In fact, the hijra community is as much rooted in Indo - Pakistani Islam as it is in Hinduism; many hijras, if not most, are muslim - not only in muslim Pakistan and Bangladesh but also in hindu-secular India - and their old connection to the dynasties of muslim rule in India are an issue of pride to all of them, including the hindus.
Hijra is only the most frequently used term to describe them. It is derived from Urdu, the poetical language of the Indian Subcontinent`s islamic culture. Another widely used word for them is "khusra" which is from the Punjabi language (NorthWest India, NorthEast Pakistan). The Arab - Muslim term "mukhannath/muhannas" is also used in certain contexts and many hijras prefer that term. In English literature the word "eunuch" is most often employed to refer to them. This is correct as long as you relate it to the medieval muslim understanding of an eunuch (who was usually a mukhannath), but still it might conjure wrong pictures of "castrated men" in the minds of westerners.
The hijras are a remarkable community. Some hijras claim that "their society was once known from India to Spain", which was the expansion of the medieval muslim empire, and older hijras who did the Hajj (pilgrimage to Makkah) sometimes hint to a close connection between their society and the ancient society of "eunuchs" that guarded the grave of noble Prophet Muhammad (s.a.s.) and the sacred mosque in Makkah.
In that way one might assume that today`s muslim hijra communities are the only intact survivors of medieval muslim "mukhannath" society , while at the same time having local connections to ancient hindu traditions.
On these pages I will explain some features of "hijra - culture" and their relationship to Indo- Pakistani Islam. Hopefully I might also disspell some prejudices and wrong myths.
May God bless the hijra community in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, may he guard the hijras and may he guard their precious heritage!