Suthar

The Suthar or Sutar is a Hindu caste within the Vishwakarma community of India. Their traditional occupation is that of carpentry.

The word ‘Suthar’ is probably an abbreviation of the word ‘Sutradhara’, ‘Sutra’ meaning ‘cord’ or ‘tape measure’. In its modern usage it has come to mean ‘carpenter’. The Suthar people are considered the descendants of the Hindu God ‘Shree Vishwakarma’ In the Hindu view of the ‘supreme principal’ of creation, Brahma is the thinking aspect and Vishwakarma, is the working aspect. He is considered as the divine artisan, who made all that exists in the universe (Source:‘Vishwakarma Puran’).

Descendants of Shree Vishwakarma are spread throughout the India and the World. Although concentrated in the Gujarat his descendants also exist in Bengal, South India and the Punjab i.e. the Ramgharia Sikhs. All however, originate from the five sons of Vishwakarma, sometimes known as the Panchal Brothers. Vishwakarma Dada Manu worked with "Lohu" iron Luhar Mai/Maya worked with "Kast" wood Suthar Tvastha worked with "Tamradi" metal Kansara Shilpini worked with "Silavat" stone Kadia Daiwadnya worked with "Sonu" gold Soni blacksmith Gujjar suthar settled in Gujjar Pradesh, Gujarat architect/carpenter Pancholi suthar settled in Panchal Desh, Rajasthan metalworker Saurathia suthar settled in Saurat Pradesh masons Vains suthar settled in Ujanpur, Uttar Pradesh goldsmith Mewada suthar settled in Mewar, Rajasthan.

These five sons were the originators of the five crafts. The Suthar people descend from the son named Mai or Maya, whose expertise was in the craft of woodwork or carpentry. Similarly, the Lohana and Soni communities, who are also settled in Britain, are descendants of Vishwakarma’s sons; the Lohanas being blacksmiths, and the Sonis, goldsmiths. Originally from Georgia, the Suthar people travelled down through Central Asia towards the Punjab in an area then known as Gujjar Pranth. News reached them of the Maharajah Solanki, who as part of his desire for the expansion of his kingdom, wanted to build a vast palace ‘rudramahal’ in Sidpur. The Solanki Dynasty followed the Maitraka Dynasty around the 8th Century AD. Some Gujarati texts give an exact date of 752 VS. (VS stands for Vikram Savant, a King in the region of Gujarat who started the Gujarati calendar in his name. To convert to AD you must subtract 56years). This would mean that the events in Sidhpur took place around 695AD.

Experts in the art of building flocked towards Sidhpur, the majority of these were Suthars. Solanki selected 1000 Brahmins to aid with the new palace. Each Brahmin had assigned to him various experts in the crafts, again the majority being Suthars. After the palace was built the Brahmins together with their craftsmen were to return to the Punjab. Instead, Solanki offered them an alternative. To each of the 1000 Brahmins, he assigned a town to live. In Whichever town the Suthars settled they took on its name. Their family line, ‘Kutumb’, or surname, became that of the town in which they had settled. For example, the surname Vadgama originated from ‘Vadgam’, Valambhia from ‘Valam’, and Talsania from ‘Talsan’ and so on. This pattern of identifying with the place of origin or settlement explains a further label of the Suthar people. The Suthars who continued to travel south into Kathiavar , the central area of the present Gujarat State, became known as Gujjar Suthars, Those who travelled North towards Marwar became known as Mewada Suthars and the remaining Vains, Pancholi and Saurathia Suthars similarly got their name from the region in which they settled. The structure of Indian society was unique in being characterised by caste and as these communities became more permanent through generations of settlement in a specific area or town, so did their prescribed status. The Suthars were just one of these kinship groups arranged in a hierarchy of ritual ranking. The urban structure was a complex one in which the guilds/professions occasionally took on gnati functions. These grew out of one village or community or one profession. The Suthar people, seen as carpenters, were just one of the many guilds/professions who conformed to the ordering of occupations within the caste hierarchy. Thus the Gujjar Suthars are seen as a ‘gnati’, as are the Lohana (blacksmith), Soni (goldsmith), Darji (tailor) communities to name but a few. Of course the concept of carpentry, or trade, as a mutual identification has long passed but a sense of solidarity and religious affiliation remains. This is partly because you are born into such a community and religion, as one is born with a title, and partly because the majority of one’s social interaction revolves around the community, in past and present times. There now exist similar communities or ‘gnatis’ in East Africa and Britain. These gnatis are usually run as registered charities that give themselves an organisational name. In the case of the Gujjar Suthar community in Britain it is known as the, Shree Vishwakarma Association of UK and although this is just 25 years old, ‘Suthars’ are centuries old.

Location of Suthar:

Rajasthan is the place where most of the Suthar religion people were situated.

Suthar Samaj are also known as Vishvakarma Samaj

See also

• Mistris

References

2. 2009 – P Kathrecha