manvar surname caste in gujarat

The most important example of primarily political caste association is the Gujarat Kshatriya Sabha. %PDF-1.7 According to the Rajputs I know in central Gujarat, the highest stratum among them consisted of the royal families of large and powerful kingdoms in Gujarat and neighbouring Rajasthan, such as those of Bhavnagar, Jamnagar, Kachchh, Porbandar, Bikaner, Idar, Jaipur, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Udaipur, and so on. Prohibited Content 3. Village studies, as far as caste is a part of them, have been, there fore, concerned with the interrelations between sections of various castes in the local context. Privacy Policy 8. The hypergamous tendency was never as sharp, pervasive and regular among the Vania divisions as among the Rajputs, Leva Kanbis, Anavils and Khedawals. It will readily be agreed that the sociological study of Indian towns and cities has not made as much progress as has the study of Indian villages. They are described by the ruling elite as robbers, dacoits, marauders, predators and the like. The arrival of the East India Company, however sounded the death knell for the Indian textile industry. (Frequently, such models are constructed a priori rather than based on historical evidence, but that is another story). Since after expansion of British textile markets and decline of Indian textile industry Vankars suffered a lot. The earliest caste associations were formed in Bombay in the middle of the 19th century among migrants belonging to the primarily urban and upper castes from Gujarat, such as Vanias, Bhatias and Lohanas (see Dobbin 1972: 74-76, 121-30, 227f, 259-61). To give just one example, one large street in Baroda, of immigrant Kanbis from the Ahmedabad area, named Ahmedabadi Pol, was divided into two small parallel streets. Significantly, a large number of social thinkers and workers who propagated against the hierarchical features of caste came from urban centres. In 1931, their total population was more than 1,700,000, nearly one-fourth of the total population of Gujarat. Such a description not only overlooks the diversity and complexity of caste divisions and the rural-urban Link- ages in them but also leads to placing them in the same category as Muslims, Christians, Parsis, Jains, Buddhists, and so on. Systematic because castes exist and are like each other in being different (298). [1], People of India Gujarat Volume XXI Part Three edited by R.B Lal, P.B.S.V Padmanabham, G Krishnan & M Azeez Mohideen pages 1126-1129, Last edited on 14 November 2022, at 23:04, Learn how and when to remove this template message, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vankar&oldid=1121933086, This page was last edited on 14 November 2022, at 23:04. In effect, the Vania population in a large town like Ahmedabad could have a considerable number of small endogamous units of the third or the fourth order, each with its entire population living and marrying within the town itself. Hypergamy tended to be associated with this hierarchy. In 1920 there were 2 Mehta families living in New Jersey. The Kolis in such an area may not even be concerned about a second-order divisional name and may be known simply as Kolis. The indigenous Kolis in the highland area of Pal in eastern Gujarat were called Palia, but there was another smaller population of KoUs, who were locally called Baria but were actually Talapada immigrants from central Gujarat. The change from emphasis on hierarchy to emphasis on division is becoming increasingly significant in view of the growth of urban population both in absolute number and in relation to the total population. Roughly, while in the plains area villages are nucleated settlements, populated by numerous castes, in the highland area villages are dispersed settlements, populated by tribes and castes of tribal origin. I am dealing here only with certain typical situations. There is a patterned widening of the connubial field along an area chalked out historically. While we do get evidence of fission of caste divisions of a higher order into two or more divisions of a lower order, the mere existence of divisions of a lower order should not be taken as evidence of fission in a division of a higher order. The Chumvalias and Patanwadias migrated possibly from the same tract and continued to belong to the same horizontal unit after migration. On the other hand, there was an almost simultaneous spurt in village studies. The Rajputs in Radhvanaj, the village I have studied in central Gujarat, had no great difficulty in establishing their claim to being Rajputs: they owned substantial amounts of land under a traditional Rajput tenure, dominated village politics and possessed certain other traditional Rajput symbols. Then there were a number of urban divisions of specialized artisans, craftsmen and servants, as for example, Sonis (gold and silver smiths), Kansaras (copper and bronze smiths), Salvis (silk weavers), Bhavsars (weavers, dyers and printers), Malis (florists), Kharadis (skilled carpenters and wood carvers), Kachhias (vegetable sellers), Darjis (tailors), Dabgars (makers of drums, saddles and such other goods involving leather), Ghanchis (oil pressers), Golas ferain and spice pounders and domestic servants), Dhobis (washermen), Chudgars (banglemakers), and Tambolis (sellers of area nuts, betel leaves, etc.). When divisions are found within a jati, the word sub-jati or sub-caste is used. Although the people of one tad would talk about their superiority over those of another tad in an ekda, and the people of one ekda over those of another in a higher-order division, particularly in large towns where two or more tads and ekdas would be found living together, there was no articulate ranking and hypergamy among them. A comment on the sociology of urban India would, therefore, be in order before we go ahead with the discussion of caste divisions. In the village strict prohibition of inter-division marriage as well as the rules of purity and pollution and other mechanisms, of which the students of Indian village communities are well aware since the 1950s, maintained the boundaries of these divisions. Sindhollu, Chindollu. A large number of priestly, artisan and service castes also lived in both villages and towns: Bramhans, barbers, carpenters, blacksmiths, shoemakers, leather-workers, scavenges, water-carriers, palanquin-bearers, and so on. For example, all Vania divisions were divided into a number of ekdas or gols. Many of them became the norm-setting elite for Gujaratis in the homeland. Although my knowledge is fragmentary, I thought it was worthwhile to put together the bits and pieces for the region as a whole. Although caste was found in both village and town, did it possess any special characteristics in the latter? In the second-order divisions of the Vanias the small endogamous units functioned more effectively and lasted longer: although the hypergamous tendency did exist particularly between the rural and the urban sections in a unit, it had restricted play. For example, there were two ekdas, each with a large section resident in a large town and small sections resident in two or three neighbouring small towns. In the plains, therefore, every village had one or more towns in its vicinity. However, it is well known that there were subtle arguments regarding the status of certain royal families being Rajput. The point is that there was nothing like the endogamous unit but there were only several units of various orders with defined roles in endogamy. For example, there were Khedawal Brahmans but not Khedawal Vanias, and Lad Vanias but no Lad Brahmans. They took away offerings made to Shiva, which was considered extremely degrading. Because of these two major factors, one economic and the other political, Gujarat at the beginning of the 19th century had a large urban population, distributed over a large number of small towns. Although the name of a Brahman or Vania division might be based on a place name, the division was not territorial in nature. These marriage links do not seem to have allowed, among the Kolis, formation of well organized, small, endogamous units (ekadas, gols) as were found among some other castes. Fortunately, they have now started writing about it (see Rao 1974). In fact, inter-tad marriages have increased so much that the tads have more or less lost their identity and such marriages are no longer considered as violating the rule of tad endogamy. Vankar is described as a caste as well as a community. Kuntasi, Lothal and Somnath of Gujarat regions in Harrapan civilization were familiar with weaving and the spinning of cotton for as long as four thousand years ago. While certain first-order divisions were found mainly in towns, the population of certain other first-order divisions was dispersed in villages as well as in towns, the population of the rural and the urban sections differing from one division to another. Most inter-divisional marriages take place between boys and girls belonging to the lowest order in the structure of divisions. In the second-order divisions of the Leva Kanbis, the Anavils and the Khedawals, while the hypergamous tendency was strong, attempts were continually made to form small endogamous units: although the strength of the hypergamous tendency did not allow these units to function effectively, they nevertheless checked its free play to some extent. The Rajput hierarchy had many levels below the level of the royal families of the large and powerful kingdoms: lineages of owners of large and small fiefs variously called jagir, giras, thakarat,thikana, taluka, and wanted-, lineages of substantial landowners under various land tenures having special rights and privileges; and lineages of small landowners. The incidence of exchange marriages and of bachelors in the lowest stratum among the Anavils also was high. Thus, while each second-order Koli division maintained its boundaries vis-a-vis other such divisions, each was linked with the Rajputs. They worked not only as high priests but also as bureaucrats. To obtain a clear understanding of the second-order divisions with the Koli division, it is necessary first of all to find a way through the maze of their divisional names. Leva Sheri and Kadva Sheri, named after the two major second-order divisions among the Kanbis. That the role of the two principles could vary at different levels within a first-order division has also been seen. As weaving is an art and forms one of the most important artisan community of India. The Rajput links entailed the spread of Rajput culture in each Koli division and provided a certain cultural homogeneity to all the divisions. (surname) Me caste; Mer (community) Meta Qureshi; Mistri caste; Miyana (community) Modh; Motisar (caste) Multani Lohar; Muslim Wagher; Mutwa; N . Besides the myths, the members of a second-order division, belonging to all ekdas, shared certain customs and institutions, including worship of a tutelary deity. There was also another kind of feast, called bhandaro, where Brahmans belonging to a lesser number of divisions (say, all the few in a small town) were invited. As soon as there is any change in . Most of the second-order divisions were further divided into third-order divisions. The migration of the Kolis of north Gujarat into central Gujarat and those of the latter into eastern Gujarat was a process of slow drift from one village to another over a period of time. For example, among Vanias in a large town like Ahmedabad many of the thirty or forty second-order divisions (such as Khadayata, Modh, Porwad, Shrimali, and so on) were represented. It is noteworthy that many of their names were based on names of places (region, town, or village): for example, Shrimali and Mewada on the Shrimal and Mewar regions in Rajasthan, Modh on Modhera town in north Gujarat, and Khedawal on Kheda town in central Gujarat. All Brahman divisions did not, however, have a corresponding Vania division. The sub- the manner in which the ideas of free marriages and castles society are used by both the old and the young in modern India and how a number of new customs and institutions have evolved to cope with these new ideas is a fascinating subject of study. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. The Kayatias main occupation was to perform a ritual on the eleventh day after death, during which they took away offerings made to ghosts: this was the main cause of their extremely low status among Brahmans. Nowadays, in urban areas in particular, very few people think of making separate seating arrangements for members of different castes at wedding and such other feasts. More of them were located in the plains, than in the bordering highlands. Visited Ahmedabad for the weekend to meet a friend but her family had a medical emergency. I have done field work in two contiguous parts of Gujarat: central Gujarat (Kheda district and parts of Ahmedabad and Baroda districts) and eastern Gujarat (Panchmahals district). A fundamental difficulty with these paradigms of change, as indicated by the above analysis, is that they are based on a partial conception of the systematic or structural whole in the past partially because it does not cover the urban situation and the complexity of horizontal units. Traditionally, the Brahman division was supposed to provide the priests for the corresponding divisions. Far too many studies of changes in caste in modern India start with a general model of caste in traditional India which is in fact a model of caste in traditional rural India. They were involved in agriculture in one way or another. That there was room for flexibility and that the rule of caste endogamy could be violated at the highest level among the Rajputs was pointed out earlier. //]]>. Asking different questions and using different methods are necessary. Kayatias and Tapodhans were considered such low Brahmans that even some non-Brahman castes did not accept food and water from them. Today majority of these community members are not engaged in their ancestral weaving occupation still some population of these community contribute themselves in traditional handloom weaving of famous Patola of Patan, Kachchh shawl of Bhujodi in Kutch, Gharchola and Crotchet of Jamnagar, Zari of Surat, Mashroo of Patan and Mandvi in Kutch, Bandhani of Jamnagar, Anjar and Bhuj, Motif, Leheria, Dhamakda and Ajrak, Nagri sari, Tangaliya Shawl, Dhurrie, Kediyu, Heer Bharat, Abhala, Phento and art of Gudri. There is enormous literature on these caste divisions from about the middle of the 19th century which includes census reports, gazetteers, castes-and- tribes volumes, ethnographic notes and monographs and scholarly treatises such as those by Baines, Blunt, Ghurye, Hocart, Hutton, Ibbet- son, OMalley, Risley, Senart, and others. Hypergamy was accompanied by sanskritization of at least a section of the tribal population, their claim to the Kshatriya Varna and their economic and political symbiosis with the caste population. Sometimes a division could even be a self-contained endogamous unit. In spite of them, however, sociologists and social anthropologists have not filled adequately the void left by the disappearance of caste from the census and the gazetteer. Hence as we go down the hierarchy we encounter more and more debates regarding the claims of particular lineages to being Rajput so much so that we lose sight of any boundary and the Rajput division merges imperceptibly into some other division. From the 15th century onwards we find historical references to political activities of Koli chieftains. So in this way, the Maharashtra caste list is given to all cast Aarakshan belonging to the Scheduled Castes category for the state of MH. They had an internal hierarchy similar to that of the Leva Kanbis, with tax-farmers and big landlords at the top and small landowners at the bottom. Britain's response was to cut off the thumbs of weavers, break their looms and impose duties on tariffs on Indian cloth, while flooding India and the world with cheaper fabric from the new steam mills of Britain. Division and hierarchy have always been stressed as the two basic principles of the caste system. It is possible that there were a few divisions each confined to just one large city and, therefore, not having the horizontal dimension at all. Usually, these divisions were distinguished from one another by prohibition of what people called roti vyavahar (bread, i.e., food transactions) as well as beti vyavahar (daughter, i.e., marital transactions). 2 0 obj The castes pervaded by hierarchy and hypergamy had large populations spread evenly from village to village and frequently also from village to town over a large area. This list may not reflect recent changes. I have bits and pieces of information about relations between a considerable numbers of other lower-order divisions in their respective higher-order divisions. Most associations continue to retain their non-political character. While some of the divisions of a lower order might be the result of fission, some others might be a result of fusion. This last name is predominantly found in Asia, where 93 percent of Limbachiya reside; 92 percent reside in South Asia and 92 percent reside in Indo-South Asia. But there was also another process. so roamed around clueless. Among the Kanbis, while there was hypergamy within the Leva division and possibly, similar hypergamy within the Kadva division, there was no hierarchy or hypergamy between the two second-order divisions. In addition, they carried on overland trade with many towns in central and north India. Koli Patels are recognised as a Other Backward Class caste by Government of Gujarat. In these divisions an increasing number of marriages are taking place against the grain of traditional hierarchy, i.e., girls of traditionally higher strata marry boys of traditionally lower strata. rogers outage brampton today; levelland, tx obituaries. There was apparently a close relation between a castes internal organization and the size and spatial distribution of its population. Unfortunately, although the Kolis are an important element in Gujarats population, their earlier ethnography is confusing, and there is hardly any modern, systematic, anthropological, sociological or historical study, so that the confusion continues to persist. Although the ekda or tad was the most effective unit for endogamy, each unit of the higher order was also significant for endogamy. Nor were ekdas and tads entirely an urban phenomenon. Of particular importance seems to be the fact that a section of the urban population was more or less isolatedsome may say, alienatedfrom the rural masses from generation to generation. While we can find historical information about the formation of ekdas and tads there are only myths about the formation of the numerous second-order divisions. r/ahmedabad From Mumbai. For example, among the Vanias the most general rule was that a marriage of a boy could be arranged with any girl who was bhane khapati, i.e., with whom he was permitted to have commensal relations (roti vyavahar). I am not suggesting that the principle of hierarchy was insignificant in the inter- or intra-caste relations in urban centres. Since these were all status categories rather than clear- cut divisions, I have not considered them as constituting third-order divisions. The Anavil, numbering 30,000 to 40,000 in 1931, were found mainly in south Gujarat. Early industrial labour was also drawn mainly from the urban artisan and servant castes. Usually, a single Koli division had different local names in different parts of Gujarat, but more about this later. endobj Caste divisions of the first-order can be classified broadly into three categories. In an area of the first kind there are no immigrant Kolis from elsewhere, and therefore, there is no question of their having second-order divisions. These and many other artisans, craftsmen and servants reflected the special life-style of the town. Their origin myth enshrined in their caste purana also showed them to be originally non-Brahman. For describing the divisions of the remaining two orders, it would be necessary to go on adding the prefix sub but this would make the description extremely clumsy, if not meaningless. Jun 12, 2022. Frequently, marriages were arranged in contravention of a particular rule after obtaining the permission of the council of leaders and paying a penalty in advance. In any case, castes are not likely to cease to be castes in the consciousness of people in the foreseeable future. The humble Charkha (spinning wheel) and khadi became a dominant symbol of self-reliance, self-determination and nationalist pride. The four major woven fabrics produced by these communities are cotton, silk, khadi and linen. The hierarchy, however, was very gradual and lacked sharpness. Also, the horizontal spread of a caste rarely coincided with the territorial boundaries of a political authority. The pattern of inter-divisional marriages shows how the idea of free marriage, which guides most of the inter-caste marriages, is restricted, modified, and graded according to the traditional structure of caste divisions. However, on the basis of the meagre information I have, I am able to make a few points. No one knows when and how they came into existence and what they meant socially. The urban community included a large number of caste groups as well as social groups of other kinds which tended to be like communities with a great deal of internal cohesion. The lowest stratum in all the three divisions had to face the problem of scarcity of brides. But this is not enough. The three trading castes of Vania, Lohana and Bhatia were mainly urban. What may be called the census approach influenced a great deal of scholarly work. First, since the tads were formed relatively recently, it is easier to get information about their formation than about the formation of ekdas. But there were also others who did not wield any power. Marco Polo a Venetian merchant on his visit to India in 13th century Gujarat observed that "brocading art of Gujarat weavers is par excellent". So instead of a great exporter of finished products, India became an importer of British, while its share of world export fell from 27% to two percent. Patidars or Patels claim themselves to be descendants of Lord Ram. I hope to show that the integration of the study of caste in urban areas with that of rural areas is essential to a comprehensive understanding of caste and its implications for Indian society and culture. The boundaries of caste division were fairly clear in the village community. Hence started farming and small scale business in the British Raj to thrive better conditions ahead to maintain their livelihood. The Khadayatas were divided into about 30 ekdas. 100 Most Popular Indian Last Names Or SurnamesWhy Don't Tamil People Have Last Names?-----A . When the rural population began to be drawn towards the new opportunities, the first to take advantage of them were the rural sections of the rural-cum-urban castes. The emphasis on being different and separate rather than on being higher and lower was even more marked in the relationship among the forty or so second-order divisions. Use census records and voter lists to . We shall return to the Rajput-Koli relationship when we consider the Kolis in detail. Usually, it was a small population. The chiefly families constituted a tiny proportion of the total population of any second-order division among the Kolis. In the case of some of them the small population was so dispersed that a division such as that of barbers, blacksmiths, or carpenters, would be represented by only one or two households in each village and by a significant number of households in towns. Inclusion of a lower-order division in a higher-order one and distinction between various divisions in a certain order was not as unambiguous. There are other sub-castes like Satpanthis, who are mainly centered in Kutch district and have some social customs akin to Muslims . We have analyzed the internal structure of two first-order divisions, Rajput and Anavil, which did not have any second-order divisions, and of several second-order divisionsTalapada and Pardeshi Koli, Khedawal Brahman, and Leva Kanbiwhich did not have any third-order divisions. The very low Brahmans such as Kayatias and Tapodhans were invited but made to eat separately from the rest of the Brahmans. If the Varna divisions are taken into account, then this would add one more order to the four orders of caste divisions considered above. I know some ekdas, and tads composed of only 150 to 200 households. Created Date: To illustrate, among the Khadayata or Modh Vanias, an increasing number of marriages take place between two or more tads within an ekda. It is important to note that the more literate and learned Brahmans lived in towns, more particularly in capital and pilgrim towns, which were, indeed, the centres of higher Hindu culture and civilization. Similarly, the Vanias were divided into such divisions as Disawal, Kapol, Khadayata, Lad, Modh, Nagar, Nima, Porwad, Shirmali, Vayada, and Zarola. The Kolis seem to have had only two divisions in every part of Gujarat: for example, Talapada (indigenous) and Pardeshi (foreign) in central Gujarat and Palia and Baria in eastern Gujarat (significantly, one considered indigenous and the other outsider). We shall return later to a consideration of this problem. They then spread to towns in the homeland and among all castes. The weavers were forced into selling exclusively to the British at extremely low rates, pushing them into poverty. I hope to show in this paper how the principle of division is also a primary principle competing with the principle of hierarchy and having important implications for Indian society and culture. Any one small caste may look insignificant in itself but all small castes put together become a large social block and a significant social phenomenon. Caste associations have been formed on the lines of caste divisions. Both were recognized as Brahman but as degraded ones. The highland Bhils seem to have provided brides to lower Rajputs on the other side of the highlands also, i.e., to those in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh (see, for example, Doshi, 1971: 7f., 13-15; Aurora 1972: 16, 32f.). That the sociological study of urban areas in India has not received as much attention as that of rural areas is well known, and the studies made so far have paid little attention to caste in urban areas.