History
The word kanjar has been derived from the Sanskrit kanana-chara, which means wanderer in the jungle. They claim to have originated in Rajasthan. The Kanjar then had to flee to the jungles to avoid Mughal persecution. Since that period, they have been living in the jungle, and make their living by hunting. According to their traditions, they are descended from a Manu Guru and his wife Nathiya Kanjarin. They are divided into four clans, the Callad, Superala, Diyal and Rachhband. A fifth group, the Patharkat are now a distinct sub-group, no longer inter-marrying with the other Kanjar groupings.
A section of the Kanjar of the Punjab have converted to Islam. This community is historically associated with prostitution. The Muslim Kanjar of Punjab might have had nucleus in the Kanjar tribe, but the community has always accepted fresh recruits. Those who have followed the profession for generations are called deradars, and look down upon the latter recruits. The Kanjar also supplied the executioners during the period of Mughal and Sikh rule in the Punjab.
In the Colonial period, Kanjars were listed under the Criminal Tribes Act, 1871, as being a tribe "addicted to the systematic commission of non-bailable offences."
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