The Perna are a Hindu caste found mainly in the state of Haryana in India. [1]
The Perna were a nomadic tribe, referred to as vagrant by British ethnographers, similar in background to the Nat and Bazigar communities. They were said to be a sub-group of the Dom community. As a semi-nomadic community which was alleged to be involved with prostitution.
The Perna are now a settled community and provide the bulk of the agricultural labourers in Haryana. A small number have been given land, and form a community of settled agriculturists. A significant number have also started to migrate to the towns and cities of Haryana, where they are employed mainly in the construction industry. Like other Dom groups, their economic condition is precarious. The community has been accorded scheduled caste status. [1] [2]
The Perna are endogamous, and there is no inter marriage with neighbouring Dom groups like the Nat and Bazigar. Like other North Indian Hindu communities, they practice clan and village exogamy. They speak Haryanvi, and are found mainly in the districts of Rohtak, Gurgaon, Faridabad, and Sirsa.[ citation needed ]
The Bangali may refer to a Scheduled Caste found in northern India. They are distinct from the Bengali ethnic group of West Bengal and Bangladesh. The Bangali are one of the many nomadic groupings found in India, and have customs similar to other nomadic communities such as the Kanjar.
The Dom, also known as Domra, Domba, Domaka, Dombara and Dombari, are castes, or groups, scattered across India. Dom were a caste of drummer. According to Tantra scriptures, the Dom were engaged in the occupations of singing and playing music. Historically, they were considered an untouchable caste called the Dalits and their traditional occupation was the disposal and cremation of dead bodies. They are in the list of Scheduled caste for Reservation in India in the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
Bazigar, or Goaars, are an ethnic group of north-western India. They are primarily found in Punjab and in Pakistan's Punjab, but there are also communities in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Rajasthan. They were previously nomadic with their main occupation the performance of acrobatics and other forms of entertainment, but they are now settled and engaged mainly in agricultural and similar forms of labour.
Arora is a Punjabi caste, comprising both Hindus and Sikhs. The name is derived from their native place Aror. In 712, the Arora people are said to have left Aror and started to settle in the cities of Punjab, mainly in South Punjab. However, according to W. H. McLeod, many Aroras originally came from Pothohar area.
Denotified Tribes are the tribes in India that were listed originally under the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871, as Criminal Tribes and "addicted to the systematic commission of non-bailable offences." Once a tribe became "notified" as criminal, all its members were required to register with the local magistrate, failing which they would be charged with a crime under the Indian Penal Code.
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 Muslim Gaddi are a Muslim community found mainly in northern India. After the independence in 1947, the Gaddi of the states of Haryana and Delhi migrated to Pakistan and are now found in the provinces of Punjab and Sindh. In Pakistan and North India, Community members are referred to as Ghazi .
The Rath (Rajasthani: रथ رتھ, are a community, found in the state of Rajasthan in India. They also settled in Punjab and Sindh provinces Pakistan. There is another clan similar to it known as Rathi.
The Sapera are a Hindu caste found in North India. They are also known as Barwa Sampheriya in West Bengal, Sapela in Punjab and Sparera in Madhya Pradesh.
The Nat are a Hindu caste found in northern India.
The Sikligar is a community found in the Indian states of Gujarat, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Punjab. By tradition, the Sikligar people specialized in the craft of making and polishing weapons. They are typically Hindu in Gujarat, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh; Sikh in Punjab; and either Hindu and Sikh in Haryana.
The Sirkiband are a Hindu caste found in the states of Haryana and Punjab in India. They have scheduled caste status in Haryana. A small number in Punjab are now Sikh.
The Kalabaz are a Hindu caste found in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. They have Scheduled Caste status.
The Heri are a Hindu caste found in the states of Haryana and Punjab in India.
Babaria are a nomadic tribe found mainly in the Indian states of Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
The Hurkiya are a caste found in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand in India. They have been granted Scheduled Caste status in both these states. In fact, there are two distinct communities that go by the name Hurkiya, those of Uttarakhand, who are Hindu by religion, and those found in western Uttar Pradesh, who are Muslim. Both Hurkiya are of common origin, being a sub-group within the Dom ethnic group, and are one of the many gypsy like grouping found in North India.
The Chirimar are a Hindu caste found in the state of Haryana in India. They are also known as Baheliya.
The Bazigar, Goaar, or Guar, language is spoken by the Bazigar ethnic group of north-western India who are found primarily in Punjab, but also in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Rajasthan.
The Jat people are a traditionally agricultural community in Northern India and Pakistan. Originally pastoralists in the lower Indus river-valley of Sindh, many Jats migrated north into the Punjab region in late medieval times, and subsequently into the Delhi Territory, northeastern Rajputana, and the western Gangetic Plain in the 17th and 18th centuries. Of Hindu, Muslim and Sikh faiths, they are now found mostly in the Indian states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan and the Pakistani provinces of Sindh and Punjab.
Castes are largely hereditary social classes often emerging around certain professions. Lower castes are associated with professions considered "unclean", which has often included the sex industry. The term caste-based prostitution, or intergenerational prostitution, is sometimes used to refer to when women of certain castes are traditionally involved in prostitution. Additionally, the vulnerable socio-economic status of lower caste women leads to a significant percentage of them entering sex work.