Tarkhan (Muslim)

The Tarkhans formed as an occupational group within the Punjab caste system, bringing together families devoted to carpentry and metalwork for centuries. Throughout the 19th century and early 20th century, the caste was religiously mixed, with Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims living side by side under the same trade name, and the Muslim branch already made up a significant share of the group well before Partition.

The Partition of the subcontinent in 1947 redrew that reality: with the creation of Pakistan, large numbers of Muslim Tarkhans remained in the new country, while Sikh and Hindu families of the same caste migrated to the Indian side. It was this mass displacement that made the Muslim branch of the Tarkhans the predominant one in Pakistani Punjab, where they still live today.

The social life of the Tarkhans still bears marks of the old craft trade: carpentry, blacksmithing and masonry remain among the occupations associated with the group’s name, and in Punjab villages it was common for a barter system in which the carpenter’s work was paid with produce from the farmers’ harvest. Today, however, many Tarkhans have built careers outside the workshop, especially in the armed forces, which has raised the group’s social standing.

As in much of Punjabi culture, the extended family and caste kinship network remain central to choosing spouses, forming alliances and mutual support between families.

The Muslim Tarkhans follow Sunni Islam, lived out in Punjab intertwined with regional and caste identity: the mosque, the fasting month of Ramadan and the daily prayers shape daily life as much as the bonds of family and trade. Two dates especially mark the community’s religious calendar, Eid al Fitr and Eid al Adha, celebrated with family and reaffirming ties among relatives and neighbors.

Few read the Quran in its original language, and much of the community’s understanding of the faith comes through local religious leaders, who guide the daily practice of Islam within the community, shaping everything from raising children to marriage customs.

The Tarkhans of Pakistan speak Western Punjabi, a language into which the New Testament has already been translated and has undergone recent revisions, including a 2020 edition. The first complete New Testament in Punjabi dates back to the early 20th century. Even so, the text circulates little among the Muslim Tarkhans, and everyday access to the Word depends more on radio, mobile apps and reading aloud than on printed copies at home.

Among the Tarkhans, being Muslim is inseparable from being Punjabi and belonging to the caste: leaving Islam is seen as breaking with the family and the kinship network that sustains marriages, work and social protection. Add to this the rarity of Christians in the neighborhood and the absence of churches within the group itself, which makes a first encounter with the gospel a practically nonexistent event in the life of most.

Like many artisan caste communities in transition, the Tarkhans face challenges common to Pakistani Punjab: unequal access to quality education, economic opportunities concentrated in the cities, and pressure to maintain caste traditions even amid rapid social change. Families who left the original trade for urban or military careers still depend on the caste kinship network for support in times of difficulty.

In the spiritual realm, the deepest need is the near total absence of Christian community: among the Tarkhans there is no local church that someone who came to believe could join, nor Christian neighbors who could serve as a first bridge to the gospel.