = Village
| image_skyline =
| image_alt =
| image_caption =
| image_map =
| map_caption =
| pushpin_map = India Uttar Pradesh
| pushpin_label_position = right
| pushpin_map_alt =
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Uttar Pradesh, India
| coordinates = {{coord|27.12464|N|79.28106|E|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = [[India]]
| subdivision_type1 = [[States and territories of India|State]]
| subdivision_name1 = [[Uttar Pradesh]]
| subdivision_type2 = [[List of districts of India|District]]
| subdivision_name2 = [[Mainpuri district|Mainpuri]]
| subdivision_type3 = [[Tehsil]]
| subdivision_name3 = [[Bhongaon]]
| established_title = 
| established_date =
| founder =
| named_for =
| government_type =
| governing_body =
| unit_pref = Metric
| area_footnotes = <ref name="Census 2011 A"/>
| area_rank =
| area_total_km2 = 1.484
| elevation_footnotes =
| elevation_m =
| population_total = 722
| population_as_of = 2011
| population_rank =
| population_density_km2 = auto
| population_demonym =
| population_footnotes = <ref name="Census 2011 A"/>
| demographics_type1 =
| demographics1_title1 =
| demographics1_info1 =
| timezone1 = [[Indian Standard Time|IST]]
| utc_offset1 = +5:30
| postal_code_type = [[Postal Index Number|PIN]]
| postal_code =
| registration_plate =
| website =
| footnotes =
}}
'''Dharmangadpur''' ([[Devanagari]]: धरमंगदपुर {{IAST|Dharmaṅgadpur}}) is a village in [[Bewar, Mainpuri|Bewar]] block of [[Mainpuri district]], [[Uttar Pradesh]]. As of 2011, it has a population of 722, in 118 households.

== Demographics ==
As of 2011, Dharmangadpur had a population of 722, in 118 households.<ref name="Census 2011 A"/>{{rp|200}} This population was 52.8% male (381) and 47.2% female (341). The 0-6 age group numbered 89 (51 male and 38 female), or 12.3% of the total population. 105 residents were members of Scheduled Castes, or 14.5% of the total.<ref name="Census 2011 B">{{cite web |title=Census of India 2011: Uttar Pradesh District Census Handbook - Mainpuri, Part B (Village and Town Wise Primary Census Abstract) |url=https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/1259/download/4050/DH_2011_0917_PART_B_DCHB_MAINPURI.pdf |website=Census of India |access-date=19 June 2023}}</ref>{{rp|142-3}}

The [[1981 Census of India|1981 census]] recorded Dharmangadpur as having a population of 569 people, in 81 households.<ref name="Census 1981">{{cite book |title=Census 1981 Uttar Pradesh: District Census Handbook Part XIII-A: Village & Town Directory, District Mainpuri |url=https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/29484/download/32665/28516_1981_MAI.pdf |access-date=25 July 2023}}</ref>{{rp|192-3}}

The [[1961 Census of India|1961 census]] recorded Dharmangadpur as comprising 3 hamlets, with a total population of 522 people (281 male and 241 female), in 72 households and 66 physical houses. The area of the village was given as 414 acres.<ref name="Census 1961">{{cite book |title=Census 1961: District Census Handbook, Uttar Pradesh (24 - Mainpuri District) |location=Lucknow |url=https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/28772/download/31954/22833_1961_MAI.pdf |access-date=25 December 2021}}</ref>{{rp|xcviii}}

== Infrastructure ==
As of 2011, Dharmangadpur had 1 primary school; it did not have any healthcare facilities. Drinking water was provided by hand pump and tube well/borehole; there were no public toilets. The village had a public library but no post office; there was at least some access to electricity for all purposes. Streets were made of ''[[Indian vernacular architecture#kachcha|kachcha]]'' materials.<ref name="Census 2011 A">{{cite web |title=Census of India 2011: Uttar Pradesh District Census Handbook - Mainpuri, Part A (Village and Town Directory) |url=https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/1258/download/4046/DH_2011_0917_PART_A_DCHB_MAINPURI.pdf |website=Census of India |access-date=19 June 2023}}</ref>{{rp|200-5}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Mainpuri district}}

[[Category:Villages in Mainpuri district]]

Table Tennis Federation of India

2023-08-19T13:30:47Z

PhillisVennard3:

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2023}}
{{Use Indian English|date=March 2023}}
{{Infobox sport governing body
|name = Table Tennis Federation of India
|abbrev = TTFI
|logo = TTFILOGO.jpg
|logosize = 250px
|sport = [[Table Tennis]]
|category =
|image =
|caption =
|jurisdiction = National
|membership = 32 state units and 37 institutions
|founded = {{Start date and age|df=yes|1926}}
|aff = [[International Table Tennis Federation]]
|affdate = 1926
|region = [[Asian Table Tennis Union]]
|regionyear =
|headquarters = I-12, 3rd Floor, DSIIDC Industrial Complex, Near Udyog Nagar Metro Station, Rohtak Road, Delhi - 110041
|president = Meghna Ahlawat
|secretary = Kamlesh Mehta<ref>{{cite web |title=Executive Committee |url=http://ttfi.org/cmspages/index/committee |website=ttfi.org |accessdate=19 July 2018}}</ref>
|coach =
|womenscoach =
|key staff =
|operating income =
|sponsor =
|url = http://ttfi.org
|countryflag = IND
|more =
}}
The '''Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI)''' is the [[governing body]] for [[table tennis]] in [[India]]. The TTFI was established in 1926, and was a founding member of the [[International Table Tennis Federation]] (ITTF). TTFI's membership includes 32 state units and 37 institutions.<ref name="About">{{cite web |title=About TTFI |url=http://ttfi.org/cmspages/index/about/ |website=ttfi.org |accessdate=19 July 2018}}</ref>

[[Dushyant Chautala]] was elected as President of the TTFI at the federation's annual general body meeting on 30 January 2017, becoming the youngest President in the TTFI's history.<ref>{{cite web |title=Dushyant Chautala is new chief of Table Tennis Federation of India |url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/dushyant-chautala-is-new-chief-of-table-tennis-federation-of-india-117013000642_1.html |website=Business Standard India |accessdate=19 July 2018 |date=30 January 2017}}</ref>

==Events==
{| class="wikitable"
|+ 86tg National Table Tennis Championship
! Year
! Venue
! City
! State/union territory
! Events
|-
|2023|| University of Jammu Gymnasium Hall || [[Jammu]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=KO |date=2023-03-18 |title=Jammu To Host Senior National Table Tennis Championship |url=https://kashmirobserver.net/2023/03/18/jammu-to-host-senior-national-table-tennis-championship/ |access-date=2023-03-23 |website=Kashmir Observer |language=en-US}}</ref>|| [[Jammu and Kashmir (union territory)|Jammu and Kashmir]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=NETWORK |first=GK NEWS |title='J&K all set to host Senior National Table Tennis Championship' |url=https://www.greaterkashmir.com/sports/jk-all-set-to-host-senior-national-table-tennis-championship |access-date=2023-03-23 |website=Greater Kashmir |language=en}}</ref>||7
|}

=== Winners ===
{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" |Medal
! colspan="3" | Men's
! colspan="3" | Women's
!Mixed
|-
!Individual
!Doubles
!Team
!Individual
!Doubles
!Team
!Doubles
|-
!{{GoldMedal}}
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
!{{SilverMedal}}
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
!{{BronzeMedal}}
|
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|
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* https://theprint.in/sport/ttfi-election-meghna-ahlawat-to-be-first-women-president-tt-legend-kamlesh-mehta-to-take-over-as-secretary-general/1249956/

{{Sports governing bodies in India}}
{{National members of the International Table Tennis Federation}}

[[Category:Sports governing bodies in India]]
[[Category:Table tennis in India]]
[[Category:1926 establishments in India]]
[[Category:Sports organizations established in 1926]]
[[Category:Organisations based in Delhi]]

{{tabletennis-stub}}

Gheevarghese Aprem

2023-07-14T15:29:28Z

PhillisVennard3: Just finished drafting a fresh page.

{{Short description|Indian bishop (born 1961)}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| name = Gheevarghese Aprem
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name = George Kurisummoottil
| birth_date = 9 August 1961
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality =
| other_names =
| title = [[Syro-Malabar Catholic Archeparchy of Kottayam|Auxiliary of Kottayam]]
| website =
| see =
| honorific_prefix = Mar
| honorific_suffix =
| church = [[Syro-Malabar Catholic Church]] [[Syro-Malankara Catholic Church]]
| archdiocese = [[Syro-Malabar Catholic Archeparchy of Kottayam|Kottayam]]
| predecessor =
| rank =
| type = Metropolitan Archbishop
| appointed = 29 August 2020
| ordination = 27 December 1987
| consecrated_by = [[Mathew Moolakkatt]], [[Baselios Cleemis]], and [[Joseph Pandarasseril]]
| consecration = 14 November 2020
| birth_place = [[Tiruvalla]],[[Kerala]]
}}

'''Gheevarghese Mar Aprem''' is the [[Auxiliary bishop]] of the [[Syro-Malabar Catholic Archeparchy of Kottayam]] . He was elected by the [[synod]] of the [[Syro-Malabar Church|Syro-Malabar Catholic Church]] as the Auxiliary Bishop on August 29, 2020.

== Early life and education ==
Gheevarhese Mar Aprem was born George Kurisummotil on August 9, 1961, in [[Thiruvalla|Thiruvalla, Kerala]] as a member of the [[Syro-Malankara Catholic Church|Syro Malankara]] Knanaya Community. He began his priestly formation at St. Stanislaw's Minor Seminary in [[Kottayam]]. He then continued his studies at St. Joseph's Diocesan Seminary in [[Mangalore]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=ccbi |first=Editor |title=Fr. George Kurisummoottil Appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Kottayam |url=https://ccbi.in/fr-george-kurisummoottil-appointed-auxiliary-bishop-of-kottayam/ |access-date=2023-07-13 |website=CCBI |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Ministry ==
After his ordination, He served as the Kottayam Minor Seminary as its vice rector and then served in numerous parishes for a decade while attaining a master's in sacred art at the [[Holy Spirit University of Kaslik|Holy Spirit Maronite University]] in [[Kaslik|Kaslik, Lebanon]]. After his master's, He taught iconography at [[Ephrem the Syrian|Saint Ephrem]] Ecumenical Research Institute and theology of icons at the Saint Thomas Apostolic Seminary. He then served as director of the “Hadusa” Commission for the Performing Arts till he was appointed as the parish priest of Saint Theresa's Catholic Church, Ranni, a role that he served until his appointment as bishop. In 2019, Archbishop [[Mathew Moolakkatt]] appointed him as the vicar-general of the Syro Malankara Faithful in the archdiocese.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Resignations and Appointments |url=https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2020/08/29/200829b.html |access-date=2023-07-13 |website=press.vatican.va}}</ref>

== Auxiliary bishop ==
He was appointed on August 29, 2020, After long consideration and debate between the Syro Malabar Archeparchy, The Synod, and the Syro Malankara Catholicos for the need of an auxiliary bishop for the Syro Malankara Faithful in the Community. He was consecreated by the Catholicos of the [[Syro-Malankara Catholic Church]] [[Baselios Cleemis]], [[Joseph Pandarasseril]], and Moolakkatt.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Auxiliary Bishop of Kottayam Archdiocese Gheevarghese (George) Kurisummoottil {{!}} UCA News |url=https://www.ucanews.com/directory/bishops/bishop-kurisummoottil/1048 |access-date=2023-07-13 |website=www.ucanews.com}}</ref>

== References ==
<references />

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aprem, Gheevarghese}}
[[Category:1961 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Thiruvalla]]

{{India-RC-bishop-stub}}

Internet Relay Chat

2023-07-13T18:20:45Z

PhillisVennard3: Authored a new page format.

{{Use dmy dates}}
{{Short description|Protocol for real-time Internet chat and messaging}}
{{hatnote group|
{{redirect|IRC}}{{for|Wikipedia-related IRC channels|Wikipedia:IRC|selfref=true}}
}}
{{Infobox networking protocol
| title = Internet Relay Chat
| logo =
| logo alt =
| image =
| image alt =
| caption =
| is stack =
| abbreviation = IRC
| purpose = [[Instant messaging]]
| developer = Jarkko Oikarinen
| date = {{Start date and age|1988|08}}
| based on =
| influenced = Not yet superseded [http://ircv3.net/ IRCv3] (standards process working group)
| osilayer = Application layer
| ports = 6667
| rfcs = [https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc1459 RFC 1459]
| hardware =
}}
{{IPstack}}
[[File:Tolsun 2.jpg|thumb|upright|The first IRC server, tolsun.oulu.fi, a [[Sun-3]] server on display near the [[University of Oulu]] computer centre]]

'''Internet Relay Chat''' ('''IRC''') is a text-based chat system for [[instant messaging]]. IRC is designed for [[Many-to-many|group communication]] in discussion forums, called ''[[#Channels|channels]]'',<ref>{{cite IETF|rfc=1459|title=Internet Relay Chat Protocol|sectionname=One-to-many|section=3.2|page=11|idanchor=ietf}}</ref> but also allows one-on-one communication via [[instant messaging|private messages]]<ref>{{cite IETF |rfc=2810 |title=Internet Relay Chat: Architecture |sectionname=One-To-One Communication |section=5.1 |page=5 |idanchor=ietf }}</ref> as well as [[Direct Client-to-Client|chat and data transfer]],<ref>{{cite web |last=Rollo |first=Troy |title=A Description of the DCC Protocol |url=http://www.irchelp.org/irchelp/rfc/dccspec.html |access-date=8 April 2011 |website=IRCHelp.org }}</ref> including [[file sharing]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Wang|first=Wallace|title=Steal this File Sharing Book|publisher=[[No Starch Press]]|isbn=978-1-59327-050-6|edition=1st|location=[[San Francisco, California]]|pages=[https://archive.org/details/stealthisfilesha00wang/page/61 61–67]|chapter=Instant Messaging and Online Chat Rooms: Internet Relay Chat (IRC)|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/stealthisfilesha00wang/page/61}}</ref>

Internet Relay Chat is implemented as an [[application layer]] protocol to facilitate communication in the form of text. The chat process works on a [[Client–server model|client–server networking model]]. Users connect, using a client{{emdash}}which may be a [[Web application|web app]], a [[Computer program|standalone desktop program]], or embedded into part of a larger program{{emdash}}to an IRC server, which may be part of a larger IRC network. Examples of programs used to connect include [[Mibbit]], [[IRCCloud]], [[KiwiIRC]], and [[mIRC]].

IRC usage has been declining steadily since 2003, losing 60 percent of its users.<ref name="pingdom" /> In April 2011, the top 100 IRC networks served more than half a million users at a time.<ref name="irc networks top 100">{{cite web
| url = http://irc.netsplit.de/networks/top100.php
| title = IRC Networks – Top 100
| access-date = 8 April 2011
| website = irc.netsplit.de
}}</ref>

=={{anchor|MultiUser Talk}} History== 
{{See also|IRCd#History}}
IRC was created by [[Jarkko Oikarinen]] in August 1988 to replace a program called MUT (MultiUser Talk) on a [[Bulletin board system|BBS]] called OuluBox at the [[University of Oulu]] in [[Finland]], where he was working at the Department of Information Processing Science. Jarkko intended to extend the BBS software he administered, to allow news in the [[Usenet]] style, real time discussions and similar BBS features. The first part he implemented was the chat part, which he did with borrowed parts written by his friends Jyrki Kuoppala and Jukka Pihl. The first IRC network was running on a single server named tolsun.oulu.fi.<ref name="stenberg">{{cite web
|last=Stenberg
|first=Daniel
|title=History of IRC (Internet Relay Chat)
|url=https://daniel.haxx.se/irchistory.html
|access-date=25 April 2016
|date=29 March 2011
|quote=I did not experience all of this. I found information on various places and I received information from various people in order to write this. People that have helped me with this include: Greg "wumpus" Lindahl, Vesa "vesa" Ruokonen, James Ng, Tuomas Heino, Richard (eagle`s on undernet), Ari Lemmke
}}</ref> Oikarinen found inspiration in a chat system known as [[Bitnet Relay]], which operated on the [[BITNET]].<ref name="founding irc">{{cite web
| url = http://www.mirc.com/jarkko.html
| title = Founding IRC
| access-date = 8 April 2011
| last = Oikarinen
| first = Jarkko
| author-link = Jarkko Oikarinen
}}</ref>

Jyrki Kuoppala pushed Oikarinen to ask Oulu University to free the IRC code so that it also could be run outside of Oulu, and after they finally got it released, Jyrki Kuoppala immediately installed another server. This was the first "IRC network". Oikarinen got some friends at the [[Helsinki University]] and [[Tampere University]] to start running IRC servers when his number of users increased and other universities soon followed. At this time Oikarinen realized that the rest of the BBS features probably wouldn't fit in his program.<ref name="stenberg"/>

Oikarinen contacted people at the [[University of Denver]] and [[Oregon State University]]. They had their own IRC network running and wanted to connect to the Finnish network. They had obtained the program from one of Oikarinen's friends, Vijay Subramaniam—the first non-Finnish person to use IRC. IRC then grew larger and got used on the entire Finnish national network—[[FUNET]]—and then connected to [[NORDUnet|Nordunet]], the Scandinavian branch of the Internet. In November 1988, IRC had spread across the Internet and in the middle of 1989, there were some 40 servers worldwide.<ref name="stenberg"/>

===EFnet===
In August 1990, the first major disagreement took place in the IRC world. The "A-net" (Anarchy net) included a server named eris.berkeley.edu. It was all open, required no passwords and had no limit on the number of connects. As Greg "wumpus" Lindahl explains{{Citation needed}}: "it had a wildcard server line, so people were hooking up servers and [[IRC takeover#Nick collision|nick-colliding]] everyone". The "Eris Free Network", [[EFnet]], made the eris machine the first to be Q-lined (Q for quarantine) from IRC. In wumpus' words again{{Citation needed}}: "Eris refused to remove that line, so I formed EFnet. It wasn't much of a fight; I got all the hubs to join, and almost everyone else got carried along." A-net was formed with the eris servers, while EFnet was formed with the non-eris servers. History showed most servers and users went with EFnet. Once A-net disbanded, the name EFnet became meaningless, and once again it was the one and only IRC network.<ref name="stenberg"/>

Around that time IRC was used to report on the [[1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt]] throughout a [[media blackout]].<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/academic/communications/logs/report-ussr-gorbatchev
|title=IRC transcripts from the time of the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt
|access-date=8 April 2011
|publisher=[[ibiblio]]
|location=[[Chapel Hill, North Carolina]]
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090628013626/http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/academic/communications/logs/report-ussr-gorbatchev
|archive-date=28 June 2009
}}</ref> It was previously used in a similar fashion during the [[Gulf War]].<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/academic/communications/logs/Gulf-War/
| title = IRC logs of events of the Gulf War
| access-date = 8 April 2011
| publisher = [[ibiblio]]
| location = [[Chapel Hill, North Carolina]]
}}</ref> [[Chat log]]s of these and other events are kept in the [[ibiblio]] archive.<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/academic/communications/logs/
| title = Logs of major events in the online community
| access-date = 8 April 2011
| publisher = [[ibiblio]]
| location = [[Chapel Hill, North Carolina]]
}}</ref>

===Undernet fork===
Another fork effort, the first that made a lasting difference, was initiated by "Wildthang" in the United States in October 1992. (It forked off the EFnet ircd version 2.8.10). It was meant to be just a test network to develop bots on but it quickly grew to a network "for friends and their friends". In Europe and Canada a separate new network was being worked on and in December the French servers connected to the Canadian ones, and by the end of the month, the French and Canadian network was connected to the US one, forming the network that later came to be called "The [[Undernet]]".<ref name="stenberg"/>

The "undernetters" wanted to take ircd further in an attempt to make it use less bandwidth and to try to sort out the channel chaos ([[netsplit]]s and [[IRC takeover|takeovers]]) that EFnet started to suffer from. For the latter purpose, the Undernet implemented timestamps, new routing and offered the CService—a program that allowed users to register channels and then attempted to protect them from troublemakers. The first server list presented, from 15 February 1993, includes servers from the U.S., Canada, France, Croatia and Japan. On 15 August, the new user count record was set to 57 users.<ref name="stenberg"/>

In May 1993, RFC 1459<ref name="rfc 1459 1 introduction">{{cite IETF|rfc=1459|title=Internet Relay Chat Protocol|sectionname=Introduction|section=1|page=4|idanchor=ietf}}</ref> was published and details a simple protocol for client/server operation, channels, one-to-one and one-to-many conversations.<ref name="stenberg"/> It is notable that a significant number of extensions like CTCP, colors and formats are not included in the protocol specifications, nor is character encoding,<ref name="rfc 1459 2.2 character codes"/> which led various implementations of servers and clients to diverge. Software implementation varied significantly from one network to the other, each network implementing their own policies and standards in their own code bases.

===DALnet fork===
During the summer of 1994, the Undernet was itself forked. The new network was called [[DALnet]] (named after its founder: dalvenjah), formed for better user service and more user and channel protections. One of the more significant changes in DALnet was use of longer nicknames (the original ircd limit being 9 letters). DALnet ircd modifications were made by Alexei "Lefler" Kosut. DALnet was thus based on the Undernet ircd server, although the DALnet pioneers were EFnet abandoners. According to James Ng, the initial DALnet people were "ops in #StarTrek sick from the constant splits/lags/takeovers/etc".<ref name="stenberg"/>

DALnet quickly offered global WallOps (IRCop messages that can be seen by users who are +w (/mode NickName +w)), longer nicknames, Q:Lined nicknames (nicknames that cannot be used i.e. ChanServ, IRCop, NickServ, etc.), global K:Lines (ban of one person or an entire domain from a server or the entire network), IRCop only communications: GlobOps, +H mode showing that an IRCop is a "helpop" etc. Much of DALnet's new functions were written in early 1995 by Brian "Morpher" Smith and allow users to own nicknames, control channels, send memos, and more.<ref name="stenberg"/>

===IRCnet fork===
In July 1996, after months of [[flame war]]s and discussions on the mailing list, there was yet another split due to disagreement in how the development of the ircd should evolve. Most notably, the "European" (most of those servers were in Europe) side that later named itself [[IRCnet]] argued for nick and channel delays whereas the EFnet side argued for timestamps.<ref name="stenberg"/> There were also disagreements about policies: the European side had started to establish a set of rules directing what IRCops could and could not do, a point of view opposed by the US side.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.irc.org/history_docs/TheGreatSplit.html |title=The Great Split |publisher=IRC.org |last=Engen|first=Vegard|access-date=25 April 2016}}</ref>

Most (not all) of the IRCnet servers were in Europe, while most of the EFnet servers were in the US. This event is also known as "The Great Split" in many IRC societies. EFnet has since (as of August 1998) grown and passed the number of users it had then. In the (northern) autumn of the year 2000, EFnet had some 50,000 users and IRCnet 70,000.<ref name="stenberg"/>

===Modern IRC===
IRC has changed much over its life on the Internet. New server software has added a multitude of new features.
* [[IRC services|Services]]: Network-operated bots to facilitate registration of nicknames and channels, sending messages for offline users and network operator functions.
* Extra modes: While the original IRC system used a set of standard user and channel modes, new servers add many new modes for features such as removing color codes from text,<ref>{{cite web|title=Channel Modes|url=https://www.unrealircd.org/docs/Channel_modes|website=UnrealIRCd documentation wiki|access-date=6 January 2018}}</ref> or obscuring a user's hostmask ("cloaking") to protect from [[denial-of-service attack]]s.<ref>{{cite web|title=Cloaking|url=https://www.unrealircd.org/docs/Cloaking|website=UnrealIRCd documentation wiki|access-date=6 January 2018}}</ref>
* Proxy detection: Most modern servers support detection of users attempting to connect through an insecure (misconfigured or exploited) [[proxy server]], which can then be denied a connection. This proxy detection software is used by several networks, although that real time list of proxies is defunct since early 2006.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.irc-junkie.org/2006-05-07/blitzed-open-proxy-monitor-shuts-down/|title=Blitzed Open Proxy Monitor Shuts Down|quote=The Open Proxy Monitor which has been provided by the Blitzed IRC network has been shut down…The database was so large that it is near to impossible for the team to backup, or find a new location to continue the service. Added to that, most of the team members do not possess the time anymore to keep the service running.}}</ref>
* Additional commands: New commands can be such things as shorthand commands to issue commands to Services, to network-operator-only commands to manipulate a user's hostmask.{{Citation needed}}
* [[Encryption]]: For the client-to-server leg of the connection [[Transport Layer Security|TLS]] might be used (messages cease to be secure once they are relayed to other users on standard connections, but it makes [[Man-in-the-middle attack|eavesdropping]] on or wiretapping an individual's IRC sessions difficult). For client-to-client communication, [[Secure Direct Client-to-Client|SDCC]] (Secure DCC) can be used.{{Citation needed}}
* Connection protocol: IRC can be connected to via [[IPv4]], the old version of the [[Internet Protocol]], or by [[IPv6]], the current standard of the protocol.

{{As of|2016}}, a new standardization effort is under way under a working group called IRCv3, which focuses on more advanced client features like instant notifications, better history support and improved security.<ref name="ircv3">{{cite web|title=IRCv3|url=http://ircv3.net/|publisher=IRCv3 Working Group|access-date=25 April 2016|quote=The IRCv3 Working Group is a collection of IRC client and server software authors working to enhance, maintain and standardize the IRC protocol using backwards-compatible extensions.}}</ref> {{As of|2019}}, no major IRC networks have fully adopted the proposed standard.<ref name="ircv3usage">{{cite web|title= Networks - IRCv3|url=https://ircv3.net/support/networks.html|access-date=9 August 2019}}</ref>

{{As of|2021|06|post=,}} there are 481 different IRC networks known to be operating,<ref name="networks">{{Cite web |title=IRC Networks - in alphabetical order |url=https://netsplit.de/networks/index.php.php |access-date=12 January 2022 |website=netsplit.de}}</ref> of which the open source [[Libera Chat]], founded in May 2021, has the most users, with 20,374 channels on 26 servers; between them, the top 100 IRC networks share over 100 thousand channels operating on about one thousand servers.<ref name="top 100">{{Cite web |title=IRC Networks - Top 100 |url=https://netsplit.de/networks/top100.php.php |access-date=12 January 2022 |website=netsplit.de}}</ref>

After its golden era during the 1990s and early 2000s (240,000 users on QuakeNet in 2004), IRC has seen a significant decline, losing around 60% of users between 2003 and 2012, with users moving to newer [[social media]] platforms like [[Facebook]] or [[Twitter]],<ref name="pingdom">{{cite web|url=http://royal.pingdom.com/2012/04/24/irc-is-dead-long-live-irc/|title=IRC is dead, long live IRC|website=Pingdom|access-date=25 April 2016|archive-date=15 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170815064620/http://royal.pingdom.com/2012/04/24/irc-is-dead-long-live-irc/|url-status=dead}}</ref> but also to open platforms like [[XMPP]] which was developed in 1999. Certain networks like [[Freenode]] have not followed the overall trend and have more than quadrupled in size during the same period.<ref name="pingdom" /> However, Freenode, which in 2016 had around 90,000 users, has since declined to about 9,300 users.<ref>{{cite web|title=netsplit.de top 10|url=http://irc.netsplit.de/networks/top10.php|access-date=15 January 2021}}</ref>

The largest IRC networks have traditionally been grouped as the "Big Four"<ref name="the book of irc">{{cite book |last = Charalabidis
|first = Alex
|title = The Book of IRC: The Ultimate Guide to Internet Relay Chat
|url-access = registration
|edition = 1st
|date = 15 December 1999
|publisher = No Starch Press
|location = [[San Francisco, California]]
|isbn = 978-1-886411-29-6
|page = [https://archive.org/details/bookofirc00char/page/61 61]
|chapter = IRCing On The Macintosh: Ircle
|quote = On large networks such as the Big Four{{mdash}} EFnet, IRCnet, Undernet, and DALnet{{mdash}} trying to list the thousands of channels with Ircle always causes you to disconnect due to the flood of information, while other clients can usually manage the feat, if you are on a direct Ethernet connection.
|url = https://archive.org/details/bookofirc00char
}}</ref><ref name="encyclopedia of new media">{{cite book
| editor-last = Jones
| editor-first = Steve
| title = Encyclopedia of New Media: An Essential Reference to Communication and Technology
| url = https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofne00jone
| url-access = registration
| edition = 1st
| date = 10 December 2002
| publisher = [[SAGE Publications]]
| location = [[Thousand Oaks, California]]
| isbn = 978-0-7619-2382-4
| page = [https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofne00jone/page/257 257]
| chapter = Internet Relay Chat
| quote = Today there are hundreds of independent IRC networks, but the "Big Four" are EFNet, UnderNet, Dalnet, and IRCnet.
}}</ref><ref name="the imac book">{{cite book
| last = Rittner
| first = Don
| title = The iMac Book
| edition = 1st
| date = 3 March 1999
| publisher = Coriolis Group
| location = [[Scottsdale, Arizona]]
| isbn = 978-1-57610-429-3
| page = 215
| quote = There are several large networks: EFnet, UnderNET, DALnet, and IRCnet make up the Big Four.
}}</ref><ref name="information technology for management">{{cite book
| last1 = Turban
| first1 = Efraim
| last2 = Leidner
| first2 = Dorothy
| last3 = McLean
| first3 = Ephraim
| last4 = Wetherbe
| first4 = James
| title = Information Technology for Management: Transforming Organizations in the Digital Economy
| edition = 5th
| date = 7 February 2005
| publisher = [[John Wiley & Sons]]
| location = [[Hoboken, New Jersey]]
| isbn = 978-0-471-70522-2
| pages = 106 – 107
| chapter = Communication
| quote = The largest networks have traditionally been grouped as the "Big Four": EFNet, IrcNet, QuakeNet, and UnderNet.
}}</ref>—a designation for networks that top the statistics. The Big Four networks change periodically, but due to the community nature of IRC there are a large number of other networks for users to choose from.

Historically the "Big Four" were:<ref name="the book of irc" /><ref name="encyclopedia of new media" /><ref name="the imac book" />
* [[EFnet]]
* [[IRCnet]]
* [[Undernet]]
* [[DALnet]]

IRC reached 6 million simultaneous users in 2001 and 10 million users in 2004-2005, dropping to around 350k in 2021.{{citation needed}}

{{As of|June 2023}}, the top 11 IRC networks are:
* [[Libera Chat]] – around 42k users at peak hours
* [[OFTC]] – around 31k users at peak hours
* [[IRCnet]] – around 19k users at peak hours
* [[Undernet]] – around 16k users at peak hours
* [[EFnet]] – around 11k users at peak hours
* [[Rizon]] – around 9k users at peak hours
* [[Freenode]] – around 8k users at peak hours
* [[ChatZona]] – around 7.4k users at peak hours
* [[QuakeNet]] – around 7.3k users at peak hours
* [[DALnet]] – around 7k users at peak hours
* [[hackint]] – around 6k users at peak hours

The top 100 IRC networks have around 230k users connected at peak hours.<ref name="netsplitde-top100">{{cite web |url=http://irc.netsplit.de/networks/top100.php |title=IRC Networks – Top 100 |website=irc.netsplit.de |publisher=netsplit.de |access-date=15 January 2021 }}</ref>

===Timeline===
Timeline of major servers:
* [[EFnet]], 1990 to present
* [[Undernet]], 1992 to present
* [[DALnet]], 1994 to present
* [[freenode]], 1995 to present
* [[IRCnet]], 1996 to present
* [[QuakeNet]], 1997 to present
* [[Open and Free Technology Community]], 2001 to present
* [[Rizon]], 2002 to present
* [[Libera Chat]], 2021 to present

==Technical information==
{{See also|IRCd}}
[[File:Hexchat 2.16.0 screenshot.png|right|thumb|A screenshot of [[HexChat]], an IRC client for [[GTK]] environments]]
[[File:Irssi 1.2.3 screenshot.png|right|thumb|[[Irssi]], a text-based IRC client]]
IRC is an open [[Network protocol|protocol]] that uses [[Transmission Control Protocol|TCP]]<ref name="rfc 1459 1 introduction" /> and, optionally, [[Transport Layer Security|TLS]]. An [[IRC server]] can connect to other IRC servers to expand the IRC network.<ref>{{cite IETF
| rfc = 1459
|title=Internet Relay Chat Protocol
| sectionname = Servers
| section = 1.1
| page = 4
| idanchor = ietf
}}</ref> Users access IRC networks by connecting a client to a server.<ref>{{cite IETF
| rfc = 2810
|title=Internet Relay Chat: Architecture
| sectionname = Clients
| section = 2.2
| page = 3
| idanchor = ietf
}}</ref> There are many client implementations, such as [[mIRC]], [[HexChat]] and [[irssi]], and server implementations, e.g. the original [[IRCd]]. Most IRC servers do not require users to register an account but a [[Nickname#Computing|nickname]] is required before being connected.<ref>{{cite IETF
| rfc = 1459
|title=Internet Relay Chat Protocol
| sectionname = Clients
| section = 1.2
| page = 5
| idanchor = ietf
}}</ref>

IRC was originally a [[Text-based protocol|plain text protocol]]<ref name="rfc 1459 1 introduction" /> (although later extended), which on request was assigned port [[List of TCP and UDP port numbers|194/TCP]] by [[Internet Assigned Numbers Authority|IANA]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Port Numbers|url=https://www.iana.org/assignments/service-names-port-numbers/service-names-port-numbers.xhtml?&page=5|url-status=live|access-date=5 April 2021|publisher=[[Internet Assigned Numbers Authority]]|location=[[Marina del Rey, California]]}}</ref> However, the [[de facto standard|''de facto'' standard]] has always been to run IRC on 6667/TCP<ref>{{cite IETF
| rfc = 1459
|title=Internet Relay Chat Protocol
| sectionname = Connect message
| section = 4.3.5
| page = 29
| idanchor = ietf
}}</ref> and nearby port numbers (for example TCP ports 6660–6669, 7000)<ref>{{cite book
| last1 = Lucas
| first1 = Mark
| last2 = Singh
| first2 = Abhishek
| last3 = Cantrell
| first3 = Chris
| editor-last = Henmi
| editor-first = Anne
| title = Firewall Policies and VPN Configurations
| date = 5 October 2006
| publisher = Syngress Publishing
| location = [[Rockland, Massachusetts]]
| isbn = 978-1-59749-088-7
| page = 93
| chapter = Defining a Firewall
}}</ref> to avoid having to run the [[IRCd]] software with [[Superuser|root privileges]].

The protocol specified that characters were 8-bit but did not specify the character encoding the text was supposed to use.<ref name="rfc 1459 2.2 character codes">{{cite IETF
| rfc = 1459
|title=Internet Relay Chat Protocol
| sectionname = Character codes
| section = 2.2
| page = 7
| idanchor = ietf
}}</ref> This can cause problems when users using different clients and/or different platforms want to converse.

All client-to-server IRC protocols in use today are descended from the protocol implemented in the irc2.4.0 version of the IRC2 server, and documented in RFC 1459. Since RFC 1459 was published, the new features in the irc2.10 implementation led to the publication of several revised protocol documents (RFC 2810, RFC 2811, RFC 2812 and RFC 2813); however, these protocol changes have not been widely adopted among other implementations.{{Citation needed}}

Although many specifications on the IRC protocol have been published, there is no official specification, as the protocol remains dynamic. Virtually no clients and very few servers rely strictly on the above RFCs as a reference.{{Citation needed}}

Microsoft made an extension for IRC in 1998 via the proprietary [[IRCX]].<ref>{{cite IETF
| title = Extensions to the Internet Relay Chat Protocol (IRCX)
| draft = draft-pfenning-irc-extensions-04
| last = Abraham
| first = Dalen
|date=June 1998
| publisher = [[Internet Engineering Task Force|IETF]]
| access-date = 8 April 2011
}}</ref> They later stopped distributing software supporting IRCX, instead developing the proprietary [[Microsoft Notification Protocol|MSNP]].

The standard structure of a network of IRC servers is a [[Tree network|tree]].<ref>{{cite IETF
| rfc = 2810
|title=Internet Relay Chat: Architecture
| sectionname = Architecture
| section = 3
| pages = 3 – 4
| idanchor = ietf
}}</ref> Messages are routed along only necessary branches of the tree but network state is sent to every server<ref>{{cite IETF
| rfc = 2810
|title=Internet Relay Chat: Architecture
| sectionname = Introduction
| section = 1
| page = 2
| idanchor = ietf
}}</ref> and there is generally a high degree of implicit trust between servers. However, this architecture has a number of problems. A misbehaving or malicious server can cause major damage to the network<ref>{{cite IETF
| rfc = 1459
|title=Internet Relay Chat Protocol
| sectionname = Algorithms
| section = 9.3
| page = 64
| idanchor = ietf
}}</ref> and any changes in structure, whether intentional or a result of conditions on the underlying network, require a net-split and net-join. This results in a lot of network traffic and spurious quit/join messages to users<ref>{{cite IETF
| rfc = 2810
|title=Internet Relay Chat: Architecture
| sectionname = Network Congestion
| section = 6.3
| pages = 7 – 8
| idanchor = ietf
}}</ref> and temporary loss of communication to users on the splitting servers. Adding a server to a large network means a large background bandwidth load on the network and a large memory load on the server. Once established, however, each message to multiple recipients is delivered in a fashion similar to [[multicast]], meaning each message travels a network link exactly once.<ref>{{cite IETF
| rfc = 2810
|title=Internet Relay Chat: Architecture
| sectionname = To A Channel
| section = 5.2.1
| pages = 5 – 6
| idanchor = ietf
}}</ref> This is a strength in comparison to non-multicasting protocols such as [[Simple Mail Transfer Protocol]] (SMTP){{Citation needed}} or [[Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol]] (XMPP){{Citation needed}}.

An IRC daemon can also be used on a local area network (LAN). IRC can thus be used to facilitate communication between people within the local area network (internal communication).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://computerquestionhelp.com/content/how-guide-setup-your-own-irc-server-using-personal-or-dedicated-system-or-server-top-freewar|title=IRC daemons for LAN|access-date=2 October 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.irc-wiki.org/IRC_server|title=Running an own IRC server|access-date=2 October 2014}}</ref>

===Commands and replies===
{{Main|List of Internet Relay Chat commands}}
IRC has a line-based structure. Clients send single-line messages to the server,<ref>{{cite IETF
| rfc = 1459
|title=Internet Relay Chat Protocol
| sectionname = Message format in 'pseudo' BNF
| section = 2.3.1
| page = 8
| idanchor = ietf
}}</ref> receive replies to those messages<ref>{{cite IETF
| rfc = 1459
|title=Internet Relay Chat Protocol
| sectionname = Numeric replies
| section = 2.4
| page = 10
| idanchor = ietf
}}</ref> and receive copies of some messages sent by other clients. In most clients, users can enter commands by prefixing them with a '/'. Depending on the command, these may either be handled entirely by the client, or (generally for commands the client does not recognize) passed directly to the server, possibly with some modification.<ref>[https://www.disabled-world.com/communication/irc-chat.php IRC Chat Rooms]</ref>

Due to the nature of the protocol, automated systems cannot always correctly pair a sent command with its reply with full reliability and are subject to guessing.<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.shanemcc.co.uk/irc/#listmode
| title = IRC List Modes – List mode extension showing pair confusion for lists
| access-date = 8 April 2011
| date = 25 November 2009
}}</ref>

===Channels===
The basic means of communicating to a group of users in an established IRC session is through a ''[[chat room|channel]]''.<ref name="rfc 1459 3.2.2 to a group (channel)">{{cite IETF
| rfc = 1459
|title=Internet Relay Chat Protocol
| sectionname = To a group (channel)
| section = 3.2.2
| page = 11
| idanchor = ietf
}}</ref> Channels on a network can be displayed using the IRC command ''LIST'',<ref>{{cite IETF
| rfc = 1459
|title=Internet Relay Chat Protocol
| sectionname = List message
| section = 4.2.6
| page = 24
| idanchor = ietf
}}</ref> which lists all currently available channels that do not have the modes +s or +p set, on that particular network.

Users can ''join'' a channel using the ''JOIN'' command,<ref name="rfc 1459 4.2.1 join message">{{cite IETF
| rfc = 1459
|title=Internet Relay Chat Protocol
| sectionname = Join message
| section = 4.2.1
| page = 19
| idanchor = ietf
}}</ref> in most clients available as ''/join #channelname''. Messages sent to the joined channels are then relayed to all other users.<ref name="rfc 1459 3.2.2 to a group (channel)" />

Channels that are available across an entire IRC network are prefixed with a '#', while those local to a server use '&'.<ref>{{cite IETF
| rfc = 2811
|title=Internet Relay Chat: Channel Management
| sectionname = Channel Scope
| section = 2.2
| pages = 3 – 4
| idanchor = ietf
}}</ref> Other less common channel types include '+' channels—'modeless' channels without operators<ref>{{cite IETF
| rfc = 2811
|title=Internet Relay Chat: Channel Management
| sectionname = Channel Properties
| section = 2.3
| page = 4
| idanchor = ietf
}}</ref>—and '!' channels, a form of [[#delay|timestamped]] channel on normally non-timestamped networks.<ref>{{cite IETF
| rfc = 2811
|title=Internet Relay Chat: Channel Management
| sectionname = Channel lifetime
| section = 3
| page = 5
| idanchor = ietf
}}</ref>

===Modes===
Users and channels may have ''modes'' that are represented by individual case-sensitive letters<ref>{{cite IETF
| rfc = 2811
|title=Internet Relay Chat: Channel Management
| sectionname = Channel Modes
| section = 4
| page = 7
| idanchor = ietf
}}</ref> and are set using the ''MODE'' command.<ref>{{cite IETF
| rfc = 1459
|title=Internet Relay Chat Protocol
| sectionname = Mode message
| section = 4.2.3
| page = 21
| idanchor = ietf
}}</ref> User modes and channel modes are separate and can use the same letter to mean different things (e.g. user mode "i" is invisible mode while channel mode "i" is invite only.<ref>{{cite IETF
| rfc = 1459
|title=Internet Relay Chat Protocol
| sectionname = Channel modes
| section = 4.2.3.1
| pages = 21 – 22
| idanchor = ietf
}}</ref>) Modes are usually set and unset using the mode command that takes a target (user or channel), a set of modes to set (+) or unset (-) and any parameters the modes need.

Some channel modes take parameters and other channel modes apply to a user on a channel or add or remove a mask (e.g. a ban mask) from a list associated with the channel rather than applying to the channel as a whole.<ref>{{cite IETF
| rfc = 2811
|title=Internet Relay Chat: Channel Management
| sectionname = Channel Access Control
| section = 4.3
| pages = 10 – 11
| idanchor = ietf
}}</ref> Modes that apply to users on a channel have an associated symbol that is used to represent the mode in names replies<ref name="rfc 1459 p.51 rpl_namreply">{{cite IETF
| rfc = 1459
|title=Internet Relay Chat Protocol
| sectionname = Command responses: 353 RPL_NAMREPLY
| page = 51
| idanchor = ietf
}}</ref> (sent to clients on first joining a channel<ref name="rfc 1459 4.2.1 join message" /> and use of the names command) and in many clients also used to represent it in the client's displayed list of users in a channel or to display an own indicator for a user's modes.

In order to correctly parse incoming mode messages and track channel state the client must know which mode is of which type and for the modes that apply to a user on a channel which symbol goes with which letter. In early implementations of IRC this had to be hard-coded in the client but there is now a de facto standard extension to the protocol called ISUPPORT that sends this information to the client at connect time using numeric 005.<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.irc.org/tech_docs/005.html
| title = The 005 numeric: ISUPPORT
| access-date = 10 April 2011
| last = Roeckx
| first = Kurt
| date = 14 October 2004
| publisher = irc.org
}}</ref><ref>{{cite IETF
| title = IRC RPL_ISUPPORT Numeric Definition
| draft = draft-brocklesby-irc-isupport-03
| last = Brocklesby
| first = Edward
|date=September 2002
| publisher = [[Internet Engineering Task Force|IETF]]
| access-date = 10 April 2011
}}</ref>

There is a small design fault in IRC regarding modes that apply to users on channels: the names message used to establish initial channel state can only send one such mode per user on the channel,<ref name="rfc 1459 p.51 rpl_namreply" /> but multiple such modes can be set on a single user. For example, if a user holds both operator status (+o) and voice status (+v) on a channel, a new client will be unable to see the mode with less priority (i.e. voice). Workarounds for this are possible on both the client and server side; a common solution is to use IRCv3 "multi-prefix" extension.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ircv3.net/specs/extensions/multi-prefix |title=`multi-prefix` Extension - IRCv3}}</ref>

====Standard (RFC 1459) modes====

{| class="wikitable"
|+ User modes
|-
! Letter
! Symbol
! Description
|-
| '''i'''
|
| Invisible—cannot be seen without a common channel or knowing the exact name
|-
| '''s'''
|
| Receives server notices
|-
| '''w'''
|
| Receives wallops<ref>{{cite IETF
| rfc = 1459
|title=Internet Relay Chat Protocol
| sectionname = Operwall message
| section = 5.6
| page = 41
| idanchor = ietf
}}</ref>
|-
| '''o'''
|
| User is an IRC operator (ircop)
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Channel modes
|-
! Letter
! Symbol
! Parameter(s)
! Description
|-
| '''o'''
| @
| Name of affected user
| Channel operator—can change channel modes and kick users out of the channel among other things
|-
| '''s'''
|
|
| Secret channel—not shown in channel list or user whois except to users already on the channel
|-
| '''p'''
|
|
| Private channel—listed in channel list as "prv" according to <nowiki>RFC 1459</nowiki>
|-
| '''n'''
|
|
| Users cannot send messages to the channel externally
|-
| '''m'''
|
|
| Channel is moderated (only those who hold channel operator or voice status on the channel can send messages to it)
|-
| '''i'''
|
|
| Only users with invites may enter the channel.
|-
| '''t'''
|
|
| Only channel operators can change the channel topic.
|-
| '''l'''
|
| Limit number
| Limits number of users able to be on channel (when full, no new users can join)
|-
| '''b'''
|
| Ban mask (nick!user@host with wildcards allowed)
| Bans [[hostmask]]s from channel
|-
| '''v''' 
| +
| Name of affected user
| Gives a user voice status on channel (see +m above)
|-
| '''k'''
|
| New channel key
| Sets a channel key such that only users knowing the key can enter
|}

Many daemons and networks have added extra modes or modified the behavior of modes in the above list.<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.alien.net.au/irc/usermodes.html
| title = IRC User Modes List
| access-date = 10 April 2011
| last = Butcher
| first = Simon
| date = 12 January 2005
| publisher = alien.net.au
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.alien.net.au/irc/chanmodes.html
| title = IRC Channel Modes List
| access-date = 10 April 2011
| last = Butcher
| first = Simon
| date = 12 January 2005
| publisher = alien.net.au
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.alien.net.au/irc/servermodes.html
| title = IRC Server Modes List
| access-date = 10 April 2011
| last = Butcher
| first = Simon
| date = 12 January 2005
| publisher = alien.net.au
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|url = http://webtoman.com/opera/panel/ircdmodes.html
|title = IRCd Modes
|access-date = 10 April 2011
|last = Olsen
|first = Tommy
|publisher = webtoman.com
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111015190740/http://webtoman.com/opera/panel/ircdmodes.html
|archive-date = 15 October 2011
|url-status = dead
}}</ref>

===Channel operators===
A ''channel operator'' is a [[Client (computing)|client]] on an [[IRC channel]] that manages the channel.
IRC channel operators can be easily seen by the a symbol or icon next to their name (varies by client implementation, commonly a "@" symbol prefix, a green circle, or a Latin letter "+o"/"o").
On most networks, an operator can:
* Kick a user.
* Ban a user.
* Give another user IRC Channel Operator Status or IRC Channel Voice Status.
* Change the IRC Channel topic while channel mode +t is set.
* Change the IRC Channel Mode locks.

===IRC operators===
{{main|Internet Relay Chat operator}}
There are also users who maintain elevated rights on their local server, or the entire network; these are called IRC operators,<ref name="rfc 1459 1.2.1 operators">{{cite IETF
| rfc = 1459
|title=Internet Relay Chat Protocol
| sectionname = Operators
| section = 1.2.1
| page = 5
| idanchor = ietf
}}</ref> sometimes shortened to IRCops or Opers (not to be confused with channel operators). As the implementation of the IRCd varies, so do the privileges of the IRC operator on the given IRCd. RFC 1459<ref name="rfc 1459 1.2.1 operators" /> claims that IRC operators are "a necessary evil" to keep a clean state of the network, and as such they need to be able to disconnect and reconnect servers. Additionally, to prevent malicious users or even harmful automated programs from entering IRC, IRC operators are usually allowed to disconnect clients and completely ban IP addresses or complete subnets. Networks that carry services (NickServ et al.) usually allow their IRC operators also to handle basic "ownership" matters. Further privileged rights may include overriding channel bans (being able to join channels they would not be allowed to join, if they were not opered), being able to op themselves on channels where they would not be able without being opered, being auto-opped on channels always and so forth.

===Hostmasks===
A hostmask is a unique identifier of an IRC [[client (computing)|client]] connected to an IRC [[Server (computing)|server]].<ref name="thiedeke-2003">{{cite book
| last = Thiedeke
| first = Udo
| title = Virtuelle Gruppen: Charakteristika und Problemdimensionen
| chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=aQ74THYRyYsC&q=hostmask&pg=PA315
| access-date = 30 March 2010
| edition = 2nd
| date = 23 September 2003
| publisher = {{Interlanguage link multi|Springer VS|de}}
| language = de
| isbn = 978-3-531-33372-4
| pages = 314, 337
| chapter = Nicola Döring, Alexander Schestag
}}</ref><ref name="rogers-2005">{{cite book
| last = Rogers
| first = Russ
| editor-last = Devost
| editor-first = Matthew G.
| title = Hacking a Terror Network: The Silent Threat of Covert Channels
| chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=e3ggsGgTzUgC&q=Hostmask+IRC&pg=PA10
| access-date = 30 March 2010
| edition = 1st
| date = 1 December 2004
| publisher = Syngress Publishing
| location = [[Rockland, Massachusetts]]
| isbn = 978-1-928994-98-5
| page = 10
| chapter = The Mind of Terror
}}</ref> IRC [[IRCd|servers]], [[Internet Relay Chat services|services]], and other clients, including [[Internet Relay Chat bot|bots]], can use it to identify a specific IRC session.

The format of a hostmask is <code>nick!user@host</code>. The hostmask looks similar to, but should not be confused with an [[e-mail address]].

The nick part is the nickname chosen by the user and may be changed while connected.
The user part is the username reported by [[ident protocol|ident]] on the client.<ref name="petersen-2002">{{cite book
| editor-last = Petersen
| editor-first = Julie K.
| title = The Telecommunications Illustrated Dictionary
| chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=b2mMzS0hCkAC&q=Hostmask&pg=PA500
| access-date = 30 March 2010
| edition = 2nd
| date = 29 May 2002
| publisher = [[CRC Press]]
| isbn = 978-0-8493-1173-4
| page = 500
| chapter = Internet Relay Chat
}}</ref> If ident is not available on the client, the username specified when the client connected is used after being prefixed with a [[tilde]].<ref name="freenode faq">{{cite web
| url = http://freenode.net/faq.shtml
| title = Frequently-Asked Questions
| access-date = 30 March 2010
| publisher = [[freenode]]
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100326082146/http://freenode.net/faq.shtml
| archive-date = 26 March 2010
| url-status = dead
}}</ref>

The host part is the [[hostname]] the client is connecting from. If the [[IP address]] of the client cannot be resolved to a valid [[hostname]] by the server, it is used instead of the hostname.

Because of the [[privacy]] implications of exposing the IP address or hostname of a client, some [[IRCd|IRC daemons]] also provide privacy features, such as InspIRCd or UnrealIRCd's "+x" mode. This [[Cryptographic hash function|hashes]] a client IP address or masks part of a client's hostname, making it unreadable to users other than [[#IRC operators|IRCops]]. Users may also have the option of requesting a "virtual host" (or "vhost"), to be displayed in the hostmask to allow further anonymity. Some IRC networks, such as [[Libera Chat]] or [[Freenode]], use these as "cloaks" to indicate that a user is affiliated with a group or project.<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/IRC/Cloaks
| title = IRC/Cloaks
| access-date = 27 November 2011
| publisher = [[Meta-wiki]]
}}</ref>

===URI scheme===
There are three provisional recognized [[Uniform resource identifier|uniform resource identifier (URI)]] schemes for Internet Relay Chat: <code>irc</code>, <code>ircs</code>, and <code>irc6</code>.<ref>{{cite web
| url = https://www.iana.org/assignments/uri-schemes.html
| title = Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) Schemes
| publisher = Internet Assigned Numbers Authority | access-date = 14 October 2012
}}</ref> When supported, they allow [[hyperlink]]s of various forms, including
<nowiki>irc://<host>[:<port>]/[<channel>[?<channel_keyword>]]</nowiki>
<nowiki>ircs://<host>[:<port>]/[<channel>[?<channel_keyword>]]</nowiki>
<nowiki>irc6://<host>[:<port>]/[<channel>[?<channel_keyword>]]</nowiki>
(where items enclosed within brackets ([,]) are optional) to be used to (if necessary) connect to the specified host (or network, if known to the IRC client) and join the specified channel.<ref>{{cite IETF
| title = Uniform Resource Locator Schemes for Internet Relay Chat Entities
| draft = draft-butcher-irc-url-04
| last = Butcher
| first = Simon
|date=January 2003
| publisher = [[Internet Engineering Task Force|IETF]]
| access-date = 10 April 2011
}}</ref> (This can be used within the client itself, or from another application such as a Web browser). irc is the default URI, irc6 specifies a connection to be made using IPv6, and ircs specifies a secure connection.

Per the specification, the usual [[hash symbol]] (#) will be prepended to channel names that begin with an [[alphanumeric]] character—allowing it to be omitted. Some implementations (for example, mIRC) will do so ''unconditionally'' resulting in a (usually unintended) extra (for example, ##channel), if included in the URL.

Some implementations allow multiple channels to be specified, separated by commas.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.npmjs.com/package/node-irc |title=node-irc |website=npm |access-date=30 July 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Challenges==
Issues in the original design of IRC were the amount of shared state data<ref>{{cite IETF
| rfc = 1324
|title=A Discussion on Computer Network Conferencing
| sectionname = Size
| section = 2.5.1
| pages = 5 – 6
| idanchor = ietf
}}</ref><ref>{{cite IETF
| rfc = 2810
|title=Internet Relay Chat: Architecture
| sectionname = Scalability
| section = 6.1
| page = 7
| idanchor = ietf
}}</ref> being a limitation on its scalability,<ref>{{harvnb|Loesch|2003}} 1.2.1 Growth</ref> the absence of unique user identifications leading to the nickname collision problem,<ref>{{cite IETF
| rfc = 1324
|title=A Discussion on Computer Network Conferencing
| sectionname = User identification
| section = 5.4.1
| page = 10
| idanchor = ietf
}}</ref> lack of protection from [[netsplit]]s by means of cyclic routing,<ref>{{cite IETF
| rfc = 1324
|title=A Discussion on Computer Network Conferencing
| sectionname = Trees and cycles
| section = 5.4.2
| page = 10
| idanchor = ietf
}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Loesch|2003}} 1.2.2 Network failures</ref> the trade-off in scalability for the sake of real-time user presence information,<ref>{{cite IETF
| rfc = 1324
|title=A Discussion on Computer Network Conferencing
| sectionname = State Information problems
| section = 2.1
| page = 4
| idanchor = ietf
}}</ref> protocol weaknesses providing a platform for abuse,<ref>{{harvnb|Loesch|2003}} 1.2.3 Sociological and security aspects</ref> no transparent and optimizable message passing,<ref>{{cite IETF
| rfc = 1324
|title=A Discussion on Computer Network Conferencing
| sectionname = Message passing
| section = 5.2.1
| page = 7
| idanchor = ietf
}}</ref> and no encryption.<ref>{{cite IETF
| rfc = 1324
|title=A Discussion on Computer Network Conferencing
| sectionname = Conference security
| section = 5.2.4
| page = 8
| idanchor = ietf
}}</ref> Some of these issues have been addressed in ''Modern IRC''.

===Attacks===
Because IRC connections may be unencrypted and typically span long time periods, they are an attractive target for [[Denial-of-service attack|DoS/DDoS attackers]] and [[Hacker (computer security)|hackers]]. Because of this, careful security policy is necessary to ensure that an IRC network is not susceptible to an attack such as a [[Internet Relay Chat takeover|takeover]] war. IRC networks may also [[K-line (IRC)|K-line]] or [[G-line]] users or servers that have a harming effect.

Some IRC servers support [[Transport Layer Security|SSL/TLS]] connections for security purposes. This helps stop the use of [[packet sniffer]] programs to obtain the passwords of IRC users, but has little use beyond this scope due to the public nature of IRC channels. SSL connections require both client and server support (that may require the user to install SSL binaries and IRC client specific patches or modules on their computers). Some networks also use SSL for server-to-server connections, and provide a special channel flag (such as <code>+S</code>) to only allow SSL-connected users on the channel, while disallowing operator identification in clear text, to better utilize the advantages that SSL provides.<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://esper.net/help.php
| title = Getting Help on EsperNet
| publisher = The EsperNet IRC Network
| access-date = 31 July 2012
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.dal.net/news/shownews.php?id=67
| title = New Feature: SSL For Users
| author = brandon
| date = 18 May 2010
| publisher = DALnet
| access-date = 31 July 2012
}}</ref>

IRC served as an early laboratory for many kinds of Internet attacks, such as using fake [[Internet Control Message Protocol|ICMP]] unreachable messages to break [[Transmission Control Protocol|TCP]]-based IRC connections ([[Nuke (computer)|nuking]]) to annoy users or facilitate [[Internet Relay Chat takeover|takeovers]].

===Abuse prevention===
One of the most contentious technical issues surrounding IRC implementations, which survives to this day, is the merit of "Nick/Channel Delay" vs. "Timestamp" protocols. Both methods exist to solve the problem of denial-of-service attacks, but take very different approaches.
The problem with the original IRC protocol as implemented was that when two servers split and rejoined, the two sides of the network would simply merge their channels. If a user could join on a "split" server, where a channel that existed on the other side of the network was empty, and gain operator status, they would become a channel operator of the "combined" channel after the [[netsplit]] ended; if a user took a nickname that existed on the other side of the network, the server would kill both users when rejoining (a "nick collision"). This was often abused to "mass-kill" all users on a channel, thus creating "opless" channels where no operators were present to deal with abuse. Apart from causing problems within IRC, this encouraged people to conduct denial-of-service attacks against IRC servers in order to cause [[netsplit]]s, which they would then abuse.

{{anchor|delay}}
The '''nick delay''' (ND) and '''channel delay''' (CD) strategies aim to prevent abuse by delaying reconnections and renames. After a user signs off and the [[nickname]] becomes available, or a channel ceases to exist because all its users parted (as often happens during a [[netsplit]]), the server will not allow any user to use that nickname or join that channel, until a certain period of time (the ''delay'') has passed. The idea behind this is that even if a [[netsplit]] occurs, it is useless to an abuser because they cannot take the nickname or gain operator status on a channel, and thus no collision of a nickname or "merging" of a channel can occur. To some extent, this inconveniences legitimate users, who might be forced to briefly use a different name after rejoining (appending an [[underscore]] is popular).

The timestamp protocol is an alternative to nick/channel delays which resolves collisions using timestamped priority. Every nickname and channel on the network is assigned a timestamp{{spaced ndash}}the date and time when it was created. When a netsplit occurs, two users on each side are free to use the same nickname or channel, but when the two sides are joined, only one can survive. In the case of nicknames, the newer user, according to their TS, is killed; when a channel collides, the members (users on the channel) are merged, but the channel operators on the "losing" side of the split lose their channel operator status.

TS is a much more complicated protocol than ND/CD, both in design and implementation, and despite having gone through several revisions, some implementations still have problems with "desyncs" (where two servers on the same network disagree about the current state of the network), and allowing too much leniency in what was allowed by the "losing" side. Under the original TS protocols, for example, there was no protection against users setting bans or other modes in the losing channel that would then be merged when the split rejoined, even though the users who had set those modes lost their channel operator status. Some modern TS-based IRC servers have also incorporated some form of ND and/or CD in addition to timestamping in an attempt to further curb abuse.

Most networks today use the timestamping approach. The timestamp versus ND/CD disagreements caused several servers to split away from [[EFnet]] and form the newer [[IRCnet]]. After the split, EFnet moved to a TS protocol, while IRCnet used ND/CD.

In recent versions of the IRCnet ircd, as well as ircds using the TS6 protocol (including Charybdis), ND has been extended/replaced by a mechanism called SAVE. This mechanism assigns every client a [[Unique identifier|UID]] upon connecting to an IRC server. This ID starts with a number, which is forbidden in nicks (although some ircds, namely IRCnet and InspIRCd, allow clients to switch to their own UID as the nickname).

If two clients with the same nickname join from different sides of a netsplit ("nick collision"), the first server to see this collision will force ''both'' clients to change their nick to their UID, thus saving both clients from being disconnected. On IRCnet, the nickname will also be locked for some time (ND) to prevent both clients from changing back to the original nickname, thus colliding again.

==Clients==

===Client software===
{{Details|Comparison of Internet Relay Chat clients}}
[[File:Ircnetz-Schema.svg|right|thumb|Scheme of an IRC network with [[Client (computing)|normal clients]] (green), [[IRC bot|bots]] (blue) and [[Bouncer (networking)|bouncers]] (orange)]]

Client software exists for various [[operating system]]s or software packages, as well as web-based or inside games. Many different clients are available for the various operating systems, including [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]], [[Unix]] and [[Linux]], [[macOS]] and mobile operating systems (such as [[iOS]] and [[Android (operating system)|Android]]). On Windows, [[mIRC]] is one of the most popular clients.<ref>{{cite book|last=Smith|first=Roderick W.|title=The Multi-Boot Configuration Handbook|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OuPtI5fHhBoC|access-date=25 July 2010|series=Handbook Series|publisher=[[Que Publishing]]|location=[[Upper Saddle River, New Jersey]]|isbn=978-0-7897-2283-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780789722836/page/289 289]|chapter=The Internet: Using IRC to Get Help|quote=mIRC is one of the most popular Windows IRC clients.|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780789722836/page/289}}</ref>

Some programs which are extensible through [[plug-in (computing)|plug-ins]] also serve as platforms for IRC clients. For instance, a client called [[ERC (software)|ERC]], written entirely in [[Emacs Lisp]], is included in v.22.3 of Emacs. Therefore, any platform that can run Emacs can run ERC.

A number of [[web browser]]s have built-in IRC clients, such as:
* [[Opera (web browser)|Opera]] ([[Features of the Opera web browser#Legacy features|version 12.18 and earlier]])<ref>{{cite web| url=http://operawiki.info/OperaIRC| title=Opera Browser Wiki: IRC Client| access-date=10 April 2011| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110317014824/http://operawiki.info/OperaIRC| archive-date=17 March 2011| url-status=dead}}</ref> and the
* [[ChatZilla]] add-on for Mozilla [[Firefox]] (for Firefox 56 and earlier; included as a built-in component of [[SeaMonkey]]).
Web-based clients, such as [[Mibbit]] and open source KiwiIRC, can run in most browsers.

Games such as ''[[War§ow]]'',<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.warsow.net/wiki/index.php?title=IRC_Module
| title = Warsow Wiki: IRC Module
| access-date = 10 April 2011
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110425010535/http://www.warsow.net/wiki/index.php?title=IRC_Module
| archive-date = 25 April 2011
| url-status = dead
}}</ref> ''[[Unreal Tournament]]'' (up to [[Unreal Tournament 2004]]),<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.bcchardware.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=35&Itemid=40
| title = UT2004 Review
| access-date = 10 April 2011
| last = Guenter
| first = Daniel
| date = 21 June 2004
| publisher = BCCHardware
}}</ref> ''[[Uplink (video game)|Uplink]]'',<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://guide.modlink.net/section11.php
| title = The Ultimate Uplink Guide
| access-date = 10 April 2011
}}</ref> ''[[Spring Engine]]''-based games, [[0 A.D. (video game)|0 A.D.]] and ''ZDaemon'' have included IRC.<ref>{{cite web
| url = https://doomwiki.org/wiki/ZDaemon#Other_utilities
| title = ZDaemon – The Doom Wiki: Other utilities
| access-date = 10 April 2011
}}</ref>

[[Ustream]]'s chat interface is [[IRC]] with custom authentication<ref>{{cite web
|url = http://ustream-helpers.com/how-to/ircclient
|title = How to setup [sic] an IRC client to connect and login [sic] to Ustream
|access-date = 27 April 2013
|date = 29 January 2012
|publisher = Ustream-Helpers
|archive-date = 21 March 2013
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130321161543/http://ustream-helpers.com/how-to/ircclient
|url-status = dead
}}</ref> as well as [[Twitch (service)|Twitch]]'s (formerly Justin.tv).<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.liquidsilver.org/2010/06/ustream-v-justin/
| title = Ustream vs. Justin.tv
| access-date = 13 July 2011
| date = 20 June 2010
| publisher = LiquidSilver
| author = Mauldor
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|title=Twitch IRC
|url=https://help.twitch.tv/customer/portal/articles/1302780-twitch-irc
|website=Twitch Help Center
|access-date=30 October 2017
|date=7 April 2017
|archive-date=12 February 2019
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190212150600/https://help.twitch.tv/customer/portal/articles/1302780-twitch-irc
|url-status=dead
}}</ref>

===Bots===
{{Main|IRC bot}}
A typical use of bots in IRC is to provide [[Internet Relay Chat services|IRC services]] or specific functionality within a channel such as to host a chat-based game or provide notifications of external events. However, some IRC bots are used to launch malicious attacks such as denial of service, spamming, or exploitation.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Canavan|first1=John|title=The Evolution of Malicious IRC Bots|url=http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/reference/the.evolution.of.malicious.irc.bots.pdf|website=www.symantec.com|publisher=Symantec Security Response}}</ref>

===Bouncer===
{{Main|BNC (software)}}
A program that runs as a [[daemon (computer software)|daemon]] on a [[Server (computing)|server]] and functions as a persistent [[proxy server|proxy]] is known as a BNC or bouncer. The purpose is to maintain a connection to an IRC server, acting as a relay between the server and client, or simply to act as a proxy.{{Citation needed}} Should the client lose network connectivity, the BNC may stay connected and archive all traffic for later delivery, allowing the user to resume their IRC session without disrupting their connection to the server.<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.psybnc.at/readme.txt
| title = psyBNC Readme
| access-date = 10 April 2011
| publisher = psybnc.at
}}</ref>

Furthermore, as a way of obtaining a bouncer-like effect, an IRC client (typically [[text-based]], for example [[Irssi]]) may be run on an always-on server to which the user connects via [[secure shell|ssh]]. This also allows devices that only have ssh functionality, but no actual IRC client installed themselves, to connect to the IRC, and it allows sharing of IRC sessions.<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://chriscarey.com/wordpress/2009/07/18/irc-with-irssi-proxy-screen/
| title = IRC with irssi-proxy + screen
| access-date = 10 April 2011
| last = Carey
| first = Chris
| date = 18 July 2009
| publisher = chriscarey.com
}}</ref>

To keep the IRC client from quitting when the ssh connection closes, the client can be run inside a [[terminal multiplexer]] such as [[GNU Screen]] or [[tmux]], thus staying connected to the IRC network(s) constantly and able to log conversation in channels that the user is interested in, or to maintain a channel's presence on the network. Modelled after this setup, in 2004 an IRC client following the [[client–server model|client–server]], called [[Smuxi]], was launched.<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.smuxi.org/blog/show/Detachable_Frontend_Core_Rewrite__UML__Windows_Port_kicking_Glade
| title = Detachable Frontend (Core Rewrite) / UML / Windows Port (kicking Glade)
| access-date = 25 July 2010
| date = 25 December 2004
| publisher = smuxi.org
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.smuxi.org/page/About
| title = About Smuxi
| access-date = 10 April 2011
| publisher = smuxi.org
}}</ref>

==Search engines==
There are numerous search engines available to aid the user in finding what they are looking for on IRC.<ref>{{cite book
| last = Mutton
| first = Paul
| title = IRC Hacks
| edition = 1st
| date = 27 July 2004
| publisher = [[O'Reilly Media]]
| location = [[Sebastopol, California]]
| isbn = 978-0-596-00687-7
| pages = 44–46
| chapter = Users and Channels
}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last = Wang
|first = Wallace
|title = Steal this File Sharing Book
|edition = 1st
|date = 25 October 2004
|publisher = [[No Starch Press]]
|location = [[San Francisco, California]]
|isbn = 978-1-59327-050-6
|pages = [https://archive.org/details/stealthisfilesha00wang/page/65 65–67]
|chapter = Instant Messaging and Online Chat Rooms: Internet Relay Chat (IRC)
|chapter-url = https://archive.org/details/stealthisfilesha00wang/page/65
}}</ref> Generally the search engine consists of two parts, a "back-end" (or "spider/crawler") and a front-end "search engine".

The back-end (spider/webcrawler) is the work horse of the search engine. It is responsible for crawling IRC servers to index the information being sent across them. The information that is indexed usually consists solely of channel text (text that is publicly displayed in public channels). The storage method is usually some sort of relational database, like [[MySQL]] or [[Oracle database|Oracle]].{{Citation needed}}

The front-end "search engine" is the user interface to the database. It supplies users with a way to search the database of indexed information to retrieve the data they are looking for. These front-end search engines can also be coded in numerous programming languages.

Most search engines have their own spider that is a single application responsible for crawling IRC and indexing data itself; however, others are "user based" indexers. The latter rely on users to install their "add-on" to their IRC client; the add-on is what sends the database the channel information of whatever channels the user happens to be on.{{Citation needed}}

Many users have implemented their own [[ad hoc]] search engines using the logging features built into many IRC clients. These search engines are usually implemented as bots and dedicated to a particular channel or group of associated channels.

==Character encoding==
IRC still lacks a single globally accepted standard convention for how to transmit characters outside the 7-bit [[ASCII]] repertoire.
IRC servers normally{{Clarify}} transfer messages from a client to another client just as byte sequences, without any interpretation or recoding of [[character (computing)|characters]]. The IRC protocol (unlike e.g. [[MIME]] or [[HTTP]]) lacks mechanisms for announcing and negotiating character encoding options. This has put the responsibility for choosing the appropriate character codec on the client. In practice, IRC channels have largely used the same character encodings that were also used by operating systems (in particular [[Unix]] derivatives) in the respective language communities:
* '''7-bit era:''' In the early days of IRC, especially among [[North Germanic languages|Scandinavian]] and [[Finnish language]] users, national variants of [[ISO 646]] were the dominant [[character encoding]]s. These encode non-ASCII characters like Ä Ö Å ä ö å at code positions 0x5B 0x5C 0x5D 0x7B 0x7C 0x7D ([[US-ASCII]]: '''[''' '''\''' ''']''' '''{''' '''|''' '''}'''). That is why these codes are always allowed in nicknames. According to RFC 1459, { | } in nicknames should be treated as lowercase equivalents of [ \ ] respectively.<ref name="rfc 1459 2.2 character codes" /> By the late 1990s, the use of 7-bit encodings had disappeared in favour of [[ISO 8859-1]], and such equivalence mappings were dropped from some IRC daemons.
* '''8-bit era:''' Since the early 1990s, 8-bit encodings such as [[ISO 8859-1]] have become commonly used for European languages. Russian users had a choice of [[KOI8-R]], [[ISO 8859-5]]{{Citation needed}} and [[CP1251]], and since about 2000, modern Russian IRC networks convert between these different commonly used encodings of the [[Cyrillic script]].
* '''Multi-byte era:''' For a long time, East Asian IRC channels with logographic scripts in China, Japan, and Korea have been using multi-byte encodings such as [[Extended Unix Code|EUC]] or [[ISO-2022-JP]]. With the common migration from ISO 8859 to [[UTF-8]] on Linux and Unix platforms since about 2002, UTF-8 has become an increasingly popular substitute for many of the previously used 8-bit encodings in European channels. Some IRC clients are now capable of reading messages both in ISO 8859-1 or UTF-8 in the same channel, heuristically autodetecting which encoding is used. The shift to UTF-8 began in particular on Finnish-speaking IRC ([[:fi:IRC#Merkistö|Merkistö]] (Finnish)).

Today, the UTF-8 encoding of [[Unicode]]/[[ISO 10646]] would be the most likely contender for a single future standard character encoding for all IRC communication, if such standard ever relaxed the 510-byte message size restriction. UTF-8 is ASCII compatible and covers the superset of all other commonly used [[coded character set]] standards.

==File sharing==
Much like conventional [[Peer-to-peer|P2P]] file sharing, users can create file servers that allow them to share files with each other by using customised [[IRC bot]]s or scripts for their [[IRC client]]. Often users will group together to distribute [[warez]] via a network of IRC bots.<ref>{{cite news
| url = http://www.zdnet.com/news/pirated-movies-now-playing-on-a-server-near-you/122663
| title = Pirated movies: Now playing on a server near you
| access-date = 10 April 2011
| last = Vamosi
| first = Robert
| date = 8 May 2002
| work = [[ZDNet]]
}}</ref>

Technically, IRC provides no [[file transfer]] mechanisms itself; file sharing is implemented by IRC ''clients'', typically using the [[Direct Client-to-Client]] (DCC) protocol, in which file transfers are negotiated through the exchange of private messages between clients. The vast majority of IRC clients feature support for DCC file transfers, hence the view that file sharing is an integral feature of IRC.<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.macobserver.com/tip/2002/04/04.1.shtml
| title = IRC 101: What Is It & How Do I Use It?
| access-date = 10 April 2011
| last = Sasaki
| first = Darla
| date = 4 April 2002
| publisher = Macobserver.com
}}</ref> The commonplace usage of this protocol, however, sometimes also causes DCC spam. DCC commands have also been used to exploit vulnerable clients into performing an action such as disconnecting from the server or exiting the client.

==See also==
* [[Chat room]]
* [[Client-to-client protocol]]
* [[Comparison of instant messaging protocols]]
* [[Comparison of Internet Relay Chat clients|Comparison of IRC clients]]
* [[Comparison of mobile Internet Relay Chat clients|Comparison of mobile IRC clients]]

* [[The Hamnet Players]]
* [[Internet slang]]
* [[List of IRC commands]]
* [[Serving channel]]
* [[Matrix (protocol)]] and [[XMPP]], alternative chat protocols

== Citations ==
{{Reflist}}

== General bibliography ==
* {{cite IETF
| title = A Discussion on Computer Network Conferencing
| rfc = 1324
| last = Reed
| first = Darren
|date=May 1992
| publisher = [[Internet Engineering Task Force|IETF]]
| access-date = 30 October 2009
| ref = ietf
}}
* {{cite IETF
| title = Internet Relay Chat Protocol
| rfc = 1459
| last1 = Oikarinen
| first1 = Jarkko
| author-link1 = Jarkko Oikarinen
| last2 = Reed
| first2 = Darren
|date=May 1993
| publisher = [[Internet Engineering Task Force|IETF]]
| access-date = 30 October 2009
| ref = ietf
}}
* {{cite IETF
| title = Internet Relay Chat: Architecture
| rfc = 2810
| last = Kalt
| first = Christophe
|date=April 2000
| publisher = [[Internet Engineering Task Force|IETF]]
| access-date = 30 October 2009
| ref = ietf
}}
* {{cite IETF
| title = Internet Relay Chat: Channel Management
| rfc = 2811
| last = Kalt
| first = Christophe
|date=April 2000
| publisher = [[Internet Engineering Task Force|IETF]]
| access-date = 30 October 2009
| ref = ietf
}}
* {{cite journal
| last = Loesch
| first = Carl
| date = 17 July 2003
| title = Functionality Provided by Systems for Synchronous Conferencing
| publisher = psyc.eu
| url = http://www.psyc.eu/synconf
| access-date = 10 April 2011
}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite IETF
| title = Internet Relay Chat: Client Protocol
| rfc = 2812
| last = Kalt
| first = Christophe
|date=April 2000
| publisher = [[Internet Engineering Task Force|IETF]]
| access-date = 30 October 2009
}}
* {{cite IETF
| title = Internet Relay Chat: Server Protocol
| rfc = 2813
| last = Kalt
| first = Christophe
|date=April 2000
| publisher = [[Internet Engineering Task Force|IETF]]
| access-date = 30 October 2009
}}
* {{cite web
| url = http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/academic/communications/logs/
| title = Logs of major events in the online community
| access-date = 8 April 2011
| publisher = [[ibiblio]]
| location = [[Chapel Hill, North Carolina]]
}}
* {{cite web
| url = http://www.alien.net.au/irc/
| title = IRC technical information
| access-date = 10 April 2011
| last = Butcher
| first = Simon
| publisher = alien.net.au
}}

==External links==
* {{Curlie|Computers/Internet/Chat/IRC|IRC}}
* [https://defs.ircdocs.horse/defs/numerics.html IRC Numerics List]
* [http://www.irc.org/history.html History of IRC]
* [http://www.irc.org/ IRC.org] – Technical and Historical IRC6 information; Articles on the history of IRC
* [http://www.irchelp.org/ IRChelp.org] – Internet Relay Chat (IRC) help archive; Large archive of IRC-related documents
* [http://ircv3.net/ IRCv3] – Working group of developers, who add new features to the protocol and write specs for them
* [https://irc-source.com/ IRC-Source] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201008234127/https://irc-source.com/ }} – Internet Relay Chat (IRC) network and channel search engine with historical data
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20190113165832/http://irc.netsplit.de/ irc.netsplit.de] – Internet Relay Chat (IRC) network listing with historical data

{{IRC topics}}
{{URI scheme}}
{{Computer-mediated communication}}

[[Category:Internet Relay Chat| ]]
[[Category:1988 software]]
[[Category:Application layer protocols]]
[[Category:Computer-related introductions in 1988]]
[[Category:Finnish inventions]]
[[Category:Internet terminology]]
[[Category:Virtual communities]]

Information Technology Intermediary Guidelines (Amendment) Rules, 2018

2023-03-30T10:30:28Z

PhillisVennard3: Created an enlightening manuscript.

#REDIRECT [[Information Technology Rules, 2021]]

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Khatri

2022-09-19T04:15:43Z

PhillisVennard3: Authored a new page format.

{{Short description|Caste in South Asia}}
{{distinguish|Chhetri}}
{{other uses|Khatri (surname)}}

{{POV|talk=Talk:Khatri#A_mess}}
{{Use dmy dates}}
{{Use Indian English}}
{{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)|Col. James Skinner]] (1778–1841)
|religions = [[Hinduism]], [[Sikhism]] and [[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|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 |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.|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-1-4422-3601-1|language=en}}</ref> Minor: [[Hindi]], [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]], [[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 |volume=30 |issue=1 |pages=109–140 |doi=10.1177/006996679603000105 |s2cid=53703281 |language=en |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>
|population=
}}

'''Khatri''' is a [[caste system in India|caste]]/[[clan]] of the [[South Asia|Indian subcontinent]] that is predominantly found in [[India]], but also in [[Pakistan]] and [[Afghanistan]]. In the subcontinent, they were mostly engaged in mercantilistic 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|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 |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1088599361 |title=India in the Persianate age, 1000-1765 |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 |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> and some were scribes learned in [[Sanskrit]] or [[Persian language|Persian]].<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>

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.|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|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" /> The [[Sikhism|Sikh religion]] was founded by [[Guru Nanak]], a Bedi Khatri. Subsequently, all the Sikh religious leaders or Gurus were Khatris.<ref>{{Cite book|last=W. H. McLeod|title=The A to Z of Sikhism|publisher=Scarecrow Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-8108-6828-1 |pages=86}}</ref> 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|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 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-78673-095-4 |language=en}}</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>

During the [[Partition of India|Partition of British India]] in 1947, many Khatris migrated 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 |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 |author1-link=Richard Bessel}}</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>

== Etymology ==
The word ''Khatri'' in the [[Hindi|Hindi Language]] comes from the [[Sanskrit]] word "''Kshatriya"'' according to the Śabdasāgara Lexicon by Shyamasundara Dasa<ref>{{Cite web|last=Dasa|first=Syamasundara|title=Hindi sabdasagara|url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/app/dasa-hindi_query.py?page=1126 |access-date=19 November 2020|website=dsal.uchicago.edu}}</ref> According to [[Baij Nath Puri|B. N. Puri]], philologists agree that the terms "Khatri" and "Kshatriya" are synonymous. The Sanskrit conjunct Ksha (क्ष) turns into the Prakrit Kha (ख) as per the grammarian [[Vararuchi]].<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 |publisher=M.N. Publishers and Distributors|pages=7–8|language=en}}</ref> This change is not only accepted in Prakrit but in all Indian vernaculars derived by it such as Gujarati, Urdu, Gurumukhi as well as Persian. For example, Sanskrit words kshetra, kshama, laksha, iksha turns into kheta, khama, lakha and ikha respectively. The substituition of Ri (ऋ) from Riya is also witnessed in case of Hindi. Hence, the change from Kshatriya to Khatri is in consonance with the Prakrit rule and Hindi usage. The same is also testified by scholars [[R. G. Bhandarkar]] and [[Shapurji Edalji|Shapurji Edulji]].<ref name=":1922"/>

As per historian [[W. H. McLeod]] and Louis Fenech, Khatri is a Punjabi form of the word Kshatriya.<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.|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 Khatri is derived from Kshatriya. Despite the etymology, Hardy says that Khatri is "a mercantile class" and Desai says the Khatris were "traditionally tradesmen and government officials".<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 |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 |publisher=CUP Archive |isbn=978-0-521-09783-3 |pages=279 |language=en}}</ref> [[Dharamvir Bharati|Dr. Dharamvir Bharati]] comments that in Punjabi language, Kshatriya is pronounced as Khatri.<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 |publisher=Vikas Publishing House |isbn=978-0-7069-8368-5 |pages=264 |language=en}}</ref> According to philologist [[Ralph Lilley Turner]], the Punjabi word "''khattrī''", meaning "warrior", derives from Sanskrit "k''ṣatriya''", whereas the Gujarati word "''khātrī''", meaning "a caste of Hindu weavers", derives from Sanskrit "''kṣattr̥''", meaning "carver, distributor".<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 although the word "Khatri" derives from the word "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> {{see also|Khatri#Varna Status}}

==Early history==
Ancient Greek accounts from historians<ref name="SmithNY">{{cite book |author=Vincent A. Smith |title=History of India, in Nine Volumes: Vol. II |publisher=Cosimo Publications |year=2008 |location=New York |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Lamotte">{{cite book |author=Etienne Lamotte, Sara Webb-Boin & Jean Dantinne |title=History of Indian Buddhism: From the Origins to the Saka Era |publisher=Université catholique de Louvain, Institut orientaliste |year=1988 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Sahay">{{cite book |last=Sahay |first=Uday |title=Kayasth Encyclopedia |publisher=SAUV communications |year=2021 |isbn=978-81-941122-3-5 |location=Delhi |language=en}}</ref> that accompanied [[Alexander the Great]] to Punjab mention a tribe called the ''Kathaioi'' whose territory lay from east of the Hydraotes ([[Ravi River|Ravi]]) but between the Hydarpes ([[Jhelum]]) & Akesines ([[Chenab River|Chenab]]) and whose capital was ''Sagala'' ([[Sialkot]]). They were described as a powerful nation who resisted Alexander's advance. [[Arrian]] in the [[The Anabasis of Alexander|Anabasis]] (VI.15) mentions the ''Khathrois of Punjab (χάθροις - Khathrois),'' whose territory lay between the [[Indus River|Indus]] & Chenab.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Arrian, Anabasis, book 6, chapter 15, section 1 |url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0530:book=6:chapter=15:section=1 |access-date=10 August 2021 |website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref> [[Ptolemy]] writing in the 2nd century AD refers again to another tribe called the ''Khatriaoi'' to whom belong cities lying east & west of the Indus.

[[Baij Nath Puri]] mentions that the modern descendants of these ''Kathaiois, Khathrois & Khatriaoi'' tribes mentioned by the Greeks in West Punjab are the Khatris of India.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Puri |first=Baij Nath |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/61616699 |title=The Khatris, a socio-cultural study |publisher=M.N. Publishers and Distributors |location=New Delhi |pages=9–11 |language=English |oclc=61616699 |quote=It is reasonable to presume at the moment on the basis of the cumulative evidence adduced above that the Kathioi, Khatriaioi and the Khatriyas appear to be synonymous- all representing the Kshatriyas-Khatriyas-Khatris.”}}</ref> 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 |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 |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).}}</ref>

== Trans-regional trading history ==
The Khatris 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|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 |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 ''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 |editor-last=Ganda Singh |pages=85 |language=en}}</ref>'' As per Stephen Dale, the children born out of Indo-Turkic alliance was sufficient 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 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-52597-8 |language=en}}</ref>

Historian [[Stephen 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). [[Jean Chardin|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>

== Theology ==
[[File:1849 photograph of Bikram Singh Bedi, a direct descendent of Guru Nanak.webp|thumb|1849 photograph of Bikram Singh Bedi, a direct descendant of Guru Nanak.]]
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 [[BP:HSC]]}}

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|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, Pakistan|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 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
}}

== Demographics ==
=== Before partition ===
French traveller [[Jean de Thévenot|Thevenot]] 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 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|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|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|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|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 }}{{Dead link|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 |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|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|url-status=live|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|url-status=live|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|url-status=live}}</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|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|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|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|publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-252747-9|pages=111, 501|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1922"/><ref>{{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|publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0-8108-6344-6 |pages=21,115|language=en}}</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 |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]], [[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 (Khatri)|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 (clan)|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|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]], [[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]], [[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]], [[Bhatia caste|Bhatia]], [[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]], [[Sood]], [[Takiar (surname)|Takiar]], [[Thakkar]], [[Trehan (surname)|Trehan]], [[Varma (surname)|Varma]] and [[Vig (surname)|Vig]].
|}

== 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) |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|publisher=Freer Gallery of Art, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery|isbn=978-0-19-512718-8|language=en}}</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|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 North to Bengal.<ref name="Puri2">{{cite book |author=Baij Nath Puri |title=The Khatris, a Socio-cultural Study |publisher=M.N. Publishers and Distributors |year=1988 |language=en |quote=The history of Burdwan Raj seems to mark the beginning of Khatri migration or its efflorescence of the Khatris in Bengal.}}</ref>{{page needed}} 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>

=== 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 |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>
[[File:Raja_Todar_Mall,_Finance_Minister_of_Akbar.jpg|thumb|231x231px|Raja Todar Mall, Finance Minister of Akbar 17th Century Painting Gouache on paper]]
The most prominent Mughal Khatri noble was [[Todar Mal|Raja Todar Mal]], who was the Finance Minister of the Empire. He introduced an entirely new system of revenue and taxation known as ''zabt'' and ''dahshala'' respectively.<ref name=":2222">{{Cite book|last=Das|first=Kumudranjan|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.149505|title=Raja Todar Mal|pages=138–150}}</ref> According to a 17th century legend, they 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>
[[File:Khatri weaver.png|thumb|198x198px|A Gujarati Khatri weaver]]

===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 originally from South Punjab.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kapadia|first=Aparna|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qrxsDwAAQBAJ|title=Gujarat: The Long Fifteenth Century and the Making of a Region|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-15331-8|pages=120|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{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|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.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Khan|first=Iqtidar Alam |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pzZFUcDpDzsC&q=muzaffar+shah+tank+khatri&pg=PA107|title=Historical Dictionary of Medieval India|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-5503-8|pages=107|language=en|quote=The founder of the Gujarat Sultanate he was a convert from a sect of Hindu Khatris known as Tanks.}}</ref><ref>{{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|publisher=New York, Asia Pub. House|others=Internet Archive |pages=137 |quote=Zafar Khan was not a foreign muslim. He was a convert to Islam from a sect of the Khatris known as Tank.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Khan |first=Iqtidar Alam |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s4PfAAAAMAAJ|title=Gunpowder and Firearms: Warfare in Medieval India|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-566526-0|pages=57|language=en|quote=Zafar Khan (entitled Muzaffar Shah) himself was a convert to Islam from a sub-caste of the Khatris known as Tank.}}</ref> The Tanks have been stated to be Khatris by some scholars, although others have stated the Tanks were Rajputs.,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Abbas|first=Syed Anwer|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bys8EAAAQBAJ&q=confluence+of+culture+tanka+rajput&pg=PT24 |title=Confluence of Cultures: Hindu, Muslim, Buddhists & Jain mosque and Mausoleum|publisher=Notion Press|year=2021|isbn=9781639046041}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Chandra|first=Satish|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L5eFzeyjBTQC&q=Sadharan&pg=PA70|title=Medieval India (From Sultanat to the Mughals), PART ONE Delhi Sultanat (1206-1526)|publisher=Har-Anand Publications|year=2004|isbn=9788124110645|pages=218}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Muzaffar Husain Syed|first=Syed Saud Akhtar, BD Usmani|title=Concise History of Islam|year=2011|pages=271}}</ref><ref name=":0222">{{Cite book |last=Kapadia |first=Aparna |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qrxsDwAAQBAJ&q=aparna+kapadia+tank+rajput&pg=PA8|title=Gujarat: The Long Fifteenth Century and the Making of a Region |publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2018|isbn=9781107153318|pages=8}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Edward James Rapson|first=Sir Wolseley Haig, Sir Richard Burn|title=The Cambridge History of India: Turks and Afghans, edited by W Haig, 1965|publisher=Cambridge|year=1965|pages=294}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Chaube|first=J.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m94BAAAAMAAJ|title=History of Gujarat Kingdom, 1458-1537 |publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers|isbn=9780883865736|page=4|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{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 |isbn=9788121903646 |pages=245}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Jenkins|first=Everett|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=giEkCQAAQBAJ&q=jenkins+rajput+everett+zafar+khan&pg=PA275 |title=The Muslim Diaspora - A comprehensive reference to the spread of Islam in Asia, Africa, Europe and the America, 570 - 1799 |publisher=McFarland & Company Inc.|year=2010|isbn=9780786447138|pages=275}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Jutta|first=Jain-Neubauer |title=The Stepwells of Gujarat: In Art- Historical perspective|year=1981|pages=62}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Saran|first=Kishori Lal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hxZuAAAAMAAJ&q=kishori+saran+lal+wajih-ul-mulk|title=The legacy of Muslim Rule in India|publisher=Aditya Prakashan |year=1992|isbn=9788185689036|pages=233}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Lane-Pool|first=Stanley|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5fDgAwAAQBAJ&q=stanley+pool+zafar+khan+rajput&pg=PA312|title=Mohammadan Dyn: Orientalism V 2 - volume 2, page -312, writer|year=2014|isbn=9781317853947|pages=312}}</ref> or even a [[Jat]]<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MazdaWXQFuQC&dq=Zafar+Khan%27s+father+Sadharan%2C+was+a+Jat+convert+to+Islam.&pg=RA1-PA131 |title=Indian History |year=1988 |isbn=9788184245684}}</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 |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|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>
=== 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|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|publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-84627-4|doi=10.4324/9781315028583}}</ref>{{page needed}}<ref>{{Cite book|last=Dhavan|first=Purnima|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199756551.001.0001|title=When Sparrows Became Hawks|publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-975655-1 |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199756551.001.0001}}</ref>{{page needed}} 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|publisher=Punjabi University |isbn=978-81-7380-141-9|language=en}}</ref>{{page needed}} 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 |publisher=ABS Publications |isbn=978-81-7072-056-0 |language=en}}</ref>{{page needed}}

[[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|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}}</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}}

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, Pakistan|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}}<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 ==
[[File:KishenPershad_ca1915.jpeg|thumb|201x201px|Maharaja Kishen Pershad, c. 1915]]

===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|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|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 |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|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>

===Gujarat===
In [[Gujarat]], during the colonial rule, Khatris contributed greatly to the weaving industry there. They as well as the Muslim and [[Kunbi]] weavers purchased imported yarn in the 1840s. In [[Mandvi]], the silk products were highly valued and the Khatri dyers would work in the pits on the bank of the [[Rukmavati River|river Rukmavati]] because the water was supposed to have special properties to give steadfast colours. These products were often exported to east Africa.<ref name="Shah20122">{{cite book|author=A.M. Shah|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EjORKo7maRUC&pg=PA127|title=The Structure of Indian Society: Then and Now|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-19770-3|pages=126–127|quote=A large number of specialized artisan and craftsmen castes lived almost entirely in towns, as for example Soni(goldsmith), Kansara(brazier), chudgar(bangle-maker), chhipa(dyer, printer), bhavsar(weaver, dyer, printer), khatri(cotton weaver), salvi(silk weaver), kadiya(brick layer)..and Darji(tailor)}}</ref><ref name="Mehta19912">{{cite book|author=Makrand Mehta|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9lz3gNDMbWEC&pg=PA176|title=Indian Merchants and Entrepreneurs in Historical Perspective: With Special Reference to Shroffs of Gujarat, 17th to 19th Centuries|publisher=Academic Foundation|year=1991|isbn=978-81-7188-017-1|pages=176–|quote=In the 1840's a large number of weavers, mostly belonging to the kanbi and the Khatri castes and also the Muslim weavers, increasingly purchased machine made imported yarn to weave them into superior textila goods.}}</ref><ref name="AlpersGoswami20192">{{cite book|author1=Edward A. Alpers |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2lyNDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT176|title=Transregional Trade and Traders: Situating Gujarat in the Indian Ocean from Early Times to 1900|author2=Chhaya Goswami|publisher=OUP India|isbn=978-0-19-909613-8|pages=176–|quote=In the last place, 'silk weaving[was] carried on to a large extent.' the products 'much valued for the fastness of the dye', with Khatri dyers working at 'pits on the banks of the dry river Rukmavati where water is said to give specially clear and lasting colors'}}</ref> In Dhamadka, [[Kutch district|Kutch]], [[Woodblock printing|"block printing cloth"]] was the traditional occupation of the Khatri men since the seventeenth century.<ref name="BarensteinLeemann20122">{{cite book |author1=Jennifer E. Duyne Barenstein|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xj3OBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA286|title=Post-Disaster Reconstruction and Change: Communities' Perspectives|author2=Esther Leemann|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=978-1-4398-8817-9|pages=286–|quote=Block printing cloth, the traditional occupation of Khatri men, has been practiced in Dhamadka since the time of its foundation some 400 years ago.}}</ref><ref name="Paine20012">{{cite book |author=Sheila Paine |author-link=Sheila Paine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VUDrAAAAMAAJ |title=Embroidery from India and Pakistan |publisher=British Museum Press |year=2001|isbn=978-0-7141-2744-6 |page=11 |quote=Block printing is done with a resist substance by both Muslims and Hindus of the Khatri caste, and block printers can still be found in many villages. The background fabric for this work is normally red}}</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|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>

== 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 |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 [[BP:HISTRS]]}} 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 |publisher=Trentham Books |isbn=978-1-85856-353-4 |pages=71 |language=en}}</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|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|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|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 [[Upper Castes|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|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|title=Cradle of Castes in Kashmir (From Medieval Period to Present Day)|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/330313369|url-status=live|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|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|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>

== Varna status ==
Khatris claim that they are [[Kshatriya|Kshatriyas]]. 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|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|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|publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=978-1-4426-6268-1|language=en}}</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|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|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|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|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|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|publisher=Infobase Publishing |isbn=978-1-4381-1779-9|pages=22|language=en}}</ref> many others don't.<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 Afganistan, 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|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|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.|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> Some scholars consider castes in north India, like Khatri and [[Kayastha]] to be merchant castes who claim higher status to befit the educational and economic progress they made in the past.<ref name="Lorenzen1995">{{cite book |author=Mark Juergensmayer |title=Bhakti Religion in North India: Community Identity and Political Action |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>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)|publisher=Manohar, New Delhi |isbn=978-81-7304-785-5|pages=97|language=en}}</ref>

According to [[Anand 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.<ref name="auto1" /> Jacob Copeman also agrees and writes "[[Agarwal]], Khatri, and Bania usually denote people of merchant-trader background of middling clean-caste status, often of Vaishya varna".<ref name="Copeman20092" /> Mark Juergensmyer suggests that many Khatris claim their caste is the warrior caste, as the name and etymology itself suggest but that some scholars dispute these claims and regard Khatris as merchant castes who claim higher status as befit of their economic success and educational achievements. <ref name="Lorenzen199522" />

[[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|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"/> [[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 claim, while in 1921 and 1931 they claimed a Kshatriya and Vaishya status respectively.<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>

=== 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 |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|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 |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|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|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 |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.|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|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|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|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 ===
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 |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)|publisher=Manohar, New Delhi|isbn=978-81-7304-785-5|pages=98|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|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>

== 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}}</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>{{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 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0-8108-6344-6|page=21|language=en}}</ref>

=== 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|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|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 |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|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 |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 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]]
[[Category:Social groups of Sindh]]