Takhar (clan)

Takhar or Takher or Tukhar or Tushar is 1) a gotra of Hindu Jats found in Rajasthan in India, 2) Sikh Jats found in the Punjab regions of India and Pakistan and 3) mainly Muslim found in Pakistan. The most notable (large) village in Punjab to find Jat Sikh Takhars is Shankar, district Jalandhar. There is also a Takhar village in Ludhiana district in Punjab, Hissowal. However, most Takhars are from the doaba region of Punjab in India (District Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur and Kapurthula) and are Sikh, whereas in Pakistani Punjab they are muslim. Before 1947 Punjab was a single large united province.

Famous persons of this clan include:
*Bajranglal Takhar is an Indian rower who won the first individual rowing silver medal for India at the 2006 Asian Games held in Doha.
*Harinder Takhar is a cabinet minister in the province of Ontario, Canada.
*Navroz Takhar
*Sardar Swaran Singh Early Indian Cabinet Minister (Foreign Affairs & Defense) under Indira Gandhi from village Shankar, in the state of Punjab.
*Makhan Takhar AKA K.S. Makhan is a famous Punjabi singer from village Shankar, Jalandhar, in the state of Punjab

The Takhar diaspora is very large. Notable destinations from village Shankar include England, Canada and the U.S. There have been Takhars living outside Shankar since 1898 or perhaps earlier, in Europe, Africa, and North America. The Takhar Jats were one of the first Jats to leave the Punjab region and venture outside of the larger South Asian region.

References

* Ram Swarup Joon: History of the Jats, Rohtak, India (1938, 1967)