Jatav

Jatav
जाटव
Languages
Hindi, Awadhi, Rajasthani, Haryanvi
Religion
Hinduism[1] (majority)[2] and Buddhism & Ravidassia Panth (minority)

Jatav, also known as Jatava/Jatan/ Jatua/Jhusia /Jatia/Jatiya, is an Indian Dalit community that are considered to be a subcaste of the Chamar caste, who are classified as a Scheduled Caste under modern India's system of positive discrimination.

According to the 2011 Census of India, the Jatav community of Uttar Pradesh comprised 54% of that state's total 22,496,047 Scheduled Caste population.[3]

History

Some Jatav authors have disputed being Scheduled. In the 1920s, Jatavs claimed to be survivors of the ancient war between Parashuram, the legend of the Brahmins, and Kshatriyas, forced into hiding. Their proof of ancestry is a series of correspondences or status similarities between Jatav and other Kshatriya clans. According to Owen Lynch, "These included identical gotras, and such Kshatriya-like ceremonies as shooting a cannon at weddings and the use of the bow and arrow at the birth saṃskāra".[4][5]

According to M. P. S. Chandel

Jatavs pressed hard for their (Kshatriya) claim. But as is said many times earlier that in the caste federal system of India, changes seldom occur and in case of scheduled castes as also established by M. N. Shrinivas there are no chances at all. So the caste of Jatavs went to a predestined end. It is unfortunate that such a powerful effort (Lynch 1969) could result in nothing but the result in other fields were rewarding and exemplary. Jatav elites using cultural sentiments and striking the chord of psyche succeeded in pursuing several strategies in getting political successes.[6]

In the early part of the 20th century, the Jatavs attempted the process of sanskritisation, claiming themselves to be historical of the Kshatriya varna. They gained political expertise by forming associations and by developing a literate cadre of leaders, and they tried to change their position in the caste system through the emulation of upper-caste behavior. As a part of this process, they also claimed not to be Chamars and petitioned the government of the British Raj to be officially classified differently: disassociating themselves from the Chamar community would they felt, enhance their acceptance as Kshatriya. These claims were not accepted by other castes and, although the government was amenable, no official reclassification as a separate community occurred due to the onset of World War II.[4] An organisation of young Jatavs, called the Jatav Vir, was formed in Agra in 1917, and a Jatav Pracharak Sangh was organised in 1924. They joined with local Banias to establish a front and thus one of them won the seat of the mayor in Agra, and another became a member of the Legislative Council.[6]

Under the leadership of Jatav Mahasabha in the 1931 census, he took an aggressive stand for his demand to include Jatavs in the Kshatriya class and to rename them as 'Jatav' from Chanwar Chamar. They were successful and in the new census of India the Tanners were called 'Jatav'.

Earlier pressing for the Kshatriya status, the new issues emerged among Jatavs in 1944–45. The Jatavs formed the Scheduled Caste Federation of Agra having ties with the Ambedkar-led All India Scheduled Caste Federation. They started recognizing themselves as Scheduled Caste and hence "Dalit".[7] This acceptance is attributed to the protections available to the scheduled castes.[6]

According to Owen Lynch:

The change is due to the fact that Sanskritisation is no longer as effective a means as is political participation for achieving a change in the style of life and a rise in the Indian social system, now composed of both caste and class elements.[7]

Religion

Most of the Jatavs belongs to the Hindu Religion. Some Jatavs also became Buddhists in 1956, after B. R. Ambedkar converted him to Buddhism. On September 5, 1990, around a thousand members of the Jatav community from village Jaunpur near Agra converted to Sikhism in a protest against the upper caste people who halted the marriage procession taken out by Jatav Chamar Community.[8]

Along with the mainstream religious identity, the Jatav community follows Guru Ravidas as well and gathered in tens of thousands as protestors in Delhi against the demolition of Ravidas Temple.[9]

Demographics

Jatavs are often combined with Chamar, Ahirwar, Ravidassia and other subcastes and are given Scheduled Caste in major North Indian states under India's positive reservation system.[10]

As of the 2011 Census, there were 22,496,047 Jatav/Chamars in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, of whom 22,371,352 declared themselves as Hindu, 113,765 declared themselves as Buddhist, and 10,930 declared themselves as Sikh. According to this census, Jatavs make 11.25% of the State's population.[11]

Jatavs along with Jhusia, Dhusia, (Chamar Caste) in Uttar Pradesh by Districts (2011)[12]
Districts 2011 India census
Jatav, Chamar, Jhusia, Dhusia Caste Population %
Agra 698,052 15.8%
Aligarh 448,957 12.22%
Ambedkar Nagar 476,378 19.87%
Amroha 272,548 14.81%
Ayodhya 82,033 3.32%
Auraiya 252,284 18.29%
Azamgarh 918,153 19.9%
Bagpat 101,703 7.81%
Bahraich 209,787 6.01%
Ballia 312,313 9.64%
Balrampur 36,929 1.72%
Banda 260,450 14.47%
Barabanki 253,468 7.77%
Bareilly 285,956 6.43%
Basti 390,962 15.86%
Bijnor 664,676 18.05%
Budaun 395,763 12.65%
Bulandshahr 543,381 15.53%
Chandauli 326,088 16.7%
Chitrakoot 151,148 15.24%
Deoria 310,322 10.01%
Etah 158,640 8.94%
Etawah 230,849 14.59%
Farrukhabad 150,180 7.97%
Fatehpur 234,667 8.91%
Firozabad 274,968 11.01%
Gautam Buddha Nagar 140,049 8.5%
Ghaziabad 552,299 16.52%
Ghazipur 551,443 15.23%
Gonda 80,635 2.35%
Gorakhpur 551,785 12.43%
Hamirpur 132,171 11.97%
Hardoi 568,601 13.89%
Hathras 256,879 16.42%
Jalaun 274,763 16.26%
Jaunpur 682,060 15.18%
Jhansi 296,345 14.83%
Kannauj 169,938 10.26%
Kanpur Dehat 263,541 14.67%
Kanpur Nagar 338,979 7.4%
Kasganj 163,835 11.4%
Kaushambi 105,054 6.57%
Kushinagar 313,738 7.8%
Lakhimpur Kheri 427,978 12.01%
Lalitpur 168,109 13.76%
Lucknow 281,541 6.13%
Maharajganj 289,658 10.79%
Mahoba 142,036 16.21%
Mainpuri 173,017 9.26%
Mathura 363,698 14.28%
Mau 366,689 16.62%
Meerut 468,170 13.6%
Mirzapur 318,382 12.75%
Moradabad 567,243 18.14%
Muzaffarnagar 419,594 14.62%
Pilibhit 119,926 5.9%
Pratapgarh 249,075 7.76%
Prayagraj 442,938 7.44%
Rae Bareli 253,489 8.73%
Rampur 205,052 8.78%
Saharanpur 640,625 18.48%
Sant Kabir Nagar 249,254 11.33%
Sant Ravidas Nagar 212,174 12.37%
Shahjahanpur 229,487 7.63%
Shravasti 41,129 3.68%
Siddharthnagar 271,095 10.59%
Sitapur 525,845 11.73%
Sonbhadra 217,580 11.68%
Sultanpur 319,156 14.19%
Unnao 325,301 10.47%
Varanasi 325,036 8.84%

Notable Jatavs

See also

References

  1. ^ Rashid, Omar (18 May 2019). "Jatavs power BSP's campaign in U.P." The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  2. ^ Duncan 2019d, p. 120.
  3. ^ "Jatavs on top of SC population in UP". The Times of India. 4 July 2015.
  4. ^ a b Lynch 1970, pp. 216–217.
  5. ^ Rawat 2011, p. 127.
  6. ^ a b c Chandel 1990, pp. 50–52
  7. ^ a b Berger & Heidemann 2013
  8. ^ Lorenzen, David N. (9 November 1994). Bhakti Religion in North India: Community Identity and Political Action. SUNY Press. p. 95. ISBN 978-0-7914-2026-3. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  9. ^ ""Mandir wahin banaenge": Thousands protested against the demolition of Ravidas temple in Delhi". caravanmagazine.in. The Caravan. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  10. ^ "LIST OF SCHEDULED CASTES" (PDF). Ministry of Social Justice.
  11. ^ "SC-14: Scheduled caste population by religious community, Uttar Pradesh - 2011". censusindia.gov.in. Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  12. ^ "A-10 Appendix: District wise scheduled caste population (Appendix), Uttar Pradesh - 2011". censusindia.gov.in. Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 22 October 2024.

Sources