Charan

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Chāraṇ (plural Charans; Hindi:चारण; Gujarati:ચારણ) is a name of a caste living in Gujarat and Rajasthan states of India. They are highly revered for their unflinching readiness for martyrdom, bravery in war, high literary sense and deep loyalty to patrons. They are also known with surname Gadhavi (also spelled Gadhvi) and Barot. However term Barot is more generic and not necessarily all the Barots are Charans. Community is considered to be divine by large section of society[1]. Women of them are adored as mother goddesses by other major communities of this region[1],[2]. Many of the major goddesses worshiped in India across broad spectrum of society were born as daughters of Charan e.g. all shri Sachchai Ma, Karani Ma, Bahuchra Ma, Ma Bhut Bhavani, Hinglaj Ma (main temple is now in Baluchistan), Khodiyar Ma, Ma Bhavani, Sonal Ma, etc. This is one of the reasons Charan men are popularly known as "Deviputra" which means "son of goddess". In medieval age, presence of Charan in royal court was matter of prestige and pride for kings[3]. While they are considered great warrior and extermely loyal, they equally revered by kings for high literary sense and love for poem. Because of their ability to form poems instantaneously, they are also called with title "Kaviraj" which means Great Poet. Historian Dr. G. N. Sharma writes about Charans "In between social order of the Rajputs and the status of the Brahmans there is a caste of Charans which exercises a great respectability and influence in Rajasthan. The speciality of the caste is that it combines in its characteristics of Rajputs and Brahmans in an adequate manner". Further he notes that charan was an equal partner of his Rajput chief both in war and peace[4].

Contents

[edit] Social Structure

Charans' caste system is based on written genealogy. Charans accept all the other Charans as Charans even if they do not know each other and have radically different economic or geographic status [5]. They have four distinct sections mainly based on their geographic locations. Each section has several sub-sections and subsections have several stocks. Male and female of one stock are considered brothers and sisters. Hence marriage within stock is strongly forbidden no matter how separate they are in generations. Similarly, marriages outside the charan commnuty is also not allowed. The following is the list of sections, sub-sections and number of stocks[2]. List is not exhaustive and there could be more sections, subsections or stocks than listed here.

  • Tumer
Tumer are believed to be come from Sindh.
  • Kachhelas
They are also called Parajias from Kachchh district of Gujarat, they have three clans;
  1. Chanwas (72)
  2. Choradas (52)
  3. Naras (66)
  • Maru
Marus are from Marward of Rajasthan, They have 20 clans and more than 300 stocks.
  1. Badhva (19)
  2. Baratrohdia (12)
  3. Bati (13)
  4. Budhda (4)
  5. Dhadhania (11)
  6. Dadhvadia (19)
  7. Gelva (6)
  8. Hada (10)
  9. Jula (31)
  10. Khadia (36)
  11. Kharol (2)
  12. Mada (2)
  13. Maharia (11)
  14. Nadhu (29)
  15. Ratanu (1)
  16. Sandhayach (16)
  17. Siyal (0)
  18. Soda (33)
  19. Vija (1)
  • Gujjars
Gujjars are apparently a trace of the great tribe that gave Gujarat its name

[edit] Values and Belief

Charans respect bravery, loyalty and truth more than life. Much of the respect and admiration they receive is because of their unflinching readiness to sacrifice their own life in order to honor these values. Their attitude is typical of warriors. Their war cry is "Jay Mataji" (Hail the mother goddess). Male members greet each other with these words even if they are not at war. However, women Charans do not greet each other with these words because they themselves are regarded Mataji (mother goddess) and hence technically shouldn't hail their own name. Instead, they use words of blessings to greet. The moral values of Charans are best captured in a poem by the great poet Dula Bhaya Kag. The name of the poem is "Udi jao pankhi pankhu vada" (Fly away O birds, you have wings). The poem is a dialog between birds and an old banyan tree (on which they are living). There is a fire spreading fast in the forest. Seeing imminent death for him, the tree asks the birds to fly away to a safe place. The Birds do not comply with this advice and in the end they burn away with tree. Here, wings are symbols of freedom and the tree is symbol of a patron. The poem represents the deep rooted values in Charans that the freedom is to choose the tree, not to leave the tree.

The great poet Dula Bhaya Kag popularly known as Kagbapu was a Charan. He never wrote a poem in which he didn't believe. In the Nineteen-fifties Acharya Vinoba Bhave was running "Bhoodan Yagna", which was a socio-economic movement based on Gandhian principles. Bhoo means Land, Dan means to give in charity and Yagna means movement. It was a movement in which landowners were asked to donate a part of their land so it can be given to landless laborers and hence social equality can be established. Shri Ravi Shankar Maharaj was in charge of this movement in Gujarat region. He was one of the many great admirers of Shri Kagbapu. He solicited Kagbapu's help in this movement to ask Gadhavis to give land. Shri Kagbapu denied this request telling him that Gadhavis are marginal farmers and cannot afford to donate lands. Shri Ravi Shankar Maharaj convinced Kagbapu in subsequent meetings to give a poem as a gift for the movement, which can be recited at public speeches of Bhoodan Yagna. Shri Kagbapu could not deny this request but before presenting poem to Ravi Shankar Maharaj, he donated all of his land. When asked, he said that the poem should first convince the poet, than the rest.

[edit] Self Immolation

Charans are highly feared by other communities for their ever readiness to self immolate. This is because it was believed that the shedding of blood of Charan brought ruin on the person responsible for it. The act of self-immolation known as tragu[2] would be practiced by Charans when his/her/their demands are not met. This practice consisted in shedding one's own blood or the blood of some member of one's family, and in calling down the vengeance of heaven upon the offender whose obstinacy necessitated the sacrifice. Sometimes they performed tragu by putting fire on themselves. Tragu or self immolations were performed mostly because of their strong conviction that opposite party had behaved against their honor rather than petty economical benefits. It was peformed only when opposite party is not considered enemy. When opposite party happens to be enemy, they always choose to go on war. Self immolations were performed for variety of reasons. For example, one gadhavi woman practised self immolation to save a wild hare. Her name was Punai Mata (word Mata stands for mother goddess). Temple of her is near a small village named Zarpara in Kachchh district of Gujarat. It happened when she was collecting fodder for her live stock, a wild hare came running and fall in her lap in disparate attempt to save its life from a huntsman. The huntsman demanded her to give it back, which she rejected telling him that on hare's part it is an act of seeking refuge, and she now provided it and will honor it until death. When she found herself overpowered by huntsman she performed self immolation. The mother goddess Bahuchara Ma (one the three most important mother goddesses worshiped in Gujarat) was a Charan woman who cut of her breast when attacked by members of Koli caste. Readiness to perform self sacrifice allowed Charans to do several important functions. One of them was to stand as surety. Rajputs believed in surety of Charans more than any other type of sureties, because they knew Charan will make other parties honor an agreement even if it costs Charan his own life. Charans also offered themselves as surety for good behavior of King, Feudatories, Zamindars and village headmen. British accepted Charans as surety in some of their early treaties with chiefs of Saurashtra[6]. Charans acted as surety and guide for travelers and goods. A Charan will commit tragu if anyone tried to rob him or his party. Near the entrance of almost every village in western Gujarat stand guardian stones (known as paliyas),which were set up to perpetuate the memory of Charan men and women who performed tragu to prevent robbers from carrying off the cattle of the village[7]. Hence, even robbers came under religious sanctions of Charans. The British government in India put a ban on performing tragu from 1808 onward, nevertheless, incidents of it keep occurring during large part of later period[2]. However, in post independent India, one hardly come across the incident of Tragu. Many times Mahatma Gandhi (M. K. Gandhi) announced fast until death in order to change hearts of opposite party which closely resembles the practice of tragu, however tragu done by Charan used to be much more violent and reasons for it were not as broad and far reaching as that of Mahatma Gandhi's. It is worth noting that Mahatma Gandhi was born and brought up in the part of India where Charan population is dominant[8].

[edit] Food and Drink

Their food and drink habits resemble those of a warrior community. Most of the Charan used to enjoy eating opium and drinking liquor. Opium and liquor are also widely used substances in other warrior communities (e.g. Rajputs) of this region. This is because opium worked as a pain killer in hand to hand battles with swords during medieval times. Charans do not eat the flesh of cows. Cows are respected as mother. Husband and wife in villages do not drink milk from the same cow. Also husband and wife do not drink milk soiled by their counterpart. This is to say for drinking milk from one mother amounts to be considered as brother and sister. Charans highly disregard those who eat cow flesh. However, many Charans eat the meat of animals other than cow. During pre-independence time of India (before 1947), sacrifice of male-buffalo constituted a major part of celebration of Navratri[9]. Navratri is a festival of India, which is celebrated for nine nights with dancing and music. This festival is to honor the victory of mother goddess in a war against demon. The war lasted for nine nights. On the ninth night, the demon (Mahisashur), who had the appearance of a buffalo, was killed. Every year a sacrifice of a male-buffalo used to be made to symbolize victory over Mahisashur. Charan woman being regarded as mother goddess, would honour the occasion of the sacrifice in temple and the first cup of blood would be offered to her [10]. The sacrifice was to be made with a single sway of a sword completely decapitating the head of the buffalo. Present day Charans no longer honor animal sacrifices as part of religious rituals, neither do they encourages drinking of opium or liquor as a social value. The social movement of the mid nineteen-sixties led by aai (mother goddess) Sonal Ma, Great Poet Dula Bhaya Kag, Pinglshin Bapu and others was focused on stopping animal sacrifice, discouraging drinking of liquor and opium, and encouraging modern education. This movement had great success for socio-economic reform of this community.

[edit] Literature

Literature and poems are integral part of an identity of Charans. There are several stories popular in this region, which tells that how famous they were to write and recite poems e.g. many stories tell that a Charan was living in disguise in fear of persecution by King but had been identified immediately when he spoke poetry or completed half done poetry. The Dingal literature and dingal language largely owe to this caste[4],[11]. The Dingal literature is also know as as Charani Sahitya, which means literature of charans. Shri Zaverchand Meghani divides Charani Sahitya in thirteen sub genres described below[12].

  1. Songs in praise of gods and goddesses (stavan)
  2. Songs in praise of heroes, saints and patrons (birdavalo)
  3. description of war (varanno)
  4. rebukes of wavering great kings and evil powerful men (upalambho)
  5. Mockery of a standing treachery of heroism (Thekadi)
  6. Love stories
  7. Laments for dead warriors, patrons and friends (Marasiya or vilap kavya)
  8. Praise of natural beauty, seasonal beauty and festivals
  9. descriptions of weapons
  10. Songs in praise of lions, horses, camels, and buffalo
  11. Sayings about didactic and practical cleverness
  12. Ancient epics
  13. Anguish of people in time famine and adversity

Other classification of Charani sahitya (literature) is Khyatas (chronicles), Vartas and vatas (stories), Raso (martial epics), Veli - Veli Krishan Rukman ri, Doha-Chhand (Verses)[4][11]. Dursa Adha, Keshavdas, Karnidan, Virbhan, Chand Bardai, Ishwar Dan, etc. hold dignified position in the literary field of mediaeval India. Prithviraj Raso by Chand Bardai is a prose style writing highly revered for its historical and literary significance. Rajrupak of Virbhan, Surajprakash by Karanidan, Hariras by Ishwardan are examples of verses. Other form of charani literature is charaj(song of mother's worship).Another minor forms are aaraniyu and zilaniyu which are also songs for worship.

[edit] Relationship with other communities

Charan enjoyed very cordial relationship with most of the other communities. Charans had great influence with Rajputs (a community of warriors). The historian Quanungo describes the special relationship between Rajput and Charan: "The Charan was the esteemed and faithful companion of the Rajput, sharing his opium and half his loaf in adversity and receiving his extravagant bounty in prosperity. He followed his client chief on horseback to the thickest of fight, where poetic fire of his deed of old gave a Rajput the strength of ten on the field of carnage". Charans are also known to speak truth to the Rajputs kings, which others wouldn't have because of fear of arousing anger. James Tod[13] remarks that " There chroniclers (Charans) dare utter truths, sometimes most unpalatable to their masters,. Many resolutions has sunk under the lash of their satire." In spite of their amnesty as divine community speaking of truth had cost many Charans their life and mass persecution. The other community with whom Charans have very close relationship is Ahir. Ahirs are considered to be descendent of the god Krishna and presenltly most of them are farmers and herdsman. Charan call Ahir using word "mama" which means brother of one's mother. This to adore help given by an Ahir to protect a charan woman in adversity.

[edit] Medieval History of Charan (1500-1800 AD)

Shri Karani Mata was a charan woman who has been supposed to have helped Bika (A ruler of Rajasthan) to occupy the territory of Bikaner. She is worshiped as a Goddess and her shrine is at Deshnok near Bikaner. A saintly Charan woman, mother of Baru Charan helped Rana Hamir from her own funds by supplying 500 horses for the recovery of Chittor[4]. Charan Khemraj saved the life of Prince Jagat Singh by killing Naruka Rajput who attempted to murder prince[4]. Naruji achieved martyrdom at the gate of Jagdish temple when Taj Khan and Ruhullah Khan came to destroy it on the order of muslim emperor Aurangzeb. Intersting fact about Naruji is that he is worshipped by both Hindus and Muslims. Two shrines for him are erected; one is where his body fell, which is worshipped by Hindus and another few yard away tended by Muslims, where his head fell[9]. Following are the quoatations about Charan taken from book of Dr. G. N. Sharma[4].

  • In the year 1615 AD, Narhar Charan fell fighting in the action of Sur Singh against Kishan Singh of Kishangarh.
  • In the famous field of Dharmat in 1658 AD., Jagmal Khadiya made his end as a valiant warrior.
  • In the battle of Delhi when Durgadas planned the rescue of Ajit Singh, Charan Sandu and Mishan Ratan distinguished themselves as martyrs for the cause of their land.
  • Charan Jogidas, Mishan Bharmal, Sarau, Asal Dhanu and Vithu Kanau were among the chosen brave warriors who escorted prince Akbar through his way to Shambhaji's court.
  • Dhanraj Charan (1801 AD) and Ghan Rama (1822 AD) have been recorded as well-known traders in records of that period.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Shah A. M. and Shroff R. G.:"The Vahivancha barots of Gujarat: A caste of Genealogists and mythographers", vol. 71 (281), J. American Folk Lore, 246\-276, 1958.
  2. ^ a b c d "Bombay Gazetteer" Section VII, Government Central press, Bombay (India), pp. 214-222, 1904.
  3. ^ Abul Fida: "Ain-e-Akbari", 1590.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Sharma G. N.: "Social Life in Medieval Rajasthan", Lakshmi Narayan Agarwal Educational Publisher, Agra (India), pp 94-96, 1968
  5. ^ Thomson, G. R.: "Charans of Gujarat: Caste Identity, Music and Cultural Change", Ethnomusicology, vol. 35(3), 381-391, 1991.
  6. ^ Aitchison, C. U.:"A collection of treaties, engagements and sanads", Calcutta, VI, 165-167, 1932.
  7. ^ Mr. Ovan's Survey Book, AD 1817
  8. ^ Spodek H.:"On the Origin of the Gandhi's Political Methodology: The Heritage of Kathiawad and Gujarat", The Journal of Asian Studies, vol. 30(2), 361-372, 1971
  9. ^ a b Harlan L: Goddesses' Henchmen - Geneder in Hero Worship, Oxford University Press, USA, p. 258, 2003.
  10. ^ Matanamadh, Desh Devi Ashapura (html). Matanamadh Jagir, Kachchh, India (2006). Retrieved on 2006-12-23.
  11. ^ a b Smith, J. D.: "An introduction to language of the historical documents from Rajasthan", Modern Asian Studies, vol. 9(4), 433-464, 1974
  12. ^ Meghani, Z.: "Charano and Charani Sahitya", (Guj), Ahmedabad, 1943
  13. ^ James, Tod: "Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan" (first published in 1829-32), London, pages 500, 1952.

[edit] See Also

Dhangar

[edit] External links

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