Surendra Sharma at 06:57, 30 January 2026

2026-01-30T06:57:26Z

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{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2018}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group = Manghanhar
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| image = Manganiar performing at a festival.jpg
| image_caption = Manganiar children performing with their guru at [[Mehrangarh Fort]], [[Jodhpur]] at World Sufi Spirit Festival in 2016.
| total = Unknown
| total_year = 
| total_source = 
| total_ref = 
| genealogy =
| regions = [[Rajasthan]], [[India]]
| languages = [[Marwari language|Marwari]]{{·}}[[Sindhi language|Sindhi]]{{·}} [[Dhatki language|Dhatki]]
| religions = [[File:Allah-green.svg|15px]] [[Islam]]
| related_groups = [[Langha (tribe)]]
| footnotes =
}}
The '''Manganiar''' are a [[Muslims|Muslim]] community found in the [[Thar Desert]] region of [[Rajasthan]], India; mostly in the districts of [[Barmer district|Barmer]] and [[Jaisalmer district|Jaisalmer]], and in the districts of [[Tharparkar District|Tharparkar]] and [[Sanghar District|Sanghar]] in the bordering province of [[Sindh]] in [[Pakistan]]. They are known for various compositions describing stories focused on humans, nature, and salvation. They, along with the [[Langha (tribe)|Langha]] community, are known for their [[folk music]]. They are groups of hereditary professional musicians whose music has been supported by wealthy landlords and aristocrats, especially their traditional [[Jajmani system|Jajman]] (patrons) from the locally dominant [[Hindus|Hindu]] [[Rajput]] and [[Charan]] communities for generations.<ref name=":0" /> Some of their [[raga]]s have originated in the Thar and are not found in the [[Hindustani classical music|north Indian classical tradition]].<ref name="M1">{{cite book |last1=Abbas |first1=Shemeem Burney |title=The Female Voice in Sufi Ritual: Devotional Practices of Pakistan and India |date=4 June 2010 |publisher=University of Texas Press |isbn=978-0-292-78450-5 |pages=46–47 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m3IDRqlNxuMC&dq=manganhar&pg=PA46 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="k1">{{cite book |last1=Kothiyal |first1=Tanuja |title=Nomadic narratives: a history of mobility and identity in the Great Indian Desert |date=2016 |publisher=Cambridge University press |isbn=9781107080317 |page=261 |quote=The Manganiyars and Langhas are Muslim musicians and are quite different from the [[Bhopa]]s of [[Pabuji]], as they do not claim to be bards but musicians in a real sense. Using instruments like [[rubab (instrument)|rabab]], kamayacha, pyaledar [[sarangi]], chautaro, sirimandal etc., they not only sing songs of birth, marriages and death, but are also entitled to sing in the kacheris of the patrons. It is in these assemblies that they sing ballads like [[Dhola Maru|Dhola-Maru]], [[Umar Marvi|Umar-Marvi]], [[Momal Rano|Moomal-Rano]] and [[Sassui Punnhun|Sassi-Punnu]]. Manganiyars sing classical compositions like mota [[geet (song)|git]] (bada [[khayal]]) and chota git (chota khayal). Some of their ragas have originated in the Thar and are not found in north Indian classical tradition.}}</ref>

==Etymology==
Manganhar originated from the words ''mangan'', which means "to beg", and ''hār'' which means "a garland of flowers.".<ref name="M1" />

A legend is also among the people :-

In the [[Muhammad|prophet]]'s house, [[Fatima|Bibi Fatema]] offered a necklace (haar) to a Mirasi named Mangan. From this time onwards they were called the 'Manganhar' and the community is now known as Manganiyar.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Desert Music: Soul of Western Rajasthan |url=https://artsandculture.google.com/story/desert-music-soul-of-western-rajasthan/twUBeELO1jFemw |access-date=2024-12-31 |website=Google Arts & Culture |language=en}}</ref>

==History==
The Manganhars are renowned as [[folk musicians]] of the [[Thar desert]]. Their songs are passed on from generation to generation as a form of oral history of the desert. The traditional [[Jajmani system|Jajman]] (patrons) of the Manganhar are the locally dominant [[Rajput]] and [[Charan]] communities.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Musafir |url=https://www.laphil.com/musicdb/artists/3793/musafir |access-date=2022-05-30 |website=LA Phil |language=en |quote="Manghaniyars, like Langas, are sedentary Muslims whose home extends over the border into Pakistan, but their patrons are mostly Hindu Rajputs (a high caste) and Hindu Charans (a caste of poets, bards, and historians)."}}</ref><ref name="k1" />

==Instruments==
'''[[Kamancheh|Kamaicha]]'''<br/>
The 17-string khamaycha is a bowed instrument. Made of mango wood, its rounded resonator is covered with goat skin. Three of its strings are goat intestine while the other 14 strings are steel.<ref name="k1" />

'''[[Kartal|Kartaal]]'''<br/>
The [[Kartal|kartaal]] is a kind of castanet made of teak. Its name is derived from "Kar", meaning hand, and "Taal", meaning rhythm.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}

'''[[Dholak]]'''<br/>
The dholak is a hand drum similar in timbre to a bongo. A dholak may have traditional lacing or turnbuckle tuning. The dholak has a simple membrane and a handle on the right hand side. The left hand membrane has a special coating on the inner surface. This coating is a mixture of tar, clay and sand (dholak masala) which lowers the pitch.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}

==Notable people==
* [[KANCHRA Khan]], a singer
* [[Lakha Khan]], folk musician, sarangi player and vocalist<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rahman |first=Azera Parveen |date=2021-12-09 |title=Lakha Khan: 'Music is the reason I am here today' |url=https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/music/desert-notes/article37912057.ece |access-date=2025-04-09 |work=The Hindu |language=en-IN |issn=0971-751X}} “''The MANGANIYARR community, to which Khan belongs to, are the oral historians of the desert.''”</ref>
* [[Mai Bhagi]], Sindhi folk singer
* [[Mai Dhai]], Pakistani MANGANIYARR folk singer
* [[Mame Khan]], a folk singer
* [[Sakar Khan]], Kamaicha player, PADMASRI award winner
* [[Swaroop Khan]], playback singer

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons}}
* [http://manganiar.com/music.html manganhar.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190916124426/http://manganiar.com/music.html |date=16 September 2019 }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110831211734/http://unboxedwriters.com/2011/04/manganiar-magic/ "manganhar Magic" article by Poonam Goel]
* [http://www.rajfolkseries.com/music.html "Rhythms of Rajasthan" Preservation Project]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110715205207/http://www.roystenabel.com/manganiyar.html "The manganhar Seduction" live show]
* [http://www.folkways.si.edu/albumdetails.aspx?itemid=3089 Smithsonian Folkways]
* {{Cite web |title=Manganiyar Musicians |url=https://www.mamekhan.com/manganiyar-musicians.html |access-date=2025-07-24 |website=www.mamekhan.com |language=en}}
{{Social groups of Rajasthan}}{{Indian Muslim}}

[[Category:Social groups of Rajasthan]]
[[Category:Muslim communities of Rajasthan]]
[[Category:Social groups of Sindh]]

Manganiar - Revision history

Surendra Sharma at 06:57, 30 January 2026