Lone

Lone, historically known as Lavanya is a Kashmiri surname found in the Indian administered union territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the Pakistani administered province of Azad Kashmir. Kashmiris with this surname are also found in other parts of India and in the Pakistani Punjabi areas of Lahore, Gujranwala and Sialkot. Background Scholars like Jan Gonda and Walter Roper Lawrence have stated that the Lone belong to the Vaishya order, being Hindu traders prior to their conversion to Islam. In the view of Kalhana: In narrating the war of extermination by which Harsa, endeavoured to rid the eastern portion of the valley of the powerful Damaras. Kalhana indiscriminately also uses the term LAVANYA to designate them. This becomes quite evident by a comparison of the verses quoted below. The same observation holds good for a series of passages in later portions of the Chronicle. The explanation is not far to seek. Lavanya, as shown in note vii. 1171, is a tribal name still surviving to this day in the Kram name Lun, born by a considerable section of the agricultural population of Kashmir.