Khoja (clan)
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Khoja or Khwaja is a gotra (clan) of mostly Jats (less commonly Rajputs) found in Marwar, Ajmer-Merwara and Jhunjhunwati areas of Rajasthan , Kutch/Gujarat and Punjab in India. They are also found in Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh. They are also scattered around the surrounding areas. The word Khoja is a phonetic corruption of the word Khawaja, an Arabic/Persian title (Arabic: خواج). The people are sometimes referred to as Persian Lords because of this lordship.
Many keep their original surnames, while others change it. Khoja surnames include Khwajah/Khoja(h), Thakker/Thakur, Patel and sometimes Singh. (There are others as well, the names do not always reflect their ancestry or clan, such as the case with someone named Patel. Khojahs can be told apart from people with whom they share a common surname with due to their physical attributes. See Khwajah).
They ruled in Tonk in 11th century. The author of ‘Tarikh Rajgan Hind’ Maulvi Hakeem Majmulgani Khan has mentioned giving the geographical description of Tonk state and location of Tonk town on Banas River. He has further mentioned that Khoja Ram Singh after a war at Delhi came to this place and founded Tonk town on magha sudi teras samvat 1003 (946 AD). This town was earlier called Tonkra, which later became Tonk. After a long period on magh sudi 5 samvat 1337 (1280 AD) Alloudin Khilji when won Madhaupur and Chittorgarh, this town was again habited. Thus the descendants of Ram Singh ruled Tonk from samvat 1003 (946 AD) to samvat 1337 (1280 AD). Khilji or some other Muslim ruler had destroyed this town, which was rehabilitated.
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[edit] Reference
- Thakur Deshraj: Jat Itihas (Hindi), Maharaja Suraj Mal Smarak Shiksha Sansthan, Delhi, 1934, 2nd edition 1992.
