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Rajput, also called Thakur, is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Rajput covers various patrilineal clans historically associated with warriorhood: several clans claim Rajput status, although not all claims are universally accepted. According to modern scholars, almost all Rajput clans originated from peasant or pastoral communities.
The Rathore dynasty or Rathor dynasty was an Indian dynasty belonging to the Rathore clan of Rajputs that has historically ruled over parts of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.
Karni Mata, known by various names such as Bhagwati, Mehaai, Jagdamba, and Kiniyani is a Hindu Goddess of power and victory described as a warrior sage, who lived between 14th and 16th centuries in Western Rajasthan. Karni Mata is the tutelary deity of the Rajputs and Charans of northwestern India. As a Sagati, she is also worshipped as an incarnation of Hinglaj or Durga. She is the official deity of the royal families of Bikaner and Jodhpur. Karniji played an important role in shaping the history of the region. She is intimately associated with the establishment of the Rajput hegemony in the region. With her blessings, Rao Jodha and Rao Bika founded the kingdoms of Jodhpur and Bikaner. At the request of the Maharajas of Bikaner and Jodhpur, she laid the foundations of Bikaner Fort and Mehrangarh Fort, the two most important forts in the region. She lived an ascetic life and was widely revered during her lifetime. Indian Army troops from the Marwar region also regard Karni Mata as their patron deity.
Pabuji Ki Phad is a religious scroll painting of folk deities, which is used for a musical rendition of the only surviving ancient traditional folk art form, Phad painting in the world of the epic of Pabuji, the Rathore Rajput chief. Bhopas of Pabusar are the bards and also priests who are the traditional narrators of this art form. The Phad is also spelt as "Par". This art form is popular in the Indian state of Rajasthan. Literally, 'Pabuji Ki Phad' translates into two versions namely, "The Screen of Pabuji or O, Read of Pabuji!. Pabuji is also known as "the Ascetic Deity of Sand Desert".
The Manganiar are a Muslim community found in the Thar Desert region of Rajasthan, India; mostly in the districts of Barmer and Jaisalmer, and in the districts of Tharparkar and Sanghar in the bordering province of Sindh in Pakistan.
Dingal, also known as Old Western Rajasthani, is an ancient Indian language written in Nagri script and having literature in prose as well as poetry. It is a language of very high tone and requires a specific style of speaking. Dingal was used in Rajasthan and adjoining areas including Gujarat, Kutch, Malwa, and Sindh. Most of Dingal literature is said to be composed by Charans. It was prominently used in composition of war poetry praising the martial exploits of Rajput and Charan war heroes.
Rajpurohit is a Brahmin sub-caste residing in South Asia natively in western Rajasthan of India. Their ancestors belonged to the family line of SaptRishis. They maintain traditions that are similar to both Brahmins and Rajputs.
Rajasthani literature is an tradition in Indian literature dating to the 2nd millennium, which includes literature written in the Rajasthani language. An early form of Rajasthani started developing in the 11th century from Saurseni Prakrit as Maru-Gurjar or Gurjar Apabhramsa. Early Rajasthani literature was usually written by Charans. Earlier Rajasthani was known as Charani or Dingal, which was close to Gujarati. Medieval Rajasthani literature was mostly heroic poetry mentioning the great kings and fighters of Rajasthan. Rabindra Nath Tagore, a Bengali polymath, once said, "The heroic sentiment which is the essence of every song and couplet of a Rajasthani is peculiar emotion of its own of which, however, the whole country may be proud". It is generally agreed that modern Rajasthani literature began with the works of Suryamal Misran, including the Vansa Bhaskara and the Vir Satsai. The Vansa Bhaskara contains accounts of the Rajput princes who ruled in what was then Rajputana, during the lifetime of the poet (1872–1952). The Vir Satsai is a collection of hundreds of couplets.
Charan is a caste in South Asia natively residing in the Rajasthan and Gujarat states of India, as well as the Sindh and Balochistan provinces of Pakistan. Historically, Charans have been engaged in diverse occupations like bards, poets, historians, pastoralists, agriculturalists and also administrators, jagirdars and warriors and some even as traders.
Rajasthani people or Rajasthanis are a group of Indo-Aryan peoples native to Rajasthan, a state in Northern India. Their language, Rajasthani, is a part of the western group of Indo-Aryan languages.
The Multani Lohar are the Muslim Blacksmith and carpenter community found in the state of Gujarat and western Uttar Pradesh Delhi, Rajasthan madhya pradesh in India.
Barot is a caste native to Gujarat and Rajasthan. They traditionally worked as historians, genealogists and mythographers.
Meethari Marwar is a village in Ladnun tehsil of Didwana-Kuchaman district in the Indian state of Rajasthan.
Darbar or Durbar or Darbar Sahib is a title of honor or respect used mainly in the Indian states of Gujarat and Rajasthan. Chieftain or Lord of small petty princely states, which existed in the pre-independence era, who used title as together with honorific Saheb, to be referred as Darbar Saheb.
Modern historians agree that Rajputs consisted of a mix of various different social groups and different varnas. Rajputisation explains the process by which such diverse communities coalesced into the Rajput community.
Bhāt is a "generic term" used to refer to a bard in India. The majority of Bhats hail from Rajasthan and worked as genealogists for their patrons, however, they are viewed as mythographers. In India, the inception of Rajputization was followed by the emanation of two groups of bards with a group of them serving the society's influential communities and the other serving the communities with lower ranking in the social hierarchy.
Brohi Charan are a Brahui, Sindhi speaking ethno-linguistic group residing in the Sindh and Balochistan provinces of Pakistan. Brohi Charans are the traditional priests of the Hinglaj shrines in Balochistan and Thatta.
Rawal is an Indian community from Rajasthan and Gujarat. They are known as priests of devi temples and perform a form of dance known as Rammat during the worship. They were well respected and patronised by the Charans.
Ratnu, also spelt as Ratanu or Ratnoo, is a major clan of the Charanas in Rajasthan.
Sasan was a tax-free land grant given in the form of either partial or whole villages to the Charanas by rulers in medieval India. These grants were given in perpetuity and enjoyed superior rights compared to other land tenures.
References
- 1 2 Kothiyal, Tanuja (2016-03-14). Nomadic Narratives: A History of Mobility and Identity in the Great Indian Desert. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-316-67389-8.
The bards of Charans were called Motisars, but they were not genealogists. Instead they wrote poetry in honour of Charans as Charans did for Rajputs. The Motisars like Charans left their villages after Dussehra and returned only after four to six months.
- ↑ Meghani, Zaverchand Kalidas (2003). A Ruby Shattered: A Collection of Love-legends in Folk-balladry Form of Saurashtra. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.
MOTISAR: A community (or one belonging to it) that mostly depended upon charan patrons and regarded as a bard community
- ↑ Jansen, Jan; Maier, Hendrik M. J. (2004). Epic Adventures: Heroic Narrative in the Oral Performance Traditions of Four Continents. LIT Verlag Münster. ISBN 978-3-8258-6758-4.
In addition, the contemporary Pabuji tradition also includes poetry dedicated to Pabuji by the Rawal genealogists of the Charans, prayers performed by Dhola drummers, poems chanted by poets of the Motisar caste and hymns of Dhadhi singers, who all belong to the gayak jati or 'singing caste-groups' of Rajasthan.
- 1 2 3 Qanungo, Kalika Ranjan; Kānūnago, Kālikā Rañjana (1960). Studies in Rajput History. S. Chand.
there are seven categories of persons and communities, who in their turn have a hereditary claim on the Charan's bounty, and are not allowed to beg of any other community. Besides their kula-guru family of Brahmans living in Ujjain till today, and the purohit (family priest), these are: the Rao Bhat of Chandisa sept of Marwar (who are the Bhats of the Charans as of the Rathors of Marwar); the Rawal Brahmans, the Goind-pota and the Viram-pota (Bhats singing with dhol?) and the Motisar community.
- ↑ Gujarat. Gujarat Vishvakosh Trust. 2007.
the bhats,motisars, ravals and such other communities also offered duhas , tales or stories and adulations.
- ↑ Prabhākara, Manohara (1976). A Critical Study of Rajasthani Literature, with Exclusive Reference to the Contribution of Cāraṇas. Panchsheel Prakashan.
Motisar is a caste which keeps the genealogies of Carans, sings their praises and begs money of them. The Motisars themselves are often good composers.
- ↑ Shastri, Hara Prasad (1913). Preliminary Report on the Operation in Search of Mss. of Bardic Chronicles. Asiatic Society of Bengal.