Mahar

Mahar
	"A Mahar woman", a watercolour by M. V. Dhurandhar, 1928
Total population
	30 million
Regions with significant populations
	Major: Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh; ; Minor: Goa, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Gujarat
Languages
	Marathi, Varhadi dialect, Konkani, Hindi
Religion
	Buddhism, Hinduism

Mahar (also known as Maha and Mara)[1] is an Indian community found largely in the state of Maharashtra and neighbouring areas.[2] Most of the Mahar community followed B. R. Ambedkar in converting to Buddhism in the middle of the 20th century.[3][4] As of 2017, the Mahar caste was designated as a Scheduled Caste in 16 Indian states.

History

A Mahar man winding thread.

The origin of the name Mahar is uncertain. These diverse origins suggest that the Mahars are the indigenous inhabitants of Maharashtra, India.[5]

The Mahar caste were considered an Untouchable community by the Hindu castes. However, they were socio-economically well above most other untouchable groups because their traditional role had been important in the village administrative system, had necessitated that they had at least a rudimentary education and frequently brought them into contact with upper-caste Hindus.[6] They lived on the outskirts of villages and their duties included those of village watchman and trackers of thieves, messenger, wall mender, adjudicator of boundary disputes, street sweeper, supplying coarse cloth to the village and removers and processors of carcasses. In return for these services, the village granted them a watan, or rights to small piece of land, to do their own cultivation. The watan also included share of village produce.[7] They also worked at times as agricultural labourers.[8][9]

Pre-colonial period

In 14th century, Mahar Bhakti saint Chokhamela, and many of his family members such as Karmamela, Banka, Nirmala, and Soyarabai became popular for their religious poetry called abhang.[10][11][12]

The Mahar were subjected to degradation during the rule of the Chitpavan Brahmin Peshwas, who treated them as untouchables.[13]

British India

A Mahar Man winding thread from The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India (1916)

Under British rule, the Mahars became aware of the scope for social and political advancement. Their traditional role had been low-status but important in the village system.[6]

In the mid-20th century, the Mahar gave up their traditional jobs to a large extent in rural Maharashtra, and took employment in the urban mills, docks, construction sites and railways.[14] They created a receptive body of urban workers who were ready to join a political movement for higher status and equality.[15]

Mahatma Jyotirao Phule

In 1873, Jyotirao Phule, the founder of Satyashodhak Samaj—which aimed to abolish religious slavery from the influence of Brahaminical scriptures—organised Mahars. Mahars were not allowed to enter Hindu temples and were considered unclean. Even their entry into the shrines of Hindu gods was restricted.[16] Their first conference was held in Mumbai in 1903.[17][18]

Shahu Maharaj

Shahu, the ruler of the princely state of Kolhapur, abolished Mahar watan in 1918 and freed the Mahars in his territory from the slavery imposed by the caste Hindu society of the day. He also gave them all the human rights and equality that others enjoy.[19][20]

Military role

Shivaji Maharaj

The Mahar served in various armies over several centuries. The Maratha king Shivaji recruited a number of them into his army in the 17th century.[21] They served as guards in hill forts and as soldiers.[22]

British Rule

During the colonial period, large numbers of Mahars were recruited for military duties by the East India Company and the British Raj. The Battle of Koregaon (1 January 1818) is commemorated by an obelisk known as the Koregaon pillar—which was erected at the site of the battle—and by a medal issued in 1851. The pillar featured on the Mahar Regiment crest until the Independence of India; it is inscribed with the names of 22 Mahars killed at the battle.[23]

The Mahar were initially heavily recruited into the East India company military units, but this process slowed after the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Their recruitment was halted under Lord Kitchener in the early 1890s. Before the rebellion, Mahar regiments made up one-sixth of the Bombay units of the East India Company but thereafter they were pensioned off and gradually removed from military service.[24][25] Mahar recruitment reached its nadir in the early 1890s (sources differ as to exact year) when Kitchener halted the recruitment of Untouchables in Maharashtra in favour of "martial races," such as the Marathas and other north-western communities.[4][26] The Mahar community attempted to confront this block with a petition circulated among the Mahar, Chamar, and Mang former soldiers—all Marathi-speaking Untouchables—but the movement was unable to organise and submit their petition.[4] The attempt at a challenge had been spearheaded by Gopal Baba Walangkar, himself a Mahar and former soldier, but he found that Mahar military pensioners were unwilling to sign because they feared that they might lose their pensions.[27]

A Mahar regiment was created during World War I but only for a few years and because of British desperation for additional troops. In 1941, the Mahar Regiment proper was created.[28][29]

Demographics

In 1969, the Mahars constituted about 70% of the total Scheduled Caste population and also represented about 9% of population of the state of Maharashtra.[30]

As of 2017, the Mahar community was designated as a Scheduled Caste (SC) in 16 Indian states, being: Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh Assam, Chhattisgarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Telangana and West Bengal.[1]

Religion

Mahar is numerically the largest Scheduled Caste in Maharashtra, according to the 2001 Census of India.[31]

Christianity

In the late 19th century, Otto Weishaupt's attempts to evangelise in the Sangamner area of Ahmadnagar district met with little success with communities such as the Brahmins, Muslims and Bhils but his efforts to promote Christianity did appeal to the Mahars there.[32] There were also some Mahar converts to Christianity in other areas of Ahmednagar district around the early 20th century.[33]

Buddhism

The Christian conversion movement became overshadowed by the emergence of B. R. Ambedkar's Buddhist equivalent.[34] When he converted to Buddhism at Nagpur in 1956, many Mahars were among those of his followers who chose to do the same.[35] As Buddhists, they gave up their traditional Hindu occupations and sought to redefine their social status. Ambedkar died about two months after this mass conversion.[36] At the same spot, after his cremation, more Mahars were converted to Buddhism.[37] Now, this community is the third most populous in Mumbai.[2]

Some Buddhist leaders among the population prefer that the term Mahar no longer be applied to these converts.[38] Buddhism appealed to the sense of equality for the Mahars;[39] an intellectual of Mahar origin said, "I have accepted Buddhist doctrine. I am Buddhist now. I am not Mahar now, not untouchable nor even Hindu. I have become a human being".[40]

Contributions to culture and arts

According to Eleanor Zelliot, Dalit literature originated in Marathi-speaking areas of Maharashtra. She credits Ambedkar, a Mahar himself, for inspiring many Dalit writers. Baburao Bagul (1930–2008), Shankarrao Kharat, and Bandhu Madhav were early Marathi writers from the Mahar community.[41] The Mahar writer Namdeo Dhasal (who founded Dalit Panther) was significant in the Dalit movement.[42] Other notable Mahar authors writing in Marathi include Shantabai Kamble, Raja Dhale, Daya Pawar, and Narendra Jadhav.[43]

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