The decline was further accelerated by the industrial revolution. The urban centres in both the areas, it is hardly necessary to mention, are nucleated settlements populated by numerous caste and religious groups. Weaving and cloth trading communities of Western India particularly of Gujarat are called Vankar/Wankar/Vaniya. To whichever of the four orders a caste division belonged, its horizontal spread rarely, if ever, coincided with that of another. 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. But during the 18th century, when the Mughal Empire was disintegrating, a large number of small kingdoms came into existence, and each had a small capital town of its own. A recent tendency in sociological literature is to consider jatis as castes. Leva Sheri and Kadva Sheri, named after the two major second-order divisions among the Kanbis. New Jersey had the highest population of Mehta families in 1920. 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. Caste associations have been formed on the lines of caste divisions. The Kolis in such an area may not even be concerned about a second-order divisional name and may be known simply as Kolis. Report a Violation, Caste Stratification: Changing Rural Caste Stratification, Caste in Rural India: Specificities of Caste in Rural Society. The number of tads in an ekda or go I might be two or more, and each of them might be an endogamous units. Typically, a village consists of the sections of various castes, ranging from those with just one household to those with over u hundred. They co-existed in the highlands with tribes such as the Bhils, so much so that today frequently many high caste Gujaratis confuse them with Bhils, as did the earlier ethnographers. Not only that, there were also third-order divisions (i.e., ekdas) in one or more second-order divisions, and finally one or more fourth-order divisions (i.e., tads) in one or more third-order divisions. They are described by the ruling elite as robbers, dacoits, marauders, predators and the like. We shall return to this issue later. 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. The degree of contravention involved in an inter-divisional marriage, however, depends upon the order (i.e., first-order, second-order, etc.) 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. 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. Although my knowledge is fragmentary, I thought it was worthwhile to put together the bits and pieces for the region as a whole. TOS 7. 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. 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. 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. 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. Gujarat- A state in India. 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. 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. Although it has been experiencing stresses and strains and has had ups and downs on account of the enormous diversity between the royal and the tribal ends, it has shown remarkable solidarity in recent years. [CDATA[ Sindhollu, Chindollu. 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. 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. 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. These divisions have, however, been kept out of the present analysis for reasons which have become well known to students of Hindu society since the 1950s. In all there were about eighty such 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. 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 lowest stratum in all the three divisions had to face the problem of scarcity of brides. These and many other artisans, craftsmen and servants reflected the special life-style of the town. The Brahmans were divided into such divisions as Audich, Bhargav, Disawal, Khadayata, Khedawal, Mewada, Modh, Nagar, Shrigaud, Shrimali, Valam, Vayada, and Zarola. Most of the second-order divisions were further divided into third-order divisions. Although caste was found in both village and town, did it possess any special characteristics in the latter? Division and hierarchy have always been stressed as the two basic principles of the caste system. Category:Social groups of Gujarat - Wikipedia The existence of ekdas or gols, however, does not mean that the divisiveness of caste ended there or that the ekdas and gols were always the definitive units of endogamy. 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. I know some ekdas, and tads composed of only 150 to 200 households. It owned corporate property, usually in the form of vadis (large buildings used for holding feasts and festivals, accommodating wedding guests, and holding meetings), huge utensils for cooking feasts, and money received as fees and fines. 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. 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. manvar surname caste in gujarat. In recent years, however, there has been a tendency to emphasize hierarchy as the primary principle encompassing the principle of division. Similarly, the Vanias were divided into such divisions as Disawal, Kapol, Khadayata, Lad, Modh, Nagar, Nima, Porwad, Shirmali, Vayada, and Zarola. I am not suggesting that the principle of hierarchy was insignificant in the inter- or intra-caste relations in urban centres. Content Filtrations 6. 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. There was a continuous process of formation and disintegration of such units. endobj One may say that there are now more hypogamous marriages, although another and perhaps a more realistic way of looking at the change would be that a new hierarchy is replacing the traditional one. 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. It is argued that the various welfare programmes of each caste association, such as provision of medical facilities, scholarships and jobs for caste members contribute, in however small a way, to the solution of the nations problems. 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. . Unfortunately, such figures are not available for the last fifty years or so. Both were recognized as Brahman but as degraded ones. Limbachiya Surname Origin, Meaning & Last Name History - Forebears Division and Hierarchy: An Overview of Caste in Gujarat! I am dealing here only with certain typical situations. In all there were thirty to forty such divisions. It is not claimed that separation, or even repulsion, may not be present somewhere as an independent factor (1972: 346,n.55b). If this rule was violated, i.e., if he married a girl with whom the Vanias did not have commensal relations, the maximum punishment, namely, excommunication, was imposed. 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. Marco Polo a Venetian merchant on his visit to India in 13th century Gujarat observed that "brocading art of Gujarat weavers is par excellent". That Rajputs were one of the divisions, if not the only division of the first-order, not having further divisions, has already been mentioned. 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. 4 GUJARAT 4273 SHODA . 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. 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. 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 particular, the implications of the co-existence of lower-order divisions within a higher- order division in the same town or city should be worked out. Fortunately, they have now started writing about it (see Rao 1974). For example, just as there was a Shrimali division among Sonis (goldsmiths). In any case, the population of any large caste was found in many kingdoms. In 1931, the Rajputs of all strata in Gujarat had together a population of about 35,000 forming nearly 5 per cent of the total population of Gujarat. The Khadayatas were divided into about 30 ekdas. 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. Caste Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster Castes having continuous internal hierarchy and lacking effective small endogamous units, such as Rajputs, Leva Kanbis, Anavils and Khedawals, do not have active associations for lower-order divisions. The humble Charkha (spinning wheel) and khadi became a dominant symbol of self-reliance, self-determination and nationalist pride. There were about three hundred divisions of this order in the region as a whole. When divisions are found within a jati, the word sub-jati or sub-caste is used. We had seen earlier that in the first-order division, such as that of the Rajputs, there were no second-order divisions, and no attempt was made to form small endogamous units: hypergamy had free play, as it were. The two categories of castes have been deeply conscious of these differences between them and have been talking freely about them. The tad thus represented the fourth and last order of caste divisions. What is really required for a comprehensive understanding is a comparison of traditional with modern caste in both rural and urban areas (including, to be sure, the rural-urban linkages). Although I have not, during my limited field work, come across hypergamous marriages between Rajputs and Bhils, ethnographic reports and other literature frequently refer to such marriages (see, for example, Naik 1956: 18f; Nath I960. In the plains, therefore, every village had one or more towns in its vicinity. %PDF-1.7 The Hindu population of Gujarat was divided first of all into what I have called caste divisions of the first order. Both Borradaile and Campbell were probably mixing up small endogamous units of various kinds. 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. 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. Secondly, it is necessary to study intensively the pattern of inter-caste relations in urban centres as something differentat least hypotheticallyfrom the pattern in villages. <>/Metadata 3086 0 R/ViewerPreferences 3087 0 R>> 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. Another major factor in the growth of urban centres in Gujarat was political. The significant point, however, is that there were small endogamous units which were not, like ekdas and tads, part of any higher-order division. In each of these three divisions the top stratum was clear. The Khedawals, numbering 15,000 to 20,000 in 1931 were basically priests but many of them were also landowners, government officials, and traders. These linkages played an important role in the traditional social structure as well as in the processes of change in modern India. The weavers were forced into selling exclusively to the British at extremely low rates, pushing them into poverty. gujarati surnames castes We have seen how one second-order division among Brahmans, namely, Khedawal, was marked by continuous internal hierarchy and strong emphasis on hypergamy on the one hand and by absence of effective small endogamous units on the other. 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. Thus, finding any boundary between Rajputs and Kolis in the horizontal context was impossible, although there were sharp boundaries between the two in the narrow local context. Weavers became beggars, manufacturing collapsed and the last 2000 years of Indian textile industry was knocked down. Systematic study of small caste divisions in villages as well as in towns still awaits the attention of sociologists and anthropologists. 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. The name, Talapada, meaning mdigenous, commonly used in the 19th century, is most clear, since it is clearly distinguished from the other division called Pardeshi, meaning foreign, who during the last one or two centuries immigrated here from the area around Patan in north Gujarat and were, therefore, also called Patan- wadias. Disclaimer 9. Gujarat (along with Bombay) has perhaps the largest number of caste associations and they are also more active and wealthy compared to those in other regions. Homo Hierarchicus. The Anavil, numbering 30,000 to 40,000 in 1931, were found mainly in south Gujarat. 100 Most Common Surnames in India | Probability Comparison No sooner had the village studies begun that their limitations and the need for studying caste in its horizontal dimension were realized. For example, there was considerable ambiguity about the status of Anavils. More of them were located in the plains, than in the bordering highlands. I do not, however, have sufficient knowledge of the latter and shall, therefore, confine myself mainly to Rajputs in Gujarat. Among the first-order divisions with subdivisions going down to the fourth order, there are associations for divisions of all the orders. 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 is described as a caste as well as a community. 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. <> Our analysis of the internal organization of caste divisions has shown considerable variation in the relative role of the principles of division and hierarchy. 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. ), as contrasted with the horizontal unity of the caste. There was considerable elaboration in urban areas of what Ghurye long ago called the community aspect of caste (1932: 179) and frequently, this led to juxtaposition rather than hierarchy between caste divisions of the same order. 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. 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. 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). At the other end were castes in which the principle of division had free play and the role of the principle of hierarchy was limited. As for the size of other castes, I shall make mainly relative statements. Many primarily rural castes, such as Kolisthe largest castehave remained predominantly rural even today. 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. 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 Rajput links entailed the spread of Rajput culture in each Koli division and provided a certain cultural homogeneity to all the divisions. 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. Srinivas has called the unity of the village manifested in these interrelations the vertical unity of the village (1952: 31f. 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. Usually, it was a small population. Simultaneously, there is gradual decline in the strength of the principle of hierarchy, particularly of ritual hierarchy expressed in purity and pollution. Thus, while each second-order Koli division maintained its boundaries vis-a-vis other such divisions, each was linked with the Rajputs. 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 existence of flexibility at both the levels was made possible by the flexibility of the category Rajput. 100 Most Popular Indian Last Names Or SurnamesWhy Don't Tamil People Have Last Names?-----A . 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. If the marriage took place within the Vania fold but outside the tad or ekda, as the case may be, the punishment varied according to the social distance between the tads or ekdas of the bride and the groom. To illustrate, among the Khadayata or Modh Vanias, an increasing number of marriages take place between two or more tads within an ekda. The arrival of the East India Company, however sounded the death knell for the Indian textile industry. Kolis were the largest first-order division in Gujarat. Nevertheless, a breakdown of the population of Gujarat into major religious, caste and tribal groups according to the census of 1931 is presented in the following table to give a rough idea of the size of at least some castes. All Brahman divisions did not, however, have a corresponding Vania division. In other words, it did not involve a big jump from one place to another distant place. 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. A first-order division could be further divided into two or more second-order divisions. The freedom struggle brought the Indian handloom sector back to the fore, with Mahatma Gandhi spearheading the Swadeshi cause. Hindu society is usually described as divided into a number of castes the boundaries of which are maintained by the rule of caste endogamy. Frequently, social divisions were neatly expressed in street names. 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. 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. For example, all Vania divisions were divided into a number of ekdas or gols. 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. 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). There were Brahman and Vania divisions of the same name, the myths about both of them were covered by a single text. Which caste is koli patel? Explained by Sharing Culture They took away offerings made to Shiva, which was considered extremely degrading. Usually, the latter were distinguished from one another by prohibition. 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. The idea of inter-caste marriage is, moreover, linked with the idea of creating such a society involves a compromise with, if not subtle negation of, the ideal. In addition, they carried on overland trade with many towns in central and north India. So far we have considered first-order divisions with large and widely spread populations. This stratum among the Kanbis coped with the problem mainly by practising remarriage of widows and divorced women. so roamed around clueless. 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. 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. Kayatias and Tapodhans were considered such low Brahmans that even some non-Brahman castes did not accept food and water from them. endobj Vankar is described as a caste as well as a community. I have discussed above caste divisions in Gujarat mainly in the past, roughly in the middle of the 19th century. Which caste is Vaya surname? : r/gujarat - reddit.com There are other sub-castes like Satpanthis, who are mainly centered in Kutch district and have some social customs akin to Muslims . 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. 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. The two together formed a single complex of continental dimension. The Mehta family name was found in the USA, and the UK between 1891 and 1920. Caste divisions of the first-order can be classified broadly into three categories. 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 patterns of change in marriage and in caste associations are two of the many indications of the growing significance of the principle of division (or separation or difference) in caste in urban areas in Gujarat. There is enormous literature on these caste divisions from about the middle of the 19th century which includes census reports, gazetteers, [] Although the ekda or tad was the most effective unit for endogamy, each unit of the higher order was also significant for endogamy. www.opendialoguemediations.com. 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. The bulk of the population was spread all over the villages as small landholders, tenants and labourers. 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. On the other hand, there was an almost simultaneous spurt in village studies.
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