Arora

The Arora(in Punjabi ਅਰੋੜਾ is a community of the Punjab region closely related to Khatri community.

Aroras were mainly concentrated in West Punjab (now Pakistan) along the banks of the Indus River and its tributaries; in the Malwa region in East Punjab (a part of India), although not greatly in what became the North-West Frontier Province from 1901; in Sindh (mainly as Sindhi Aroras but there were many Punjabi and Multani speaking Aroras as well); in Rajasthan (as Jodhpuri and Nagauri Aroras/Khatris); and in Gujarat. In post-independence and post-partition India, Aroras mainly reside in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Jammu, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Gujarat.

Origins

Denzil Ibbetson, who wrote the Report for the Indian census of 1881, notes that "The Aroras are often called Roras in the east of the Panjab". However, he considers the community calling itself Ror to be distinct from the Punjabi Arora, stating that "I can hardly believe that the frank and stalwart Ror is of the same origin as the Arora" even though they shared a common account of their origin. The account was that in the past they had denied their original status in order to avoid persecution, and were in fact "Rajputs who escaped the fury of Paras Ram by stating that their caste was aur or 'another'", from which word their name came.