To take one sensitive area of purity/pollution behaviour, the concern for observance of rules of commensality has greatly declined not only in urban but also in rural areas. 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). caste: [noun] one of the hereditary social classes in Hinduism that restrict the occupation of their members and their association with the members of other castes. Similarly, the Vanias were divided into such divisions as Disawal, Kapol, Khadayata, Lad, Modh, Nagar, Nima, Porwad, Shirmali, Vayada, and Zarola. Koli Patels are recognised as a Other Backward Class caste by Government of Gujarat. No one knows when and how they came into existence and what they meant socially. 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. 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. Dowry not only continues to be a symbol of status in the new hierarchy but is gradually replacing bride price wherever it existed, and dowry amounts are now reaching astronomical heights. 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. To have a meaningful understanding of the system of caste divisions, there is no alternative but to understand the significance of each order of division and particularly the nature of their boundaries and maintenance mechanisms. But there were also others who did not wield any power. A large proportion, if not the whole, of the population of many of such divisions lived in towns. 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 know some ekdas, and tads composed of only 150 to 200 households. Besides the myths, the members of a second-order division, belonging to all ekdas, shared certain customs and institutions, including worship of a tutelary deity. 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). Although the name of a Brahman or Vania division might be based on a place name, the division was not territorial in nature. Reference to weaving and spinning materials is found in the Vedic Literature. 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. If the Varna divisions are taken into account, then this would add one more order to the four orders of caste divisions considered above. 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. Literally, ekda meant unit, and gol circle, and both signified an endogamous unit. 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. <>/ExtGState<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text/ImageB/ImageC/ImageI] >>/Annots[ 9 0 R] /MediaBox[ 0 0 612 792] /Contents 4 0 R/Group<>/Tabs/S/StructParents 0>> Srinivas has called the unity of the village manifested in these interrelations the vertical unity of the village (1952: 31f. 4 GUJARAT 4273 SHODA . For example, all Vania divisions were divided into a number of ekdas or gols. More common was an ekda or tad having its population residing either in a few neighbouring villages, or in a few neighbouring towns, or in both. so roamed around clueless. The advance made in recent years is limited and much more needs to be done. Asking different questions and using different methods are necessary. The three trading castes of Vania, Lohana and Bhatia were mainly urban. As could be expected, there were marriages between fairly close kin, resulting in many overlapping relationships, in such an endogamous unit. The ekdas have not yet lost their identities. 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. They have been grouped in Vaishya category of Varna system. Since after expansion of British textile markets and decline of Indian textile industry Vankars suffered a lot. Jun 12, 2022. endobj Toori. 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. Image Guidelines 5. The chiefly families constituted a tiny proportion of the total population of any second-order division among the Kolis. Most associations continue to retain their non-political character. The members of a kings caste were thus found not only in his own kingdom but in other kingdoms as well. They worked not only as high priests but also as bureaucrats. There was another kind of ambiguity about the Brahman status or two other divisionsKayatia and Tapodhan. This tendency reaches its culmination in the world of Dumont. 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). 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). In the plains, therefore, every village had one or more towns in its vicinity. (surname) Me caste; Mer (community) Meta Qureshi; Mistri caste; Miyana (community) Modh; Motisar (caste) Multani Lohar; Muslim Wagher; Mutwa; N . For example, among almost every Vania division there was a dual division into Visa and Dasa: Visa Nagar and Dasa Nagar, Visa Lad and Dasa Lad, Visa Modh and Dasa Modh, Visa Khadayata and Dasa Khadayata, and so on. 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. For example, there was considerable ambiguity about the status of Anavils. No sooner had the village studies begun that their limitations and the need for studying caste in its horizontal dimension were realized. For the sake of bravity and simplicity of presentation, I have not provided detailed documentation. In each of these three divisions the top stratum was clear. Leva Kanbis, numbering 400,000 to 500,000 m 1931, were the traditional agricultural caste of central Gujarat. Many of them claimed that they were Brahmans but this claim was not accepted by most established Brahmans. 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 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. * List of Scheduled Tribes in Gujarat; A. . 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. 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. While some of the divisions of a lower order might be the result of fission, some others might be a result of fusion. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. 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. 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. This account of the divisions is based on various sources, but mainly on Bombay Gazetteer (1901). 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. On the other hand, there was an almost simultaneous spurt in village studies. There was an emphasis on being different and separate rather than on being higher and lower. 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. //

Donna Martin Missing 1976, Articles M