Tarkhan (Punjab)

Tarkhan (Punjab)

The Tarkhan (Punjabi: ترخان, तरख़ान tarkhān) are considered a Punjabi tribe in Pakistani Punjab while a caste in Indian Punjab. They are carpenters by occupation.

H.A. Rose supposed that they are descended from the Saka tribes, and originally settled in Taxila. Scholars such as Khalsa have analysed the work of ethnographers such as Ibbetson, Cunningham, and Elliot, and have concluded that agrarian and artisan communities in Punjab such as Tarkhans may be of Scythian origin.

Further analysis has suggested that Tarkhans may be descended from Scythic tribes who settled in north-western India in successive waves between 500 B.C. too 500 AD.