manvar surname caste in gujarat manvar surname caste in gujarat

In other words, it did not involve a big jump from one place to another distant place. 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. Indian textiles especially of Gujarat have been praised in several accounts by explorers and historians, from Megasthenes to Herodotus. 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. 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. Sometimes castes are described as becoming ethnic groups in modern India, particularly in urban 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. If the first-order divisions are called jatis and castes, the second-order divisions would be called sub-jatis or sub-castes. In the plains, therefore, every village had one or more towns in its vicinity. That the role of the two principles could vary at different levels within a first-order division has also been seen. 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. Many of them became the norm-setting elite for Gujaratis in the homeland. 4 GUJARAT 4273 SHODA . All Brahman divisions did not, however, have a corresponding Vania division. Let me illustrate briefly. Traditionally, the Brahman division was supposed to provide the priests for the corresponding 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. One important first-order division, namely, Rajput, does not seem to have had any second-order division at all. 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. Some of the other such divisions were Kathi, Dubla, Rabari, Bharwad, Mer (see Trivedi 1961), Vaghri, Machhi, Senwa, Vanzara, and Kharwa. The following 157 pages are in this category, out of 157 total. All associations originated in large towns, are more active in towns than in villages, and are led by prominent members in towns. They adopted Rajput customs and traditions, claimed Rajput status, and gave daughters in marriage to Rajputs in the lower rungs of Rajput hierarchy. 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. Frequently, the urban population of such a division performed more specialized functions than did the rural one. The Mehta family name was found in the USA, and the UK between 1891 and 1920. 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 existence of flexibility at both the levels was made possible by the flexibility of the category Rajput. 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. Of particular importance seems to be the fact that a section of the urban population was more or less isolatedsome may say, alienatedfrom the rural masses from generation to generation. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Nowadays, in urban areas in particular, very few people think of making separate seating arrangements for members of different castes at wedding and such other feasts. There was also a third category called Pancha, derived from the word punch (meaning 5) and denoting extremely low Vania. Leva Kanbis, numbering 400,000 to 500,000 m 1931, were the traditional agricultural caste of central Gujarat. 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. The two former ekdas continued to exist with diminished strength. 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. The Rajputs, in association with Kolis, Bhils, and such other castes and tribes, provide an extreme example of such castes. One of the reasons behind underplaying of the principle of division by Dumont as well as by others seems to be the neglect of the study of caste in urban areas (see Dumonts remarks in 1972: 150). In recent years, however, there has been a tendency to emphasize hierarchy as the primary principle encompassing the principle of division. 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). The guiding ideas were samaj sudharo (social reform) and samaj seva (social service). The division had an elaborate internal hierarchy, with wealthy and powerful landlords and tax-farmers at the top and small landholders, tenants and labourers at the bottom. endobj This was because political authorities were hierarchized from little kingdom to empire and the boundaries of political authorities kept changing. It used to have a panch (council of leaders) and sometimes also a headman (patel). 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. 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). But there was also another process. We have analyzed the internal structure of two first-order divisions, Rajput and Anavil, which did not have any second-order divisions, and of several second-order divisionsTalapada and Pardeshi Koli, Khedawal Brahman, and Leva Kanbiwhich did not have any third-order divisions. Gujarat did not have anything like the non-Brahmin movement of South India and Maharashtra before 1947. Many second-order divisions were further divided into two or three status categories. This category has the following 18 subcategories, out of 18 total. As weaving is an art and forms one of the most important artisan community of India. 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. This was about 22% of all the recorded Mehta's in USA. Asking different questions and using different methods are necessary. Unfortunately, such figures are not available for the last fifty years or so. There was another kind of ambiguity about the Brahman status or two other divisionsKayatia and Tapodhan. Visited Ahmedabad for the weekend to meet a friend but her family had a medical emergency. The highest stratum among the Leva Kanbi tried to maintain its position by practising polygyny and female infanticide, among other customs and institutions, as did the highest stratum among the Rajput. Nor were ekdas and tads entirely an urban phenomenon. For example, among the Vanias the most general rule was that a marriage of a boy could be arranged with any girl who was bhane khapati, i.e., with whom he was permitted to have commensal relations (roti vyavahar). r/ahmedabad From Mumbai. 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). In most parts of Gujarat it merged into the various second-order divisions of the Koli division and possible also into the widespread tribe of Bhils. 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. When Mr. H. Borradaile in A.D. 1827 collected information regarding the customs of Hindus, no less than 207 castes which did not intermarry, were found in the city of Surat alone. It seems the highland Bhils (and possibly also other tribes) provided brides to lower Rajputs in Gujarat. The freedom struggle brought the Indian handloom sector back to the fore, with Mahatma Gandhi spearheading the Swadeshi cause. In some parts of Gujarat they formed 30 to 35 per cent of the population. For example, there was considerable ambiguity about the status of Anavils. Castes pervaded by divisive tendencies had small populations confined to small areas separated from each other by considerable gaps. They took away offerings made to Shiva, which was considered extremely degrading. The incidence of exchange marriages and of bachelors in the lowest stratum among the Anavils also was high. ADVERTISEMENTS: Division and Hierarchy: An Overview of Caste in Gujarat! Such a description not only overlooks the diversity and complexity of caste divisions and the rural-urban Link- ages in them but also leads to placing them in the same category as Muslims, Christians, Parsis, Jains, Buddhists, and so on. They wrote about the traditional Indian village, but not about the traditional Indian town. In all there were thirty to forty such divisions. An important idea behind the activities of caste associations is: service to ones caste is service to the nation. For the sake of bravity and simplicity of presentation, I have not provided detailed documentation. How many sub-divisions existed in the various divisions of the various orders is a matter of empirical investigation. Prohibited Content 3. 3 0 obj History. Although caste was found in both village and town, did it possess any special characteristics in the latter? 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. Content Guidelines 2. There is enormous literature on these caste divisions from about the middle of the 19th century which includes census reports, gazetteers, [] Until recently, sociologists and anthropologists described Indian society as though it had no urban component in the past. 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. They then spread to towns in the homeland and among all castes. Once the claim was accepted at either level, hypergamous marriage was possible. 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. One of the clearly visible changes in caste in Gujarat is the increasing number of inter-divisional or so-called inter-caste marriages, particularly in urban areas, in contravention of the rule of caste endogamy. 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. www.opendialoguemediations.com. The unit might possess some other corporate characteristics also. The indigenous Kolis in the highland area of Pal in eastern Gujarat were called Palia, but there was another smaller population of KoUs, who were locally called Baria but were actually Talapada immigrants from central Gujarat. The 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. 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. 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. Vankar is described as a caste as well as a community. For example, among Vanias in a large town like Ahmedabad many of the thirty or forty second-order divisions (such as Khadayata, Modh, Porwad, Shrimali, and so on) were represented. It was also an extreme example of a division having a highly differentiated internal hierarchy and practising hypergamy as an accepted norm. Many of these names were also based on place names. They are described by the ruling elite as robbers, dacoits, marauders, predators and the like. I do not, however, have sufficient knowledge of the latter and shall, therefore, confine myself mainly to Rajputs in Gujarat. This account of the divisions is based on various sources, but mainly on Bombay Gazetteer (1901). Usually, the affairs of the caste were discussed in large congregations of some fifty to hundred or even more villages from time to time. The migrants, many of whom came from heterogeneous urban centres of Gujarat, became part of an even more heterogeneous environment in Bombay. The population of certain first-order divisions lived mainly in villages. Although some of them set up shops in villages they rarely became full-fledged members of the village community. All this trade encouraged development of trading and commercial towns in the rest of Gujarat, even in the highland area. They also continued to have marital relations with their own folk. 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). A block printed and resist-dyed fabric, whose origin is from Gujarat was found in the tombs of Fostat, Egypt. Most inter-divisional marriages take place between boys and girls belonging to the lowest order in the structure of divisions. 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. 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. 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. 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. <> Real Estate Software Dubai > blog > manvar surname caste in gujarat. stream 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. x[? -E$nvU 4V6_}\]}/yOu__}ww7oz[_z~?=|nNT=|qq{\//]/Ft>_tV}gjjn#TfOus_?~>/GbKc.>^\eu{[GE_>'x?M5i16|B;=}-)$G&w5uvb~o:3r3v GL3or}|Y~?3s_hO?qWWpn|1>9WS3^:wTU3bN{tz;T_}so/R95iLc_6Oo_'W7y;