Kasana clan

Kasana (Gojri:कसाणा) or Kushane (Gojri: कुषाणे ), often cited to be derived from Kushan(कुषाण), is a Gujjar clan [1][2][3]

Kasana's are mainly found in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.In India Kasana are found in the states of Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana, Gujarat & Maharashtra. The Kasana clan is a very numerous and powerful force in Gujarat. A Kasana is said to be known as Gusur (man or woman born in a very high family). The clan is a very highly populated clan and there are many well known people from this clan that are well known all around Pakistan, North West of India and Afghanistan.

Gujjar clan: Kasana, Kushan, Kusane, Kushane
Distribution India, Pakistan, Afghanistan
Descended from: Kush or may be Kushan tribe
Branches: None
Religion Hinduism, Muslim and Sikhism
Languages Gojri, Hindi, Punjabi, Dogri, Rajasthani, Haryanvi, Sanskrit, Urdu
Surnames: Kasana, Kusane, Kushane, Kushan

Origin

Listing of Kushan royal tamgas

Chinese sources describe the Guishuang (貴霜), i.e. the Kushans, as one of the five aristocratic tribes of the Yuezhi[4] (月氏), with some people claiming they were a loose confederation of Indo-European peoples,[5] though many scholars are still unconvinced that they originally spoke an Indo-European language.

"For well over a century, however, there have been many arguments about the ethnic and linguistic origins of the Da Yuezhi (大月氏), Kushans (貴霜), and the Tochari, and still there is little consensus.[6]

John Keay contextualizes the movements of the Kushan within a larger setting of mass migrations taking place in the region:

"Chinese sources tell of the construction of the Great Wall in the third century BC and the repulse of various marauding tribes. Forced to head west and eventually south, these tribes displaced others in an ethnic knock-on effect which lasted many decades and spread right across Central Asia. The Parthians from Iran and the Bactrian Greeks from Bactria had both been dislodged by the Sakas coming down from somewhere near the Aral Sea. But the Sakas had in turn been dislodged by the Yueh-chi who had themselves been driven west to Xinjiang by the Xiongnu. The Xiongnu would not reach India for a long time. But the Yueh-chi continued to press on the Shakas, and having forced them out of Bactria, it was sections or clans of these Yueh-chi who next began to move down into India in the second half of the first century AD."[7]

General Cunningham identified the Kushans as Gurjars or Gujjar.[2] The word Gusur is referenced in the Rabatak inscription of Kushan king Kanishka. According to some scholars the Word Gusur, which means Kulputra or a "man or woman born in high family", in this inscription stands for Gurjara.[8][9][10]

Traditions

Hindu

Like other Hindu gujjars Hindu Kasana are mainly vegetarians and in the selection of spouse, the strict socioeconomic condition of the negotiating families is seen and four gotra, that is, self, mother's, Grandmother's and mother’s mother, are avoided.[11] The women of well-to do household may not, however, like to work in the fields, but during the peak harvesting season their assistance is inevitable. A woman’s role, both in the domestic as well as in economic sphere is significant. The womenfolk are deft in making embossed floral patterns on the walls of the house. During Navratra festival (9 days devoted to the worship of Durga ), they make their own clay model of goddess Durga for worship which is later immersed in the river. Some of them make intricate appliqué on the straw fans and do embroidery as well. These are not for sale but are kept for their use. They share folksongs or dances of the region.there are 24 villages of Kasana Gurjars in Loni Block in Ghaziabad district of Uttar Pardesh such as Bhopura,Shakalpura,Jawali,Rajpur,Mandla,Kotwalpur,Ristal,Dharipur,Bhubkheri, Ghari Klanjri,Sirora,Rewri,Mhamoodpur and Milak etc. 48 villages in Agra district of Uttar Pardesh .

Muslims

A Muslim Gujjars male is recognized his typical beard and dress. They wear a specially embroidered conical headgear called gujjari topi, jawaharcut colored embroidered jacket, a loose long kurta and a tamba, while their women wear chooridar pyjama and loose kurta usually of brown, black or green color. Bio-anthropological information with respect to hemoglobin variants somatometry, serology, genetics and dermatoglphics in the community is available. They are mostly non-vegetarian, but mutton is consumed occasionally and on important occasions only due to lack of availability. Eating pork is taboo. They do not eat beef or buffalo meat. Their staple diet consists of maize chapatti, pulses and leafy vegetables. Their cooking media are mustard oil and desi ghee. Preparation of milk products like lassi and dahi, also form a part of their daily diet, which are their home products. Taking alcoholic beverages is a taboo as per the tenets of their religion but a few do consume it. They also consume non-alcoholic beverages like salted tea and lassi. A distinctive feature of their marriage is that consanguineous marriages take place. A boy can marry his cousin, either on the father’s or mother’s side provided they gave not in their infancy been suckling from the breast of the same mother. Tehe marriages take place by nikah in which both the boy and the girl agree to marry each other in consideration of an agreed amount of mehar which has to be paid in the event of annulment of the marriage. Both junior levirate and junior sororate are permissible. Dowry is not demanded but is given in kind in the form of a buffalo or cow as per one’s economic position.

References

  1. ↑ Pran Nath Chopra (1982). Religions and communities of India. Vision Books. p. 128. The Gujars are the only people whose tribal names seem to offer a clue to their descent from the Kushans
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 University of Calcutta (1885). Calcutta review, Volumes 80-81. University of Calcutta. p. 202. Southern Panjab, and as three Gujar princes were reigning somewhere — possibly in the same country — more than a hundred years later, General Cunningham thinks that the Kushan and the Gujar may be identical
  3. ↑ http://www.gurjarindia.com/Culture/Origin.html
  4. ↑ Yueh-chi or Yüeh-chih in other transcriptions, For romanized spelling Yueh-chi see: Keay, p. 110.
  5. ↑ Kushan Empire (ca. 2nd century BC–3rd century AD) | Thematic Essay | Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  6. ↑ Hill (2009), p. 311.
  7. ↑ Keay, p. 110.
  8. ↑ Dineschandra Sircar (1971). Studies in the religious life of ancient and medieval India. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. pp. 108–109. ISBN 978-81-208-2790-5. ISBN 81-208-2790-2.
  9. ↑ The history of the Gurjara-Pratihāras, Edition 2. Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers. 1986. p. 20.
  10. ↑ University of Kerala. Dept. of History; University of Allahabad. Dept. of Modern Indian History, University of Travancore, University of Kerala (1963). Journal of Indian history, Volume 41. Dept. of Modern Indian History. p. 284.
  11. ↑ http://himachalweb.com/gujjer/index.htm

External links