Hindkiler, aynı zamanda Hindkovanlar olarak da bilinir, özellikle Hindko dilini konuşanlar olmak üzere komşu Peştunlar arasında yaşayan Hint-Aryan dillerini konuşanlar için kullanılan çağdaş bir adlandırmadır. Terimin kökenleri belirli bir etnik gruptan ziyade yalnızca Hint-Aryan dillerini konuşanları ifade eder. Terim yalnızca Hindko dilini konuşanlar için değil, aynı zamanda güney Peştuca konuşulan bölgelere sınır olan Dera Gazi Han, Mianwali ve Dera Ismail Han bölgelerindeki Saraikiler için de kullanılır.

The term Hindki is often used to refer to a speaker of the Hindko language (Shackle 1980: 482), but in popular usage it may refer to the language as well. In older literature it was frequently used for the language--for example, in the Imperial Gazetteer of NWFP, which regularly calls it Hindki (1905: 130, 172, 186 ff.).
The term Hindki is often used to refer to a speaker of the Hindko language (Shackle 1980: 482), but in popular usage it may refer to the language as well.
Also, scholars post-Grierson understood Hindko to mean the "language of the people of Hind, i.e. India" and not the Hindus, which was a term used for a religious community.
The term Hindko as used in Pakistan refers to speakers of Indo-Aryan languages who live among the primarily Iranian Pashtuns of the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP). The origins of the term refer merely to "Indian speaking" rather than to any particular ethnic group.