Bhandari (caste)

Last updated

Bhandari
Regions with significant populations
Primary populations in:
Languages
Marathi and various dialects of Konkani
Religion
Hinduism
Related ethnic groups
Konkani people

The Bhandari community is a caste that inhabits the western coast of India. Their traditional occupation was "toddy tapping".they were also good naval warriors. They form the largest caste group in the state of Goa, reportedly being over 30% of that state's Hindu population, and play a major role in deciding the future of any political party there. [1] [2] Bhandaris are included in the list of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in Goa and Maharashtra. [3]

Contents

History

Bhandaris prefer derivation from Bhandar, which means treasury, because they used to be treasury guards in the past. [4]

Traditionally, their occupation was drawing toddy from palm plants. Historical evidence suggests that they were foot soldiers in the Maratha Empire and British Indian Army. The famous "Hetkaris" in the army of Shivaji were Bhandaris. During Shivaji's time, Maynak Bhandari was a chief Admiral.many Bhandaris also ruled on some part of konkan.during early 14,15 century.

[5]

Bhandaris are divided into various sub-castes such as Kitte, Hetkari, Thale and Gavad. During British Raj, Bhandaris lacked unity among various sub-castes and the differences within these sub-jatis hindered the community progress. The leaders of these sub-castes established their independent caste associations. A Bhandari author from the British era says that they were traditionally active in teaching and learning, and were involved in setting up schools for all castes either in temples or outside someone's house. He says that the community should not blame Brahmins for lack of their education as they did not avail educational opportunities in the British era. [4]

In 1878, the British colonial government passed a law that would enable them to control liquor market in India and maximize profit. This resulted in low quality liquor flooding the market. In protest, the Bhandari community - whose traditional occupation was to ferment toddy - declined to supply toddy to the government. [6]

Affirmative Action

Bhandaris are included in the list of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in Maharashtra. This provides them with certain rights under India's scheme of affirmative action, such as reservation of positions in government employment and admission to professional colleges. [7] They are also classified as OBCs in Maharashtra. [3]

Varna status

During the British era, in the 19th century, Bhandaris faced discrimination in education as they did not belong to the twice-born varna. [8]

M. R. Bodas, a Brahmin pleader, [9] published an article in Chitramay Jagat (1922) where he opined that Bhandari caste was of Shudra origin. This received strong response in another article where the author claimed that the community existed from the era of Mahabharata and that the Bhandaris were originally from Rajputana and were Kshatriya converts to Jainism whose occupation was trading. The author mentioned Sati and Jauhar as proof for their heritage. The article by Bodas piqued the Bhandari community and the community members met in 1922 to address the issue. [4] Tukaram Padaval, who belonged to Bhandari caste and a close associate of Jyotiba Phule, said that the claim to Kshatriya status was common among many upper and lower castes but there was no certainty at all as to who among them are the original Kshatriyas. [10]

Nitable

° Nana Patekar Hindi & Marathi Film Actor

See also

Related Research Articles

The Maratha caste is composed of 96 clans, originally formed in the earlier centuries from the amalgamation of families from the peasant (Kunbi), shepherd (Dhangar), blacksmith (Lohar), pastoral (Gavli), carpenter (Sutar), Bhandari, Thakar and Koli castes in Maharashtra. Many of them took to military service in the 16th century for the Deccan sultanates or the Mughals. Later in the 17th and 18th centuries, they served in the armies of the Maratha Kingdom, founded by Shivaji, a Maratha Kunbi by caste. Many Marathas were granted hereditary fiefs by the Sultanates, and Mughals for their service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kunbi</span> Farmer castes in Western India

Kunbi is a generic term applied to several castes of traditional farmers in Western India. These include the Dhonoje, Ghatole, Masaram, Hindre, Jadav, Jhare, Khaire, Lewa, Lonare and Tirole communities of Vidarbha. The communities are largely found in the state of Maharashtra but also exist in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala and Goa. Kunbis are included among the Other Backward Classes (OBC) in Maharashtra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shahu of Kolhapur</span> Raja and later Maharaja of Kolhapur from 1894 to 1922

Shahu of the Bhonsle dynasty of Marathas was a Raja and the first Maharaja (1900–1922) of the Indian princely state of Kolhapur. Rajarshi Shahu was considered a true democrat and social reformer. Shahu Maharaj was an able ruler who was associated with many progressive policies during his rule. From his coronation in 1894 till his demise in 1922, he worked for the cause of the lower caste subjects in his state. Primary education to all regardless of caste and creed was one of his most significant priorities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bombay East Indians</span> Ethno-religious Indian Christian community of Mumbai (Bombay)

The Bombay East Indians, also called East Indian Catholics or simply East Indians, are an ethno-religious Indian Christian community native to the Seven Islands of Bombay and the neighbouring Mumbai Metropolitan Area of the Konkan division, along the western coast of India.

The Dhangars are caste of people found in the Indian states of Maharashtra, northern Karnataka, Goa, Madhya Pradesh. They are referred to as Gavli Dhangars in northern Maharashtra and the forested hill tracts of India's Western Ghats, there are many distinct Gavli castes in Maharashtra and Dhangar Gavli is one of them.

The Maratha Clan System refers to the 96 Maratha clans. The clans together form the Maratha caste of India. These Marathas primarily reside in the Indian state of Maharashtra, with smaller regional populations in other states.

Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu (CKP) or historically and commonly known as Chandraseniya Prabhu or just Prabhu is a caste mainly found in Gujarat and Maharashtra. Historically, they made equally good warriors, statesmen as well as writers. They held the posts such as Deshpande and Gadkari according to the historian, B.R. Sunthankar, produced some of the best warriors in Maharashtrian history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marathi people</span> Indo-Aryan ethnic group native to western India

The Marathi people or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are native to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a Marathi-speaking state of India on 1 May 1960, as part of a nationwide linguistic reorganisation of the Indian states. The term "Maratha" is generally used by historians to refer to all Marathi-speaking peoples, irrespective of their caste; However, it may refer to a Maharashtrian caste known as the Maratha which also includes farmer sub castes like the Kunbis.

Gaud Saraswat Brahmins (GSB), also known as Shenvis are a Hindu community of contested caste status and identity. They primarily speak Konkani and its various dialects as their mother tongue.

The caste system in Goa consists of various Jātis or sub-castes found among Hindus belonging to the four varnas, as well as those outside of them. A variation of the traditional Hindu caste system was also retained by the Goan Catholic community.

Edigas or Idigas is a Hindu toddy tapper community in Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Satyashodhak Samaj</span> Social reform movement in India, 1873–1930s

Satyashodhak Samaj was a social reform society founded by Jyotiba Phule in Pune, Maharashtra, on 24 September 1873. The society endeavoured to mitigate the distress and sufferings of Dalits and women. It espoused a mission of education and increased social rights and political access for underprivileged groups, focused especially on women, peasants, and Dalits, in Maharashtra. Jyotirao's wife Savitribai was the head of women's section of the society. The Samaj disbanded during the 1930s as leaders left to join the Indian National Congress party.

Kushwaha is a community of the Indo-Gangetic Plain that has traditionally been involved in agriculture, including beekeeping. The term has been used to represent different sub-castes of the Kachhis, Kachhvahas, Koeris and Muraos. The Kushwaha had worshipped Shiva and Shakta, but beginning in the 20th century, they claim descent from the Suryavansh (Solar) dynasty via Kusha, one of the twin sons of Rama and Sita. At present, it is a broad community formed by coming together of several caste groups with similar occupational backgrounds and socio-economic status, who, over the time, started inter-marrying among themselves and created all India caste network for caste solidarity. The communities which merged into this caste cluster includes Kachhi, Kachhwaha, Kushwaha, Mali, Marrar, Saini, Sonkar, Murai, Shakya, Maurya, Koeri and Panara. In 1921, historian Ganga Prasad Gupta published a book claiming that the Kushwaha were of Kshatriya status or Varna.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Culture of Maharashtra</span> Overview of the culture of Maharashtra (India)

Maharashtra is the third largest state of India in terms of land area and second largest in terms of population in India. It has a long history of Marathi saints of Varakari religious movement, such as Dnyaneshwar, Namdev, Chokhamela, Eknath and Tukaram which forms the one of bases of the culture of Maharashtra or Marathi culture. Maharashtrian culture had large influence over neighbouring regions under the Maratha Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pasi (caste)</span> Dalit community of India

The Pasi is a Dalit (untouchable) community of India. Pasi refers to tapping toddy, a traditional occupation of the Pasi community. The Pasi are divided into Gujjar, Kaithwas, and Boria. They are classified as an Other Backward Class in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. They live in the northern Indian states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

Marathi Brahmins are communities native to the Indian state of Maharashtra. They are classified into mainly three sub-divisions based on their places of origin, "Desh", "Karad" and "Konkan". The Brahmin subcastes that come under Maharashtra Brahmins include Deshastha, Chitpavan (Konkanastha), Saraswat, Karhade, and Devrukhe.

The Golla are a Telugu-speaking pastoral community primarily living in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Telangana with smaller numbers in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. They are related to other pastoral-herding castes like Gulla, Gullar, Gollewar, Gavli and Dhangar and are a part of the larger Yadav community. They are classified as a Other Backward Caste.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Twashta Kasar</span> Hindu artisan caste

Twashta Kasar,Somavanshiya Kshatriya Kasar or Jain Kasar is a Hindu artisan caste of coppersmiths, predominantly residing in the Indian state of Maharashtra. In Goa, they call themselves Twashta Kasar Brahmin. According to Herbert Hope Risley, they are a branch of the Suvarna Banik, who became degraded because they took to working in metal.

Shimpi is an umbrella term for the Indian caste traditionally involved in the business of clothing and tailoring. Saint Namdev of the Bhakti movement is revered as the patron of the community.

The Backward Caste movement in Bihar can be traced back to the formation of Triveni Sangh, a caste coalition and political party, in the 1930s, which was revived after the introduction of land reforms in the 1950s aimed at removing intermediaries from agrarian society. But, this drive could not succeed in bringing long-lasting changes in the condition of lower strata of society, as they lacked political representation and economic power. The period since land reform included caste conflicts and the class struggle which eventually led to a transfer of absolute political power in the hands of Backward Castes, who had been kept away from it earlier. The class struggle succeeded the struggle of some of the Upper Backward Castes against the sacerdotal authorities for improvement in their ritual status. By the 1990s, the conflict between upper-castes and the lower-castes continued, with nearly 17 massacres taking place during this time period. But with the advent of politics of social justice and the Janata Dal in the 1990s, the lower caste became more active politically.

References

  1. "Treasurers of yore, now key to political fortune". The Times of India . Archived from the original on 11 April 2013. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  2. Scott C. Martin (16 December 2014). The SAGE Encyclopedia of Alcohol: Social, Cultural, and Historical Perspectives. SAGE Publications. pp. 1384–. ISBN   978-1-4833-3108-9.
  3. 1 2 "List of Castes in Other Backward Class of Maharashtra". Maharashtra State OBC Finance and Development Corporation. Archived from the original on 22 September 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 Seshan, Radhika; Kumbhojkar, Shraddha (2018). Re-searching Transitions in Indian History. Taylor & Francis. pp. 154–157.
  5. B. R. Kamble, ed. (1982). Studies in Shivaji and His Times. Shivaji University. p. 211. but he selected one Maynaik Bhandari to be one of the Chief Admirals in the Navy . But this does not mean that Shivaji had elevated the Bhandari caste
  6. Mark Lawrence Schrad (2021). Smashing the Liquor Machine: A Global History of Prohibition. Oxford University Press. pp. 204–. ISBN   978-0-19-084157-7.
  7. "Goa govt increases quota for OBCs in jobs to 27%". TNN. No. Jan 16, 2014, 03.23AM IST. TOI. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  8. Paik, Shailaja (2014). Dalit Women's Education in Modern India: Double Discrimination. Taylor and Francis Group. p. 45. ISBN   978-0415493000.
  9. John R. McLane (8 March 2015). Indian Nationalism and the Early Congress. Princeton University Press. pp. 266–. ISBN   978-1-4008-7023-3.
  10. O'Hanlon, Rosalind (2002). Caste, Conflict and Ideology: Mahatma Jotirao Phule and Low Caste Protest in Nineteenth-Century Western India. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 43. ISBN   978-0-52152-308-0.

Further reading