Qalandar (caste)
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (286,000 ) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 India •  Nepal
|
|
| Languages | |
| Urdu • Hindi | |
| Religion | |
 Islam 100% |
|
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Jogi • Jogi Faqir • Sai |
The Qalandar (Hindi: क़लन्दर, Urdu: قلندر) are a Muslim ethnic group, found in North India and Pakistan. They are also known as Qalander Faqir. A few Qalandar are also found in the Terai region of Nepal.
The Qalandar in India trace their origin back to the devotees of the Sufi saint Bu Ali Shah Qalandar, who is buried in Panipat, in what is now Haryana. These devotees left their homes in the cities of Karnal and Panipat for some unknown reason and settled in territory that now forms part of the modern state of Uttar Pradesh. Initially, these devotee belonged to the Sufi order of the Qalandariyah Faqirs, who then took to the profession of bear fighting. The Qalandar consists of three sub-divisions, the Langre in eastern Rohilkhand, the Rohilla in western Rohilkhand and the Machhle in Awadh, all of whom are found in Uttar Pradesh, and speak their own dialect, known as Qalandari.
In Pakistan, the Qalandar are found mainly in Pakistani Punjab. According to their traditions, the Qalandar are descended of ancestors that arrived in from Balkh and Bukhara in Central Asia in the distant past. These settlers were all said to be devotees of the Sufi saint Bu Ali Qalandar of Panipat. Unlike the Uttar Pradesh Qalandar who moved east, the Qalandar of what became Pakistan began a slow migration westward, with small groups moving into Punjab by mid 15th Century. At the time of the partition of India in 1947, the Muslim Qalandar of east Punjab, which included Panipat and Karnal moved to Pakistan, joining groups who were already settled there.
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