3.8K subscribers in the gujarat community. Which caste is Vaya surname? : r/gujarat - reddit.com 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. For example, the Khadayata Brahmans worked as priests at important rituals among Khadayata Vanias. Similarly, the Khedawal Brahmans were divided into Baj and Bhitra, the Nagar Brahmans into Grihastha and Bhikshuk, the Anavils into Desai and Bhathela, and the Kanbis into Kanbi and Patidar. The chiefly families constituted a tiny proportion of the total population of any second-order division among the Kolis. 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. New Jersey had the highest population of Mehta families in 1920. 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. In contrast, there were horizontal units, the internal hierarchy and hypergamy of which were restricted to some extent by the formation of small endogamous units and which had discernible boundaries at the lowest level. The co-residence of people belonging to two or more divisions of the lower orders within a division of a higher order has been a prominent feature of caste in towns and cities. Many second-order divisions were further divided into two or three status categories. 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. It was also an extreme example of a division having a highly differentiated internal hierarchy and practising hypergamy as an accepted norm. 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. Many of these names were also based on place names. Caste associations have been formed on the lines of caste divisions. The Chumvalias and Patanwadias migrated possibly from the same tract and continued to belong to the same horizontal unit after migration. Tirgaar, Tirbanda. so roamed around clueless. 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. For example, there were Khedawal Brahmans but not Khedawal Vanias, and Lad Vanias but no Lad Brahmans. Many of them became the norm-setting elite for Gujaratis in the homeland. endobj For the sake of bravity and simplicity of presentation, I have not provided detailed documentation. The lowest stratum among the Khedawals tried to cope with the problem of scarcity of brides mainly by practising ignominious exchange marriage and by restricting marriage of sons in a family to the younger sons, if not to only the youngest. This stratum among the Kanbis coped with the problem mainly by practising remarriage of widows and divorced women. The Mehta family name was found in the USA, and the UK between 1891 and 1920. More of them were located in the plains, than in the bordering highlands. The Rajputs, in association with Kolis, Bhils, and such other castes and tribes, provide an extreme example of such castes. Homo Hierarchicus. 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). On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. The two considered themselves different and separateof course, within the Kanbi foldwhere they happened to live together in the villages in the merger zone between north and central Gujarat and in towns. The purpose is not to condemn village studies, as is caste in a better perspective after deriving insights from village studies. 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. The lowest stratum in all the three divisions had to face the problem of scarcity of brides. 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. 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. I describe here three prominent units of the latter type, namely, Anavil, Leva Kanbi, and Khedawal Brahman. 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). In central Gujarat, at least from about the middle of the 18th century, the population of the wealthy and powerful Patidar section of the Kanbis also lived in townsan extremely interesting development of rich villages into towns, which I will not describe here. [CDATA[ 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. Usually, a single Koli division had different local names in different parts of Gujarat, but more about this later. The main aim of this paper is to discuss, on the basis of data derived mainly from Gujarat, these and other problems connected with the horizontal dimension of caste. The most important example of primarily political caste association is the Gujarat Kshatriya Sabha. Our analysis of the internal organization of caste divisions has shown considerable variation in the relative role of the principles of division and hierarchy. It seems the highland Bhils (and possibly also other tribes) provided brides to lower Rajputs in Gujarat. 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. 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. He stresses repeatedly the primacy of the principle of hierarchy-epitomized in the title of his book. ADVERTISEMENTS: Division and Hierarchy: An Overview of Caste in Gujarat! 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. So far we have considered first-order divisions with large and widely spread populations. 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. 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. manvar surname caste in gujarat. The Rajputs, in association with the Kolis, were probably the only horizontal unit which had continuous internal hierarchy, i.e., hypergamy unbroken by any endogamous subdivisions, and which did not have discernible boundaries at the lowest level. Simultaneously, there is gradual decline in the strength of the principle of hierarchy, particularly of ritual hierarchy expressed in purity and pollution. In some parts of Gujarat they formed 30 to 35 per cent of the population. The method is to remove first the barriers of the divisions of the lowest order and then gradually those of one higher order after another. There was another kind of ambiguity about the Brahman status or two other divisionsKayatia and Tapodhan. Apparently this upper boundary of the division was sharp and clear, especially when we remember that many of these royal families practised polygyny and female infanticide until middle of the 19th century (see Plunkett 1973; Viswa Nath 1969, 1976). 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. Similarly, although the number of marriages between the second-order divisions in the Vania division, i.e., between Khadayata, Modh, Shrimali, Lad, Vayada, etc., has been increasing, the majority of marriages take place within the respective second-order divisions. But the hypergamous tendency was so powerful that each such endogamous unit could not be perfectly endogamous even at the height of its integration. In any case, castes are not likely to cease to be castes in the consciousness of people in the foreseeable future. In recent years, however, there has been a tendency to emphasize hierarchy as the primary principle encompassing the principle of division. Castes pervaded by divisive tendencies had small populations confined to small areas separated from each other by considerable gaps. Similarly, the Vanias were divided into such divisions as Disawal, Kapol, Khadayata, Lad, Modh, Nagar, Nima, Porwad, Shirmali, Vayada, and Zarola. History. To illustrate, among the Khadayata or Modh Vanias, an increasing number of marriages take place between two or more tads within an ekda. But there was also another process. PDF Castes and Subcastes List in Gujarat - Matchfinder 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. 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. Moreover, a single division belonging to any one of the orders may have more than one association, and an association may be uni-purpose or multi-purpose. Unfortunately, such figures are not available for the last fifty years or so. 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.). 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 Hindu population of Gujarat was divided first of all into what I have called caste divisions of the first order. The migrants, many of whom came from heterogeneous urban centres of Gujarat, became part of an even more heterogeneous environment in Bombay. Caste divisions of the first-order can be classified broadly into three categories. But there were also others who did not wield any power. The guiding ideas were samaj sudharo (social reform) and samaj seva (social service). 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. Reference to weaving and spinning materials is found in the Vedic Literature. Frequently, the shift from emphasis on co-operation and hierarchy in the caste system to emphasis on division (or difference or separation) is described as shift from whole to parts, from system to elements, from structure to substance. 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. The village was a small community divided into a relatively small number of castes; the population of each caste was also small, sometimes only one or two households, with little possibility of existence of subdivisions; and there were intensive relationships of various kinds between the castes. 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. They were thus not of the same status as most other second-order divisions among Brahmans. yorba linda football maxpreps; weiteste entfernung gerichtsbezirk; wyoming rockhounding locations google maps; Jun 12, 2022 . Visited Ahmedabad for the weekend to meet a friend but her family had a medical emergency. 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 primarily rural and lower castes were the last to form associations and that too mainly after independence (1947). Caste Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster We need to formulate some idea of the nature of the Indian urban society and its relation with the rural society in the past, at least at the beginning of the 19th century. After the commercial revolution of the 16th and 17th centuries, Gujarat had a large number of tradition towns on its long sea-coast. 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. With the exclusion of caste (except scheduled caste) from the census since 1951 (practically since 1941, because the census of that year did not result in much reporting), writings on castes as horizontal units greatly declined. A recent tendency in sociological literature is to consider jatis as castes. Also, the horizontal spread of a caste rarely coincided with the territorial boundaries of a political authority. 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. % The three trading castes of Vania, Lohana and Bhatia were mainly urban. The four major woven fabrics produced by these communities are cotton, silk, khadi and linen. Till the establishment of democratic polity in 1947, hardly any caste association in Gujarat had manifest political functions. The Kolis in such an area may not even be concerned about a second-order divisional name and may be known simply as Kolis. For example, in a Rajput kingdom the families of the Rajput king and his nobles resided in the capital town, while the Rajput landlords and cultivators resided in villages. Co-residence of people, belonging to two or more divisions of a lower order within a higher order was, however, a prominent feature of towns and cities rather than of villages. Although the name of a Brahman or Vania division might be based on a place name, the division was not territorial in nature. I do not, however, have sufficient knowledge of the latter and shall, therefore, confine myself mainly to Rajputs in Gujarat. Since these were all status categories rather than clear- cut divisions, I have not considered them as constituting third-order divisions. During Mughal Empire India was manufacturing 27% of world's textile and Gujarati weavers dominated along with Bengali weavers in Indian textile trade industry overseas. For example, if they belonged to two different second-order divisions, such as Shrimali and Modh, the punishment would be greater than if they belonged to two different ekdas within the Shrimali or the Modh division. The Brahmans were divided into such divisions as Audich, Bhargav, Disawal, Khadayata, Khedawal, Mewada, Modh, Nagar, Shrigaud, Shrimali, Valam, Vayada, and Zarola. Asking different questions and using different methods are necessary. Nor do I claim to know the whole of Gujarat. 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. Whatever the internal organization of a second-order division, the relationship between most of the Brahman second-order divisions was marked by great emphasis on being different and separate than on being higher and lower. As for the size of other castes, I shall make mainly relative statements. For example, among the Khadayata Vanias there are all-Khadayata associations as well as associations for the various ekdas and sometimes even for their tads (see Shah, Ragini 1978). Which caste is koli patel? Explained by Sharing Culture 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. Disclaimer 9. It is easy to understand that the pattern of change would be different in those first-order divisions (such as Rajput) or second-order divisions (such as Leva Kanbi) which did not have within them subdivisions of lower orders and which practised hypergamy extensively. 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. 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. 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. 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. The advance made in recent years is limited and much more needs to be done. The co-residence of people belonging to two or more divisions of a lower order within a division of a higher order has been a prominent feature of caste in towns and cities. A comment on the sociology of urban India would, therefore, be in order before we go ahead with the discussion of caste divisions. 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. A new view of the whole, comprising the rural and the urban and the various orders of caste divisions, should be evolved. There were Brahman and Vania divisions of the same name, the myths about both of them were covered by a single text. 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. Traditionally, the Brahman division was supposed to provide the priests for the corresponding divisions. Most of the second-order divisions were further divided into third-order divisions. 3 0 obj I have not yet come across an area where Kolis from three or more different areas live together, excepting modern, large towns and cities. 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. Moreover, the king himself belonged to some caste (not just to the Kshatriya Varna) and frequently a number of kings belonged to the same caste (e.g., Rajput). The Kayasthas and Brahma-Kshatriyas, the so- called writer castes, employed mainly in the bureaucracy, and the Vahivancha Barots, genealogists and mythographers, were almost exclusively urban castes. This reflects the high degree of divisiveness in castes in Gujarat. The existence of flexibility at both the levels was made possible by the flexibility of the category Rajput. Further, the castes there are unable to take cognizance of each other in terms of hierarchy or of occupation, and it is in this situation that they can be said to exist by virtue of their differences (296) it is the systematic recognition of difference which is most apparent. 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. Similarly, in Saurashtra, the Talapadas were distinguished from the Chumvalias, immigrants from the Chumval tract in north Gujarat. Limbachiya Surname Origin, Meaning & Last Name History - Forebears Even the archaeological surveys and studies have indicated that the people of Dholavira, Surkotada. 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. 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. 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). manvar surname caste in gujarat. A first-order division could be further divided into two or more second-order divisions. 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. I am dealing here only with certain typical situations. 2 0 obj Before publishing your articles on this site, please read the following pages: 1. 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. 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). Vankar - Wikipedia : 11-15, 57-75). The tad thus represented the fourth and last order of caste divisions. Sometimes castes are described as becoming ethnic groups in modern India, particularly in urban India. Advances in manufacturing technologies flooded markets in India and abroad with cheap, mass-produced fabrics that Indian handlooms could no longer compete with. Category:Social groups of Gujarat - Wikipedia 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. The two former ekdas continued to exist with diminished strength. 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. 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. ), as contrasted with the horizontal unity of the caste. The most important of them was the Koli division, which was, the largest division and mainly included small landholders, tenants and labourers. Each unit was ranked in relation to others, and many members of the lower units married their daughters into the higher units, so that almost every unit became loose in the course of time. This account of the divisions is based on various sources, but mainly on Bombay Gazetteer (1901). Use census records and voter lists to . Frequently, The ekdas or gols were each divided into groups called tads (split). It is not claimed that separation, or even repulsion, may not be present somewhere as an independent factor (1972: 346,n.55b). There are thus a few excellent studies of castes as horizontal units. Most inter-divisional marriages take place between boys and girls belonging to the lowest order in the structure of divisions. Thus, while each second-order Koli division maintained its boundaries vis-a-vis other such divisions, each was linked with the Rajputs.