manvar surname caste in gujarat

A first-order division could be further divided into two or more second-order divisions. For example, there was considerable ambiguity about the status of Anavils. I know some ekdas, and tads composed of only 150 to 200 households. Weaving and cloth trading communities of Western India particularly of Gujarat are called Vankar/Wankar/Vaniya. A recent tendency in sociological literature is to consider jatis as castes. Data need to be collected over large areas by methods other than those used in village studies, castes need to be compared in the regional setting, and a new general approach, analytical framework, and conceptual apparatus need to be developed. Caste divisions of the first-order can be classified broadly into three categories. This stratum among the Kanbis coped with the problem mainly by practising remarriage of widows and divorced women. Gujarat did not have anything like the non-Brahmin movement of South India and Maharashtra before 1947. Prohibited Content 3. The primarily urban castes and the urban sections of the rural-cum- urban castes were the first to take advantage of the new opportunities that developed in industry, commerce, administration, the professions and education in urban centres. Privacy Policy 8. 4 GUJARAT 4273 SHODA . It seems the highland Bhils (and possibly also other tribes) provided brides to lower Rajputs in Gujarat. While the Rajputs, Leva Patidars, Anavils and Khedawals have been notorious for high dowries, and the Kolis have been looked down upon for their practice of bride price, the Vanias have been paying neither. In 1920 there were 2 Mehta families living in New Jersey. This list may not reflect recent changes. 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. Content Guidelines 2. The census operations, in particular, spread as they were over large areas, gave a great impetus to writings on what Srinivas has called the horizontal dimension of caste (1952: 31f;1966: 9,44,92,98-100,114-17). I should hasten to add, however, that the open-minded scholar that he is, he does not rule out completely the possibility of separation existing as independent principle. 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.). In a paper on Caste among Gujaratis in East Africa, Pocock (1957b) raised pointedly the issue of the relative importance of the principles of division (he called it difference) and hierarchy. Kayatias and Tapodhans were considered such low Brahmans that even some non-Brahman castes did not accept food and water from them. 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. endobj The main point is that we do not completely lose sight of the lowest boundary among these three hypergamous divisions as we do among the Rajputs. manvar surname caste in gujarat. Pages in category "Social groups of Gujarat" The following 157 pages are in this category, out of 157 total. Third, although two or more new endogamous units came into existence and marriage between them was forbidden thereafter, a number of pre-existing kinship and affinal relationships continued to be operative between them. 4 0 obj In the second kind of area, indigenous Kolis live side-by-side with immigrant Kolis from an adjoining area. Although the ekda or tad was the most effective unit for endogamy, each unit of the higher order was also significant for endogamy. Leva Sheri and Kadva Sheri, named after the two major second-order divisions among the Kanbis. A comment on the sociology of urban India would, therefore, be in order before we go ahead with the discussion of caste divisions. Division and Hierarchy: An Overview of Caste in Gujarat! Usually it consisted of wealthy and powerful lineages, distinguishing themselves by some appellation, such as Patidar among the Leva Kanbi, Desai among the Anavil, and Baj among the Khedawal. Koli Patels are recognised as a Other Backward Class caste by Government of Gujarat. They then spread to towns in the homeland and among all castes. There were about three hundred divisions of this order in the region as a whole. to which the divisions of the marrying couple belong. professor melissa murray. The two areas merge gradually, and my field work covered most of the spectrum. To illustrate, among the Khadayata or Modh Vanias, an increasing number of marriages take place between two or more tads within an ekda. In some parts of Gujarat they formed 30 to 35 per cent of the population. The migrants, many of whom came from heterogeneous urban centres of Gujarat, became part of an even more heterogeneous environment in Bombay. The Levas, Anavils and Khedawals provide examples of castes whose internal organization had a strong emphasis on the principle of hierarchy and a weak emphasis on that of division. A new view of the whole, comprising the rural and the urban and the various orders of caste divisions, should be evolved. Typically, a village consists of the sections of various castes, ranging from those with just one household to those with over u hundred. I have discussed above caste divisions in Gujarat mainly in the past, roughly in the middle of the 19th century. And how flexibility was normal at the lowest level has just been shown. 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. Unfortunately, such figures are not available for the last fifty years or so. 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. Reference to weaving and spinning materials is found in the Vedic Literature. The following 157 pages are in this category, out of 157 total. The very low Brahmans such as Kayatias and Tapodhans were invited but made to eat separately from the rest of the Brahmans. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. 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. The main thrust of Pococks paper is that greater emphasis on difference rather than on hierarchy is a feature of caste among overseas Indians and in modern urban India. I have bits and pieces of information about relations between a considerable numbers of other lower-order divisions in their respective higher-order divisions. [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. Today, there are two kinds of Koli areas. This category has the following 18 subcategories, out of 18 total. It reflects, on the one hand, the political aspirations of Kolis guided by the importance of their numerical strength in electoral politics and on the other hand, the Rajputs attempt to regain power after the loss of their princely states and estates. The complex was provided a certain coherence and integrityin the pre- industrial time of slow communicationby a number of oral and literate traditions cultivated by cultural specialists such as priests, bards, genealogists and mythographers (see in this connection Shah and Shroff 1958). While some hypergamous and hierarchical tendency, however weak, did exist between tads within an ekda and between ekdas within a second- order division, it was practically non-existent among the forty or so second-order divisions, such as Modh, Porwad, Shrimali, Khadayata and so on, among the Vanias. Plagiarism Prevention 4. ), as contrasted with the horizontal unity of the caste. 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. 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. 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 Rajput links entailed the spread of Rajput culture in each Koli division and provided a certain cultural homogeneity to all the divisions. 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. By the beginning of British rule in the early 19th century, a considerable number of these chieftains had succeeded in establishing petty chiefdoms, each composed of one, and occasionally more than one, village, in all parts of Gujarat. In addition, they carried on overland trade with many towns in central and north India. Bougies repulsion) rather than on hierarchy was a feature of caste in certain contexts and situations in traditional India, and increasing emphasis on division in urban Indian in modern times is an accentuation of what existed in the past. They were involved in agriculture in one way or another. The two categories of castes have been deeply conscious of these differences between them and have been talking freely about them. The above brief analysis of change in caste in modern Gujarat has, I hope, indicated that an overall view of changes in caste in modern India should include a careful study of changes in rural as well as in urban areas in relation to their past. The degree of contravention is less if the couple belong, let us say, to two different fourth-order divisions within a third-order division than if they belong to two different third-order divisions within a second-order division, and so on. Most of the other eighty or so second-order divisions among Brahmans, however, seem to be subdivided the way the Vania second-order divisions were subdivided into third-order and fourth-order divisions. 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. TOS 7. A block printed and resist-dyed fabric, whose origin is from Gujarat was found in the tombs of Fostat, Egypt. But there were also others who did not wield any power. Indeed, a major achievement of Indian sociology during the last thirty years or so has been deeper understanding of caste in the village context in particular and of its hierarchical dimension in general. But many Rajput men of Radhvanaj got wives from people in distant villages who were recognized there as Kolisthose Kolis who had more land and power than the generality of Kolis had tried to acquire some of the traditional Rajput symbols in dress manners and customs and had been claiming to be Rajputs. Firstly, there were divisions whose population was found almost entirely in towns. In some other cases, mainly of urban artisans, craftsmen and specialized servants, such as Kansaras (copper and bronze smiths), Salvis (silk weavers), Kharadis (skilled carpenters and wood carvers), Chudgars (bangle-makers) and Vahivanchas genealogists and mythographers), the small populations were so small and confined to so few towns that they had few subdivisions and the boundaries of their horizontal units were fairly easy to define. In central Gujarat, for example, one and the same division, freely arranging marriages within it, was known by several names such as Baraiya, Dharala, Khant, Kotwal, Pagi, Patelia, Talapada, Thakarada, and Thakor. Many second-order divisions were further divided into two or three status categories. 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. 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. Disclaimer 9. There was also a third category called Pancha, derived from the word punch (meaning 5) and denoting extremely low Vania. Real Estate Software Dubai > blog > manvar surname caste in gujarat. //]]>. 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). 1 0 obj Caste associations have been formed on the lines of caste divisions. Since the beginning of the modern reform movement to encourage inter-caste marriages-most of which are in fact inter-tad or inter-ekda marriagesthe old process of fission into ekdas and tads has come to a halt, and it is, therefore, difficult to understand this process without making a systematic historical enquiry. There were also a number of first-order divisions, mainly of artisans, craftsmen and specialized servants, with small populations. Briefly, while the Varna model was significant in the total dynamics of the caste system to fit the numerous first-order divisions into the four-fold Varna model in any part of India is impossible, and, therefore, to consider varnas as caste divisions as such is meaningless. The error is further compounded whenalthough this is less commonthe partial, rural model of traditional caste is compared with the present urban situation, and conclusions are drawn about overall change. This account of the divisions is based on various sources, but mainly on Bombay Gazetteer (1901). This was dramatized in many towns at the mahajan (guild) feasts when all the members of the guild of traders would eat together. For example, there were Khedawal Brahmans but not Khedawal Vanias, and Lad Vanias but no Lad Brahmans. I would suggest that this feature of urban caste, along with the well known general tendency of urban culture to encourage innovation, provided the groundhowever diffuse that ground might have beenfor a favourable response to the anti-hierarchical ideas coming from the West. However, on the basis of the meagre information I have, I am able to make a few points. We will now analyze the internal structure of a few first-order divisions, each of which was split into divisions going down to the fourth order. They are described by the ruling elite as robbers, dacoits, marauders, predators and the like. If the first-order divisions are called jatis and castes, the second-order divisions would be called sub-jatis or sub-castes. Both were recognized as Brahman but as degraded ones. hu)_EYUT?:fX:vOR,4g4ce{\(wcUO %OW-Knj|qV]_)1?@{^ $:0ZY\fpg7J~Q~pHaMVSP5bLC}6+zwgv;f f^v4[|vug+vO0h t7QNP}EYm+X[x~;O|z5tq ]-39aa{g-u5n:a56&`3y.f-a@a"0v-a@$%`Z]]Iqb56aR0g 30V9EM%K"#|6uN? =O|8alCcs):~AC<5 q|om57/|Sgc}2c#)U~WL}%T]s> z. He stated: hereditary specialization together with hierarchical organization sinks into the background in East Africa (293). * List of Scheduled Tribes in Gujarat; A. . All the small towns sections in each of the ekdas resented that, while the large town section accepted brides from small towns, they did not reciprocate. The institutions of both bride and bridegroom price (the latter also called dowry) were rampant in castes with continuous internal hierarchydowry mainly at the upper levels, bride price mainly at the lower levels, and both dowry and bride price among status-seeking middle level families. More of them were located in the plains, than in the bordering highlands. Report a Violation, Caste Stratification: Changing Rural Caste Stratification, Caste in Rural India: Specificities of Caste in Rural Society. They wrote about the traditional Indian village, but not about the traditional Indian town. Caste associations in Gujarat were formed mainly among upper castes to provide welfare (including recreation), to promote modern education, and to bring about reforms in caste customs. The census reports provide such figures until 1931, but it is well known that these pose many problems for sociological analysis, most of which arise out of the nature of castes as horizontal units. Since after expansion of British textile markets and decline of Indian textile industry Vankars suffered a lot. Census officials-turned-scholars, from Risley to Hutton, wrote many of the earlier general works on caste. Advances in manufacturing technologies flooded markets in India and abroad with cheap, mass-produced fabrics that Indian handlooms could no longer compete with. The unit might possess some other corporate characteristics also. As for the size of other castes, I shall make mainly relative statements. I describe here three prominent units of the latter type, namely, Anavil, Leva Kanbi, and Khedawal Brahman. Marriages were usually confined to neighbouring villages, so that marriage links were spread in a continuous manner from one end of the region to another. Pocock goes on to observe that diminution of emphasis upon hierarchy and increasing emphasis upon difference are features of caste in modern, particularly urban, India: there is a shift from the caste system to individual castes and this reflects the change that is taking place in India today (290). All of this information supports the point emerging from the above analysis, that frequently there was relatively little concern for ritual status between the second-order divisions within a first- order division than there was between the first-order divisions. It is not claimed that separation, or even repulsion, may not be present somewhere as an independent factor (1972: 346,n.55b). There was apparently a close relation between a castes internal organization and the size and spatial distribution of its population. Finally, while an increasing number of marriages are taking place even across the boundaries of first-order divisions, as for example, between Brahmans and Vanias, and between Vanias and Patidars, such marriages even now form an extremely small proportion of the total number of marriages. 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 degree of contravention involved in an inter-divisional marriage, however, depends upon the order (i.e., first-order, second-order, etc.) They have been grouped in Vaishya category of Varna system. 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. 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. (Frequently, such models are constructed a priori rather than based on historical evidence, but that is another story). Some of the other such divisions were Kathi, Dubla, Rabari, Bharwad, Mer (see Trivedi 1961), Vaghri, Machhi, Senwa, Vanzara, and Kharwa. Hindu society is usually described as divided into a number of castes the boundaries of which are maintained by the rule of caste endogamy. At one end there were castes in which the principle of hierarchy had free play and the role of the principle of division was limited. These prefixes Visa and Dasa, were generally understood to be derived from the words for the numbers 20 (vis) and 10 (das), which suggested a descending order of status, but there is no definite evidence of such hierarchy in action. I have, therefore, considered them a first-order division and not a second-order one among Brahmans (for a fuller discussion of the status of Anavils, see Joshi, 1966; Van der Veen 1972; Shah, 1979). That the role of the two principles could vary at different levels within a first-order division has also been seen. 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). Thus, the result was the spread of the population of a caste division towards its fringes. Once the claim was accepted at either level, hypergamous marriage was possible. The two together formed a single complex of continental dimension. There was also a tendency among bachelors past marriageable age to establish liaisons with lower-caste women, which usually led the couple to flee and settle down in a distant village. stream 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. 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. 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.). This surname is most commonly held in India, where it is held by 2,496 people, or 1 in 307,318. The handloom weavers of Gujarat, Maharastra and Bengal produced and exported some of the world's most desirable fabrics. Weavers became beggars, manufacturing collapsed and the last 2000 years of Indian textile industry was knocked down. Both Borradaile and Campbell were probably mixing up small endogamous units of various kinds. Almost every village in this area included at least some Leva population, and in many villages they formed a large, if not the largest, proportion of the population. No one knows when and how they came into existence and what they meant socially. The freedom struggle brought the Indian handloom sector back to the fore, with Mahatma Gandhi spearheading the Swadeshi cause. The tad thus represented the fourth and last order of caste divisions. This meant that he could marry a girl of any subdivision within the Vania division. The arrival of the East India Company, however sounded the death knell for the Indian textile industry. 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. Nor do I claim to know the whole of Gujarat. A great deal of discussion of the role of the king in the caste system, based mainly on Indological literature, does not take these facts into account and therefore tends to be unrealistic. The urban centres in both the areas, it is hardly necessary to mention, are nucleated settlements populated by numerous caste and religious groups. 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. Our analysis of caste in towns has shown how it differed significantly from that in villages. In many villages in Gujarat, particularly in larger villages, one or two first-order divisions would be represented by more than one second-order division. Patel is a surname of the Koli caste of Gujarat in India which have most importance in the politics of Gujarat and Koli Patels of Saurashtra was most benefited under the rule of Indian National Congress party. Traditionally, the Brahman division was supposed to provide the priests for the corresponding divisions. But this is not enough. 92. The weavers were forced into selling exclusively to the British at extremely low rates, pushing them into poverty. Hindu society is usually described as divided into a number of castes the boundaries of which are maintained by the rule of caste endogamy. The members of a kings caste were thus found not only in his own kingdom but in other kingdoms as well. The Anavil, numbering 30,000 to 40,000 in 1931, were found mainly in south Gujarat. I am not suggesting that the principle of hierarchy was insignificant in the inter- or intra-caste relations in urban centres.