In Jain literature and traditional Oswal history, we find a lot about:

• How the Oswal community began, and
• How Oswal gotras (clans) in general were formed,

but very little specific, reliable written history for each individual gotra, like Harkawat.

So I’ll share what we can say with confidence, and also the limits of what is known.

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1. Oswal Samaj – short Jain background

• Oswal Jains are a major Jain business community, mainly linked to Śvetāmbara tradition (though some are Digambar too). ( jainknowledge.com)
• Their origin is traditionally connected with Osia / Osiya (Upakeśpur) in Rajasthan, where Jain Āchārya Ratnaprabhasūri converted local Kshatriya families to Jain Dharma and formed the Oswal vansh. ( jaingpt.org)

From these converted Kshatriya lineages, many gotras (clans) gradually developed.

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2. Gotras in Oswal Jains (general idea)

Jain historical works on Oswals explain that:

• In the beginning, about 18 main gotras are mentioned.
• Over centuries, these expanded to hundreds of gotras (some texts mention 700+, some 1000+, some even 1444). ( jaingpt.org)
• New gotra names commonly arose from:

- Place of residence (village / town) - Name or title of a prominent ancestor - Profession or some special incident / nickname

These details are preserved more in kul‑guru, bhaṭ, and family vaṃśāvali (genealogies) than in main Jain āgamas.

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3. About Harkawat gotra specifically

On Harkawat itself:

• In standard Jain / Oswal history books that are easily available and summarized today, there is no widely-accepted, detailed written history specifically explaining:

- which original Kshatriya clan became Harkawat, - which exact village name or person’s name it came from, - which Āchārya converted that particular line.

• Most likely, like many other Oswal gotras, Harkawat:

- is a later‑formed Oswal gotra name, - derived from a place name or an ancestor’s name (for example someone known as Harka / Harka‑ji / Harak‑…, etc.), - and its detailed story is preserved mainly in family or community genealogy manuscripts, not in general Jain scriptures.

Because reliable Jain–Oswal historical sources do not clearly spell out the full story of Harkawat gotra, giving a precise “origin story” would be guess‑work, which would not be proper from a Jain‑dharma perspective.

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4. Where to look for more authentic detail

For very specific gotra history like Harkawat, traditionally people rely on:

• Old kul‑pothis / vaṃśāvalis kept by the family
• Community bhaṭ / genealogists
• Old Oswal “vansh-muktāvali” type books of your own family line

For a clear and simple overview of Oswal Jains and their general history, you can read more here:

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Summary: Jain and Oswal historical texts tell us how the Oswal community as a whole arose and how many gotras formed over time, but they do not give a well-documented, universally accepted, detailed history for Harkawat gotra alone. For that, one has to refer to family / community genealogical records, not core Jain scriptures.