Galiara

The Galiara are a Muslim community found in the state of Gujarat in India.^[1]

History and origin

The Galiara derive their name from the Gujarati word gali which means indigo. People who are engaged in the extraction of indigo and dyeing are referred to as Galiara. They are found throughout Gujarat. According to their traditions, the community were originally Rajputs, who some four hundred years ago, migrated from Marwar to Junagadh, in search of a livelihood. The Galiara are descendents of theses Rajputs who converted to Islam under the influence of a Muslim, Musabhai. They are mainly distributed in the districts of Bhavnagar, Rajkot and Junagadh. The community speak Gujarati, although most now have some knowledge of Hindi.^[2]

Present circumstances

The Galiara community consist of a number of clans, known as ataks. There main clans are the Chauhan, Makwana, Rathore, Wara and Sarvoia. The Sarvoia are further sub-divided into the Dosani-Sarvoia, Thebani-Sarvoia, and Rupani-Sarvoia. These clans intermarry, although the practice of clan exogamy has declined. There is now marriage within the clan. The Galiara are still involved in their traditional occupation of extracting indigo from indigo plants. The dyeing of blankets and turbans for princely families was their main occupation. However, with the advent of industrialization, the traditional economic structure of the community has been affected. Many Galiara are now petty businessmen, running small grocery shops. Like other Gujarati Muslims, they have a caste association that deals with both community welfare as well as an instrument of social control.^[3]

See also

• Muslim Kadia

References