Who Are the Gara?

Question

Where did the people [called] “Gara” (a community descended from a Mughal-era army) come from, and who are they? The meaning of this word is not clear — where did this name come from? Please write about this.

Answer

This is not a matter of fiqh: it is not discussed in books of fiqh, nor in books of hadith and tafsir. It is well known that in the time of the Mughal rulers this name was given to an army in order to make some war successful; afterwards these people were granted land for cultivation as a reward from the government.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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