TheAttarwala are a Muslim community found mostly in the state ofGujarat in India.[1]
The Attarwala claim to be descended from a group ofMughalHazara soldiers who were initially settled inAgra, during the rule of the Mughal EmperorJahangir.[1] According to their recorded documents, they then migrated toAhmedabad viaGwalior,Ratlam andGodhra. This migration followed their participation in the community in the 1857Indian War Independence. Once settled inGujarat, India, the community took up the occupation of manufacturing perfumes known asittars.[1] The word attarwala means the manufacturer of perfumes. A second migration took place in 1947 fromAgra, after thepartition of India, with some members immigrating toPakistan, while others joining their co-ethnics in Ahmedabad. The Attarwala are now found mainly in Ahmedabad, India and some of them inKarachi, Pakistan.[1]
The Attarwala are distinct from otherGujarati Muslims, as their mother tongue isUrdu. They are divided into fourteen lineages, the main ones being the Peer Baksh, Ammer Ali, Khorata, Mandusa, Hussainsa, Zahur Hussain, Mohammad Hussain, Khodar Baksh, Barkhan, Mashoob Khan and Ghulam Khan. These lineages are named after an ancestor. There is no system of clan hierarchy, and all the clans intermarry. The community marries among close kin and practice both cross-cousin and parallel-cousin marriages.[1]
The Attarwala are a landless community and are still involved in the manufacture of attar, the traditional perfume ofNorth India. Many now are wage labourers, involved in pulling arickshaw. They areShiaMuslims and have their own caste association, theShia Jafria Attarwala Jamat. The caste association runs amadrasa as well as other welfare activities.[citation needed]
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