Kunduana, (Urdu: کندوآنہ) orKundwana^[1][2] is a Muslim offshoot of theKhatana clan of theGurjars found inPakistan andIndia.

Kunduana
کندوآنہ
Tomb of Kandu, ancestor of Kunduana Gujjars at Makiana village,Gujrat District,Punjab, Pakistan. Photo by Muhammad Afsar Khan
Religions	Islam
Languages	•Gojari •Punjabi •Urdu •Kashmiri •Hindi
Country	•Pakistan •India
Region	•Pakistani Punjab •Indian Punjab •Indian-administered Kashmir
Lineage	FromKandu, son of Murid who lived in Makiana Village,Gujrat District,Subah of Lahore,Mughal India in c. 16th centuryCE.
Related groups	• Handuana • Aakia • Gajgahia

Kunduana has following spelling variations: Kanduana, Kundwana, Kunduana and Kundoana. Keeping in view the name of Kandu, their ancestor, spelling Kanduana seem to be more correct but odd to pronounce hence Kundwana, Kunduana or Kundoana.

AKunduana is a descendant ofKandu, a leadingGujjar belonging toearly modern period ofGujrat, Pakistan around the time whenAkbar inhabited theGujrat City in 1580 CE.^[3]

The ancestor ofKunduanas wasKandu, a resident of Makiana village inGujrat district,Punjab,Pakistan. His tomb is also situated in the same village. His grave has withstood the revolution of time despite that the area ofGujrat fell pray to anarchy during the years betweenMughal Empire andSikh Empire. "Situated as it is with the Imperial Road, the whole tract was sacked and ravaged again and again, the towns and villages burnt and pillaged, taken and retaken by the various armies passing and repassing," writes Captain A Elliott, former deputy commissioner of Gujrat.^[4]

Whenever a male child was born in a Kunduana family, they used to make offering ofGhugu Goray (fired clay horses) at the tomb of their forefather Kandu. The first head shave of the boy was also performed at the tomb. If for any reason, the boy could not be taken to the tomb immediately, a bunch of hair on his head was left unshaved. This bunch of hair was only shaved when the boy was taken to the tomb subsequently.

Kandu's grave had disappeared from the earth's surface by the revolution of time. Around 2008, it was rediscovered when digging for laying down natural gase pipelines was done. The grave was identified with the help ofGhugu Goray found on it.

During the reign ofMughal emperors, when the modern dayGujrat District was part ofSubah of Lahore, theIlaqa ofGujrat had threeParganas. Out of these, thePargana ofGujrat had eightTappas. One of theseTappas was named after the ancestor ofKunduanas and calledTappa ofKandu.^[5] ThisTappa had sixTopes^[6] and 320 villages out of which 209 wereUslee (original) and 111Dakhlee (internal).^[7]Alamgir II was the lastMughal emperor having sway overGujrat District.^[8] The following were the district administration subdivisions under theMughal emperors:

• Ilaqa (علاقہ)^[9] -- headed by Fauzdar (administrative head), Amalguzar (revenue collector) and Kotwal (responsible for maintenance of law and order, the trial of criminal cases, and price regulation).
• Pargana (پرگنہ) orTaraf (طرف)^[8][10] -- headed by Shiqdar (police chief at thePargana level who also had to perform duties ofKotwal) and Amin (revenue collector).
• Tappa (تپہ) -- manned by Tapedar (treasurer), Qanungo (keeper of land record) and Bitikchis (clerks). Its head might have the same powers as the modern day Tapedar inSindh. ATappa during theMughal rule corresponded to aZail under theSikh Empire andBritish Raj.^[11]
• Tope (توپ) -- headed by aChaudhry.^[5]
• Mauza (موضع) -- manned byMuqaddam (head of the village),Patwari (performing the duties of an accountant) and Chowkidar (watchman).

TheTappa ofKandu (Mughal India) had sixTopes,^[12] detail of which is as follows:

After theMughal Empire,Gujrat District went under theDurrani Empire.

After theDurrani Empire,Gujrat District went under theSikh Confederacy.

During theSikh Empire, administrative unitPargana was replaced with Ilaqa whileTappa was renamed asZail and number of Ilaqas andZails was increased as compared to their previous counterparts. TheZails were made whenRanjit Singh assumed direct government, by his astute ministersFakir Nuruddin andFakir Azizuddin.^[13] The name ofKandu was not carried forward in the newly formedZails. The only available list of theZails during theSikh Empire is the one which stood immediately before the advent of theBritish Raj. This list does not show anyZail with the name ofKandu. However, manyKunduanas were appointed asZaildars during theSikh Empire.^[13] The district administration units under theSikh Empire were as follows:

• Pargana (پرگنہ) -- was under an official known as Kardar.
• Taluka (تعلقہ)
• Ilaqa (علاقہ)
• Zail (ذیل),^[5] was headed by aZaildar.
• Mauza (موضع), was headed by aChaudhry orMuqaddam.

After decline of theSikh Empire, the present-dayGujrat District went under the control ofBengal Presidency with capital atCalcutta.

TheBritish Raj adopted the administrative unitZail introduced by theSikh Empire.^[14]

InPakistan,Kunduana offshoot is found inGujrat,Gujranwala,Lahore,Faisalabad,Chakwal,Sialkot,Sahiwal,Sargodha,Hafizabad,Narowal,Bahawalpur,Multan,Bahawalnagar andSheikhupura districts ofPunjab.

InIndia,Kunduanas reside mainly in thePunjab and theIndian-administered Kashmir. InPunjab, five villages have onlyKunduanas. InKashmir, they are found in thetehsil ofSrinagar.^[15]

The majority ofKunduanas areMuslim. TheMuslim population ofKunduanas live predominantly inPakistan.

• Gujjars, the hill people of Kashmir WebIndia123 website