Khukhrain


The Khukhrain or Khokhrain is a clan composed of eight septs of the Khatri caste that originally hailed from the areas of the Salt Range and particularly the town of Bhera in Punjab.

Battle of Bhera

The Khukhrains spread over Khushab, Dhune Kheb, Chakwal, Pind Dadan Khan, Peshawar, Nowshera and Lahore. They were a powerful tribe during the attacks of Mahmud of Ghazni and resisted him during his third invasion after the defeat of Jayapala at the Battle of Bhera in 1004-5. Bhera was the Khukhrain capital.
When Bhera was sacked by Mahmud of Ghazni, the Khukhrain king, Biji Rai preferred to commit suicide using his dagger rather than submit to Mahmud Ghaznavi. Jaipal's son, Anandapala, received support of the Khukhrains against the Ghazni rule in 1008-9 at Wahind.

Religious beliefs

The Khukhrain clan was originally Hindu. Later clan members embraced Sikhism and Islam. Khukhrains of all these faiths collectively form one kinship. In Pakistan there continues to be a large number of Muslim Khukhrains living especially in the Pakistani Punjab.. Some scholars such as Muhammad Ikrām Chutai believe that a number of Khukhrains were converted to Islam by the Sufi Baba Farid.

Khokran and Khokhars

Encyclopædia Britannica notes that: "The Khukhrain sub-group of the "52"s claims descent from a son of Manu, but it is possibly named from the Khokhar Rajputs, and several clan names are traced to military terms in support of the claim to Kshatriya descent.."