The Kashmiri Pandits are a group of Kashmiri Hindus and a part of the larger Saraswat Brahmin community of India. They belong to the Pancha Gauda Brahmin group from the Kashmir Valley, a mountainous region located within the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Kashmiri Pandits are Hindu Kashmiris native to the Kashmir Valley, and the only remaining Hindu Kashmiris after the large-scale of conversion of the Valley's population to Islam during the medieval times. Prompted by the growth of Islamic militancy in the valley, large numbers left in the exodus of the 1990s. Even so, small numbers remain.
Bhat is a surname in the Indian subcontinent. Bhat and Bhatt are shortened renditions of Brahmbhatt or Bhatta.
Doda district is an administrative district of the Jammu division of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.
Pirzada is historically described as official custodians of Sufi mausoleums and shrines in Muslim lands, with their earliest mentions being in Baghdad, Iraq, during the period of the Ilkhanate, Timurids and Mamluks. Often a Pirzada was a descendant of those buried within the tomb they were assigned to, hence most of the Pirzadas are successor to Saint buried in the tomb.
Munshi is a Persian word, originally used for a contractor, writer, or secretary, and later used in Mughal India for native language teachers, teachers of various subjects, especially administrative principles, religious texts, science, and philosophy and were also secretaries and translators employed by Europeans.
Kashmiris are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group speaking the Kashmiri language, that live, have lived, or their ancestors have lived, mostly, but not exclusively, in the Kashmir Valley, which is now in the Indian-administered union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
Poonch or Punch is a district of the Jammu division of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region. With headquarters in the town of Poonch, it is bounded by the Line of Control on three sides. The 1947-48 war between India and Pakistan divided the earlier district into two parts. One went to Pakistan and the other became part of the then-Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Dhar or Dar is a Kashmiri surname and clan native to the Kashmir Valley in Jammu and Kashmir, India, and common today among Kashmiri Hindus and Kashmiri Muslims. Outside Kashmir, it is used by members of the Kashmiri diaspora, in places like Punjab, Bengal, Gujarat, and Maharashtra, and more commonly in recent times by the global Kashmiri Pandit diaspora following the Exodus of Kashmiri Hindus in 1989–1990.
Indian Sikhs number approximately 21 million people and account for 1.7% of India's population as of 2011, forming the country's fourth-largest religious group. The majority of the nation's Sikhs live in the northern state of Punjab, which is the only Sikh-majority administrative division in the world.
Gurjar is an Indo-Aryan agricultural ethnic community, residing mainly in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, divided internally into various clan groups. They were traditionally involved in agriculture, pastoral and nomadic activities and formed a large heterogeneous group. The historical role of Gurjars has been quite diverse in society: at one end they have been founders of several kingdoms and dynasties and, at the other end, some are still nomads with no land of their own.
Kashmiri Muslims are ethnic Kashmiris who practice Islam and are native to the Kashmir Valley in Indian-administered Kashmir. The majority of Kashmiri Muslims are Sunni. They refer to themselves as "Koshur" in their mother language.
Gurez, or Gurais, is a valley located in the high Himalayas, about 86 kilometres (53 mi) from Bandipore and 123 kilometres (76 mi) from Srinagar, to the north of the Kashmir valley. At about 2,400 metres (8,000 ft) above sea level, the valley is surrounded by snow-capped mountains. It has diverse fauna and wildlife including the Himalayan brown bear and the snow leopard. The Kishanganga River flows through the valley.
Mattoo, also spelled Mattu, is a Kashmiri clan and surname. They are native to the Kashmir Valley within the Jammu & Kashmir, India.
The Kashmiri diaspora refers to Kashmiris who have migrated out of the Kashmir into other areas and countries, and their descendants.
The Exodus of Kashmiri Hindus, or Pandits, is their early-1990 migration, or flight, from the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley in Indian-administered Kashmir following rising violence in an insurgency. Of a total Pandit population of 120,000–140,000 some 90,000–100,000 left the valley or felt compelled to leave by the middle of 1990, by which time about 30–80 of them are said to have been killed by militants.
Wani/Vani is a surname of a caste found throughout India and Pakistan, especially in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and Maharashtra. Both Wain and Wani/Vani are acceptable pronunciations.
Sheikhgal or Watali is an unclassified Indo-Aryan language of Jammu and Kashmir, India. Its speakers, the formerly nomadic Watals, are found throughout Kashmir, particularly in the districts of Srinagar, Baramulla, Pulwama and Kupwara. Among its speakers the language is also known as Opedigal or Phiri kathi.
The Pahari people or Pahari-speaking people is a cover term for a number of heterogeneous communities inhabiting the Pir Panjal Region in the Jammu division of the Indian administered Jammu and Kashmir and also parts of Pakistan administered Azad Kashmir.
Bazaz is a Kashmiri Pandit clan and surname native to the Kashmir Valley of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
