Regions with significant populations | |
---|---|
Pakistan | 9200[ citation needed ] |
India | 643,381 [1] |
Gujarat | 642,348 [1] |
Madhya Pradesh | 500 [1] |
Maharashtra | 488 [1] |
Karnataka | 45 [1] |
Languages | |
Rathwi, Gujarati, Hindi | |
Religion | |
indigenous |
The Rathva [2] or Rathwa [3] also spelled as Rathava [4] and Rathawa is a Subcaste of the Koli caste found in the Indian state of Gujarat. [5] [6] Rathava Kolis were agriculturist by profession and turbulent by habits [4] [7] but now lives like Adivasis such as Bhil because of their neighborhood [8]
The Rathva Kolis were classified as Other Backward Class or OBC by Government of Gujarat [9] but in August 2022 reclassified as a Scheduled Tribes. [10]
The Rathwa derive their name from the word rathbistar, which means an inhabitant of a forest or hilly region. Their communal belief is that they came to the Gujarat area in the Middle Ages from what is now known as Madhya Pradesh. According to the Government of Gujarat, they are now found in the talukas of Chhota Udaipur, Jabugam and Nasvadi in Vadodara district and the Baria, Halol and Kalol talukas of Panchmahal district. [11] [lower-alpha 1]
Although sometimes referred to as the Rathwa Koli, and sometimes self-identifying as such, [13] they are treated as inferior by the Koli people. [11] Some sources say that they are in fact descended from migrant Bhil people, although Shereen Ratnagar noted that those Rathwa to whom she spoke during her anthropological studies rejected that association and that labels such as Koli and Bhil were historically imposed upon communities by administrative outsiders as catch-all terms. [13] [14] [lower-alpha 2] Bhils and Kolis historically co-existed in the hills of what is now Gujarat, which sociologist Arvind Shah says has led to confusion of the two groups, not helped by there being "hardly any modern, systematic, anthropological, sociological or historical study" of the Kolis. [15] The Rathwa themselves were barely studied until a seminal paper produced by R. B. Lal in 1970, in part because they lived as niche communities in steep, densely forested, relatively inaccessible areas. [16]
Here are some of the clans of Rathwa Kolis of Gujarat, [17]
Rathwa culture is at its most pure in the remote hilly areas of Chhota Udaipur, where most are concentrated, and becomes more diluted elsewhere. [18] They speak the Rathwi language among themselves and mostly the Gujarati language when communicating with outsiders, although Hindi is also used. [11] Their literacy rates are low, being around 35 per cent at the time of the 2001 Census of India and under 30 per cent in outlying areas. [18] However, these rates should improve because the community now recognises the need for education and there is an improved school system for their villages. [19]
The Rathwas are culturally indistinguishable - even by themselves - from the Dhanak and Naikda tribes of the area, having similar dress, similar celebrations of life events such as birth, marriage and death, similar religious beliefs, songs and dance. Like the Dhanka and Naikda, they are endogamous and this lack of inter-community marriage is the one thing that clearly separates them from each other. [20] Lal recorded the community as practising a patrilineal system of inheritance and subsisting mainly through agriculture, supplemented by food gathering, fishing and hunting. [21] They have a number of exogamous clans, including the Hamania, Thebaria, Mahania, Kothari Baka and Fadia. [11] Lal recorded around 32 septs. [21]
As with other tribes of the region, ancestor worship is common among the Rathwas. They believe in an omnipresent deity called Babo Pithora or Baba Deb, who is depicted with other scenes of everyday life in religious paintings on the walls of their houses. [11] [22] Gregory Alles believes that these artworks are akin to cosmographs. merging aspects of real life with an imaginary world. [18] They appeal to the deity in times of need and create the painting - called a pithora - as a thanks for resolution of those needs. [22] Pithora ritual art, described by Ratnagar as "vibrant colours ... teeming with gods, people, plants, birds and animals", is unique to the Rathwa and significant in its appeal to tourists; aside from practising it in their own houses, the Rathwa also paint pithora in the houses of Dhanak and Naikda people. [20]
Horses have a particularly prominent role in worship as Babo Pithora is thought to ride one. Not only do the animals feature in the pithora paintings but clay models of them, sourced from Kumbhar potters, are also offered in thanks at temples. No member of a family is permitted to sit with their back facing the pithora in the house. [11] [22] Aside from worship of ancestors, nature and tribal deities, Lal noted some aspects of Hinduism integrated into their belief systems; [21] the number professing solely Hindu beliefs has been increasing under the influence of sampradayas. [12] Although Gujarat is a "dry" state, the Rathwas also traditionally consider alcohol to be a gift from god that alleviates temporal sorrows while awaiting death, and will travel to smuggle it from neighbouring states or brew it in their own homes. [18] [23]
Government agencies have struggled to define the Rathwa, whom Ratnagar says were not separately recorded from the Kolis until the census of 1971. [13] [14] However, Lal's paper notes population figures from 1961, which was also a census year. [16] The community is classified as a Scheduled Tribe in three states under India's system of positive discrimination, those being Gujarat, Karnataka and Maharashtra. [1]
Bhil or Bheel is an ethnic group in western India. They speak the Bhil languages, a subgroup of the Western Zone of the Indo-Aryan languages. Bhils are members of a tribal group outside the fold of Hinduism and the caste system.
Parmar, also known as Panwar or Pawar, is a Rajput clan found in Northern and Central India, especially in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and North Maharashtra. The clan name is also used by Kōḷīs, Garoḍās, Līmaciyā Valands, Mōcīs, Tūrīs, Luhārs, Kansārās, Darajīs, Bhāvasārs, Cūnvāḷiyās, Ghañcīs, Harijans, Sōnīs, Sutārs, Dhobīs, Khavāsas, Rabārīs, Āhīrs, Sandhīs, Pīñjārās, Vāñjhās, Dhūḷadhōyās, Rāvaḷs, Vāgharīs, Bhīls, Āñjaṇās, Mer and Ḍhēḍhs.
Solanki also known as Chaulukya is a clan name originally associated with the Rajputs in Northern India but which has also been borrowed by other communities such as the Saharias as a means of advancement by the process of sanskritisation. Other groups that use the name include the Bhils of Rajasthan, Koḷis, Ghān̄cīs, Kumbhārs, Bāroṭs, Kaḍiyās, Darjīs, Mocīs, Ḍheḍhs, and Bhangīs.
Dahod district is a district of Gujarat state in western India. This largely tribal district is mostly covered by forests and hills.
Devgadh Baria is a municipality in Dahod district in the state of Gujarat, India. It is a small town nestled in the foothills on the eastern border of Gujarat State. It is 41 kilometers from Godhra in the west, 55 kilometers from Dahod in the east and 14 kilometers south of Ahmedabad-Indore highway. Devgadh Baria is located on the bank of Panam River and is part of Dahod district in the state of Gujarat. The name, Devgadh Baria of the place derived two words Devgadh and Baria. Devgadh is the name of the mountain that is surrounding the town and Baria is the name of local tribe.
Garasia, alternatively spelled Girasia, Girasiya or Garasiya, is a title used by the Koli chieftains of petty states or Jagirdars in India who held the villages as Giras granted by rulers. Many of the Chunvalia Kolis held the title of Girasia and they worshipped the Hindu goddess Shakti.
A Bhilala is a tribe found in the Malwa and Nimar of the Central Provinces and in Central India. The total strength of the Bhilalas is about 150,000 persons, most of whom reside in the Bhopawar Agency, adjoining Nimar. Only 15,000 were returned from the Central Provinces in 1911. The Bhilalas are commonly considered, and the general belief may in their case be accepted as correct, to be a mixed caste sprung from the invading immigrant Rajputs with Bhils of the Central India hills. The original term was not improbably Bhilwala, and may have been applied to those Rajput chiefs, a numerous body, who conquered small estates in the Bhil country, or to those who took the daughters of Bhil chieftains to wife. The bhilalas in the central province are descendants of male Rajput with female Bhils and take the name of the Rajput clan to which they trace their origin. The Bhilalas are landholders and live like mukhis, Darbar or Thakur.
Chhota Udaipur is a town and a municipality in Chhota Udaipur district in the state of Gujarat, India. It is the headquarters of Chhota Udaipur district.
The Dhanka are a tribe or caste of India who believe themselves to be aboriginal, although they are unable to assert from whence they came.found in Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh,Gujarat, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh they are no relation with dhanuk kurmi. They are historically neither Hindu nor Muslim and their occupations have changed over time, as circumstances have dictated for survival. Although similar groups in India are often referred to as adivasi, the Dhanka generally reject this term.
Baria, or Baraiya,Bareeya and Bariya is a clan (Gotra) of the Koli caste found in the Indian State of Gujarat and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. the Devgad Baria was their Stronghold or given their name to Baria State in Gujarat. according to the historian Y.V.S Nath, the ruling royal family of Baria State is original Koli by caste but later they claimed to be of Rajput origin to be in high status among other Princely States.
The Koli is an Indian caste found in Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka, Odisha and Jammu and Kashmir states in India. Koli is an agriculturist caste of Gujarat but in coastal areas they also work as fishermen along with agriculture. In the beginning of 20th century, the Koli caste was recognised as a denotified tribe under Criminal Tribes Act by the Indian Government because of their anti-social activities during World War I.
Chhota Udaipur district is a district in the state of Gujarat in India. It was carved out of the Vadodara district on 26 January 2013 with its headquarters at Chhota Udaipur town and is the 28th district of Gujarat.
Ramsinh Rathwa is Indian politician from Gujarat and belong to Bhartiya Janata Party. Rathva belong to the Koli caste of Gujarat.
Jambughoda State, previously known as Narukot and Tokalpur state, was a small princely state in India during the time of the British Raj. Its last ruler acceded to the Union of India on 10 June 1948.
The Baria State, also known as Bariya State, was one of the princely states of India during the period of the British Raj. It was under the Rewa Kantha Agency of the Bombay Presidency and had its capital in Devgadh Baria town of present-day Dahod district in Gujarat state. The Baria State was ruled by Koli chieftains of Baria clan (Gotra) of Gujarat, who later claimed to be kshatriya.
Pithora is a ritualistic painting done on the walls by the Rathwa, Bhils and Bhilala tribes. The name Pithora also refers to the Hindu deity of marriage.
Kawant fair is a fair of Bhil and koli tribe of Chhota Udaipur area which is held in Kwant village immediately after Holi festival.
Mohansinh Rathva is an Indian politician and a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Gujarat from Chhota Udaipur constituency. He has served as an MLA for ten terms.
Rathva is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
The Talapada, or Talpada, is a subcaste of the Koli caste of Gujarat state in India. Talapada Kolis are agriculturists by profession. they were members of the Gujarat Kshatriya Sabha, an organisation launched by Natwarsinh Solanki who was a Koli elite. In 1907, they were classified by the British as a Criminal Tribe, ascribing to them a range of anti-social activities such as highway robbery, murder, and theft of animals, cattle and standing crops. They were also alleged to be blackmailers and hired assassins.
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