Gurjars in Punjab

Summary

Gurjars in Punjab or Punjabi Gujjars, are a community native to the larger region of Punjab now divided into Punjab, Pakistan and Punjab, India. They are descended from Gurjars who moved into this region during medieval times. They are scattered across almost all districts of Pakistani and Indian Punjab; They are densely populated in Rawalpindi, Sialkot, Lahore, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Jhelum, Faislabad, Bhakkar, Attock, Murree, Sargodha, Sahiwal, Dera Ghazi Khan, Mianwali, Multan, Okara, Hoshiarpure, Pathankot, Ludhiana, Rupnagar (Ropar), Nawanshahr, Amritsar, Firozpur, Jalandhar, Patiala, Kapurthala, Faridkot, and Malerkotla districts, while Barnala and Rajanpur have the smallest Gujjar population. They adopted Islam in the medieval period, mostly through the influence of Sufism, from the 11th century to the 16th century. Now in Punjab the majority of Gurjars are Muslims, with Hindu and Sikh Gurjars as minority ethnoreligious groups.