Kashmiris in Punjab

The Kashmiris in Punjab are ethnic Kashmiris who have historically migrated from the Kashmir Valley and settled in the Punjab region. Many ethnic Muslim Kashmiris from the Kashmir Valley had migrated to the Punjab region during Sikh and Dogra rule.

Pre-independence
Heavy commodifications taxation under the Sikh rule caused many Kashmiri peasants to migrate to the plains of Punjab. These claims, made in Kashmiri histories, were corroborated by European travelers. When one such European traveller, Moorcroft, left the Valley in 1823, about 500 emigrants accompanied him across the Pir Panjal Pass. The 1833 famine resulted in many people leaving the Kashmir Valley and migrating to the Punjab, with the majority of weavers leaving Kashmir. Weavers settled down for generations in the cities of Punjab such as Jammu and Nurpur. The 1833 famine led to a large influx of Kashmiris into Amritsar which was also under Sikh rule. Kashmir's Muslims in particular suffered and had to leave Kashmir in large numbers, while Hindus were not much affected. The emigration during the Sikh rule resulted in Kashmiris enriching the culture and cuisines of Amritsar, Lahore and Rawalpindi. Sikh rule in Kashmir ended in 1846 and was followed by the rule of Dogra Hindu maharajahs who ruled Kashmir as part of their princely state of Jammu and Kashmir.

A large number of Muslim Kashmiris migrated from the Kashmir Valley to the Punjab due to conditions in the princely state such as famine, extreme poverty and harsh treatment of Kashmiri Muslims by the Dogra Hindu regime. According to the 1911 Census there were 177,549 Kashmiri Muslims in the Punjab. With the inclusion of Kashmiri settlements in NWFP this figure rose to 206,180.

Scholar Ayesha Jalal states that Kashmiris faced discrimination in the Punjab as well. Kashmiris settled for generations in the Punjab were unable to own land, including the family of Muhammad Iqbal. Scholar Chitralekha Zutshi states that Kashmiri Muslims settled in the Punjab retained emotional and familial links to Kashmir and felt obliged to struggle for the freedom of their brethren in the Valley.

Common krams (surnames) found amongst the Kashmiri Muslims who migrated from the Valley to the Punjab include Butt,  Dar, Lone, Wain (Wani), Mir, Rathore.

Post-independence
Kashmiri Muslims constituted an important segment of several Punjabi cities such as Sialkot, Lahore, Amritsar and Ludhiana. Following the partition of India in 1947 and the subsequent communal unrest across Punjab, Muslim Kashmiris living in East Punjab migrated en masse to West Punjab. Kashmiri migrants from Amritsar have had a big influence on Lahore's contemporary cuisine and culture. The Kashmiris of Amritsar were more steeped in their Kashmiri culture than the Kashmiris of Lahore. Ethnic Kashmiris from Amritsar also migrated in large numbers to Rawalpindi, where Kashmiris had already introduced their culinary traditions during the British Raj.

An exclusive research conducted by the "Jang Group and Geo Television Network" showed that the Kashmiri community had been involved in spearheading the power politics of Lahore district since 1947. The Kashmiri diaspora in Punjab also influences politics in the Gujranwala, Gujrat and Sialkot districts.

In Pakistan's Punjab
As per the 2017 Pakistani census, ethnic Kashmiris made up 30% of the Lahore District, which back then amounted to some 3,3 million individuals out of a total Lahore District population of around 11 million. Ethnic Kashmiris also live in the other urban centers of Pakistan's Punjab.

Notable Kashmiris of Punjab
One of the most highly educated and prominent Kashmiris in Punjab was Muhammad Iqbal, whose poetry displayed a keen sense of belonging to Kashmir Valley. Another member of the Kashmiri diaspora in Punjab was the famous storywriter Saadat Hasan Manto who was proud of his Kashmiri ancestry. Notable members of the Kashmiri diaspora in Pakistan also include the former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (paternal ancestry from Anantnag), Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, and politician Khawaja Asif. The following is a list of notable Kashmiris of Punjab:


 * Abid Kashmiri, Pakistani TV and Stage actor
 * Ahmad Ali Butt, Pakistan actor, comedian, musician, rapper, TV host
 * Ahmed Butt, Pakistani actor, model, singer
 * A. K. Hangal, Indian freedom fighter and actor
 * Allama Muhammad Iqbal, writer, philosopher and politician in British India from Sapru family of Sopore town in Kashmir, who migrated to Sialkot in Punjab
 * Ali Azmat, Pakistani singer-songwriter, musician and actor from Butt family
 * Durdana Butt, Pakistani comedian and actress
 * Farhan Saeed, Pakistani actor and singer from Butt family
 * Hamid Mir, Pakistani journalist, columnist and author
 * Great Gama, (real name: Ghulam Mohammad Baksh Butt) record-breaking pehlwani wrestler and feared strongman in British colonial era
 * Ilyas Kashmiri, Pakistani film actor
 * Imran Khalid Butt, Gujranwala politician
 * Ishaq Dar, Pakistani finance minister
 * Ismat Beg, Pakistani mathematician and researcher
 * Javid Iqbal, Pakistani philosopher and senior justice
 * Khalid Abbas Dar, Pakistani TV and Stage actor
 * Khawaja Saad Rafique, Pakistani politician
 * Khurram Dastgir, Gujranwala politician and former federal minister
 * Muhammad Aslam Butt, Former elected mayor of Municipal Corporation Gujranwala from 1980 to 1983,1983 to 1987, then from 1988 to 1991.
 * Muhammad Taufeeq Butt, Gujranwala politician
 * Mohammad Sanaullah Dar (Meeraji), Urdu poet
 * Muhammad Younis Butt, Pakistani screenwriter, humorist, columnist
 * Mushaf Ali Mir, Pakistani four-star Air force general and former Chief of Air Staff of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF)
 * Mir Khalil ur Rehman, Pakistani newspaper entrepreneur and founder of the Jang Group
 * Muneeb Butt, Pakistani actor based in Karachi
 * Nazir Ahmed Butt, former Pakistan Army Lieutenant-General, now Chairman of National Accountability Bureau.
 * Nida Dar, Pakistani cricketer
 * Nooh Dastgir Butt, Pakistani weight lifter, gold medalist Commonwealth Games 2022
 * Osman Khalid Butt, Pakistani actor based in Islamabad
 * P. N. Haksar, Indian bureaucrat and diplomat
 * Saifuddin Kitchlew, South Asian independence activist, barrister and politician
 * Salman Butt, Pakistani cricketer
 * Salmaan Taseer, Pakistani politician and businessman, founder of Daily Times
 * Samina Pirzada (nee Butt), Pakistani actress from Butt family
 * Shaan Shahid Pakistani Urdu and Punjabi film actor
 * Sharif family, Pakistani political family
 * Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad, Rawalpindi politician
 * Sikandar Raza, Pakistani-born Zimbabwean cricketer
 * Sohail Ahmed, Pakistani Film, TV and Stage actor
 * Sufi Ghulam Mustafa Tabassum, Pakistani Urdu and Punjabi language poet, prominent scholar of Persian language
 * Swarup Rani Nehru, Indian independence activist and mother of Jawaharlal Nehru