Beldar
The Beldar are a historically nomadic
Northern India and now inhabiting many other parts of that country.[1]
History and origin
The community are the traditionally natives of North India, and are similar to the Odh communities, who are the natives of west India. They also claim common ancestry with Kewat community, who similarly refer to themselves as Odhs.[2]
In
Nasik
, beed,
Sholapur, Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara, Ratnagiri and the city of Mumbai. The Beldar claim to have immigrated from Rajasthan some five centuries ago. They still speak Beldari Language among themselves and Marathi with outsiders. and also use a Beldari language. The community is strictly endogamous, and consists of a number of exogamous clans. Their main clans are the Chapula, Narora, Davawar, Kharola, Jailwar, Faatara, Horwar, Chhapawar, Tuse, Pannewar, Mahore, Basniwar, Bahr, Jajure, Gorala and Udainwar.[3]
Present circumstances
The Beldar of
The traditional occupation of the Beldar in Maharashtra was masonry. Many are still employed in the construction industry. The community is entirely landless, and was historically nomadic. A considerable number of Beldar are also employed by the various brick kilns.[3]
The
Scheduled Caste, showed the Beldar population as 189,614.[5]
References
- ^ People of India Uttar Pradesh Volume XLII Part One edited by A Hasan & J C Das, pages 245–248
- ^ People of India Uttar Pradesh Volume XLII Part One edited by A Hasan & J C Das, page 268
- ^ a b People of India Maharashtra Volume XXX Part One edited by B.V Bhanu, B.R Bhatnagar, D.K Bose, V.S Kulkarni and J Sreenath, pages 192–197
- ^ People of India Uttar Pradesh Volume XLII Part One edited by A Hasan & J C Das, page 247
- ^ "A-10 Individual Scheduled Caste Primary Census Abstract Data and its Appendix – Uttar Pradesh". Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 4 February 2017.