Dhai Ghar

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Maharaja Mahtab Chand of Burdwan, 1860

The Dhai Ghar (also written as Dhaighar) Khatris originally consisted of three family groups of North India – Kapoor, Khanna and Mehra (also known as Mehrotra or Malhotra). All of these communities have been urban communities unlike other communities like Jats and Ahirs that have been largely rural communities of India. They were regarded as Kshatriyas of two and a half houses because a grouping of three is considered unlucky; more so because half the house of Mehras, those who remained in the Himalayas (present day Uttarakhand) had not joined the new group. They were also regarded as Khatri, especially after their expansion into Char Ghar (four houses). Aurangzeb banished many Khatris from the Moghul military and administrative roles[1] because of their non-cooperation and since that time many of the Dhai Ghar Khatris adopted trading, business and other urban professions that many other khatris were already engaged in and from where they frequently took wives for their sons, while giving their daughters only to the other Dhai Ghar khatris in marriage. To quote from Sir Edward Blunt's book (page 47),[2]

“A Dhaighar man can take a wife only from the Dhaighar or Charghar groups whilst a Dhaighar woman can marry only a Dhaighar man. The Dhaighar are therefore exogamous as regards men and endogamous as regards women.”

Based mainly on information collected by Captain O'Brien on Peshawari Khatris, 1901 Census report discusses the Khatri clan hierarchy in terms of Dhaighar, Charghar, Chaighar and Baraghar.[3] Baraghar includes all the twelve clans whereas Dhaighar includes just the three (or four). Sherring [4] gives the groups existing in the Pachhaniya Khatris of Banares; he gives the same names for Dhaighar/Charghar but Chhahjati and Barahjati names are non-overlapping.

However, beginning in the nineteenth century, the community has progressively relaxed somewhat restrictions for marriage and modern Dhai Ghar Khatris marry at times across other communities.

Origins

The origin of this caste is not clear and requires further research but it appears that they are a relatively recent addition to the khatri clan as may be inferred from Ain-i-Akbari (Eyes for the Emperor, Compiled in 1590) by Abu’l Fazal a prominent historian of Emporar Akab who recorded the Khatri Gotras.[5] There is a story that the grouping was formed by the families of three administrators - Kapur Chand, Khan Chand and Mehar Chand who had come to work in Akbar’s court from Multan. But this story appears to be a fictional one since the Mehra, Khanna and Kapoor clans have pre-existed in India as a Kshatriya clan. Historically one of the Ratna's in Mughal Emperor Akbar's Nine-Ratnas was a Khanna known as Todar Mal Khanna It is more likely that the grouping was formed in Akbar’s time for marriages from three existing kshatriya family groups - the Kapoors, Khannas and Mehras that preexisted in India. They were later expanded to form the char ghar khatris (Khatris of four houses) by including the Tandon clan or the Seth clan. The basis for the grouping appears to be suyavanshi roots rather than any other consideration. It is for this reason that the group included other suryavanshi clans that they encountered in the regions they came to inhabit such as the Tandons and the Seths. These groupings were based on the belief that all of these clans are descendents of ancient suryavanshi kshatriya clans,.[6] The name Mehra appears to be derived from Mihira or Mihir which means Sun.[7][8] Some members of the Mehra family also adopt the alternative family names of Malhotra, Mehlotra or Mehrotra.

To protect their lineage the dhai ghar khatris traditionally did not permit their daughters to marry with other khatris outside the dhai ghar. However when necessity demanded they took daughters of other khatris in marriage for their sons. The group has expanded rapidly since the time of Akbar and spread across entire North India.

The Mehra family may have migrated from a village near Nainital in Uttarakhand where an ancient village by the name of Mehra Village exists that was established by the Rajput and other kshatriya migrations into Kumaon [9] later returning to the plains to serve in the army of Emperor Akbar along with Rajputs from other parts of India. Modern DNA studies may throw more light on the origins of this and other family groupings of India.

The Maharajas of Burdwan

The Royal family of Burdwan in Bengal belong is one of the most prominent families of dhai ghar aside from Raja Todar Mal Khanna of Akbar's court. Maharajah Bahadur Tedj Chand Ray adopted Chinilal Kapur. His descendants continued as the Maharajas of Burdwan.[10] The family continued as rulers of Burdwan until zamindari was abolished by the government of India in 1955/56. The area remained under direct administration of the British via the Indian Civil Service officers on the Bengal State. During the three centuries that they held the estate of Burdwan, the Kapoor family extended their patronage to scholars and artists, including:

Several famous buildings and tanks in Burdwan were built by the Maharajas of Burdwan, including the Sarbamangala temple, the Baikunthanath Siva temple, the Shyam sagar tank, the Ranisagar tank, the Bijoy Toran and the Rajbadi (palace). In 1882, the Burdwan Raj College was started in Burdwan, which was supported entirely by the estates of the Kapoor dynasty.Rabindranath Tagore in his The Hungry Stones And Other Stories writes: "the Chhota Lord had been heard to say that in all Bengal, the only really respectable families were those of the Maharaja of Burdwan and the Babus of Nayanjore."

Contemporary Occupations

In modern times the Dhai Ghar community is engaged in diverse professions in India ranging from administration to the army. Usha Devi Malhotra (HH Maharanidhiraja Rani Rajeshwar Sawai Shrimant Akhand Soubbagyavati Usha Devi Malhotra, XV Bahadur, 15th Maharani of Indore) was appointed as the successor of Holkar State in a grand ceremony in presence of the then President of India Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru and Home Minister Sardar Vallabh Bahi Patel in 1961 . She has been conferred with the title of Maharani of Indore. In modern India the monarchy is officially notional, however, it continues in popular tradition.

Two of the Indian Army Chiefs – General Deepak Kapoor and General Om Prakash Malhotra belong to this community. Since many from this community are good looking they have done rather well in the Indian film industry. Foremost among them is the family of Raj Kapoor.[11] Another famous actor was Rajesh Khanna

References

  1. ↑ John R. McLane (2002). Land and Local Kingship in Eighteenth-Century Bengal. Cambridge South Asian Studies (Volume 53). Cambridge University Press. p. 132. ISBN 978-0-521-52654-8.
  2. ↑ Sir Edward Blunt, The Caste System of Northern India, Edition reprint, Publisher Gyan Publishing House, 1931 ISBN 9788182054950, 374 pages
  3. ↑ The Khatri Caste Terminology, Appendix in Census of India, 1901, Volume 17, Part 1 By India. Census Commissioner p. 341-344
  4. ↑ Hindu Tribes and Castes, Volume 1 By Matthew Atmore Sherring,Thacker, Spink & Company, 1872, p. 277-283,
  5. ↑ The Ain i Akbari by Abul Fazlallami, translated from the original Persian, by H. Blochmann, M.A. and Colonel H. S. Jarrett, Volume 1, Page 376, Low Price Publications India
  6. ↑ Kumar Suresh Singh, B. R. Sharma, , A. R. Sankhyan, Volume 24 of People of India: State series, Anthropological Survey of India, 1996, ISBN 817304094X, 9788173040948, 715 pages
  7. ↑ Bombay (India : State) (1901). Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, Volume 9, Part 1. Govt. Central Press. p. 479. 
  8. ↑ Chandrasekharendra Saraswati (Jagatguru Sankaracharya of Kamakoti); Śaṅkarācārya, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan (2001). Śri Śaṅkara Bhagavatpādācārya's Saundaryalaharī. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. p. 339. 
  9. ↑ James F. Fisher, Himalayan Anthropology: The Indo-Tibetan Interface World Anthropology, Walter de Gruyter, 1978, 567 pages, ISBN 9027977003, 9789027977007,
  10. ↑ Sir Roper Lethbridge, Golden Book of India, A Genealogical and Biographical Dictionary of the Ruling Princes, Chiefs, Nobles, and Other Personages, Titled Or Decorated of the Indian Empire, Aakar Books, 2005, 584 pages
  11. ↑ Raj Kapoor, Charitavali series, Author, Lata Khubchandani, Publisher Rupa, 2003, ISBN 8171678165, 9788171678167
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