Basith

The Chokli are a Hindu caste found in Jammu and Kashmir. According to the 2001 Census of India, the caste had 18,866 members.

History
According to tradition, the Vashist Rajput immigrated from Chamba in Himachal Pradesh in the nineteenth century to Poonch. The Vashist Rajput speak Pahari and their customs are similar to neighboring communities, such as the Domaal. They are a Hindu community in a predominantly Muslim region. They were traditionally cultivators. The Vashist Rajput maintain distance from neighboring Muslim communities with strict restrictions on eating together.

Culture
The basith population is small and has no political representation. Many are farmers and the majority are poor. They worship Ganga, the Gita, and Gow Mata. Sub-castes of basiths includes Telchubs, Chasyals, Charnals, Sukhwals, Singhals, Sanwals and Malhotra.

The basith are endogamous and practice clan exogamy. Their clans are called zaats and include the Chatriyal, Chimal, Raine, Sangwal; Kangwal; Bangwal; Chasyal; Salotre, each of which have their own origin legend. A number of zaats then form a gotra. For example, the Chatriyal belong to the Changin gotra, the Charnals have Bharadwaj gotra and the Chimal belong to the Pardwari gotra. Like many North Indian Hindus, the basith community have an informal caste council called a biradari panchayat. Each of their settlements have this informal body, headed by a chaudhary. The  panchayat  deals with all intra-community disputes, as well as those who breach community norms. Marriages with other communities also takes place excommunicated. The basith are Hindu of the Satnami sect. They worship the Hindi pantheon as well as their clan gods and goddesses, called kul-devitas.