Meena

For the afghan activist, see Meena Keshwar Kamal.

Meena
Languages	Hindi, Mewari, Marwari, Dhundari, Harauti, Wagdi, Malvi, Garhwali, Bhili etc.
Subdivisions	Bhil Meena, Meo, Rajput or pardeshi community in Maharashtra.

The Meena caste - whose name is also transliterated as Meenoāt, Meenanda or Mina -  is found mainly in the Rajasthan region of India. Their name is derived from Meen, the Sanskrit word for fish, and they claim descent from the Matsya avatar, or fish incarnation, of Vishnu.

Scholars have disagreed as to whether the Meenas are an indigenous tribe, or whether they migrated to the region from Central Asia. According to Britannica, "the Minas are possibly of inner Asiatic origin, and tradition suggests that they migrated to India in the 7th century with the Rajputs". They once ruled the Matsya Kingdom but their social significance diminished thereafter. This change began with their assimilation with Scythian people and reached a low point when the British government declared them to be a criminal tribe. This action was taken to support their alliance with Rajput kingdom then in Rajasthan, and Meenas were still in war with Rajputs, carrying out guerrilla attacks to retain their lost kingdoms.

Meenas celebrate Meenesh Jayanti in the name of Vishnu on 3 Tithi of Chaitra Shukal paksha according to the Hindu calendar. The main reference of this belief is based on the scripture of the Matsya Purana.

Geography

Members of the Meena community are found in the northern part of Rajasthan. Meenas share the Brij and Matsya area of Rajasthan i.e. Sawai Madhopur, Dausa, Jaipur, Dholpur and Karauli districts in Jaipur and Bharatpur region (also the Bharatpur and Bayana districts) with other communities. They inhabit the area from Jaipur–Sikar in Shekhawati region and Alwar in the northeast region of the state. They are also widely spread in Kota, Jhalawar and Bundi. Meenas are also found in north-western Madhya Pradesh i.e. Sheopur, Morena, Gwalior, Shivpuri, Guna, Sajapur, Bhopal etc. The Meenas community of Rajasthan, are an agricultural people occupying one of the most fertile regions of the state.The problem of famine and drought is deeply related with the economy of Rajasthan. In spite of long period of economic development a durable water policy was not formulated in the state. A very high dependency upon agriculture,which is mostly rainfed,is the cause of low incomes.

History

Vedic Period

Matsya Avatar (Meena Avatar).

Their name is derived from Meen, the Sanskrit word for fish, and the Meenas claim descent from the Matsya avatar, or fish incarnation, of Vishnu. The Rig Veda includes the Meenas among the pure Kshatriya tribes of ancient India, but the Vedas do not mention lineages such as the Suryavanshi, Chandravanshi, Nagavanshi or Agnivanshi, which were genealogies constructed by the Puranas. Since ancient times, the Meenas had been the protectors of Kshatriya values and Sanatana Dharma.

Map of early Iron Age Vedic India after Witzel (1989). Realms or tribes are labelled black, Foreign tribes mentioned in early Vedic texts purple, Vedic shakhas in green. Rivers are labelled blue. Position of Matsya kingdom

A Meena dynasty ruled Rajasthan in ancient times and their emblem was a fish, similar to that used by the Pandyan kingdom of the south. It lay to south of the kingdom of Kurus and west of the Yamuna which separated it from the kingdom of Panchalas. It roughly corresponded to former state of Jaipur in Rajasthan, and included the whole of Alwar with portions of Bharatpur. The capital of Matsya was at Viratanagar (modern Bairat) which is said to have been named after its founder, king Virata. Meenas are brothers and kinsmen of Virata, the ruler of Virat Nagar. They ruled this area(near to Virat Nagar) till 11th century. A branch of Matsya is also found in later days in Visakhapatnam region. Further, the Mahabharata describes Abhira as forming one of the republics, Samsaptak Gunas, and as a friend of Matsyas(Meenas), the ancient Indian Rulers.

The most famous Matsya ruler was Virata, the ally of the Pandavas. Upaplavya was a city in the Meena Kingdom ruled by king Virata. It was the city where the Pandavas camped and planned their strategy for the Kurukshetra War. Kichaka Kingdom was a part of the Matsya kingdom ruled by the Meenas rulers. Kichaka Kingdom was allied to King Virata. The Kichaka king, known by the name Kichaka was the commander-in-chief of the Matsya-army under king Virata.

The Meena Kingdom was known as “Matsya” as each of these Janapadas was named after the Kshatriya tribe (or the Kshatriya Jana) who had settled therein. Around 300 BC, the Meena kingdom succumbed to the rising Mauryan empire. The present day Meenas of Rajasthan still follow Vedic culture: they mainly worship Shiva, Hanuman and Krishna as well as the Devas. Meenas have better rights for women in many respects compared to many other Hindu casts.

  Meena Kingdoms under Gurjara Pratihara Empire

The nations around Meena kingdom in 810 AD were the Bhoja (Gurjars), Kuru, Avanti and the Kingdom of Pala king Dharamapala of Bengal. The imperial Gujjars established their rule over North India with their capital at Bhinmal. The Meena rulers of Dhundhar entered into matrimonial alliances, and ultimately established friendly relations with the Imperial Gurjars. The son of the king Prathviraja of Delhi was married to the daughter of the king Alan Singh Chanda [5]. This also reveals the link between Chandas and Chauhan Gurjars. Other interesting fact, Chauhan claim to be descended from Dhundhar and historically before Kachwahas it was ruled by dynasty of Chanda Meenas (approximately till 10th c.).

Most of the major Rajput kingdoms were founded on the ‘blood of Bhils, Native Rulers, Meenas etc. During the exterminations that lasted for several centuries, the Native bhils, minas etc. were massacred and their towns destroyed, till they eventually only survived in the extreme hills of Rajasthan.Though the word "Rajput" is supposed to be a corrupted form of the Sanskrit word 'Raajaputra' which means a "scion of the royal blood" and that the word occurs in the Puranas and also in the Harshcharita of Bana, Mahajan is honest enough to accept that the word, in earlier times and in some areas even now, had an disrespectful meaning. [Mahajan: 1972: 550 ff.] The conclusion is obvious that they were not considered by the original residents to be respectable, to start with. This is because "Raaja" means royal but "Raj" means semen. The progeny of mixed marriages is even now called by that name in some parts. The condition of woman was deteriorating. The question of women education was unthinkable. Obscene Art flourished during Rajput age. The originality of the ancient times was lost and the ancient culture degenerated. The country fell into the hands of Rajput barons, soon to be followed by the Mohammedan invaders who completed the work of annihilation. The combined army of Kachwaha Rajputs and Mughals defeated the powerful Meena Kings of Rajasthan by annihilating them.

Hindu law as codified through acts passed between 1955 and 1956 were based on inegalitarian Victorian English patters of marriage and inheritance and on the customary practices of some the dominant communities in North-West India, among whom women's right have been seriously coded. The practices of the Nairs in Kerala, Meitei in Mainipur, Meenas in Rajasthan and Jains, which provide better rights to women in many respects, were presumed to be non-existent or non-Indian. Thus the Hindu codified law is in many ways a step backward for some communities.

The book by Alfred Comyn Lyall covers the early formations of Meena cast, their adventures, outlaws, outcast, and refugees generally. The book highlights on the fact of Meenas groups having Bharman and Scythian ancestors. Where most of the Meenas preserve the name of the higher clan or Cast from which founder emigrated and joined Meenas. Some names denote only the founder's original habitation, while other circle bears the names of notorious ancestors.

The semantic change from a tribal state into the Hindu state of jati-varna matrix saw the conversion and absorption of tribals into the Brahmin class, through adoption of the priestly occupation later. However, the Bharmans who joined Meenas are the one who have from time to time been persuaded or forced by some wild chief or captain of the pure clans to officiated in a human sacrifice; and that, having thereby quite forfeited their pure cast, they become degraded, and were driven forth to minister into the tribes beyond the pale. This story must not hastily be set aside as improbable, for the tradition of human sacrifice was common then. Further to this, Alfred Comyn Lyall added,

These Meena Levites appears to be collection of all kinds of waifs and cutting from upper religious caste, they may possible rise in respectability as their clients get on in the world; and one might almost hazard the speculation, though it will be received with horror in certain quarters, that they are something like a Brahmanic tribe in faint embryo.

During the years of invasion, several fresh groups of Meenas have been formed, under the stress of the famine which desolated Rajputana in 1868. During the last millennium, food insecurity were rampant in Meena dominated areas of Rajputana. As a consequence starving families were compelled to abandon scruples of caste and honesty, to steal cattle and to eat them. The earlier contributions of warriors and protectors of the state, jats, Bhils,and Meenas were neglected and lost in history.

Ancient history

Map of the Matsya janapada.

At the time of great Epic Mahabharata was written there was a Janpad known as "Matsya Janpad". The city of this Janpad was "Virat Nagar", now known as "Bairath" and renamed as Virata Nagar again. The Pandavas got shelter there for one year. In the epic Mahabharata, Uttarm, the prince of Meena Kingdom and the son of King Virata, at whose court the Pandavas spent a year in concealment during their exile. He was the brother of Uttarā, who married Arjuna's son. There are still places known as "Pandupol" near Virat Nagar. Abhimanyu the son of Arjun and great warrior married to daughter of King of Virat Nagar the princess was named Uttarā. After Abhimanyu died in battle of Kurukshetra, and all Pandavas sons were killed by Ashwathama they were left without progeny. Uttarā was pregnant then. After Pandavas went to Himalaya, the son delivered by Uttarā was "Parikhishit" who inherited Pandavas and ruled India. He was killed by "Takshak" a Naga or Nagvanshi Khastriya. His son Janmejay did a Yagya to finish all Nagas at "Nagdah" known as "Nagada" now in MP. King Virat and all his sons and brothers were killed at Kurukshetra in Mahabharat. Some of clan brothers ruled this area after him. Many historical evidence is recovered from this area all belonging to time of Lord Buddha. Meenas are considered the brothers and kinsmen of Virata, the ruler of Virat Nagar. They ruled this area (near to Virat Nagar) till 11 th century. Among their last Kingdoms Dhundhar was the biggest and later on the region was governed by the Kachwaha dynasty from the 11th century until after India's independence in 1947.

Medieval history and Conflict with the Mughals

Amber, India Fort view from Jaigarh

T. H. Henley,states in his Rulers of India and the Chiefs of Rajputana (1897) that the Kachwaha clan is believed to have settled in an early era at Rohtas in present-day Bihar, later the clan migrated to Rajasthan. Dhola Rae then subjugated the Sihra Gotra of Meenas at much later on known as Jamwa Ramgarh near Jaipur, and transferred his capital thence. Becoming the son-in-law of the prince of Ajmer, he died when battling 11,000 Meenas,most of whom he slew. His son Maidul Rae "made a conquest of Amber from the Soosawut Meenas" by conspiracy whose King Raja Bhanu Singh Meena, was the head of the Meena confederation. He subdued the Nandla Meenas, annexing the Gatoor-Gatti district. Hoondeo succeeded to the throne and was then succeeded by Koontal. The Meenas were the original builders of Amber, which town they consecrated to Amba, the Mother Goddess, whom they knew as "Gatta Rani" or "Queen of the Pass". Amer was known in the medieval period as Dhundar (meaning attributed to a sacrificial mount in the western frontiers).

The Kachwaha Rajput ruler Bharmal of Amber always eyed on Nahn and attacked on it several times but could not succeeded against mighty and brave Bada Meena. Akbar had asked Rao Bada to marry his daughter Shashivadini to Akbar, but Shashivadini Meena refused the proposal. Later on Bharmal married his daughter Jodhabai to Akbar(Jalāl ud-Dīn Muhammad Akbar). Bharmal was made a noble of high rank in the imperial court, and subsequently his son Bhagwant Das and grandson Man Singh I also rose to high ranks in the nobility.

Meenas under Jalāl ud-Dīn Muhammad Akbar (Mughals).

Then the combined army of Akbar and Bharmal attacked Bada Meena and killed him damaging 52 kots and 56 gates. Bada's treasure was shared between Akbar and Bharmal. Bharmal kept his treasure in Jaigarh Fort near Amber. With the aid of Kachwaha Rajputs, Mughals defeated the powerful Meena Kings of Rajasthan by annihilating them. In the city of Lohan, thousands of elite Meena warriors were massacred by the combined armies of Mughals and Kachwaha Rajputs. Though numerous battles were fought earlier between the Meenas and the Kachwahas, it was the siege of Nahn that was the final, decisive battle that led to the complete downfall of the Meena civilisation and marked the beginning of the Mughal Empire in Rajasthan. According to Jagas, almost all of the natives were killed or wounded. Thus, the Meena dynasty came to end when thousands of warriors and civilians were killed in when a Imperial force led by the Mughals and Kachwahas defeated the Bada’s army. Akbar distributed the total loot that fell into the hands of his forces throughout the Mughal Empire. Bharmal was first among the Rajputs to marry his daughter with a Mughal. Jodhabai was also the sister of Bhagwandas and the aunt of Man Singh I, who later became one the nine jewels (Navaratnas) in the court of Akbar. Kyaranagar in Thanaghazi was another important city of Meenas, whose Ruler was Rao Mokalsingh Meena at the time of Akbar’s reign. The armies of Mughals and Kachwaha Rajputs plundered Kyaranagar and in its place founded Mohamadabad. The Kachwaha Rajputs provided the Mughals some of their most distinguished generals. Bhagawant Das was a general of Mughal emperor Akbar, who awarded him a mansab (rank) of 5000 in 1585. and conferred him the title of Amir-ul-Umra. The Kachwaha Rajputs became the strongest allies of the Mughals, and the Rajput soldiers and generals fought for the Mughal army under Akbar, leading it in several campaigns including the conquest of Gujarat in 1572. Raja Bhagwant Das (1575–1589) brought with him the secret of artillery production from Lahore (where he and his son Man Singh remained for many years as governor) to Amber in 1584, soon cannons began to be made at the foundry in Jaigarh Fort (including the world's largest cannon on wheels, the Jaivana), much to the infuriation of the Mughals who kept the secret to themselves ever since they used it in the epic battles, against the Lodhis and the Rajputs. In 1589, Bhagwant Das was succeeded by Raja Man Singh I (1589–1614) (Akbar's Commander-in-Chief), who did much to further the establishment of Mughal rule over present Afghanistan, Kabul,and Rajputana in the west to Orissa and Cooch Behar in the east. From Kashmir in the north to southernmost parts of the Deccan, and also served them in other capacities, notably as governor of Kabul and Bengal. Man Singh’s monumental fortress in Kabul, was used as headquarters by subsequent Mughal governor. As governor of Bengal, Raja Man Singh made Rohtas, his ancestral domain in Bihar, his headquarters; he rebuilt the fort and also built a new palace there. Jai Singh I (1622–1667), commonly known by the title 'Mirza Raja' conferred to him by (his cousin) Shah Jehan, was one of the most prominent Mughal generals during the reigns of Shah Jehan and Aurangzeb. An accomplished statesman, scholar and diplomat and a premier noble of the empire, he forced Shivaji to sign Treaty of Purandar (1665). As an emperor, Akbar solidified his rule by pursuing diplomacy with the powerful Rajput caste, and by marrying Rajput princesses. The Meenas were treated by the Mughal invaders with the most merciless cruelty. Mewar Sisodia ruler Mahrana Pratap renounced all matrimonial alliances with Rajput rulers who had married into the Mughal dynasty, refusing such alliances even with the princes of Marwar and Amer until they agreed to sever ties with the Mughals.

Jaigarh Fort situated on the hill premonitory called the Cheel ka Teela (Hill of Eagles) of the Aravalli hill ranges when it was ruled by Meenas, it overlooks the Amber Fort and the Moata Lake, near Amber in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. The old and original fort of Amer dating from earlier Rajas or the Meena reign is what is known in the present day as Jaigarh fort, which is actually the main defensive structure, rather than the palace itself, although the two structures are interconnected by series of encompassing fortification. The hill that Jaigarh was built was called Chil Tila, when it was ruled by Meenas. Many of the ancient structures of the medieval period of the Meena Maharajas have been either destroyed or replaced. However, the Amer Fort and the palace complex within it are well preserved by the later rulers. In the ancient map of Nahari ka Naka (Jaipur), the inscriptions mentions that the white rocks at this region shows the traditions of the Meenas, in which the tigers came here to pay respect to the Meenas. Later on the state is said to have been founded about eleventh century or 1097 by Dūlaha Rāya, who hailed from Gwalior; he and his Kachwaha kinsmen are said to have absorbed or driven out the local Meenas and Badgujar Rajput chiefs. In which the Meenas were to become a key ally of the Kachwahas.

According to the records of Jagas, in Bundi some eleven thousand Meenas were killed by foul play to acquire the throne of Bundi by the Rajputs. In similar manner some thirty-two sovereign states of Meenas were destroyed one by one by the Kachwaha Rajputs and others to subjugate them. There used to be lots of Meena People, but most of them were killed. Losing their power, Meenas resolved to guerilla attacks to take revenge from the Rajputs. Then to settle peace with the Meenas, the Rajput rulers called for a common joint meeting in Ajmer. In the meeting it was mutually decided that Meenas will hold treasury of the state while their ruler will be amongst the Rajputs. With the advent of the Kachwaha Rajputs and Mughals into their territory, the Meenas were gradually sidelined and pushed deep into the forests. As a result, historical literature has completely bypassed the Meenas.

Meenas under British rule

A Meena of Jajurh

During British Raj, they were placed under Criminal Tribes Act 1871 and thereafter stigmatised for many years, finally being denotified in 1952. Mark Brown has examined the impact and issues of the Meenas community during British rule, and the change in their status from being a higher social group to a criminal tribe. He also mentioned the division in the Meenas as zamindar group and chowkidar Meenas. In his case study he answered why and how Meenas have been put under Criminal Tribal category, even being very different from the other tribal people then. How British manage to control Meenas which were growing threat for British rule in Northern India. In Woolbert's 1898 account of the raising of the Meena Battalion at Deoli the difficulties and achievements of this process were described.

The Kachwaha Rajputs were the first in Rajasthan to sign a treaty of ‘offensive and defensive Alliance’ with the East India Company. During the Revolt of 1857(Indian Rebellion of 1857) when the British invoked the treaty to request assistance in the suppression of rebellious sepoys, the Kachwaha Rajputs opted to preserve their treaty,and thus sent troops to subdue the uprisings in the area. British fleeing from the Menace of the Mutineers and Meenas were sheltered in Nahargarh Fort(Jaipur State). Most of the Rajput princes remained loyal to Britain in the Revolt of 1857,including Jaipur and Bundi States. The Rajput kings concluded treaties with the British, accepting British sovereignty in return for local autonomy and protection from the Marathas. In mid 18th century, when 4,000 Maratha soldiers came on an informal visit to Jaipur, all the gates of the city were closed, and the Rajput army attacked the Marathas and killed them. Following the Mughal tradition and more importantly due to its strategic location Ajmer became a province of British India, while the autonomous Rajput states, the Muslim state (Tonk), and the Jat states (Bharatpur and Dholpur) were organised into the Rajputana Agency. In 1817-18, the British Government concluded treaties of alliance with almost all the states of Rajputana. British under Brevert-Major Robert William with the Kachwaha field forces fought against Meenas in 1824, in the Meena hills of Rajasthan, in which the Meenas were defeated. Lothoo Jat (1804–1855), Karna Meena and Sanwanta Meena were the famous revolutionary freedom fighters of Rajasthan, of that era. They struggled all their life with the objective to oust British rule from India and get the people freed from exploitation by jagirdars and establish democracy.They fought against company rule in Bathot, Singrawat war, Aravalli hills, Agra fort, Nasirabad cantonment(Ajmer) etc. In 1846, British declared them as dacoits and awards were also declared on arrest of them with assurance of job. Later Lothoo Jat became victim of Rajputs conspiracy and the Kachwaha Rajputs eliminated a brave, nationalist revolutionist in 1855. On hearing the news of his friend Lothoo Jat’s death, Karna Mina also died in pain(1856). In Rajputana gazetteer, Powlett describes the Meenas as a former Ruling group who are the famous marauders and who plundered the British & their allies during revolts. In the 19th century the administrative concern with the Meenas had been a constant. They were outlawed in Rajputana and Captain Brooke led an expedition against them. Orders were issued to execute all the Meenas who ascended the Ghat of mewar without a pass. This very action was taken to support their alliance with Rajput kingdom then in Rajasthan. Even after such restrictions, decades following 1857 the concern with the Meenas intensified. The Bharatpur police reports catalog their activities at length. Lawrence’s report which shows the British agitation over the Meenas after 1857 as they are said to stop all traffic on highways and are active all over Rajputana.

Famines during British raj

During the British Raj, famines in India, often attributed to failed government policies, were some of the worst ever recorded, including the frightful famine which desolated Rajputana in 1868, in which millions of people died and the Indian famine of 1899–1900 in which 1.25 to 10 million people died. During the years of invasion, several fresh groups of Meenas have been formed, under the stress of the famine which desolated Rajputana in 1868. The monsoon of 1868 was late in coming and, moreover, when it came, was light and brief, lasting until only August 1868. There was shortage of fodder in most areas of Rajputana, and some areas had water shortage as well. Since the much needed grain could be brought in only on slow camel trains, the stricken areas were more or less inaccessible. Many inhabitants of the famine-stricken regions of Rajputana, emigrated with their livestock or herds. Initially, however, they did not go to the British territory of Ajmer, where relief works had been arranged; many wandered in search of food until they died from starvation. Late in 1868, epidemics of cholera broke out among the vulnerable population, and there was no harvest in the spring of 1869. In May 1869, many villagers, who had emigrated earlier, now returned to their villages believing that the rains that year would be early. However, the rains held off until mid-July, and, in the interim, many thousands more died of starvation. Even so, the autumn harvest promised to be abundant; however, swarms of locusts descended upon the fields and destroyed the young crops. In September and October 1869, there were heavy rains, which, although good for the spring harvest, caused an epidemic of malaria and killed many more.

Having been criticized for the badly bungled relief effort, British authorities began to discuss famine policy soon afterwards, Sir William Muir, issued a famous order stating that:

"every District officer would be held personally responsible that no deaths occurred from starvation which could have been avoided by any exertion or arrangement on his part or that of his subordinates."

The Government of British India organised famine relief works in the British territory of Ajmer Province of British India. The princely states of Rajputana, however, provided very little relief, only Udaipur State spent Rs. 5 lakhs. Consequently, the immigration from the princely states into British India in the later stages of the famine began to overwhelm British efforts, and, in spite of Sir William Muir's newly defined responsibility for each district officer, the resulting mortality was great. It is thought that over 1.5 million people died all over Rajputana during the famine. The British had established control over North Western India in the early decades of the 19th century; this consisted of direct administration of the British outpost of Ajmer-Merwara farther north. The middle decades of the 19th century saw not only the implementation of a new system of land revenue and land rights in these areas, but also the establishment of new civil law. Under the new land rights system, peasants could be dispossessed of their land if they failed to pay the land-revenue (or land-tax) in a timely fashion. Manotidars were appointed to stand surety for the cultivators, many of whom were Bhils, Sondhia and Meenas. The British, however, continued to rely on local Baniya usurers, or Sahukars, to supply credit to the peasants. The imposition of the new system of civil law, however, meant that the peasants could be exploited by the sahukars, who were often able, through the new civil courts, to acquire title-deeds to a peasant's land for non-payment of debt. The mid-19th century was also a time of predominance of the economic theories of Adam Smith and David Ricardo, and the principle of laissez-faire was subscribed to by many colonial administrators; the British, consequently, declined to interfere in the markets. This meant that the Baniya sahukars could resort to hoarding during times of scarcity, driving up the price of food grain, and profiteering in the aftermath. All this occurred in Western India during the famine of 1899–1900. In Meena and Bhils dominated areas of western India, many zamindar peasants were forced to hand over their lands to the sahukars as security for meager loans that not only didn't granted them much relief, but that they later couldn't repay on account of exorbitant interest. The sahukars were to foreclose on these loans in the years after the famine; in the princely states of north western India, for example, the recorded land-transfers were to jump from an average of 13,000 per year during the decade of the 1890s, to over 65,000 during the year 1902–1903. The sahukars, in their effort to drive up prices, were even able to export grain out of areas of scarcity using the faster means of transport that came in with British raj. A British deputy district collector recorded in his report, "The merchants first cleared large profits by exporting their surplus stocks of grain at the commencement of the famine, and, later on by importing maize from Cawnpore and Bombay and rice from Calcutta and Rangoon." He went on to record that the sahukars were building new houses for themselves from these windfall profits. The blatant profiteering, however, led to grain riots in Princly states by Meena and Bhils, and grain riots became a feature of other British-ruled areas during times of famine.

As described by Woolbert, the Meenas are generally industrious and sensible, but in years of famine, occasionally return to their former predatory and marauding style. They were somewhat demoralised after the natural calamities that occurred between 1868 and 1905. In general, they are of fine physical characteristics, and possess good powers of endurance. Vivian (1912) suggested that at the turn of the century there were around one million Meenas and related clans, though only a small number of these had ever been involved in criminal activity. Nevertheless, those who were so engaged, most famously the Meenas living in the village of Shajehanpur in the district of Gurgaon, south of Delhi, came to be represented as a hereditary band of bandits.

Recent history

During the war with Rajputs and Mughals, the Meena community has been divided in basic four sects:

• The Zamindar Meena are traditionally connected with farming profession. They claim a Kshatriya status equivalent to that of the Rajputs. In the local socio-ritual hierarchy they enjoy a clean cast status.
• The Chaukidar Meenas are a branch of those Zamindar Meenas, who during the later middle age adopted fighting in the armies and later on Britishers enforced them to report on Chaukis regularly to ensure that they do not indulge in any criminal activities known as Chowkidar Meena. Like Zamindar Meenas, Chowkidar Meenas call themselves Meena Thakur and claim Kshatriya status.
• The Bhil Meena are said to be descended from those Meenas and Rajputs who, in the wars between their own tribes or with Muslims, were compelled to quit their native home and seek refuge in the vastness of Rajputana, where they formed alliances with the aboriginal families and established tribe.
• The Meenas of the Karauli, Sawai Madhopur, Jaipur, Gangapur area are the most important cultivators for the last four hundred years. They expelled the Dhangars and Lodhis from a number of villages they occupied 500 years ago, and have retained their possession until now. In Karauli(Rajasthan), the Meenas, Gurjars and Jats smoke together. They live in complete harmony.

Meo and Meenas

Majority of Meo population come from Meenas and till date they share same gotras and follow very similar Ethics and Culture. According to Britannica Meo, or Mewati tribe and caste inhabiting Rājasthān and Punjab states in northern India, and Punjab province, Pakistan, who speak Hindi. They claim descent from Rājputs of mainly the patrilineal clans of Meenas. In the 11th century, the Meo branch of the Meena tribe converted from Hinduism to Islām, but they retained Hindu dress. Although the Meena and Meo are regarded as variants, some Meo claim that their ancestral home is Jaipur. Originally a nomadic, warlike people practicing animal breeding and known for lawlessness,today most Meena and Meo are farmers with respected social positions. The Meos are known for its admixture of Hindu and Islamic customs, practices and beliefs. In 16th century Mughal kings faced perennial defeats by the Meo warrior tribe around Delhi and in the interiors of Rajasthan. Hasan Khan Mewati represented Meos in the battle of Kanwah along with Rana Sangram Singh (Rana Sangha)in 1526 against the Mughal Zahir ud-din Muhammad Babur. Hasan Khan was killed in the battle of Kanwah while his son Tahir Khan was captured by the Mughals. To the Mughals, the Mewatis were "rebels". In the late 20th century the Meena in India numbered more than 1,100,000, and the Meo, concentrated in northeastern Punjab, Pakistan, numbered more than 300,000. Both are divided into 12 exogamous clans, led by a headman (muqaddam) and a council (panch) of tribe members. They trace descent patrilineally and divide themselves into three classes: landlords, farmers, and watchmen. Both the Meena and Meo permit widow divorce and remarriage, and the Meo allow a man to exchange a sister or close female relative for his bride. Following Hindu tradition, the Meena cremate their dead while the Meo observe burial rites.

Meo of Alwar, Bharatpur,Dausa, Dholpur, Karauli, Sawai Madhopur, Gangapur districts of Rajasthan made efforts to come back in Meena community, but the intermarriage concept (i.e., roti and bati) has put down their offer by Meena leaders. As Meo are followers of Islam.

Meena of Haryana

In Haryana, the Meena are found mainly in the districts of Gurgaon district, Mahenderagarh and Hissar. Unlike the Rajasthan Meena, the Haryana Meena have not been granted Scheduled Tribe status. They are divided into a number of gotras, the main ones being the Boya, Sihra, Jarwaal, Jepha, Papati, Morjal, Kawat, Gomalhada, Khangash, Jakhiwal, Nagori and Tajee. Each of these clans are of equal status, and intermarry. The Haryana Meena are largely a community of peasant farmers. A small number, particular in villages bordering Rajasthan are employed as village watchmen. They now speak Haryanvi, but most also understand Hindi.

See also

• Rajasthani people
• Rigvedic tribes
• Dhundhar
• Matsya Rajya
• Minhas
• Lothoo Nitharwal
• Nadar (caste)

Extra References

1. Brown, Mark. 'Crime, Liberalism and Empire : Governing the Mina Tribe of Northern India'. Social & Legal Studies, 13:2 (2004), 191-218. Publisher: Sage Publications. ISSN 09646639.
2. Demography and health profile of the tribals: a study of M.P.|author=Dipak Kumar Adak|publisher=Anmol Publications PVT.