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.
Khatri is a caste originating from the Malwa and Majha areas of Punjab region of South Asia that is predominantly found in India, but also in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Khatris claim they are warriors who took to trade. In the Indian subcontinent, they were mostly engaged in mercantile professions such as banking and trade. They were the dominant commercial and financial administration class of late-medieval India. Some in Punjab often belonged to hereditary agriculturalist land-holding lineages, while others were engaged in artisanal occupations such as silk production and weaving.
Pawar is an Indian surname found among the Maratha, Mahar or Koli people in Maharashtra.
Bhatia is a group of people and a caste found in Punjab, Sindh and Gujarat. Traditionally, they have been a trading and merchant community. The Bhatias primarily live in Northwestern India and Pakistan. The Bhatias, Lohanas and Khatris were similar communities and were known to intermarry. The Bhatias recruit Saraswat Brahmins as priests.
Joshi is a surname used by the Brahmin (caste) in India and Nepal. Joshi is also sometimes spelled as Jyoshi. The name is derived from the Sanskrit word Jyotishi meaning "astrologer" or a person who practices jyotisha. Jyotisha refers to Hindu astrology and astronomy and is derived from jyotish.
Saraswat Brahmins are spread over widely separated regions spanning from Kashmir and Punjab in North India to Konkan in West India to Kanara and Kerala in South India. In places such as western and southern India, the claim of Brahminhood of some communities who claim to be Saraswat Brahmins is disputed. The word Saraswat is derived from the Rigvedic Sarasvati River.
Kayastha denotes a cluster of disparate Indian communities broadly categorised by the regions of the Indian subcontinent in which they were traditionally located—the Chitraguptavanshi Kayasthas of North India, the Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhus of Maharashtra, the Bengali Kayasthas of Bengal and Karanas of Odisha. All of them were traditionally considered "writing castes", who had historically served the ruling powers as administrators, ministers and record-keepers.
Pandey, Pande, or Panday is a surname which has its roots in Sanskrit.
Varmā, Verma, Varman, or Burman are surnames found in India and Southeast Asia. These surnames are commonly used by people of different castes and ethnic groups across the region. The surname is used in North India by and some of the groups among cluster of castes called Kayasthas. However, in the same region along with Central India, it can also be found among castes like Rajputs, Prajapats, Kurmis and Koeris.
Deshpande is a surname native to the Indian states of Karnataka, and Maharashtra. The surname can be also found in some parts of Himachal Pradesh. Deshpande surname is found among the Deshastha Brahmins, Gaud Saraswat Brahmins (GSB) and the Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhus (CKP).
Das is a common last name in South Asia, among adherents of Hinduism and Sikhism, as well as those who converted to Islam or Christianity. It is a derived from the Sanskrit word Dasa meaning servant, devotee, or votary. "Das" may be inferred to be one who has surrendered to God. The surname is often used by those in the Vaishnav community.
The Nayak, or Naik is a historic honorific title conferred on military captains and governors of feudal states in the Middle Ages. Today it is also a surname. Nayaks are mostly Hindu and few Sikhs, who follow Hinduism and Sikhism respectively.
Khanna is a name.
Bania is a mercantile caste mainly from the Indian states of Gujarat and Rajasthan, with strong diasporic communities in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra and other northern states. Traditionally, the main occupations of the community are merchants, bankers, money-lenders, and owners of commercial enterprises.
The Mali are an occupational caste found among the Hindus who traditionally worked as gardeners and florists. They also call themselves Phul Mali due to their occupation of growing flowers. The Mali are found throughout North India, East India as well as the Terai region of Nepal and Maharashtra. Iravati Karve, an anthropologist, showed how the Maratha caste was generated from Kunbis who simply started calling themselves "Maratha". She states that Maratha, Kunbi and Mali are the three main farming communities of Maharashtra – the difference being that the Marathas and Kunbis were "dry farmers" whereas the Mali farmed throughout the year.
The Koli is an Indian caste that is predominantly found in India, but also in Pakistan and Nepal. Koli is an agriculturist caste of Gujarat but in coastal areas they also work as fishermen along with agriculture.
Maheshwari, also spelled Maheshvari, is a Hindu caste of India, originally from what is now the state of Rajasthan. Their traditional occupation is that of commerce and as such they form part of the wider Bania occupation-based community that also includes castes such as the Khandelwals, Oswals and Agrawals, Gahois.
The Komati is a trading community which is currently organised as a caste. They are primarily found in Central and South Indian states of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha, Karnataka. Small communities of Komati's are also present in the neighbouring states of Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Chattisgarh. The members of the Komati caste are commonly engaged as moneylenders, businessmen, and shopkeepers. The community consists of many sects who are followers of Hinduism, namely the Gomata, the Thrivarnika, and the Kalinga, along with the Jaina Komatis who are followers of Jainism. Traditionally, most Komatis are vegetarian due to their belief in ahimsa (nonviolence).
Jaiswal or Jayswal or Jayaswal is a surname used by many Hindu communities. Jaiswals are mainly traders and deal in various commodities. In the past, some of them excelled in the art of liquor making.
References
- ↑ Ian Stone (25 July 2002). Canal Irrigation in British India: Perspectives on Technological Change in a Peasant Economy. Cambridge University Press. pp. 356–. ISBN 978-0-521-52663-0.
mahajan : merchant, moneylender
- ↑ Jonathan P. Parry, ed. (13 September 2013). Caste and Kinship in Kangra. Routledge. pp. 110–. ISBN 978-1-136-54585-6.
- ↑ Bam Dev Sharda (24 August 2005). "Status allocation in middle India". In David Bills (ed.). The Shape of Social Inequality: Stratification and Ethnicity in Comparative Perspective. Elsevier. pp. 229–. ISBN 978-0-08-045935-6.
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