Teli: Difference between revisions

Teli
	Teli oil press (Russell, 1916)
Regions with significant populations
	India, Nepal, Pakistan
Languages
	Hindi • Bhojpuri • Odia
Religion
	Hinduism, Islam, Judaism

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Revision as of 15:13, 16 September 2022

Teli is a caste traditionally occupied in the pressing of oil in India, Nepal and Pakistan. Members may be either Hindu or Muslim; Muslim Teli are called Roshandaar or Teli Malik.^[1]

History

In the Early Medieval period, Mohommad Gori invade Rathores of kannauj and Rathore kingdom collapse after defeat and some of them become oil or tel merchant and call themselves Rathore (teli). where some parts of south India, Teli community used to work on their own oil presses to produce oil to be supplied to the temples. The emergence of "Temple towns" in various parts of south India was instrumental in the improvement of social status of some of the communities who were associated with the supply of essential items for cultural activities. The communities like Malakar (garland makers), and Telikars (oil pressers) thus became important for the functioning of such towns. Some of them even became prosperous enough to make donations to the temples.^[3]

Subdivisions

The Telis of Bengal share their social position with trader communities like Suvarnabanik, Gandhabanik, Saha all of which are classified as Vaishya or Baniya.^[4] Further, the Ghanchi community of Gujarat have been described as a "counterpart" of the Telis.^[5]

Politics

Bihar

In the post Mandal phase the growing differences between upper castes and OBC due to tussle between the two groups over political power culminated into replacement of upper castes by the OBCs in the political circle. The Telis along with Yadav, Kurmi, Koeri and Bania took over the erstwhile political elites namely Brahmin, Bhumihar, Rajput and Kayastha.The OBCs in Bihar are divided into upper and lower OBC on the basis of socio-economic mobility and political representation. Whilst the trio of Yadav, Kurmi and Koeri are considered as upper OBC, Teli along with Kanu, Dhanuk, Kahar, Kumhar and others are classified as lower OBC.^[6] In the late 2000s, some among the Teli community of Bihar, organised by the Teli Sena, were engaging in vote bank politics as they sought to achieve categorisation as a Most Backward Class in the state. Initially, they had failed to achieve this repositioning in India's official positive discrimination scheme,^[7] with opposition coming from other groups who considered the Teli to be too populous and socio-economically influential to justify the change.^[8] In April 2015, Bihar chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced a decision to include the Teli caste in the list of Extremely Backward Class in Bihar.^[9]^[10]

Jharkhand

In 2018 the Bharatiya Janata Party led government in Jharkhand tried to include castes like Teli and Kurmi in the category of Scheduled Tribes, which was welcomed by protests from tribals of Jharkhand under the banner of Jai Adivasi Yuvashakti (JAY) a local organisation which organised "Adivasi Akrosh Maharally", a gathering of all principal tribal groups of the state to protest against the same.^[11]

References

^ People of India Uttar Pradesh Volume XLII edited by A Hasan & J C Das
^ Ramesh P. Mohanty (2003). Dalits Development and Change: An Empirical Study. Discovery Publishing House. pp. 40–. ISBN 978-81-7141-696-7.
^ "Proceedings - Indian History Congress". Indian History Congress(original from The University of Michigan). 2003. pp. 383, 387, 392. Retrieved 28 August 2020. Often oil presser is referred as Teli , " Telikar or Tailyakar ( Sanskrit - Tailikakar ) etc . The reference of ... Obviously oil industry , whether on small or large scale was important and the telikaras i.e. the oil pressers assumed importance in the rural and urban life . ... It appears from the inscriptions that some part of the oil production was donated to the Temples , for the worship of the diety ( in the temples ) .
^ Gupta, Sankar Sen (1976). Folklore of Bengal: A Projected Study. Indian Publications.
^ "Nitish Kumar's 'wait and watch' on Bihar BJP's latest Narendra Modi gimmick". NDTV. 27 May 2009. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
^ Kumar, Sanjay (2018). Post-Mandal Politics in Bihar: Changing Electoral Patterns. SAGE Publishing India. ISBN 978-9352805860. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
^ Sengupta, Joy (27 September 2010). "Caste brigades drive hard bargain for their share in Assembly, keep parties guessing". The Telegraph. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
^ "Bid to make Teli an EBC opposed". The Times of India. 26 May 2009. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
^ "Bonanzas in Bihar for upper castes, contractual employees". Business Standard. PTI. 12 April 2015. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
^ "Bihar: BJP, JD(U) set for a war of sops ahead of Assembly polls".
^ "Tribals warn Govt against ST status to Kurmi, Teli". The Pioneer. Retrieved 29 August 2020.

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 ==History==
-In the [[Early Middle Ages|Early Medieval period]] in some parts of south India, Teli community used to work on their own oil presses to produce oil to be supplied to the temples. The emergence of "[[Temple]] towns" in various parts of south India was instrumental in the improvement of social status of some of the communities who were associated with the supply of essential items for cultural activities. The communities like ''Malakar'' (garland makers), and ''Telikars'' (oil pressers) thus became important for the functioning of such towns. Some of them even became prosperous enough to make donations to the temples.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MP5tAAAAMAAJ|title=Proceedings - Indian History Congress|year=2003|pages=383, 387, 392|publisher= Indian History Congress(original from The University of Michigan)|access-date=2020-08-28|quote= Often oil presser is referred as Teli , “ Telikar or Tailyakar ( Sanskrit - Tailikakar ) etc . The reference of ... Obviously oil industry , whether on small or large scale was important and the telikaras i.e. the oil pressers assumed importance in the rural and urban life . ... It appears from the inscriptions that some part of the oil production was donated to the Temples , for the worship of the diety<!--sic--> ( in the temples ) . }}</ref>
+In the [[Early Middle Ages|Early Medieval period]], [[Muhammad of Ghor|Mohommad Gori]] invade Rathores of kannauj and Rathore kingdom collapse after defeat and some of them become oil or tel merchant and call themselves Rathore (teli). where some parts of south India, Teli community used to work on their own oil presses to produce oil to be supplied to the temples. The emergence of "[[Temple]] towns" in various parts of south India was instrumental in the improvement of social status of some of the communities who were associated with the supply of essential items for cultural activities. The communities like ''Malakar'' (garland makers), and ''Telikars'' (oil pressers) thus became important for the functioning of such towns. Some of them even became prosperous enough to make donations to the temples.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MP5tAAAAMAAJ|title=Proceedings - Indian History Congress|year=2003|pages=383, 387, 392|publisher= Indian History Congress(original from The University of Michigan)|access-date=2020-08-28|quote= Often oil presser is referred as Teli , “ Telikar or Tailyakar ( Sanskrit - Tailikakar ) etc . The reference of ... Obviously oil industry , whether on small or large scale was important and the telikaras i.e. the oil pressers assumed importance in the rural and urban life . ... It appears from the inscriptions that some part of the oil production was donated to the Temples , for the worship of the diety<!--sic--> ( in the temples ) . }}</ref>
 ==Subdivisions==