Patharkat

Last updated

The Patharkat are a Hindu caste found in North India. They are also known as Sangtarash. [1]

Contents

Origin

The Patharkat are a sub-group of the larger Kanjar caste. Their name Patharkat in Hindi literally means stone cutters. Having taken up the profession of stone cutting, this particular group of Kanjars broke all links with the parent community, and the two communities do not now intermarry. They are found mainly in Awadh, and their concentrations are in the districts of Sitapur, Unnao, Raebareli, Hardoi and Lucknow. In Lucknow, they are found mainly in the localities of Qaisar Bagh, Saafatgang, Daligang, Bangla Bazar, Nishatgang, Lal Kuan and Chinhat. They speak Awadhi among themselves and Hindi with outsiders. [2]

In Bihar, the Patharkat are found in the districts of Champaran, Arrah and Gaya. They are divided into seven exogamous clans, the Sankat, Sanda, Bhains, Marriya, Uthwar, Lahia and Baid. The Patharkat claim to have comme from Rajasthan some three hundred years ago. [3]

Present circumstances

The Patharkat are endogamous, but avoid marrying among close, but they have no system of exogamous clans. They are largely a landless and urban community, and their traditional occupation remains the manufacturing of the Hindu idols. The Patharkat now buys stones from quarries in western Uttar Pradesh, and then engrave and cut the stones. A few Patharkat have abandoned their traditional occupation and taken to wage labour. The Indian government has given them scheduled caste status, which allowed some to access affirmative action programmes. They are Hindu, and their customs are similar to other Awadh Hindus. [4]

The Bihar Patharkat are a nomadic community, and many are employed in quaries. They move from place to place, and live in ecampments at the edges of towns. The Patharkat are strictly endogamous, and practice clan exogamy. They are almost totally illiterate, and are one of the most deprived community in Bihar. [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

The Belwar are a Hindu sanadhya Brahmin caste found in North India, and mostly in Uttar Pradesh. Sanadhya Brahmins are called Belwars in mainly Sitapur, Lakhimpur, Hardoi, Barabanki, Gonda and Lucknow. The like to be called Bilwar or Bailwar as it is a matter of pride for them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nomads of India</span> Nomadic communities in India

Nomads are known as a group of communities who travel from place to place for their livelihood. Some are salt traders, fortune-tellers, conjurers, ayurvedic healers, jugglers, acrobats, actors, storytellers, snake charmers, animal doctors, tattooists, grindstone makers, or basketmakers. Some anthropologists have identified about 8 nomadic groups in India, numbering perhaps 1 million people—around 0.12 percent of the country's billion-plus population. Aparna Rao and Michael Casimir estimated that nomads make up around 7% of the population of India.

The Patwa are a mainly Hindu community native to Hindi Belt.Traditionally, they were Hindu baniya.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darzi</span> Muslim community, found in North India and Pakistan

Tailoring is the English translation of Darzi. In India, The art and culture of stitched clothes came to India from West Asia. In India, there was a practice of wrapping clothes instead of stitched clothes, an example of which you can see in ancient Indian paintings, in which kings, maharajas and women all used wrapped clothes. In the Indian tradition, it was customary to wrap clothing over the body rather than wear stitched cloth. The word Darzi comes from the west Asia Persian language. In Hindi Darzi is pronounced Darji.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chero</span> Hindu caste in India

The Chero is a caste found in the states of Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh in India.

The Beldar are a historically nomadic caste, originally from Northern India and now inhabiting many other parts of that country.

The Rauniyar is a Bania caste mostly found in India and Nepal. They use Rauniyar, Gupta, Mahajan, Sah, Shah, Anand, Ranjan, Kashyap, Rauniwal as their surnames.The Rauniyar is a sub-group within the Awadhi Bania community

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sapera (Hindu)</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nat (caste)</span> Hindu Social group in India

The Nat are a Hindu caste found in northern India.

The Bandhmati are a Hindu caste found in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. They are also known as Banbasi.

The Dabgar is a caste found in the states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh in India. They are also known as Dhalgar and have scheduled caste status in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, while they have Other Backward Class status in Gujarat. In Rajasthan, the community prefer the self-designation as Dhalgar.

The Domar are a Hindu caste found in the state of Karnataka in India.

The Balahar are a Hindu caste found in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. They are also known as chatriya and have OBC status.

The Gandhila sometimes pronounced as Gandhil and Gandola, are a Hindu caste found in North India. They have scheduled caste status in Punjab and Haryana.

The Kuta are a Hindu caste found in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. They are also known as Dhankuta.

The Kalabaz are a Hindu caste found in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. They have Scheduled Caste status.

The Khairaha are a Hindu caste found in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. They have Scheduled Caste status.

The Kuthaliya Bora are a Hindu caste found in the state of Uttarakhand in India. They are also known as Bora Karki.

The Jhamar are a Hindu caste found in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. They are also known as Jhaunwar.

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.

References

  1. ↑ People of India Uttar Pradesh Volume XLII Part Three edited by A Hasan & J C Das page 1142 to 1146 Manohar Publications
  2. ↑ People of India Uttar Pradesh Volume XLII Part Three edited by A Hasan & J C Das, page 1142–1146 Manohar Publications
  3. ↑ People of India Bihar Volume XVI Part Two edited by S Gopal & Hetukar Jha pages 770 to 771 Seagull Books
  4. ↑ People of India Uttar Pradesh Volume XLII Part Three edited by A Hasan & J C Das page 1142 to 1146 Manohar Publications
  5. ↑ People of India Bihar Volume XVI Part Two edited by S Gopal & Hetukar Jha pages 770 to 771 Seagull Books
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.