The word Khanzada in Persian means son of a khan, or king. This has literally the same meaning as the wordRajput, which also means son of a king in Sanskrit. The term khanzada originally applied to the Bachgoti Rajput family of the Rajahs of Hasanpur. They were said to have converted to Islam during the rule of Sher Shah Suri. This family claimed descent from Bariar Singh, a Bachgoti Rajput, who said to have emigrated from Sultanpur in the 13th century. The Bachgoti had started off as a clan of the Chauhan Rajputs of Mainpuri. Bariar Singh's grandson, Tilok Chand is said to have converted to Islam, and the family took the name khanzada. The Mandarkia and Bharsaiyan are both strictly endogamous groupings, and as such differ from other Khanzada groupings who follow the custom of clan exogamy. From the middle of the 19th century, the term Khanzada was extended to refer to all those Rajput clans, who had converted to Islam in Awadh and neighbouring Benaras division. The term is now used in the same manner as the term Ranghar, which refers to any Muslim Rajput in western Uttar Pradesh, and Khanzada is now used to describe any of the Muslim Rajput clans of eastern Uttar Pradesh. In addition, the Muslim Bhumihar of Ghazipur District are also included within the Khanzada category.
Present circumstances
In northern Awadh, a region comprising roughly Barabanki District in south east to Lakhimpur Kheri District in the north west, the Khanzada have a followed a slightly different path, with a stronger identification with Islam. In a recent study of a Chauhan Khanzada village in Raisenghat Tehsil of Barabanki District, this particular community was seen to be strongly identifying with neighbouring Pathan communities, and there was increasingly intermarriage between the two groups. There economic condition in this region is also been affected, with a dwindling in the size of their farms, especially in Shravasti and Balrampur districts. Many are now, in fact, landless agricultural labourers. The Khanzada, however have been badly affected by abolition of the zamindari system, with many now destitute. They still remain a land owning community, but those especially in Balrampur, Gonda and Bahraich are now simply agricultural labourers. The community are also divided on sectarian lines, with the majority being Sunni, while a minority, mainly the ex-taluqdar families being Shia. Like other Indian Muslims, there is growing movement towards orthodoxy, with many of their villages containing madrasas. The madrasas have also facilitated the growth of Urdu, with it beginning to replace the Awadhi dialect they traditionally spoke.
