| Group: | Mughal |
| Region1: |  Pakistan |
| Region2: |  India |
| Region3: |  Bangladesh |
| Langs: | Hindustani (Urdu-Hindi), Punjabi, Bangla Persian (formerly) |
| Rels: | Islam |
| Related: | Pakistani people, Indian people and Bangladeshi people |
The Mughals (also spelled Moghul or Mogul) is a Muslim corporate group from modern-day North India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.[1] They claim to have descended from the various Central Asian Mongolic,[2] [3] Turkic and Persian peoples that had historically settled in the Mughal India.[1] The term Mughal (or Moghul in Persian) literally means Mongol.[4]
In Pakistan, Mughal people are mostly settled in the provinces of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.[1]
The community had traditionally served as soldiers in the armies of the various Indo-Muslim dynasties which ruled the Indian subcontinent. They were and still are a community of small to medium-sized farmers. A good many are also traders. Like other Gujarati Muslims, they have a caste association known as the Jamat, which acts both as a welfare organization and an instrument of social control.[5] In North India, the term Mughal refers Gürkani or Timurids. They are also sometimes referred to as Chughtais or Chagatai Türks named after Chagatai Turkic language spoken by the Barlas and other Central Asian tribes. But one of the social groups that are claim to as the Ashraaf.[6]
The Sambhal, who claim Turkic descent, identify as a Biradari, literally translating to "brotherhood", which is the word used for a social unit based on kinship such as tribe or clan.[7] The chief of the Biradari is the "Sardar", who is usually an elder man annually elected as the greatest man in the Biradari. Decisions on important matters are taken only after consulting the Biradari, and once taken binding on every member.[8]