Khaps of Haryana

Dr Sushil Bhati

Khokhar-Rawal khap of Gurjaras is a unit of 27 Villages in Panipat district. It is believed that they Came here from beyond the Lahore. First they settled in Rana khera (now known as Rajapur) but then moved to kabri and Kohand where they held a Barah of 12 villages; they also held Bapauli, When they eventually settled 27 (sataisi) villages of Khojgipur thappa in khadir. They still hold the khadir villages but have lost most of those near the Kohand.

Chokker khap (Chaubisi) of Gurjaras is a unit of 24 Villages in Panipat district with Namaunda as its headquarters. They immigrated from Jewar thappa beyond Mathura.

Bhamla khap (Barah) of Gurjaras consists of a unit of 12 villages in Gurgaon district.  Its head quarter is at village Harchandpur Khor.

Khatana khap of Gurjaras (Barah) is a unit of 12 villages in Gurgaon district. Its headquarter is at village Rozka Gujar( Damdama).

Tanwar Khap of Gurjaras is a unit of 12 villages which lie in mehrauli, Delhi and adjoining region of Haryana. Out of these 12 Villages 8 villages are in Mehrauli area of Delhi and 4 villages in Gurgaon and Faridabad districts of Haryana. Fatehpur Beri and Gwal Pahari are the head quarters of the Khap. Asola in Delhi and  Ankhir in Faridabad are also important village of the khap. Anangpal Tanwar shifted his capital from Anangpur in Faridabad district to Mehrauli and laid the foundation of Delhi.  Anangpur is now a village and still has some families of Tanwar Gurjaras . It seems that the Tanwar Khap area formed the nucleus of Tanwar kingdom of Dilli during early medieval period.

Bhadana khap (Barah) of Gurjaras consists of a unit of 12 Villages in Faridabad district. Village Pali is the headquqrter of the khap. Village Anangpur named after Anangpal Tanwar still having the archaeological remains of capital town of Tanwars  forms the part of this khap. Later Tanwars shifted their capital to Mihirpur now known as Mehrauli. But remaining families of Tanwar Gurjaras still reside in Anangpur village along with Bhadana Gurjaras.  From this khap area some  Bhadana Gurjaras moved across the Yamuna in Vicinity of Meerut where too they have Barah, unit of 12 villages. Bhadanas also had a stronghold in Bayana region of Rajasthan which was known as Bhadana or Bhadanak desh during 12th century and we have many references of their fight with Chauhans of Delhi and Ajmer. We also come to know about Valiant fight of Bhadanas of Pali and Pakhal against Sher Shah Suri while he was raising a fortification at Purana Kila in Delhi.

Nangdi khap of Gurjaras has Chaurasi, 84 Villages in Faridabad district. Infact, Nangdis reside in 24 villages rest of the villages belong to other Gurjara clans or non Gurjara caste. Villages Neemka and Tigaon are the head quarters of the Khap. From here some Nangdi Gurjara moved to other side of river Yamuna where they have a chaubisi, unit of 24 villages in Dadri area of Gautam Buddh Nagar district. From there they moved further east into Meerut district. Here during the mid nineteenth century, their chief Jait singh got Mukarrardari of 350 villages from Mughals and laid the foundation of Bahsuma-Parikshatgarh Riyasat. Nangdi chiefs styled themselves as Rajas and built the forts ‘Kilas’ at Bahsuma and Parikshatgarh. Thereafter Parikshat Garh in Meerut came to be known as Kila Parikshat Garh or simply Kila.

Bainsla clan of Gurjaras has a chaubisi, unit of  24 villages in Palwal district. Kushak-Badoli forms the head quarter of the khap. Like the other Gurjaras Bainslas also crossed the Yamuna and have a Barah, a unit of 12 villages in Loni area of Baghpat district.

Meham Chaubisi of Jats in Rohtak area is a mix khap having villages of Malik, Dalal, Rathi and Boora clans of Jats.  Madina, Meham and Mokhra are the main villages of this Khap.

Hooda khap of Jats in Rohtak, Sonipat and Jhajjar area.

Dalal Khap of Jats in Rohtak, Bhiwani area.

Dahia Khap of jats in Sonipat and Panipat district.

Ahlawat khap of Jats in Jhajjar and Panipat area.

Rathi khap of Jats in Sonipat and Rohtak area.

Sangwan khap of Jats in Bhiwani area.

Gathwala Khap of Malik Jats in Sonipat area of Haryana and Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh.

We see that Khaps of Gurjaras are geneally situated along the bank of river Yamuna in eastern Haryana while the Jat Khaps are more concentrated in western and northern districts of Haryana. The Gurjara Khaps’ villages are generally found in unit of 12 or its multiple I.e.  24 or 84. But no such thing is followed in settlements of Jats khaps in Haryana except the Meham Chaubisi in Rohtak district, although Jat clans’ villages are more numerous but scattered in Haryana. It is also clear that many Gurjara clans settled in upper doab of Yamuna and Ganga went there from the Haryana. There are also indications that, in turn, many Gurjara clans came to Haryana and Delhi from Rajasthan during the reign of Gurjara Pratihara and their feudatories Tomars and chauhans as famous Historian R S Sharma ascribes the formation of these units of 12 villages or its multiples to the Gurjara Pratiharas or their feudatories rule in North Western India during the early medieval period. He says that what distinguished the Gurjara Pratihara polity from that of contemporary Rastrakutas and Palas was the imposition of clan aristocracies on old, settled villages. He further says that Gujar imposed themselves as dominant clans on settled villages. The tribal practice that spoils should be distributed among the members of the tribe led to the apportionment of villages among the conquering chiefs, some of them received them in units of 84. It implies that Khaps which are unit of 12 villages or its multiple constitute the clan aristocracies of Gurjara Pratihara empire system or polity.

       References

           R S Sharma, Indian Feudalism, AD 300-1200,Delhi, 2006, P 88-89

       https://books.google.co.in/books?isbn=1403928630

       B.N. Puri, History of the Gurjara Pratiharas, Bombay, 1957

       V. A. Smith, The Gurjaras of Rajputana and Kanauj, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, (Jan., 1909), pp.53-75

            V A Smith, The Oford History of India, IV Edition, Delhi, 1990

            P C Bagchi, India and Central Asia, Calcutta, 1965

            Romila Thapar, A History of India, Vol. I., U.K. 1966.

           R S Tripathi, History of Kannauj

       Denzil Ibbetson, Report on the revision of the settlement of the  Panipat Tehsil and Karnal Pargana of Karnal District,1872-1880, Allahbad, 1883, p 84
https://books.google.co.in/books?id=cU-bknDEhQAC