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Chamar

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This article is about the Indian caste. For the mountain in Nepal, see Chamar (mountain).

Chamar ("tanner"; from the Sanskrit Charmakara) is a prominent occupational Dalit caste in India. Chamar is an occupational caste.

Chamar is a Dalit sub-caste mainly found in the northern states, such as Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar; the traditional occupation is leather-working and tanning.

Chamars form the second-largest caste in India and are heavily active in politics. They are known to be one of the most highly influential groups amongst Scheduled Castes. Traditionally their social status was very poor due to the rigidity of the Indian Caste System however in the modern day they are one of the most progressive castes in India.

Background and Origin

The isolated tanning work was started since the ages and anyone interested in this work used to do this irrespective of low or high status. The origin of Chamars as a group goes back to the era of nomadic tribal living and came into existence with the outcome of inter tribal wars. Tribes used to own only cattle as property and cattle being nomadic they were too. Slowly as the time passed few tribes learnt the art of cultivation and now they owned another property as crop and they started settling down, though not all the tribes settled down at once, this was a slow process. The tribes used to be a group of one family, clan or cliques and generally they share the same family name called Totem or Gotra. These tribes used to fight with each other due to numerous reasons and there were four important reasons of their fight with each other. First being that the tribal men used to send their cattle to graze in other tribes area, second being they used to steal others crop, third being getting away with the other tribes cattle and the most important being they used to pick up other tribes women forcibly. In the war it was usual that one being victorious and the other being looser. In the looser tribe few of them were being killed in the fight, some of them were being made as prisoners of war (those being forced to do the dirtiest work and cleaning of their places), and some of them who saved their lives from the war, were broken from the original tribe and were used to be called Broken Men. The tribes earlier used to live in their marked areas and when they grew in numbers these areas taken shapes of older villages. After the war these broken men used to go to other settled tribes for shelter and food then the settled tribes used to make an agreement with the broken men on number of points that they had to do lots of chores for them including skinning of the dead animals and providing security work in lieu of shelter and food. The settled tribes used to give temporary land to live on the outskirts of their main area village for security reasons being having no past references about them. This is how the broken men turned into the Chamars.

Chamars does not belong to any one particular group, clan or area; they are from all different religions and areas. Tanning being profession, they could be both from the original tribes who were living in India even before the Aryan Invasion and they were also Aryans who came from the Central Asia (The area where Aryans used to live in between Caspian sea and Hindu Kush Mountain Ranges and Safed Koh of Afghanistan) after crossing Khyber Pass and settle in north west India with their original tribes. India being shut out from the rest of the world by the mountains and the sea, there grew up a division of labor which gradually crystallized into the caste system, elaborate schemes of religious philosophy were built up by the sages; the trades were fenced round with religious sanctions, so that for a man to follow his fathers calling was made sacred duty, a thing to which he was born, and which, as his fate, he must perforce accept.

Presently most of the Harijan Basties (Place of their living) are on the west side of the villages in the North Western India, reason being all the attacks were being made from the west side of India since ancient times and Broken Men had to provide security to the main villages. And also in North/Western India people share the same family names irrespective of their caste, clan or groups. From this it is very clear that the Chamars are not separate human beings but they are just the same men from different families sharing the same Gotras.

Chamars are an occupational caste, so their population consists of a mixture of local castes of the region. Chamars of Kashmir are very light-skinned, while those in Punjab look like typical Punjabis; may be light skinned or dark brown skinned.

The majority of Chamars follow Sikhism and believing Guru Ravidas to be their Satguru. They are called Ravidassia. However, there are also Muslim and Buddhist Chamars.

Chamars in the Punjab

The most politically and socially influential Chamars are from the state of Punjab, where they form 11% of the population with Dalits comprising 27% of the population. In the Punjab they are divided into various groups, such as Ad-Dharm, Ramdasias and Ravidassia. In Majha area they share the same Gotras as Saraswati and Mohyal Brahmins, in Doaba and Malwa area they share family names with Jats and Rajputs. Where as in Malwa most of the Chamars turned to Sikhism and in Doaba region most of them did not opt for Sikhism. In Majha they are being called Ārya (Aryan) and Ravidasia, in Doaba they are being called Adi -Dharmi and in Malwa they are called Ramdasia Sikhs. They are highly concentrated in the Doaba region of Punjab. In Malwa Region Chamars have a faith in Sikhisim.

Chamars in Rajasthan

Chamar denotes profession but nowadays misunderstood with caste.The castes which were involved in leather work in past ( before independence )were termed as Chamar in general.Chamars in Rajasthan can only be identified in the districts adjoining to the states of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. The districts of Bikaner, Shriganganagar,Hanumangarh, Churu, Jhunjhunu, Alwar, Bharatpur and Dhaulpur are inhabited by Chamars.In the districts of Bharatpur,Dhaulpur and parts of Alwar (adjoining to Bharatpur) they are known as Jatav , now a days.Raigar (leather tanners ) and Mochi (Shoe-makers) are other two predominant castes related with leather profession.

RAMDASIA SIKHS & RAVIDASSIA SIKHS

RAMDASIA SIKHS is how SIKH converts from the community working professionally in leather are usually referred to as a class. The term Ramdasias is an adaptation from Ravidasias, as some Chamar castes came to be called. They owed their affiliation to the famous saint, RAVIDAS, ; pioneer of`Vaisnava revival. In Utiar Pradesh, Ramdasias are also called Ravidasias. Ravidas, being an unfamiliar name in the Punjab, became here Ramdas or Rain Das, winch is ibe name which also belongs to the ilu` Fourth GURU of the Sikhs. Chamar (from Sanskrit charmkara, worker in leather) is a functional caste of skinners, tanners, curriers and shoemakers. Chamars as "untouchables" lay :it the lowest level of the Hindu social order only slightly higher than the Chuhras or scavengers by virtue of their being craftsmen. ``ChuhraChainar" was till recently a common pejorative conjoint. referring to the two castes. The teacinngs of the Gurus with their rejection of the caste system and emphasis on ethnic equality of ail human beings naturally appealed to them. Of. pcciai significance for ihein was the canonization of the bdmor hymns of Bhagat Ravidas in the Sikh Scripture by Guru ARJAN (15631606). Consequently, many Chaniars converted to Sikhisiii and they were as a class given the respectable name ofRaindasia Sikhs. Later, when indusiriali/.ation and opening up of new avenues of employment facilitated occupational mobility, many Chamars including Ramdasia Sikhs look to weaving, considered 10 be a cleaner and more honourable occupation than tanning and shoemaking. It also brought them better bargaining power through its semibartering and semimoney trading economic roles. Conversion of Hindu Chamars to SIKHISM accelerated towards the end of the nineteenth century. This was due to the rise of the SINGH Sabha movement launched in 1873 for the restoration and propagation of Sikh teachings, including the removal of caste distinctions. The fact that one of the leading figures of the movement was himself a Ramdasia Sikh, Giani Ditt Singh, who enjoyed wide esteem in the Sikh community served as an example. The number of Chamars who declared Sikhism as their religion increased from 100,014 in 1881 to 155,717, in 1931. This was besides 66,080 others listed as Ramdasia Sikhs in 1931. The converts were usually very particular about maintaining the five symbols of the KHALSA and were therefore nicknamed Rahitias, i.e. those meticulously observing the Sikh rahit or code of conduct. Meanwhile the term Ramdasia was no longer confined to Sikhs. During the census of 1931, many Hindu Chamars registered themselves as Ramdasias or Ravidasias, and still many more who registered themselves Ramdasias/Ravidasias declared Adi Dharam (lit. the primal faith) as their religion (Adi DharamTs, a new category comprising Chamars ). Yet of all Ramdasias/Ravidasias nearly 52.8 per cent declared themselves Sikhs. Ramdasia Sikhs, unlike Mazhabi Sikhs, were generally a docile community. During World War II, however, the British enrolled them in the Indian army. They along with Mazhabi Sikhs formed the Mazhabi and Ramdasia Sikh Regiment, later redesignated as Sikh Light Infantry. Recruitment to other service corps was also opened for them. After Independence, at the insistence of the Shiromani AKALI DAL, a political party of the Sikhs, Ramdasia Sikhs (along with Mazhabi, Kabirpanthi and Sikligar Sikhs) were included among the scheduled castes who were granted special rights and privileges guaranteed under the Indian Constitution for some depressed classes. Ramdasias now form an integral part of the Sikh community, with additional concessions statutorily provided to them in education, employment and political representation. 1. Rose, H.A., ed., A Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North-West Frontier Province. LAHORE, 1911-19

B.S.P Bahujan Samaj Party

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahujan_Samaj_Party BSP is a Chamar dominated political party. It is very powerful in U.P and is expanding all over India. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is one of the most powerful political parties of India. It was founded by Sir Kanshi Ram and is led today by Ms. Mayawati Kumari, a Chamar. The BSP was created and is dominated by the Chamars but nowadays also includes Brahmin chamars.

Chamar Sub-Castes

.Jatavs .Raigars

Military

The Chamar Community have a history of military service. The Chamars of Punjab and Haryana are considered the most exceptional example due to their involvement in the Sikh Light Infantry and the Chamar Regiment.

Sikh Light Infantry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikh_Light_Infantry

One of the most decorated regiments of the Indian Army is the Sikh Light Infantry, which is composed mostly of Chamar and Mazhabi Sikhs.

The Sikh Light Infantry finds its origins in the Sikh Pioneers raised in 1857. Sikh Pioneers were used in various military campaigns in India and abroad, and highly regarded for their determined resolve to complete the assigned tasks against all opposition. The Sikh Pioneers were later merged into the Sappers and Miners. World War-II and its need for additional troops saw the rise of Mazhabi and Ramdasia Sikhs as a regiment in 1941. The designation was changed to the Sikh Light Infantry in 1944.

In view of its linkages with the Pioneers, the Sikh Light Infantry received its earlier seniority after the Sikh Regiment. The Sikh Light Infantry draws its man power from the Mazhabi and Ramdasia elements amongst the Sikhs. They had long formed part of the armies of the Sikhs' Tenth Guru and in later Khalsa armies. The regiment has produced one Army Chief, General Ved Prakash Malik (10th Sikh LI).

The Chamar Regiment During World War II, the Chamar Regiment was created and was involved on the Japanese front. The Chamar Regiment was disbanded after the war. Former Pakistani Leader Ayub Khan was an officer of the Chamar Regiment.

Recent history

Due to the influence of Sikhism and the preference of the British for Sikh soldiers, many Chamar Sikhs were able to serve in the military and thus improve their social and economic status.

There is a large population of Punjabi Chamars in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada. There is also a large workforce in the Middle East, and immigration to other European countries as well as Australia is increasing.

Prominent Chamars

Historical

  • Bhagat Ravidas - Contributed 40 shabads (hymns) and one Shalok (verse) to the Sikh Holy book.


Politics


Arts & Media

Sports

Other


http://www.gururavidass.com.au

http://www.ambedkartimes.com

http://www.chamar.org.uk

http://shrigururavidasji.com

http://www.ravidasialondon.org

http://www.ravidassia.co.uk

http://www.gururavidass.org.uk

http://www.gururavidassji.org.uk

http://www.ravidassia.org

http://www.sgrds.org

http://www.kanshiradio.com

http://www.gururavidassny.com

http://www.gururavidasssabha.org

http://www.gururavidasssabha.com

http://www.gururavidassgurdwara.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/

http://shrigururavissgurdwaragravesend.webs.com/index.htm

http://www.sachkhandballan.org

http://www.begumpura.com

http://www.begumpura.org

http://www.satgururavidassdham.com

http://www.freewebs.com/shrigururavidassji

http://www.freeewebs.com/gururavidas

http://www.freewebs.com/sgrt-holland


See also

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