He does not give importance to this possibility probably because, as he goes on to state, what is sought here is a universal formula, a rule without exceptions (ibid.). 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. There was an emphasis on being different and separate rather than on being higher and lower. Tirgaar, Tirbanda. Limitations of the holistic view of caste, based as it is mainly on the study of the village, should be realized in the light of urban experience. Castes which did not sit together at public feasts, let alone at meals in homes, only 15 or 20 years ago, now freely sit together even at meals in homes. Image Guidelines 5. There is a patterned widening of the connubial field along an area chalked out historically. 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. What I am trying to point out, however, is that greater emphasis on division (Pococks difference, Dumonts separation. Advances in manufacturing technologies flooded markets in India and abroad with cheap, mass-produced fabrics that Indian handlooms could no longer compete with. The very low Brahmans such as Kayatias and Tapodhans were invited but made to eat separately from the rest of the Brahmans. Weavers became beggars, manufacturing collapsed and the last 2000 years of Indian textile industry was knocked down. 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. Sindhollu, Chindollu. Frequently, The ekdas or gols were each divided into groups called tads (split). window.__mirage2 = {petok:"uGhRfiuY26l2oZgRlfZRFSp4BWPIIt7Gh61sQC1XrRU-3600-0"}; I will not discuss the present situation in detail but indicate briefly how the above discussion could be useful for understanding a few important changes in modern times. The humble Charkha (spinning wheel) and khadi became a dominant symbol of self-reliance, self-determination and nationalist pride. 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. 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. The guiding ideas were samaj sudharo (social reform) and samaj seva (social service). 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. There was apparently a close relation between a castes internal organization and the size and spatial distribution of its population. Our analysis of caste in towns has shown how it differed significantly from that in villages. 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. 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. 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. Far from it, I am only suggesting that its role had certain limitations and that the principle of division was also an important and competing principle. %
I have bits and pieces of information about relations between a considerable numbers of other lower-order divisions in their respective higher-order divisions. This was because political authorities were hierarchized from little kingdom to empire and the boundaries of political authorities kept changing. To whichever of the four orders a caste division belonged, its horizontal spread rarely, if ever, coincided with that of another. This does not solve the problem if there are four orders of divisions of the kind found in Gujarat. The Khadayatas were divided into about 30 ekdas. This was about 22% of all the recorded Mehta's in USA. Even the archaeological surveys and studies have indicated that the people of Dholavira, Surkotada. As regards the rest of Gujarat, I have used various sources: my work on the caste of genealogists and mythographys and on the early 19th century village records; the available ethnographic, historical and other literature; and observations made while living m Gujarat. The castes of the three categoriesprimarily urban, primarily rural, and rural-cum-urbanformed an intricate network spread over the rural and urban communities in the region. Hindu society is usually described as divided into a number of castes the boundaries of which are maintained by the rule of caste endogamy. 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. The significant point, however, is that there were small endogamous units which were not, like ekdas and tads, part of any higher-order division. 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. Hence started farming and small scale business in the British Raj to thrive better conditions ahead to maintain their livelihood. Since Vankars were involved in production and business they were known as Nana Mahajans or small merchants. 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. Use census records and voter lists to . I have not yet come across an area where Kolis from three or more different areas live together, excepting modern, large towns and cities. Although the name of a Brahman or Vania division might be based on a place name, the division was not territorial in nature. 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). A block printed and resist-dyed fabric, whose origin is from Gujarat was found in the tombs of Fostat, Egypt. 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. Fortunately, they have now started writing about it (see Rao 1974). Let us now return to a consideration of the first-order divisions with subdivisions going down to the third or the fourth order. Although caste was found in both village and town, did it possess any special characteristics in the latter? It is a coalescence of Kolis and Rajputs on the modern political plane based on the foundation of the traditional social and cultural symbiosis under the rubric of Kshatriya. Sometimes a division could even be a self-contained endogamous unit. Our analysis of the internal organization of caste divisions has shown considerable variation in the relative role of the principles of division and hierarchy. 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. As Ghurye pointed out long ago, slow consolidation of the smaller castes into larger ones would lead to three or four large groups being solidly organized for pushing the interests of each even at the cost of the others. These linkages played an important role in the traditional social structure as well as in the processes of change in modern India. This bulk also was characterized by hierarchy, with the relatively advanced population living in the plains at one end and the backward population living along with the tribal population in the highlands at the other end. Copyright 10. 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. This was dramatized in many towns at the mahajan (guild) feasts when all the members of the guild of traders would eat together. We shall return to the Rajput-Koli relationship when we consider the Kolis in detail. In any case, the population of any large caste was found in many kingdoms. The members of a kings caste were thus found not only in his own kingdom but in other kingdoms as well. In the plains, therefore, every village had one or more towns in its vicinity. 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. Further, during this lengthy process of slow amalgamation those who will marry in defiance of the barriers of sub-caste, will still be imbued with caste mentality (1932: 184). Usually, it was a small population. I do not propose to review the literature on caste here; my aim is to point out the direction towards which a few facts from Gujarat lead us. 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. This was dramatized at huge feasts called chorasi (literally, eighty-four) when Brahmans belonging to all the traditional 84 second-order divisions sat together to eat food cooked at the same kitchen. 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. Let me illustrate briefly. For example, just as there was a Shrimali division among Sonis (goldsmiths). Castes pervaded by divisive tendencies had small populations confined to small areas separated from each other by considerable gaps. Jun 12, 2022. The social relations between and within a large number of such segregated castes should be seen in the context of the overall urban environment, characterized as it was by co-existence of local Hindu castes with immigrant Hindu castes and with the non-Hindu groups such as Jains, Muslims, Parsis and Christians, a higher degree of monetization, a higher degree of contractual and market relations (conversely, a lesser degree of jajmani-type relations), existence of trade guilds, and so on. And how flexibility was normal at the lowest level has just been shown. For example, a good number of villages in central Gujarat used to have both Talapada and Pardeshi Kolis and Brahmans belonging to two or three of their many second-order divisions. 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. 4 GUJARAT 4273 SHODA . Content Guidelines 2. 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 marital alliances of the royal families forming part of the Maratha confederacy, and of the royal families of Mysore in south India and of Kashmir and Nepal in the north with the royal families of Gujarat and Rajasthan show, among other things, how there was room for flexibility and how the rule of caste endogamy could be violated in an acceptable manner at the highest level. After the commercial revolution of the 16th and 17th centuries, Gujarat had a large number of tradition towns on its long sea-coast. 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. Most associations continue to retain their non-political character. Leva Sheri and Kadva Sheri, named after the two major second-order divisions among the Kanbis. Since Rajput as a caste occurred all over northern, central and western India (literally, it means rulers son, ruling son), the discussion of Rajputs in Gujarat will inevitably draw us into their relationship with Rajputs in other regions. Most of them were, true to their name, rulers at various levels of the political hierarchy from the kingly level to the level of dominant caste in many villages. What may be called the census approach influenced a great deal of scholarly work. ), as contrasted with the horizontal unity of the caste. The three trading castes of Vania, Lohana and Bhatia were mainly urban. 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. 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. 3 0 obj
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. 1 0 obj
Caste associations have been formed on the lines of caste divisions. Visited Ahmedabad for the weekend to meet a friend but her family had a medical emergency. How many sub-divisions existed in the various divisions of the various orders is a matter of empirical investigation. 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. The hierarchy, however, was very gradual and lacked sharpness. Prohibited Content 3. 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. This meant that he could marry a girl of any subdivision within the Vania division. On the other hand, there was an almost simultaneous spurt in village studies. There were also a number of first-order divisions, mainly of artisans, craftsmen and specialized servants, with small populations. Leva Kanbis, numbering 400,000 to 500,000 m 1931, were the traditional agricultural caste of central Gujarat. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. An important idea behind the activities of caste associations is: service to ones caste is service to the nation. 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. They were involved in agriculture in one way or another. 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. The essential idea in the category was power, and anybody who wielded powereither as king or as dominant group in a rural (even tribal) areacould claim to be Rajput. In all there were thirty to forty such divisions. If the Varna divisions are taken into account, then this would add one more order to the four orders of caste divisions considered above. A first-order division could be further divided into two or more second-order divisions. Second, there used to be intense intra-ekda politics, and tads were formed as a result of some continuing conflict among ekda leaders and over the trial of violation of ekda rules. (surname) Me caste; Mer (community) Meta Qureshi; Mistri caste; Miyana (community) Modh; Motisar (caste) Multani Lohar; Muslim Wagher; Mutwa; N . The larger castes and even larger subdivisions among them used to have their houses segregated on their own streets (called pol, sheri, khadki, vad, khancho). In the past the dispersal over a wide area of population of an ekda or tad was uncommon; only modern communications have made residential dispersal as well as functional integration possible. In the city, on the other hand, the population was divided into a large number of castes and each of most of them had a large population, frequently subdivided up to the third or the fourth order. 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. 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.