We do not Understand the Ways of the World
Gaduliya Lohars of South Rajasthan at the fringes of untouchability
Keywords:
Caste Monography, Gaduliya Lohar, Kshtriyanization, Political Engineering of Caste, Untouchability
Abstract
The paper undertakes indigenous caste monography of the Gaduliya Lohars (Blacksmiths with carts) of Rajasthan, in light of their historical origin and the present state, they are living in. They are named according to the nomadic lifestyle they have acquired historically, leaving the courts with their patron king.
Post-Independent democratic India accorded the community with their association with the legendary past of the nation, during All India Gadi Lohar Sammelan held in 1955, thus glorifying their semi-nomadic existence that followed their self-imposed exile from Chittorgarh. It was an attempt, diligent yet fruitless, to settle this community as ‘Ironworkers’ of the new Industrial nation; a honeytrap of mobilizing such nomadic communities to use as potential vote banks. Presently, they are considered as ‘illegal migrant settlers’ in the western and northern states of India; as they can be found residing on the pavements alongside highways. Since Independence, they have been switching between multifarious caste attributions such as Scheduled tribe, OBC (Other Backward Caste), SBC (Special Backward Caste).
The paper explores how to confer to space, which is illegal to dwell, is a fundamental development of Settlement that hinders ‘Migration’, negatively affecting the existence of a community.
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References
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2. Anon. “4oo varshon baad Gaduliyon ka Chittor Durg mai Pravesh.” Navjeevan, April 12, 1, 1955.
3. Arnold, David and David Hardiman. Subaltern Studies. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1994.
4. Vimalkirti (Ed.) Babasahab Dr Ambedkar Ke Patra. New Delhi: Rahul Publishers, 2004.
5. Bayly, Susan. Caste, Society and Politics in India from the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age. London: Cambridge University Press, 2008.
6. Anon. “Chittor ek Darshaneeya Teertha hai.” Navjeevan, March 30, 14, 1955.
7. Anon. “Chittorgarh mai Akhil Bhartiya Gadi Lohar Sammelan.” Navjeevan, February 20, 11, 1955.
8. Anon. “Chittor Mai Gaduliya Lohar Sammelan.” Navjeevan, January 26, 19, 1955.
9. Anon. “Chittorgarh ka Vah Aitihaasik Samaaroh.” Navjeevan, April 18, 1, 1955.
10. Anon. “Chittorgarh mai Akhil Bhartiya Gadi Lohar Sammelan.” Navjeevan, April 5, 1, 1955.
11. Anon. “Chittorgarh mai Akhil Bhartiya Gadi Lohar Sammelan.” Navjeevan, September 12, 4, 1955.
12. Dadheech, T. Gadi se hi Ghar, Gadi hi Aadhar; Gadi hi se hain, Gaduliya Lohar. Antraal, pp.1, 1994.
13. Das, Shyamal. Veer Vinod (8th Ed.). Udiapur: The Royal Palace, 1998.
14. Dashora, Rao Sahib Pt. Yamunalal. Census of Mewar, 1941. Ajmer: Job Printing Press, 1942.
15. Devy, G. N. Painted Words. New Delhi: Penguin Publishers, 2002.
16. Devy, G. N., (Ed). The G. N. Devy Reader. Hyderabad: Orient Blackswan, 2009.
17. Dhanagare, D. N. The Writings of D. N., Dhanagare. New Delhi: Orient Blackswan, 2014.
18. Dirks, N. Castes of Mind: Colonialism and the Making of Modern India. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2001.
19. Anon. “Gadi Loharon ki Pratigyaaen.” Navjeevan, March 30, 18, 1955.
20. Anon. “Gadi Loharon ko Shri Verma ka Aahwahan.” Navjeevan, March 30, 21, 1955.
21. Anon. “Gadiya Loharon ka Punahsansathaapan.” Navjeevan, May 30, 4, 1955.
22. Anon. “Gaduliya Loharon ke Sammelan ki Taiyaari.” Navjeevan, January 3, 7, 1955.
23. Anon. “Gangotri Ki Bhaanti Acchooton Ko Gale Lagaave.” Navjeevan, January 10, 3, 1955.
24. Ghosh, T. K. and Surendra Nath. People of India: Delhi. Edited by K. S. Singh. New Delhi: Manohar Publishers, 1996.
25. Ghurye, Govind Sadashiv. Jati, Varga Aur Vyavsaay. Bombay: Popular Publishers, 1961.
26. Gupta, Shobhalal. “Rajasthan Ke Gaduliya Lohar.” Navjeevan, November 15, 3, 1954.
27. Hasan, Mushirul (Ed.). Writing India: Colonial Ethnography in the Nineteenth Century. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2012.
28. Jaoul, N. Casting the ‘sweepers’. Local politics of sanskritisation, caste and labour. In: Berti D, Jaoul N and Kanungo P (Eds.) Cultural Entrenchment of Hindutva: Local Mediations and Forms of Convergence. New Delhi: Routledge, Chapter 10, 2011.
29. Kapoor, Sushil. Bharat Ka Veer Yoddha. New Delhi: Children Book Temple, 2015.
30. Anon. “Khaanabadoshon Ke Jeevan Mai Nai Lehar.” Hindostan, February 28, 6, 1955.
31. Lavania, B. K. People of India: Rajasthan. Edited by K. S. Singh. Mumbai: Popular Prakashan, 1998.
32. Lewis, Beverley Eric. Hyderabad, British India, and the World: Muslim Networks and Minor Sovereignty, C.1850–1950. Stony Brook: State University of New York, 2015.
33. Lohiya, Bajranglal. Rajasthan Ki Jaatiyan. Calcutta: Lohiya, 1954.
34. Molund, Stephen. First We are People ... The Koris of Kanpur between Caste and Class, Stockolm Studies in Social Anthropology. Stockolm: Stockolm University Press, 1988.
35. Anon. Mridum Sumari Raj. Marwar: Census of Marwar 1891. Jodhpur: Vidyasaal, 1895.
36. Nanwana, Bhawanishankar. “Gadi Loharon Ka Yeh Chittor Sammelan.” Navjeevan, March 10, 3, 1955.
37. Narain, I and P.C. Mathur. ‘The Thousand Years Raj: Regional Isolation and Rajput Hinduism in Rajasthan before and after 1947’, in Francine R. Frnaket and M.S.A. Rao (eds.), Dominance and State Power in Modern India: Decline of a Social Order, pp.1-58, Vol. II, Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1990.
38. Anon. n.d. National Commission for Backward Classes. Retrieved April 12, 2018. http://www.ncbc.nic.in/user_panel/GazetteResolution.aspx?Value=mPICjsL1aLv31HvqDjLo2b6bRBzpX69AuevOb6OGP5DsC5gpIwo1/UhqMgvCp07Y
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40. Payne, C. H. (Ed.). Tod's Annals of Rajasthan: The Annals of Mewar. Udaipur, Rajasthan: Maharana Mewar Historical Publications Trust, 1960.
41. Anon. “Pratigya Ki Purti.” Hindostan, April 7, 1–2, 1955.
42. Anon. “Prithvi Putron Ki Pratigya Purti.” Navjeevan, May 24, 8, 1955.
43. Anon. “Rajasthan Mai Gadiya Loharon Ka Punarvaas.” Hindostan, January 11, 1, 1955.
44. Ray, Bharati (Ed.). History of Science, Philosophy and Culture in Indian Civilization. New Delhi: Pearson Longman, 2009.
45. Ruhela, Satyapal. The Gaduliya Lohars of Rajasthan: A Study in the Sociology of Nomadism. I. New Delhi: Impex Publishers, 1968.
46. Ruhela, Satyapal. Society, Economy And Folk Culture of A Rajasthani Nomadic Community. II. Delhi: Indian Publishers' Distribution, 1999.
47. S, Gopal (Ed.). Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru. New Delhi: Orient Blackswan, 1973.
48. Anon. Second Five Year Plan: Rajasthan State District Plans (1958-59). District Tables. Jaipur: Government Central Press, 1958.
49. Sharma, M. L. and A. K. Bhatia. People of India: Haryana. XLIII. Edited by K. S. Singh. New Delhi: Manohar Publishers, 1994.
50. Singh, Munshi Hardayal. The Castes of Marwar (Census Report of Marwar. Books Treasure, 1990.
51. Taambi, Ratanlal. “Rajasthan Mai Gaduliya Loharon Ki Stithi Evam Parichay.” Navjeevan, March 30, 8, 1955.
52. Anon. “Veerbhoomi Chittorgarh Mai Gaduliya Sammelan Ki Bhaari Taiyaariyan.” Navjeevan, March 30, 2014, 1955.
53. Webb, A. W. T. These Ten Years- A Short Account of the 1941 Census in Rajputana and Ajmer, Merwara. Ajmer: Census Department of India, 1941.
Published
2021-02-15
How to Cite
Sharma, L. “We Do Not Understand the Ways of the World”. Contemporary Literary Review India, Vol. 8, no. 1, Feb. 2021, pp. 120-49, https://mail.literaryjournal.in/index.php/clri/article/view/442.
Section
Research Papers
Copyright (c) 2021 Leena Sharma
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