Kharwar is a surname used by odh found in the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Orissa and West Bengal in India and Sindh in Pakistan.

Kharwar tribe of present-day may be enlarge totem sept which broke off from some larger group and in course of time developed a separate organisation.

[8] According to an inscription dated 1169 AD found at Phulwari in Rohtas district, which refers to road construction by Nayak Pratapdhavala, the chief of Japila(modern Japla).

According to an inscription dated to 1223 AD at Lal Darwaja of Rohtas fort, the descendant and successor of Pratapdhavala was Shri Pratapa.

The primary traditional economic activity of the Kharwar has been agriculture but their reliance on a single annual crop and on suitable weather means that it is barely enough to sustain themselves for a part of the year.

[8] They have totemic clans such as Kansi (Kans grass), Nilkanth (Indian roller), Hansgadhia, Besra (sparrowhawk), Sahil, Tirkey (eagle), Chandiyar, Lohwar etc.

Risley(1891) records Bania, Ba Bahera, Bael(Aegle marmelos), Bair(berry), Bamria, Bandia and few more septs among Kharwar of Chotanagpur.