Pathans of Uttar Pradesh

The Pathans are an Urdu-speaking community of Pashtun descent in the Uttar Pradesh state in India who form one of the largest Muslim communities in the state. They are also known as Khans which is a commonly used surname amongst them; although not all those who use the surname are Pathans, for example the Khanzada community of eastern Uttar Pradesh are also commonly known as Khan. The phrase Pathan Khanzada is used to describe Muslim Rajput groups, found mainly in Gorakhpur, who have been absorbed into the Pathan community. There are communities of partial Pashtun ancestry in the Rohilkhand region and in parts of the Doab and Awadh regions, such as the agrarian Rohilla community.