The Muslim Chhipi is Muslim community found mainly in the states of

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

and

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...

in India.

Origin

According to their traditions, the Chhipi, or sometimes pronounced Chhipa were originally

Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...

s who were imprisoned by Taimur at the fort of Lohargarh in

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern s ...

. They escaped from the fort and fled to Rohilkhand. The Rajputs then hid, and were known as the chhipna Rajputs after the

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

word for hidden which is ''chhipana''. Over time chhipna was corrupted to chhipi. Most traditions rather state that they get their name from the

word ''chhapna'', which means to print. Other traditions refer to their taking up the occupation of printing clothes after the conversion of the community to Islam. The Chhipi is generally considered simply as an endogamous sub-group within the Rangrez community.Muslim Caste in Uttar Pradesh: A Study in Culture Contact by Ghaus Ansari

References

{{Indian Muslim Social groups of Uttar Pradesh Muslim communities of Uttar Pradesh Muslim communities of India

Origin

See also

References