The Attarwala are a

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

community found mostly in the state of Gujarat in India.

History and origin

The Attarwala claim to be descended from a group of

Mughal Mughal or Moghul may refer to: Related to the Mughal Empire * Mughal Empire of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries * Mughal dynasty * Mughal emperors * Mughal people, a social group of Central and South Asia * Mughal architecture * Mug ...

Hazara Hazara may refer to: Ethnic groups * The Hazaras, a Persian-speaking people of Afghanistan and Pakistan * Aimaq Hazara, Aimaq's subtribe of Hazara origin * Hazarawals, a Hindko-speaking people of the Hazara region of northern Pakistan * Hazar ...

soldiers who were initially settled in Agra, during the rule of the Mughal Emperor

Jahangir Nur-ud-Din Muhammad Salim (30 August 1569 – 28 October 1627), known by his imperial name Jahangir (; ), was the fourth Mughal Emperor, who ruled from 1605 until he died in 1627. He was named after the Indian Sufi saint, Salim Chishti. Ear ...

. According to their recorded documents, they then migrated to

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: Amdavad ) is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 (per t ...

via Gwalior, Ratlam and Godhra. This migration followed their participation in the community in the 1857 Indian War Independence. Once settled in Gujarat, India, the community took up the occupation of manufacturing perfumes known as ittars. The word attarwala means the manufacturer of perfumes. A second migration took place in 1947 from Agra, after the

partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...

, with some members immigrating to Pakistan, while others joining their co-ethnics in Ahmedabad. The Attarwala are now found mainly in Ahmedabad, India and some of them in Karachi, Pakistan.

Present circumstances

The Attarwala are distinct from other

Gujarati Muslims The term Gujarati Muslim is usually used to signify an Indian Muslim from the state of Gujarat in western coast of India. Most Gujarati Muslims have Gujarati language as their mother tongue, but some communities such as the Momin Ansari, Memons, ...

, as their mother tongue is Urdu. They are divided into fourteen lineages, the main ones being the Peer Baksh, Ammer Ali, Khorata, Mandusa, Hussainsa, Zahur Hussain, Mohammad Hussain, Khodar Baksh, Barkhan, Mashoob Khan and Ghulam Khan. These lineages are named after an ancestor. There is no system of clan hierarchy, and all the clans intermarry. The community marries among close kin and practice both cross-cousin and parallel-cousin marriages. The Attarwala are a landless community and are still involved in the manufacture of attar, the traditional perfume of North India. Many now are wage labourers, involved in pulling a rickshaw. They are Shia

s and have their own caste association, the Shia Jafria Attarwala Jamat. The caste association runs a madrasa as well as other welfare activities.

References

{{Hazara tribes Hazara tribes Muslim communities of Gujarat Hazara diaspora Muhajir communities Perfumers Incense in India Perfumery Occupational surnames

History and origin

Present circumstances

See also

References