What is "ahirwal"

Ahirwal is a region spanning parts of southern Haryana and north-eastern Rajasthan, both of which are present-day states in India. The region was once a small principality based from the town of Rewari and controlled by members of the Ahirwal community from around the time when the Mughal empire was in decline.

The name translates as "Land of the Ahirs". J. E. Schwartzberg has described it as a "folk region" and Lucia Michelutti as a "cultural-geographic region ... which includes parts of the districts of Alwar, Bharatpur in Rajasthan and Mahendragarh, Gurgaon in the state of Haryana." The Ahirwal region in southern Haryana has 11 assembly segments spread over three Lok Sabha seats — Bhiwani-Mahendergarh, Gurgaon and Rohtak (one segment only) — having a sizeable presence of Ahir voters.

The events at the battle of Rezang La on 18 November 1962 involved many soldiers from the Ahirwal region, who were greatly outnumbered by their Chinese opponents.