The Soni are a Hindu caste of goldsmiths found throughout India in the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh. [1] The Soni caste of Gujarat, don't take food touched by Rajputs because Rajputs are inferior to the Soni caste. [2]
The Soni are a Hindu caste of goldsmiths found throughout India in the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh. [1] The Soni caste of Gujarat, don't take food touched by Rajputs because Rajputs are inferior to the Soni caste. [2]
The Soni are essentially still goldsmiths, with a few also involved in the manufacture of other items of jewellery. [3] Like similar Hindu castes, they are endogamous and maintain a system of clan (gotra) exogamy. The various sub-divisions of the Soni have their own caste associations, such as the Patni Soni Mandal and Shrimali Soni Mandal. They follow Vaishnavism, and many belonging to the Swaminarayan sect.
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.
Patel is an Indian surname or title, predominantly found in the state of Gujarat, representing the community of land-owning farmers and later businessmen, agriculturalists and merchants. Traditionally the title is a status name referring to the village chieftains during medieval times, and was later retained as successive generations stemmed out into communities of landowners. There are roughly 500,000 Patels outside India, including about 150,000 in the United Kingdom and about 150,000 in the United States. Nearly 1 in 10 people of Indian origin in the US is a Patel.
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.
Mahar is a caste found largely in the state of Maharashtra and neighbouring areas. Previously they along with many other Hindu castes were treated as untouchables. The injustice of this practice was the primary reason for most of the Mahar community to follow B. R. Ambedkar in embracing Buddhism in the middle of the 20th century. There are still some Mahars who practice Hinduism.
Muslim Rajputs or Musalman Rajpoots are the descendants of Rajputs in the northern regions of the Indian subcontinent who generally are followers of Islam. Reportedly, they converted from Hinduism to Islam from the medieval period onwards, creating various dynasties and states while retaining Hindu surnames such as Chauhan. Today, Muslim Rajputs can be found mostly in present-day Northern India and Pakistan. They are further divided into different clans.
Jadeja is a Rajput clan that inhabits the Indian state of Gujarat and the Tharparkar district of Sindh, Pakistan. They originated from Sammas of Sindh, a pastoral group, and laid a claim on the Rajput identity after marriages with Sodha Rajput women by adopting a process called Rajputisation.
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.
Lohar is considered to be a caste among Hindus and a clan among Muslims and Sikhs in the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand, and in Nepal. They form traditionally artisanal castes. Writers of the Raj period often used the term Lohar as a synonym for blacksmith, although there are other traditional smiting communities, such as the Ramgarhia and Sikligar, and numerous non-traditional communities, including the Kayastha, Rajput and Brahmin.
The Gujarat Kshatriya Sabha was a social organisation in the Indian state of Gujarat which was initiated to get together the Kolis and Rajputs of the state. Gujarat Kshatriya Sabha was started by a Koli Jagirdar Natvarsinh Solanki and a Rajput Mahendrasinh Mahida to resolve the problems faced by both communities and to be in power at political level. The Gujarat Kshatriya Sabha was most important for Rajputs to be in power at political level because they were only 4% of the total population of Gujarat while Kolis were largest caste cluster comprising the 24% of total population of state.
Bhumihar, also locally called Bhuinhar and Babhan, is a Hindu caste mainly found in Bihar, the Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh, and Nepal.
The Swarnkar is a Kshatriya caste in India or Nepal. Swarnkar is a hindu suryavanshi and chandravanshi caste in India or Nepal. The Sunar community works trader of gold or as goldsmiths. The community is primarily Hindu, christian,buddhist and found all over India or Nepal.
The Vala, or Wala is a Gujarati clan (Gotra) mostly found among Koli, Rajput and Kathi castes of Gujarat.
The Baria Koli, or Baraiya Koli, Bareeya Koli and Bariya Koli 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 Kshatriya 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.
The Makwana Koli also spelled as Makawana Koli, Makvana Koli, Makavana Koli, Mukwana Koli and Mukawana Koli is a clan (Gotra) of the Koli caste mostly found in the Indian state of Gujarat and Union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. In 1931 census of Baroda State, there were 20,700 Kolis of Makwana clan in the Baroda state's territory. Makwana Kolis mostly belong to the Hindu faith but there are members of the community who converted to Islam during the reign of the invading Mughal power in Gujarat.
KHAM stands for Koli Kshatriya, Harijan, Adivasi and Muslim. Here Kshatriya is taken to include the Kolis. In the KHAM combine, Kolis were the largest caste represented at different levels of politics, and Madhavsinh Solanki increased the reservation quota for Other Backward Classes in Gujarat. The theory was propounded by Madhavsinh Solanki in 1980s in Gujarat to create vote bank for Indian National Congress and prepared by Jhinabhai Darji. Using the formula, Congress was able to capture 149 seats in the 182-member Assembly. However the formula alienated Patels permanently from Congress. during the Kham alliance, castes such as Bania, Patidar and Brahmins lost their importance in the state, so they propounded the Anti reservation agitation in 1981 and 1985 in Gujarat to get rid of the power of OBC castes.
The Talapada Koli, or Talpada Koli, 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.
The Muslim Koli, or Musalman Koli is a religious subgroup of Hindu Koli caste in India and Pakistan. Most of the Muslim Kolis lives in Maharashtra and Gujarat of India and Sindh province of Pakistan. Muslim Kolis were Hindu by religion but later they were converted to Muslim and accept Islam.
The Chauhan Koli is a clan (gotra) of the Koli caste living in the Gujarat and Rajasthan states in India.
The Palia Koli, is a subcaste of the Koli caste found in the Indian state of Eastern Gujarat. Palia Kolis were related to the Rajputs of Gujarat by marrying poor or lower Rajput girls.