Other Surnames / Gotras : ommon surnames found in Aroras include Ahuja, Alreja, Aneja, Arora, Arya, Babbar, Bagai, Bajaj, Batra, Baweja (Baveja), Bhagat, Behl(Bahl, Bahal), Berry (Beri), Bindal, Chaudhry, Chawla, Chhabra, Chhibber, Chugh, Chutani, Dewan (Diwan), Dhamija, Dhingra, Dutta, Gaba (Gauba), Gangwani, Gera, Ghai(Ghei,Gehi), Gheia, Grover, Gulati, Hans, Jaitley, Johar (Jauhar), Jolly, Juneja, Kalra, Kamra, Kanwal, Kanwar, Kataria, Kaura, Kharbanda, Khera, Khullar, Khurana (Khorana), Kukreja, Kumar, Lekhi, Lulla, Luthra, Madan, Makhija, Makkar, Mehndiratta, Mohindra, Munjal, Nagpal, Nanda, Narang, Narula, Pabreja, Pahuja, Paruthi, Punj, Raheja, Rajpal, Rampal, Ralhan, Rekhi, Sachar, Sachdev (Sachdeva), Saluja, Sukhija, Taneja, Tarneja, Tejpal, Tulli, Tuteja and Wadhwa.
Religion : Mainly Hindus and Sikhs (some living in Pakistan are Muslims)
Varna : Kshatriya
Language : Punjabi, Hindi
Regional Spread : Mainy Punjab and Sindh. Aroras are also present in Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and other parts of India.
Traditional Occupation : Mercantile
Place of Origin : Aror, which was situated near the modern towns of Rohri and Sukkur in Sind, Pakistan
Food Habits : Prefer vegetarian, many are also known to consume non-vegetarian food
Marriage Preference : Within the caste of within their related castes. Marriages within the same gotra/clan/surname are not accepted.
Related Communities : Khatris
The word 'Arora' is derived from a place name, Aror (now known as Rohri, in Sind, Pakistan). According to legend the Aroras are of Kshatriya stock, but denied their Kshatriya origin in order to escape persecution by Parashuram (paraurama in Sanskrit means 'Rama with the axe'), calling themselves Aur, which means 'someone else' in Hindi and Panjabi.
Most of the Aroras (or Aror-vanshis) are Hindus or Sikhs and are a well-established mercantile community of India and Pakistan. Hindu Aroras are said to extremely tolerant in their religious faith. Most are followers of Sanatana Dharma, however, they respect the sanctity of other religions and frequently visit Arya Samaj temples, Jain temples, Sikh gurdwaras, and Dargah (tombs) of Muslim Sufi saints. Some believe the Aroras to be related to another prominent mercantile community of the Panjab, the Khatris.
For several centuries in the past, the eldest son of Arora Hindu family voluntarily changed his religion to Sikhism as a family "donation" to Sikh gurus. Some accepted Islam much before the creation of Pakistan in 1947. They now live in Karachi and other large cities of Pakistan's Punjab. The Muslim Arora traders are known as Khojas. After the partition of the Punjab in 1947, all Sikh and Hindu Aroras migrated to India.
Arora families place great emphasis and attention to the education of their children and because of this, they are successful in many diverse professions such as trade, education, medicine, finance, technology, engineering, manufacturing etc. Aroras have achieved remarkable success despite being a minority, lack of a political power-base and loss of their homes, businesses, properties etc. at the time of partition in 1947.