manvar surname caste in gujaratmanvar surname caste in gujarat
Division and hierarchy have always been stressed as the two basic principles of the caste system. As could be expected, there were marriages between fairly close kin, resulting in many overlapping relationships, in such an endogamous unit. 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. 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 handloom weavers of Gujarat, Maharastra and Bengal produced and exported some of the world's most desirable fabrics. * List of Scheduled Tribes in Gujarat; A. . The most important of them was the Koli division, which was, the largest division and mainly included small landholders, tenants and labourers. This stratum among the Kanbis coped with the problem mainly by practising remarriage of widows and divorced women. 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. Visited Ahmedabad for the weekend to meet a friend but her family had a medical emergency. Literally, ekda meant unit, and gol circle, and both signified an endogamous unit. A block printed and resist-dyed fabric, whose origin is from Gujarat was found in the tombs of Fostat, Egypt. There was apparently a close relation between a castes internal organization and the size and spatial distribution of its population. Usually, the latter were distinguished from one another by prohibition. //]]>. 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. 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. There were about three hundred divisions of this order in the region as a whole. 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. The two together formed a single complex of continental dimension. 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. 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 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. It used to have a panch (council of leaders) and sometimes also a headman (patel). 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. Reference to weaving and spinning materials is found in the Vedic Literature. Hence started farming and small scale business in the British Raj to thrive better conditions ahead to maintain their livelihood. 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. Sometimes a division corresponding to a division among Brahmans and Vanias was found in a third first-order division also. On the other hand, there was an almost simultaneous spurt in village studies. 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. Thus, the result was the spread of the population of a caste division towards its fringes. This category has the following 18 subcategories, out of 18 total. <>/Metadata 3086 0 R/ViewerPreferences 3087 0 R>> This account of the divisions is based on various sources, but mainly on Bombay Gazetteer (1901). 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. 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. I shall first provide an analysis of caste in the past roughly during the middle of the 19th century, and then deal with changes in the modern times. 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. 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). Unfortunately, such figures are not available for the last fifty years or so. 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. The incidence of exchange marriages and of bachelors in the lowest stratum among the Anavils also was high. This surname is most commonly held in India, where it is held by 2,496 people, or 1 in 307,318. Marco Polo a Venetian merchant on his visit to India in 13th century Gujarat observed that "brocading art of Gujarat weavers is par excellent". 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. The migrants, many of whom came from heterogeneous urban centres of Gujarat, became part of an even more heterogeneous environment in Bombay. 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. The four major woven fabrics produced by these communities are cotton, silk, khadi and linen. In the second kind of area, indigenous Kolis live side-by-side with immigrant Kolis from an adjoining area. They have been grouped in Vaishya category of Varna system. 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. 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. 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. to which the divisions of the marrying couple belong. 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 recent years, however, there has been a tendency to emphasize hierarchy as the primary principle encompassing the principle of division. However, it is well known that there were subtle arguments regarding the status of certain royal families being Rajput. Homo Hierarchicus. Prohibited Content 3. 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. 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. The handloom weavers of Gujarat, Maharastra and Bengal produced and exported some of the world's most desirable fabrics. 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. In any case, castes are not likely to cease to be castes in the consciousness of people in the foreseeable future. In 1920 there were 2 Mehta families living in New Jersey. There would be a wide measure of agreement with him on both these counts. They wrote about the traditional Indian village, but not about the traditional Indian town. 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. All Brahman divisions did not, however, have a corresponding Vania division. 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 tribal groups in the highland area, such as the Bhils and Naikdas, also did not have any urban component. There are other sub-castes like Satpanthis, who are mainly centered in Kutch district and have some social customs akin to Muslims . 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). 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. professor melissa murray. 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. Castes pervaded by divisive tendencies had small populations confined to small areas separated from each other by considerable gaps. 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. Usually, a single Koli division had different local names in different parts of Gujarat, but more about this later. It is not claimed that separation, or even repulsion, may not be present somewhere as an independent factor (1972: 346,n.55b). Hypergamy tended to be associated with this hierarchy. There is enormous literature on these caste divisions from about the middle of the 19th century which includes census reports, gazetteers, []
