SaifurRahaman at 15:03, 28 October 2025

2025-10-28T15:03:30Z

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{{Short description|Brahmin Community}}
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{{infobox caste
| caste_name = Anavil Brahmin
| image =
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| religions = [[Hinduism]]
| languages = [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]]
| country = India
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| populated_states = [[Gujarat]]
| region = [[West India]]
| ethnicity = [[South Asian ethnic groups|Indian]]
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'''Anavil Brahmins''' are a community who despite not being numerically superior, are particularly dominant in the [[Surat district|Surat]] and [[Bulsar district]]s of south [[Gujarat]], India, where they have been significant land-owners and have an influential role in politics.<ref name="goody">{{cite book |title=The Oriental, the Ancient and the Primitive: Systems of Marriage and the Family in the Pre-Industrial Societies of Eurasia |first=Jack |last=Goody |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1990 |isbn=978-0-52136-761-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tdgos7fWazIC&pg=PA187 |page=187}}</ref><ref name="Streefkerk">{{cite book |title=Industrial Transition in Rural India: Artisans, Traders, and Tribals in South Gujarat |first=Hein |last=Streefkerk |publisher=Popular Prakashan |year=1985 |isbn=978-0-86132-067-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_L3edKpCmm4C&pg=PA131 |page=131}}</ref>

The Anavils claim themselves to be [[Kanyakubja Brahmins|Kānyakubja Brahmins]] who migrated from [[Kannauj]] to Gujarat in the early medieval period<ref>{{Cite book |first=André |last=Wink|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bCVyhH5VDjAC |title=Al-Hind, the Making of the Indo-Islamic World: The slave kings and the Islamic conquest, 11th-13th centuries|date=1990 |publisher=E.J. Brill|isbn=90-04-09249-8 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |author=R. C. Majumdar |url=https://archive.org/details/ageofimperialkan04bhar/page/n18/mode/1up?q=AnavilOFAxUSTmwGHUjBAssQ6AF6BAgFEAM#anavil |title=The History and Culture of the Indian People: The age of imperial Kanauj |date=1951 |publisher=G. Allen & Unwin. |page=15}}</ref> and were never involved in priestly functions.
According to Shah, most other Brahmins in the region do not consider the Anavils to be Brahmins because they are neither priests nor connected to Sanskritic learning.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Shah|first=A.M.|date=1982|title=Division and hierarchy: an overview of caste in Gujarat|journal=Contributions to Indian Sociology|volume=16|pages=9}}</ref> They comprise two sub-groups, called the Desai and the Bhathela, though both use the surname Desai.<ref name="Streefkerk 2">{{cite book |title=Industrial Transition in Rural India: Artisans, Traders, and Tribals in South Gujarat |first=Hein |last=Streefkerk |publisher=Popular Prakashan |year=1985 |isbn=978-0-86132-067-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_L3edKpCmm4C&pg=PA184 |page=184}}</ref> The former acted as [[tax farmer]]s during the era of the [[Mughal Empire]], and developed into one of the dominant land-owning groups in [[South Gujarat]].<ref name="Streefkerk" /> They eventually underwent a process of [[Sanskritisation]] that saw them conform more closely to the classical Brahmin practices, such as [[dowry]] marriage, while the Bhathela continued to follow the [[brideprice]] system for marriage.<ref name="goody" /> The Desai are fewer in number but superior in traditional status. Among the Desais, the Pedivalas were the highest, and were respected as the local representatives for the [[Mughal Empire|Mughals]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Breman |first=Jan |title=Patronage and Exploitation: Changing Agrarian Relations in South Gujarat, India |publisher=University of California Press |year=1974 |pages=46}}</ref>

They did not practice female infanticide.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Shah|first1=A. M.|title=Social Structure and Change: Women in Indian society|last2=Baviskar|first2=Baburao Shravan|last3=Ramaswamy|first3=E. A.|last4=Srinivas|first4=Mysore Narasimhachar|publisher=SAGE Publications|year=1996|pages=197}}</ref>

Srinivas and van deer Veen state that the Pedivala Desais paid dowry to their bridegroom's family, even though the bridegroom's family was considered inferior in status to the Pedivalas. According to the mindset of the Pedivalas, the dowry was considered to be ''[[dakshina]]'' accompanying the bride in the ''[[Kanyadana|kanyadan]]'' rite.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Srinivas |first=M. N. |title=Some Reflections on Dowry |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1984 |pages=12}}</ref>

The Anavils are associated with the expansion of agriculture in south Gujarat. As Mughal authority in the region weakened, the Anavils were able to expand their territory and control. Since the Mughal Empire wanted to expand the area of land under cultivation, they confirmed the Anavils' aristocratic statuses and employed them in local administration. The Anavils' power was further solidified during [[Maratha Empire|Maratha]] rule of the region.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chaudhuri |first=Binay Bhushan |title=Peasant History of Late Pre-Colonial and Colonial India |publisher=Center for Studies in Civilizations |year=2008 |pages=689 |chapter="Bonded Labour" as a Form of Labour Utilization in Agriculture and an Aspect of the Wider Question of Control over Land and Credit}}</ref>

Formerly the Anavils accepted brides from Patidar families.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tambs-Lyche |first=Harald |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AOsrDwAAQBAJ&dq=anavil+patidar&pg=PA1929 |title=Transaction and Hierarchy: Elements for the Theory of Caste |publisher=Routledge |year=2018|isbn=978-1-351-39396-6 }}</ref>

== Notable people ==

* [[Bhulabhai Desai]] (1877-1946), Indian independence activist and acclaimed lawyer<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mehta |first=Shirin M. |date=1978 |title=The Bardoli Satyagraha of 1928: A Note on Organizations |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=39 |issue=2 |pages=602}}</ref>
* [[Morarji Desai]] (1896-1995),<ref>{{cite book |last1=Martel |first1=Gordon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BgKxCwAAQBAJ |title=Studies in British Imperial History: Essays in Honour of A.P. Thornton |last2=Lavender |first2=Wayne |date=16 June 1986 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1349182442 |page=204}}</ref> independence activist and Prime Minister of India

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book |author=Jan Breman |title=The Poverty Regime in Village India: Half a Century of Work and Life at the Bottom of the Rural Economy in South Gujarat |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2007 }}
*{{cite book |author=Klaas W. van der Veen |title=I Give Thee My Daughter: A Study of Marriage and Hierarchy Among the Anavil Brahmans of South Gujarat |publisher=Van Gorcum |year=1972 }}

{{Social groups of Gujarat}}

[[Category:Brahmin communities of Gujarat]]

Anavil - Revision history

SaifurRahaman at 15:03, 28 October 2025