 The community was traditionally associated with the manufacture of millstones (chaki in Urdu), which they then peddled throughout North India and Punjab.According to their traditions, they descend from the Muslim soldiers, who are said to have settled in India sometime at the start of Muslim rule in North India.Like other Indian Muslim artisan communities, they have suffered from a decline in their traditional occupation as a result of growing mechanization, and many are now involved in daily wage labour.