Patidar
The Patidar are a Hindu ethnic group found primarily in the state of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh in India.
Patidars are also known as Patel, a common surname within the community.[1]
D. F. Pocock, an anthropologist who lived among the community, noted that those in Gujarat practiced a form of hypergamy.[2]
[edit] Origin
There are two main groups of Patidars in Gujarat that make up the community:
- Leuva Patel/Patidar
- Kadava Patidar/Patel.[3]
In the Hindu ritual ranking system (varna) they were considered to be Shudra, but they improved their status in some Indian communities. Through ownership of land, and later through their role as tax agents under British administration, the Patidars rose to a position of respectability.[4] Though some Patidars in Charotar came to claim descent from Lava and Kusa, legendary sons of the god Rama, this argument was controverted by academics.[citation needed]
[edit] References
- ^ People of India Gujarat Volume XXI Part Three edited by R.B Lal, P.B.S.V Padmanabham, G Krishnan & M Azeez Mohideen pages 1094-1098
- ^ Ghurye, G. S. (2008) [1932]. Caste and race in India (Fifth ed.). Popular Prakashan. pp. 226, 451. ISBN 9788171542055. http://books.google.com/books?id=nWkjsvf6_vsC. Retrieved 2011-08-27.
- ^ Bhakta, Govind (2002). The Patels: A Gujarati Community History in the US. ISBN 0934052395.
- ^ Isabelle Clark-deces (8 March 2011). A Companion to the Anthropology of India. John Wiley and Sons. pp. 290–. ISBN 9781405198929. http://books.google.com/books?id=98uLj5FpTHQC&pg=PT290. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
