ZitaKight7091 at 01:30, 4 February 2026

2026-02-04T01:30:07Z

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The '''Dhanka''' is a tribal community. They are found in [[Rajasthan]], [[Haryana]], [[Punjab]], [[Gujarat]], [[Maharashtra]], [[Chhattisgarh]] and [[Madhya Pradesh]]. They have no relation with [[Dhanuk|Dhanuks]] or [[Kurmi|Kurmis]]. They are historically [[Hindu]] and their occupations have changed over time, as circumstances have dictated for survival.

==Etymology==
The ''Dhanka'' name may be derived from the somewhat pejorative word D''hanak'', meaning a forest dweller.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tcTz54VVHF4C&pg=PA13|title=Being Tribal |page=9 |first=Shereen |last=Ratnagar |authorlink=Shereen Ratnagar |publisher=Primus Books |year=2010 |isbn=978-9-38060-702-3}}</ref> However, it could also come from ''dhanush'', meaning ''bow'', which may reflect a historic association with that weapon.<ref name="moodie4">{{cite book |title=We Were Adivasis: Aspiration in an Indian Scheduled Tribe |first=Megan |last=Moodie |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-22625-304-6 |page=4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k6cQCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA4}}</ref> Tribal people - as agriculturists and hunters - historically carried bows with them everywhere.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tcTz54VVHF4C&pg=PA13|title=Being Tribal |page=8 |first=Shereen |last=Ratnagar |authorlink=Shereen Ratnagar |publisher=Primus Books |year=2010 |isbn=978-9-38060-702-3}}</ref> Anthropologist Megan Moodie says that their history and culture is poorly documented and that what does exist "tend[s] to be brief and stress their 'insignificance' and lowness". She notes that they are a sub-tribe of the [[Bhil people]], that they are today found throughout much of western India, and that there has been much official confusion regarding their identity, which has tended to impact on their position as a [[Scheduled Tribe]] (ST) entitled to various [[positive discrimination]] benefits. Much of that confusion centres around various names that have been posited as synonyms for including ''Dhankia'' and ''Valvi''.<ref>{{cite book |title=We Were Adivasis: Aspiration in an Indian Scheduled Tribe |first=Megan |last=Moodie |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-22625-304-6 |pages=29–30, 49 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k6cQCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA29}}</ref>

==Culture==
The Dhanka share many cultural similarities with the [[Rathwa]] and [[Naikda]] tribal people, and are largely indistinguishable from them. The Rathwa provide [[pithora (painting)|pithora ritual paintings]] for the interior walls of Dhanka homes. Described by Shereen Ratnagar as "vibrant colours ... teeming with gods, people, plants, birds and animals", creation of this artform is unique to the Rathwa.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tcTz54VVHF4C&pg=PA13|title=Being Tribal |page=13 |first=Shereen |last=Ratnagar |publisher=Primus Books |year=2010 |isbn=978-9-38060-702-3}}</ref>

==Demographics==
The [[2001 Census of India]] recorded the Dhanka in the state of [[Rajasthan]] as one of the 30 STs which did not form part of the [[Bhil]], [[Meena|Mina]] and [[Bhil Mina]] tribes. Those latter communities accounted for 93 per cent of the ST population at that time, whilst the combined population of the Dhanka, Tadvi, Tetaria and Valvi, which was recorded as being one community, comprised 77,047 people.<ref>{{cite book |title=We Were Adivasis: Aspiration in an Indian Scheduled Tribe |first=Megan |last=Moodie |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-22625-304-6 |page=38 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k6cQCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA38}}</ref>

===Haryana===
The Dhanka of Haryana, also known as ''Delu'' (who become Bishnoi in 800 BC), is a community of weavers. They have been granted [[Scheduled Caste]] status in the reservation system and are found throughout the state.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://haryanascbc.gov.in/reservation-in-haryana/list-of-scheduled-castes-of-scheduled-castes/list-of-scheduled-castes/information/list-of-scheduled-castes |title=Scheduled Caste of Haryana |website=haryanascbc.gov.in}}</ref>

===Uttar Pradesh===
In Uttar Pradesh, Dhanuk are given [[Scheduled Caste]] status and at the time of the [[2011 Census of India]], their population was 651,355 people.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/PCA/SC_ST/PCA-A10/SC-0900-PCA-A-10-ddw.xlsx |title= A-10 Individual Scheduled Caste Primary Census Abstract Data and its Appendix – Uttar Pradesh |publisher=Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India |access-date=6 February 2017}}</ref>

There is some ambiguity in the use of the term ''dhanuk'' in the state. As per some scholars, this cast was largely associated with the scheduled tribe Bhil. However, some scholars like Professor Susan Wadley have described the Dhanuk as a "midwife caste". Janet Chawla has noted that using the term for midwives and people who work with trash "highlights the idea that birth-related work.<ref name="chawla">{{cite book |title=Birth and Birthgivers: The Power Behind the Shame |editor-first=Janet |editor-last=Chawla |publisher=Har-Anand Publications |year=2006 |isbn=978-8-12410-938-0 |pages=215–216 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rbBojsB4u48C&pg=PA215}}</ref>

Sarah Pinto, an anthropologist, has noted that most people are engaged in agricultural work. She believes that there is an "overidentification of caste with iconic labour" and being more a reflection of the worldviews of both [[Brahmin]]s and the later British colonisers than of reality.<ref name="pinto">{{Cite book |last=Pinto |first=Sarah |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/j.ctt9qd8vm |title=Where There Is No Midwife: Birth and Loss in Rural India |date=2008-03-30 |publisher=Berghahn Books |isbn=978-0-85745-033-3 |doi=10.2307/j.ctt9qd8vm}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Scheduled tribes of India |state=collapsed}}

[[Category:Scheduled Tribes of Maharashtra]]
[[Category:Scheduled Tribes of Rajasthan]]
[[Category:Scheduled Tribes of Madhya Pradesh]]
[[Category:Scheduled Tribes of Gujarat]]
[[Category:Scheduled Tribes of Chhattisgarh]]

Dhanka - Revision history

ZitaKight7091 at 01:30, 4 February 2026