Cast system in Pakistan

History

The caste system in South Asia has a long history and various forms. Will Durant discussed this in the first volume of “The Story of Civilization.” Aryans defined a caste system based on “verma” or color.

Native Indians, mainly Dravanian and Najas, adopted the caste system with a modification based on profession. This professional caste system was “jati,” or by birth.

“The man who is good by birth becomes low by low association, but who is low by birth can’t become high by high association” is the principle described in Manu, a Hindu scripture.

Pakistanis share the same cultural roots. In Pakistan the caste system is based on “jati,” or birth. Castes are based on the profession in the community. I was told the following caste order by my grandmother:

Zamindar, or landowner, is the highest; then lohar-thrukkhan, or blacksmith-carpenter; then poly, or weaver; mochi, or cobbler; meerasi-naie, or entertainer-barber. In Pakistan, the equivalents of Hindu untouchables are chammar, chura and bhangi, or janitor. These people have separate plates and cups in all employee cafeterias. They are mainly Christian, although some are Hindus and Muslims.

The caste system, in its feudal origins, reflected the importance of professions and occupations for agricultural output. Blacksmith-carpenters were important because they produced tools for agriculture, thus their high status. Pakistan is predominantly an underdeveloped agricultural society. While the caste system has religious approval under Hinduism, it has no future in an industrializing Muslim society. In an industrial era, castes are replaced by classes.

The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan has a clause for castes under the article “Schedule Castes.” Castes are defined by birth, even if you change your profession from cobbler to surgeon.C

To get rid of this stigma, a lot of so-called low-caste people migrate to cities, and there they change their castes. Usually, they try to link their ancestry to the prophet Mohammed (in Pakistan, ancestry is determined by male history), although the prophet Mohammed had no son to continue his life.

I received many letters from Pakistan in fall 1989 about a lohar, or blacksmith, who was riddled with more than 80 AK-47 bullets in Taien village in the Poonch District of Azad Kashmir because he married a higher caste woman. Later, the woman was also killed because society would not accept her. I believe that Lubna Suhail must know well about such a caste system in Pakistan. It is common practice in Pakistan to hide or deny bad things from foreigners because they bring a bad name to the prestige of the country.

Tribal names

The Dhund Abbasi (Urdu/Punjabi: ڈهونڈ عباسی) are a tribe found in northern Punjab in Pakistan.^[1] They mainly reside in Rawalpindi District, but are also spread out across parts of the Hazara Division (including Abbottabad, Mansehra and Haripur) and Azad Kashmir. They mainly speak Punjabi or Pahari dialects, as well as Hindko. The word Dhund was an honorary name given to one of their forefathers.

Arain (also known as Rain) are a major tribe found mainly in the provinces of Punjab and Sindh. They are chiefly associated with small-time farming or market gardening.

Awan (Urdu: اعوان‎) is a tribe living predominantly in northern, central, and western parts of Pakistani Punjab, with significant numbers also residing in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Kashmir and to a lesser extent in Sindh and Balochistan.

Gurjar or Gujjar are a pastoral agricultural ethnic group with populations in India, Pakistan, and a small number in northeastern Afghanistan.^[1] Alternative spellings include Gurjara, Gurjjar, Gojar and Gūjar.^[

Gurjars are linguistically and religiously diverse. Although they are able to speak the language of the region and country where they live, Gurjars have their own language, known as Gujari. They variously follow Hinduism, Islam, and Sikhism.^[ The Hindu Gurjars are mostly found in Indian states of Rajasthan, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab Plains and Maharashtra, while the Muslim Gujjars are mostly found in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Indian Himalayan regions such as Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Garhwal and Kumaon divisions of Uttarakhand.

The Gurjars are classified as Other Backward Class (OBC) in some of India’s States and UTs; in Jammu and Kashmir and some parts of Himachal Pradesh they are categorised as a Scheduled Tribe.^[7]^[8]^[9]^[10] Hindu Gurjars were assimilated into various varnas in the medieval period.

The Jat people (Hindi pronunciation: [dʒaːʈ]) (also spelled Jatt and Jaat)^[ are a traditionally agricultural community native to the Indian subcontinent, comprising what is today Northern India and Pakistan. Originally pastoralists in the lower Indus river-valley of Sindh, Jats migrated north into the Punjab region, Delhi, Rajputana, and the western Gangetic Plain in late medieval times. Primarily of Hindu, Muslim and Sikh faiths, they now live mostly in the Indian states of Haryana, Punjab, Delhi, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh and the Pakistani provinces of Punjab and Sindh.

Traditionally involved in peasantry, the Jat community saw radical social changes in the 17th century, when the Hindu Jats took up arms against the Mughal Empire during the late 17th and early 18th century. The Hindu Jat kingdom reached its zenith under Maharaja Suraj Mal of Bharatpur (1707–1763). The Jat community of the Punjab region played an important role in the development of the martial Khalsa Panth of Sikhism; they are more commonly known as the Jat Sikhs. By the 20th century, the landowning Jats became an influential group in several parts of North India, including Haryana, Punjab, Western Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Delhi. Over the years, several Jats abandoned agriculture in favour of urban jobs, and used their dominant economic and political status to claim higher social status.^[

Jats are classified as Other Backward Class (OBC) in seven of India’s thirty-six States and UTs, namely Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.^[15] However, only the Jats of Rajasthan – excluding those of Bharatpur district and Dholpur district – are entitled to reservation of central government jobs under the OBC reservation.^[ In 2016, the Jats of Haryana organized massive protests demanding to be classified as OBC in order to obtain such affirmative action benefits.

Rajput (from Sanskrit raja-putra, “son of a king”) is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Rajput covers various patrilineal clans historically associated with warriorhood: several clans claim Rajput status, although not all claims are universally accepted.

The term “Rajput” acquired its present meaning only in the 16th century, although it is also anachronistically used to describe the earlier lineages that emerged in northern India from 6th century onwards. In the 11th century, the term “rajaputra” appeared as a non-hereditary designation for royal officials. Gradually, the Rajputs emerged as a social class comprising people from a variety of ethnic and geographical backgrounds. During the 16th and 17th centuries, the membership of this class became largely hereditary, although new claims to Rajput status continued to be made in the later centuries. Several Rajput-ruled kingdoms played a significant role in many regions of central and northern India until the 20th century.

The Rajput population and the former Rajput states are found in north, west, central and east India. These areas include Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Jammu, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar. In Pakistan they are found on the eastern parts of the country, Punjab and Sindh.

Baloch tribal names

Askani (Urdu: ي اسكاني‎, translit.Nastaliq) is a Baloch tribe from Iran known as Irani Baloch.^] They are also found in Balochistan, Pakistan. They are also known as Makrani Balochn

Bahawalanzai (Urdu: بہاولانزی‎) is a sub clan of Marri Baloch tribe. It is also known as “Sardar” of the tribe because the Sardar (leader) of Marri tribe belongs to this clan of the tribe in Balochistan, Pakistan. In the 2012 census, its population was approximately 24,000 people.

Bajkani is a Pakistani Baloch tribe,^[ living primarily in District Jacobabad, Kashmore, Kandhkot, Sukkur, Hyderabad and Karachi in the province of Sindh of Pakistan and some districts of Balochistan province as well. The Bajkani tribe is named after Bajak. The sardar of this tribe is of Bijarani tribe of Karampur sindh.