Chuhra

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Chuhra
चूहड़ा چُوہْڑا
Harijan
GotraN/A
ReligionsHinduism, Islam, Christianity and Sikhism
CountryIndia, Pakistan and Nepal
LineageValmiki and Satakarni
StatusScheduled Caste category
Reservation (Education)Yes

Chuhra, also known as Bhanghi and Balmiki,

Punjab region of India and Pakistan, as well as Uttar Pradesh in India, among other parts of the Indian subcontinent such as southern India.[6][7][8][9] Their traditional occupation is sweeping, a "polluting" occupation that caused them to be considered untouchables in the caste system.[10]

Originally following the

Dalit Christians of the Chuhra caste; other Chuhras practice Islam or continue to follow Hinduism.[14][8][15][16]

Etymology and history

The Chuhras claim descent from Balmiki, composer of the Ramayana.

The word "Chuhra" is derived from the word "Shudra", one of the varnas in Indian society.[17]

The Bhangis claim descent from Balmiki (also known as Lal Beg or Balashah), a Brahmin who composed the Ramayana and who is worshipped as a Hindu patron saint by the Bhangis.[18][19][20] The word Bhangi is derived from Bhanga which means broken. The Bhangi community claims that they were made to sweep the floor and do other menial jobs when they refused to convert into Islam during Mughal era.[18]

Originally following the

Balmiki sect of Hinduism, many Chuhras converted to Sikhism, Islam and Christianity during the colonial era in India.[11] The faith practiced by the Lal Begi Chuhras came to syncretize elements of Hinduism, Islam and Christianity. The Arya Samaj drew the majority to mainstream Hinduism while conversions similarly happened to Islam, Christianity, and Sikhism in the 19th and early 20th centuries.[21][22]

In 1932 in colonial India, the Balmiki Sabha was created to advocate for the rights of the Chuhras.[23] The Balmiki Sabha was applauded by the Indian National Congress in the mid-1940s for heralding its political message among the Chuhras.[23]

By religion

In Hinduism

As with the

1931 Indian Census thus recorded themselves as "Hindu Balmiki".[25]

In Christianity

In

censuses of British India became increasingly confused regarding Chuhra Dalits' religious beliefs because the respondents were allowed to choose their designation. Jeffrey Cox says that in the 1920s and 1930s they described themselves variously as

Chuhra, "Hindu" Chuhra, Musali (Muslim Chuhra), Mazhabi (Sikh Chuhra), Ad-Dharmi, Christian Chuhra, or simply Christian ... It is certain that a large majority of the 391,270 Indian Christians enumerated in Punjab were Chuhras - that is, the most stigmatized minority in the province.[27]

In what is now Pakistan, the conversions to Christianity and consequent invention of a new identity were largely responsible for the name Chuhra becoming archaic. It is often considered pejorative and applied to almost all of the Christians in the country, whom John O'Brien describes as "descended from one tribe-caste of oppressed and excluded people".

Dalit Christians continues to be "distinct feature of social discrimination" against them.[14]

In Islam

Chuhras who converted from Hinduism to Islam were known as Musalis.

Mohammed as their prophet and also continued observing traditional Hindu festivals, such as Diwali, Rakhi and Holi. Just like their Hindu brethren they continued with their traditional caste work. In India the caste system was fully observed by Muslims. In the same way that Hindu Chuhras who were barred from entrance to temples in historical times, Muslim Chuhras are still today barred from entrance to mosques and never allowed to go past the outside steps to Muslim religious places. The Untouchability even extended after death; Chuhras were to bury their dead in separate graveyards away from other Muslims.[30]

In Sikhism

Chuhras who converted from Hinduism to Sikhism became known as Mazhabi Sikhs.[15][31]

Demographics

According to the

Punjab[32] and were the second-most populous Scheduled Caste in Delhi National Capital Region.[33][34]

The

2011 Census of India for Uttar Pradesh showed the Balmiki population, which was classified as a Scheduled Caste, as 1,319,241.[35]

The Balmikis represent 0.7 per cent in Andhra Pradesh and are mainly concentrated in Anantapur, Kurnool and Kadapa districts of Andhra Pradesh.[36][37] They also built a temple of Valmiki in Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh.[38]

In the UK, the Council of Valmiki Sabhas UK was established to represent the Balmiki.[39][40]

Sub-castes

The following are sub-castes of the Balmiki/Bhangi/Chuhra caste:[1]

  • Borat
  • Chhapriband
  • Dharival
  • Gill
  • Hansi
  • Kandabari
  • Khosar
  • Ladhar
  • Lal Begi
  • Mattu
  • Sahotra/Sotra
  • Sindhu
  • Untwal
  • Valmikis

Use as an epithet

The locution "Chuhra-Chamar" is used derisively by some members of the

Jat caste to refer to both Dalit castes, the Chuhra and Chamar.[41][42][43][44]

See also

References

  1. ^ . In a similar way, 'Chuhras' are often called 'Bhangi', especially in urban areas. ... Today, although not all 'Bhangis' worship Bhagwan Valmik, and by no means all Valmikis were originally called 'Bhangi', the two terms are often used interchangeably. ... 'Valmiki' is explained as 'the now usually preferred name for the Bhangi or community which follows the teachings of the saint Valmiki' (1998: xii, xvi).
  2. .
  3. . The Chuhras and Bhangis are both Dalit castes, whose 'traditional occupation' has been sweeping.
  4. .
  5. .
  6. . The Balmiki (SC) in Haryana are also known as Valmiki, Chuhra, Lal Begi or Khakrobe.
  7. . Pauline Kolenda did field research among Chuhras in the village of Khalapur in north-western Uttar Pradesh shortly before Dr. Ambedkar died.
  8. ^ . For example, 90 to 95% of Pakistani Christians are Punjabi of the chuhra (dalit) group converted from Hinduism rather than from Islam or local religious systems.
  9. .
  10. ^ Bodley, J. H. (2011). Cultural Anthropology: Tribes, States, and the Global System (5th ed.). Rowman Altamira. p. 315.
  11. ^ . Islam, Sikhism, and Christianity represented viable alternatives for the Chuhras, siphoning off a sizable portion of the Hindu population. In 1901, 934,553 Chuhras were registered as Hindus; by 1931, that number had dwindled to about one-third (368,224 people). The socioeconomic factors that prompted some Chuhras to become Muslims or Sikhs propelled others into the Christian fold.
  12. ^ a b "Census" (PDF).
  13. .
  14. ^ a b Singha, Sara; Ariel, Glucklich (23 April 2015). "Dalit Christians and Caste Consciousness in Pakistan". Retrieved 22 September 2020. This study explores caste discrimination in Pakistan against untouchable (Dalit) converts to Christianity. During the nineteenth century in India, many Dalits converted to Christianity to escape caste persecution. In the 1870s in Punjab, a mass movement to Protestant Christianity flourished among the Dalit Chuhra caste. The Chuhras were the largest menial caste in Punjab and engaged in degrading occupations including sweeping and sanitation work. By the 1930s, almost the entire Chuhra caste converted to Protestant Christianity. In 1947, during the partition of India, the majority of Chuhra converts in Punjab became part of the Protestant community in Pakistan. After Partition, many uneducated Chuhras were confined to menial jobs in the sanitation industry. Today, the stigma of Dalit ancestry is a distinct feature of social discrimination against Chuhra Christians in Pakistan.
  15. ^ . For one thing , there were a good number of Chuhra Muslims who were called Musallis and may or may not have been accepted by others as fellow Muslims. Similarly , Chuhra Sikhs were called Mazhabi Sikhs and were generally kept at a distance by other Sikhs, despite being quite scrupulous in their observances as well as giving up polluting work (carrying night soil) and habits (eating carrion)...
  16. ^ Aqeel, Asif (1 November 2018). "'Untouchable' caste identity haunts Pakistani Christians like Asia Bibi". World Watch Monitor. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  17. ^ Bahadur, Krishna Prakash (1977). Caste, Tribes & Culture of India. Ess Ess Publications. p. 10. The sweeper or scavenger caste of Punjab is called the Chuhra, a corruption of Sudra.
  18. ^ .
  19. ^ Kananaikil, Jose (1983). Scheduled Castes and the Struggle Against Inequality: Strategies to Empower the Marginalised. Indian Social Institute. p. 17.
  20. .
  21. .
  22. ^ Lee, Joel (1 January 2014). "Lāl Beg Underground: the Passing of an "Untouchable" God". Objects of Worship in South Asian Religions: Forms, Practices and Meanings, edited by Knut A. Jacobsen, Mikael Aktor, Kristina Myrvold, pp. 143-162.
  23. ^ .
  24. . The Chuhras are divided into four religious orders, the Hindu - Balmiki or Lalbegi, the Muslim - Watal , the Sikh - Mazhabi and the Christian Chuhra.
  25. ^ Saberwal, Satish (1972). Beyond the Village: Sociological Explorations. Indian Institute of Advanced Study. In the same census, 3,152 Punjabis gave 'Balmiki' as their religion (Khan 1933, II : 277): their caste is not revealed, but Hutton (1933, I : 499) reporting on the same census shows Chuhras in Baluchistan returning themselves as "Hindu Balmiki".
  26. .
  27. .
  28. .
  29. . Likewise, Chuhras were not accepted fully in Islam by their Muslim co-religionists: they were distinguished as musalis (little Muslims) despite the fact that Islam proclaims equality (Q.49:13).
  30. .
  31. .
  32. ^ "Punjab: Data Highlights: The Scheduled Castes" (PDF). Census I. 2001. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  33. ^ "Delhi: Data Highlights: The Scheduled Castes" (PDF). Census India. 2001. p. 1. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  34. ^ "A-10 Individual Scheduled Caste Primary Census Abstract Data and its Appendix - Uttar Pradesh". Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  35. ^ Caste,Class and Social Articulation in Andhra Pradesh:Mapping Differential Regional Trajectories (PDF), Osmania University
  36. ^ J. Sreenath; S. H. Ahmad (1989). All India anthropometric survey: analysis of data. South Zone. Anthropological Survey of India. p. 37.
  37. .
  38. ^ Jacobs, Stephen (2010). Hinduism Today: An Introduction. A & C Black.
  39. ^ "Memorandum submitted by Central Valmiki Sabha International (UK)". United Kingdom Parliament. 12 November 2009. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  40. . As a result, whatever their chosen religion, Panjabi dalits are invariably defined by caste: either they are grouped together as 'untouchable' (or by a similarly demeaning label, such as 'Chuhra-Chamar') or they are marginalized as a sub-category of the religious tradition in question, such as 'Achut' ('untouchable') Hindu or 'Mazhabi' Sikh.
  41. ^ Kaur, Naunidhi (21 May 2004). "Social boycotts, segregation". Frontline. Retrieved 1 October 2020. The term chuhra-chamar (scavenger and tanner) is freely employed by landlords belonging to the Jat community to refer to Dalits.
  42. ^ Khalid, Haroon. "The language curse: How proud community names have been reduced to insults in Pakistan". scroll.in. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  43. ^ Chaudhry, Kamran. "Pakistani politician draws censure for Christian slur". UCA News. Retrieved 28 September 2021.

Further reading

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