Mahar

Mahar means is largely debated although it does not mean orignal inhabitants of Maharashtra as r1a haplogroup is found in high frequency and people prior to 1700s were unaware of aryan invasions |quote=The Mahars, the largest caste of untouchables (now known as "Scheduled Castes" or "Dalits") in Maharashtra (9 percent of the population), are considered the original inhabitants of the area. |archive-url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780415939195 |archive-date=21 July 2023}}</ref> The community is also known as Kathiwale (Men with Sticks), Bumiputera and (Sons of the Soil), Mirasi (Landlords). Traditionally they have the role of defending village boundaries from outsiders, invading tribes, criminals, and thieves. The Kathiwale name represents their former duty as village administrator. They were also responsible for maintaining law and order throughout the villages as administrators. The Mahars have a long and proud tradition of bearing arms.^[15]

From the time of early Islamic rule, villages in Maharashtra were part of the Baluta system. In that system, different castes were assigned different roles, each with its own tasks and rights. The duties assigned to the Mahar in the Baluta system included being village watchmen, trackers of thieves, messengers, wall menders, adjudicators of boundary disputes, and suppliers of coarse cloth to the village. In return for these services, the village granted them a watan, or rights to a small piece of land to do their own cultivation. The watan also included a share of village produce.^[16] They also worked at times as agricultural labourers.^[17][18] However, the Mahar were socio-economically above most other untouchable groups because their traditional role had been important in the village administrative system. This had necessitated that they had at least a rudimentary education, and frequently brought them into contact with upper-caste Hindus.^[19]In the Baluta system, apart from many traditional duties mentioned above, the Mahar were assigned work of removing dead cattle from the village, they also started eating the meat from the cattle that had died naturally.^[20] This formed the basis for the caste being treated as untouchables.^[21] The Mahar community defends consumption of beef by saying the famines were the reason they started eating the beef.^[22]

British India

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.^[19]

Military role under the British

During the colonial period, large numbers of Mahars and dhors 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. The victory pillar serves as focal point of Mahar heroism.^[30]

The Mahar began their service to the East India company around 1750. 20-25% of the British Bombay Army was Mahar. Their conduct as soldiers was praised by many British officers. Mahars were a vital component of the British Marine Battalion. In the East India Company Army they participated in various wars including Second Anglo-Maratha War, Third Anglo-Maratha War, Second Anglo-Sikh War and Second Afghan War.^[27]

After the 1857 mutiny, the British decided to change their military recruitment policy One report "emphasized that we cannot practically ignore it [the caste system], so long as the natives socially maintain it". This led to the discrimination against the Mahars, other low castes, and some unreliable Brahmin castes.^[27]

Mahar recruitment reached its nadir in the early 1890s (sources differ as to exact year) when British in favour of "martial races," specially north-western communities halted recruitment of Mahars.^[14][31] The Mahar community attempted to confront this block with a petition circulated among the Mahar, Chamar, and Mang former soldiers—all Marathi-speaking lower castes—but the movement was unable to organise and submit their petition.^[14] The attempt at a challenge had been spearheaded by Gopal Baba Walangkar, himself a Mahar, dhor and former soldier, but he found that Mahar military pensioners were unwilling to sign because they feared that they might lose their pensions. Thus, by the beginning of World War I, there were few Mahars left in the Army.^[32]

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.^[33][34]

Jyotirao Phule

In 1873, Jyotirao Phule, the founder of Satyashodhak Samaj—which aimed to abolish religious slavery—organised Mahars.^{[citation needed]} At that time, Mahars were not allowed to enter Hindu temples and were considered unclean. Even their entry into the shrines of Hindu gods was restricted.^[35] Their first conference was held in Mumbai in 1903.^[36][37]

Shahu of Kolhapur

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 society of the day. He also gave them all the human rights and equality that others enjoy.^[38][39]

B. R. Ambedkar

In the 20th century, top leader Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar organized the Mahars and created radical political awakening among them and inspired them to pay attention towards education. Before his death in 1956, Ambedkar, along with millions of his Mahar followers, converted to Buddhism as a protest against the caste discrimination of Hindus.^[40]

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.^[41] Mahar is numerically the largest Scheduled Caste in Maharashtra, according to the 2001 Census of India.^[42] As of 2017^[update], 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, West Bengal and Haryana.^[11]

According to the 2011 census, the Mahar population in Maharashtra is 80,06,060, which is 60.31% among Scheduled Castes, and 7.12% in the state.^[43]

This section needs additional citations for verification. (January 2021)

Historically Mahar had "12 and half" endogamous subcastes. The major subcastes include Ladvanshi (derived from "Lata Pradesh" current Gujarat), Somvanshi, Andhavanshi, Tilvanshi, Bawane (Bhavani Mahar), Gondvanshi, Kadvanshi and Kosare. These subcaste names are not totemistic. Some of the subcaste names represent the territory they controlled or occupied, while other subcaste names represent the acts their founders did. The Somavanshi Mahar trace their descent (bloodline) from the Mahabharata's Pandava. The Somavanshi Mahar claim to have taken part in the Mahabharata war and subsequently settled in Maharashtra. Before converting to Buddhism these subcastes would not marry and eat with one another.^[44]

The Mahars of the Deccan speak a non-standard version of Marathi. When a Mahar meets a man of his own caste he says Namastu, and when he meets anyone other than a Mahar he says Johar (possibly from the Sanskrit Yoddhar (Warrior). Mahars belonging to different regions are not permitted to intermarry unless some family connection can be traced between them. The Mahars are divided into number of exogamous groups or clans or kuls. There is evidence that each of the exogamous group historically owned and worshipped Devak or Totem, which is important at the time of a marriage ceremony. Members of families with a common Devak cannot intermarry.

In most of cases Devak has become became obsolete and has been replaced by a composite Devak called Panchpalvi composed of the leaves of five trees.^[45]
Few examples of Panchpalvi are,

• Khandesh
  • Arkathi
  • Borkathi
  • Jambul
  • Mango
  • Ruchkin
• Poona
  • Mango
  • Pipal
  • Rui
  • Shami
  • Umbar

Religion-wise population of the Mahars, as per 2011 census.^[43][49]

• Buddhist Mahars – 49,43,821 (61.75%)
• Hindu Mahars – 30,54,158 (38.15%)
• Sikh Mahars – 8,081 (0.10%)
• Total Mahars – 80,06,060 (100%)

In the 2011 census, 62% of Mahars stated Buddhism as their religion.^[43] Among the Scheduled Caste Hindus (Dalit Hindus) in Maharashtra, the proportion of Mahars is the highest at 38%. And 95% of Scheduled Caste Buddhists (Neo-Buddhists) and 70% of Scheduled Caste Sikhs (Dalit Sikhs) belong to the Mahar caste.^[43][49]