Caste system among South Asian Muslims

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Template:Pp-extended Template:Cleanup lang Muslim communities in South Asia have a system of social stratification[1] arising from concepts other than "pure" and "impure", which are integral to the caste system in India.Template:Sfn[2] It developed as a result of relations among foreign conquerors, local upper-caste Hindus convert to Islam (ashraf, also known as tabqa-i ashrafiyyaTemplate:Sfn) and local lower-caste converts (ajlaf), as well as the continuation of the Indian caste system by converts.[3] Non-ashrafs are backward-caste converts.[4] The concept of "pasmanda" includes ajlaf and arzal Muslims; ajlaf status is defined by descent from converts to Islam and by Birth (profession).Template:Sfn These terms are not part of the sociological vocabulary in regions such as Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh, and say little about the functioning of Muslim society.Template:Sfn

The Baradari system is social stratification in Pakistan and, to an extent, India.[5] The South Asian Muslim caste system includes hierarchical classifications of khandan (dynasty, family, or lineage).Template:Sfn

Template:AnchorHistory

Although Islam does not recognize any castes (only socio-economic classes),Template:Sfn existing divisions in Persia and India were adopted by local Muslim societies. Evidence of social stratification exists in later Persian works such as Nizam al-Mulk's 11th-century Template:Transliteration, Nasir al-Din al-Tusi's 13th-century Template:Transliteration, and the 17th-century Template:Transliteration.Template:Sfn

After Muhammad's death in the seventh century CE, tribes and families fought a war of succession.Template:Sfn After this, a determinant for social stratification in Arab society included being part of Muhammad's close family (Template:Transliteration).Template:Sfn This factor was present in ancient South Asia among Muslims since the eighth century.

This led to a further hierarchical determinant: Arabs versus non-Arabs.Template:Sfn Among non-Arabs, further divisions were made between Muslims who were converted in early Islamization campaigns (Template:Transliteration) and those who converted more recently (Template:Transliteration).Template:Sfn South Asian Muslims are divided by classifications that have resulted in Arab-origin higher castes (Template:Transliteration) and descendants of lower-caste converts (Template:Transliteration).Template:Sfn Mughal Empire sultans were high-caste.Template:Sfn

The Muslims who came to the subcontinent during the 12th century were already divided into vocation-based social "classes", including priests, nobles, and others, and racial segregation separated local Muslim converts from foreign-origin Muslims. The foreigners claimed superior status, since they were associated with the conquerors and considered themselves as sharif ("noble").Template:Sfn Indian Muslim society also split in accordance with the Hindu caste system.Template:Sfn According to M. N. Srinivas (1986) and R. K. Bhattacharya, Indian Hindu converts to Islam brought their caste system to the region's Muslim society.Template:Sfn Louis Dumont, however, believed that the Islamic conquerors adopted the Hindu caste system "as a compromise which they had to make in a predominantly Hindu environment."Template:Sfn

Ziauddin Barani, a 14th-century Indian political thinker in the Delhi Sultanate, suggested that the "sons of Mohamed" receive a higher social status than the low-born. His most significant contribution to the fatwa was his analysis of castes and Islam. Barani said that castes would be mandated through state laws (zawabi), which would take precedence over sharia in a conflict. According to Barani, every act "contaminated with meanness and based on ignominy, comes elegantly [from the Ajlaf]". He developed an elaborate system of promotion and demotion of imperial officers (wazirs), primarily based on caste.[6][7][8] Barani's opinions were not followed by his own sultanate. He accused the Tughlaq Sultans of appointing "low-born" people to high office; they included Sultan Muhammad Shah[9] and Sultan Firuz Shah, Barani's patron in Delhi, who appointed a former slave captured from Telangana and converted as his grand vizier.[10]

Muslims from the julaha (weaver) caste began to identify as "Ansaris", butchers as "Quereshis", and the sanitation and bhishti castes as "Sheikh".[11] The Muslim concept of hereditary kafa'ah, which the ulama use to support endogamy, justifies South Asian Muslim caste practices.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Template:AnchorAshrafization

A drawing of a man in a black robe with a green turban
A Sayyid wearing a green turban

Ashrafization (or sharifization) is the process of lower-caste Muslims adopting upper-caste Muslim practices to climb the social ladder.[12] Some would associate with different titles or claim different ancestry to achieve this.

Some families would claim Sayyid status, with varying degrees of success. The Sayyid dynasty (founded by a Punjabi)[13][14] and Barha Sayyids (founded by Punjabi peasants who moved to Muzaffarnagar)[15] are examples of families who succeeded in being recognized as Sayyids. However, other families had their claims dismissed. The Nawabs of the Rohilla dynasty (founded by a Jat convert) failed to provide any reliable proof for their claims and were thus ignored.[16][17]

Other families would simply claim a general Arab ancestry. The Awans have historically claimed Arab descent, adopting the title of Malik, thus granting them a "high status in the Indian Muslim environment".[18] The Kalhoros and Daudpotras also attempted to associate with Arabs, adopting the title of Abbasi.[19] The Shaikhs in North India also claim Arab descent.[20]

Some groups, such as the Sambhals of Uttar Pradesh, claim Turkic descent and relation to the Mughal people.[21]

As the Pashtunization of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa took place, local Indo-Aryan tribes would begin to associate with the foreign Pashtuns. Many of the former Dardic speakers of Swat and Indus Kohistan now claim Pashtun ancestry.[22]

Template:AnchorCaste associations

Another type of ashrafization is the establishment of caste associations to promote a community's interests and provide social support.Template:Sfn These Template:Transliteration ('forum', 'society') is commonly termed Template:Transliteration (Template:LangTemplate:Hairspace; 'congregation', 'group', 'community'), replacing the use of Template:Transliteration ('birth or origin group').Template:Sfn The Khoja caste, Ismaili Shias primarily in Karachi and Sindh, are an example.Template:Sfn Other significant Muslim caste associations are those of the Memons and Bohras in Sindh and Gujarat.Template:Sfn

Template:AnchorResearch

Template:See also Definitions of caste vary, and opinions differ on whether the term can be used to denote social stratification in non-Hindu communities. Ghaus Ansari uses the term "caste" to describe Muslim social groups with the following characteristics: endogamy within the group; hierarchical gradation of groups; determination of group membership by birth; and, in some cases, association by occupation with a social group.Template:Sfn Western Indologists began to catalogue Muslim castes during the 19th century in:

  • Henry Miers Elliot's Supplement to the glossary of Indian terms (1844), later amplified into Memoirs on the history, folk-lore, and distribution of the Races of the North Western Provinces of India
  • John Charles Williams's Report on the Census of Oudh (1869)
  • Denzil Ibbetson's Census Report of Punjab (1883), later adapted into Panjab Castes
  • John Nesfield's Brief View of the Caste System of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh (1885)
  • Herbert Hope Risley's Tribes and castes of Bengal (1893)
  • William Crooke's Tribes and Castes of the North-western Provinces and Oudh (1896)Template:Sfn

In 20th-century British India, several works included Muslim social groups in their descriptions of Indian castes. These included Horace Arthur Rose's A Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North-West Frontier Province (1911).Template:Sfn Around 1915, Mirza Muhammad Hassan Qatil wrote about the four Template:Lang (classes) of the ashraf.Template:Sfn He described how people in the following occupations were considered Template:Lang (contemptible): elephant caretaking, bread- and perfume-making, and dealing in bazaars.Template:Sfn Ghaus Ansari began an academic discussion in 1960 about the concept of a Muslim caste system, and Imtiaz Ahmed elaborated on the subject in Caste and Social Stratification among the Muslims (1973).Template:Sfn

Template:AnchorDivisions

Template:See also Ghaus Ansari (1960) identified the following four categories of Muslim social divisions in India:

Ashraf hierarchy is determined by the degree of nearness to Muhammad and country of origin; Syeds (who trace descent from Fatima, Muhammad's daughter) have the highest status.Template:Sfn Non-Ashrafs are categorized as ajlaf, with untouchable Hindu converts also categorized as arzal ("degraded").[23][24] They are relegated to menial professions, such as scavenging and carrying night soil.[25][26]

In Pakistan, social groups known as Template:Transliteration have a social stratification comparable to the Indian caste system. The Template:Transliteration differ widely in power, privilege, and wealth. Ethnic affiliation (such as Pathan, Sindhi, Baloch, and Punjabi, etc.) and membership in a biraderi are components of social identity.[27] Within the bounds of endogamy, close consanguineous unions are preferred due to a unity of group- and individual factors. McKim Marriott said that a social stratification that is hierarchical, closed, endogamous, and hereditary is prevalent, particularly in western Pakistan.[28]Template:Sfn[29] Numerically- and socially-influential tribes in Pakistani Punjab include the agricultural tribes of Arain, Awan, Rajput, Jat Muslim, and Gujjar.[5][30]

In Nepal, the castes of Muslims rank differ according to the criteria applied.[31][32] In India, most ulemas (theologians or doctors of the law) are part of the Syed; many Ashrafs are businessmen, landowners, and traders.Template:Sfn A regional "marriage circle" can be formed, where marriage alliances occur.Template:Sfn A Syed's status is sometimes based more on male descendants and hypergamous marriage than ancestry.Template:Sfn Early Turks had subdivisions.Template:Sfn

In the Rasum-i Hind, a textbook compiled by Master Pyare Lal in 1862, four firqa (ashraf subdivisions) are explained and nasl (lineage) is described.Template:Sfn Ancestors of the Mughal caste are said to be descended from the Biblical Noah,Template:Sfn and ancestors of the Pathans are said to be Israelites from the time of Solomon.Template:Sfn In the Mughal Empire ruling class, Muslims were classified as native Hindustani (Indians), Afghan (Pashtuns), Turani (Turco-Mongols), and Irani (Persians).Template:Sfn

Pakistani Punjab

Template:AnchorZamindars, Kammis, and the Seyp system

Zamindars (a landowning class) and Kammis, service-providing castes, are hierarchical groups in Pakistani Punjabi villagesTemplate:Sfn which are based on parental occupation.Template:Sfn In the Seyp system (contract labour), the Kammis provide work and services and receive favours, food, money, crops, and grains.Template:Sfn Zamindars are considered a dominant caste and tend to be village and town leaders.Template:Sfn Urban social, political, and economic affairs are dominated by Zamindars, and land is controlled by them;Template:Sfn Kammis are socially marginalized.Template:Sfn Kammis and Zamindars intermarry.Template:Sfn Ancestral land ownership and agriculture are ascribed to Zamindars.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Other castes are higher than the Kammis and below the Zamindars.Template:Sfn

Caste endogamy exists in Pakistan, with members of a quom tending to marry within it.Template:Sfn In rural areas of Pakistani Punjab, endogamy is vital to the caste system.Template:Sfn Kammis include artisans, labourers, and service providers such as barbers, cobblers, and carpenters.Template:Sfn Most are labourers or perform low-ranking tasks.Template:Sfn According to a Kammi woman, Template:Blockquote

Quoms influence marriage practices.Template:Sfn Different Zamindar quoms sometimes intermarry, however, and may constitute a Biradari.Template:Sfn A study in a Pakistani Punjabi village found that in a seyp (contract) between Zamindar and Kammi families, Kammi families give goods to and perform services for the Zamindars, who provide the Kammis with grain. Kammi families also perform customary and ritual tasks, for example, a barber cooks in the Zamindar's house for special events and performs circumcisions.Template:Sfn

Quom loyalty is also evident in elections.Template:Sfn Biradaris are the sole criteria in local Pakistani Punjab elections;Template:Sfn Zamindars outnumber Kammis there,Template:Sfn and Kammis do not generally stand for election due to financial considerations.Template:Sfn

Bengal

Although class distinctions based on wealth and occupation exist, hereditary castes do not exist for most Bengali Muslims (unlike Bengali Hindus). The majority of Bengali Muslims converted from indigenous tribes of Bengal who had very weak ties to Hinduism and the caste system.[33] Any remaining caste-like group consciousness was largely eliminated by the Faraizi movement and similar Islamic reform movements. Nearly all Bengali Muslims recorded their caste as Sheikh when asked in colonial censuses.[33] About 35 Muslim castes reportedly exist in Bihari Muslims in West Bengal.Template:Sfn

Sindh

Sindh, like Punjab, has a tradition of various tribes who have caste-like status such as Samnas, Baloch and Jats. Although not as strong as in Punjab, the biradari system plays a role in who is a wadera (landlord) and hari (peasant).[34]

Sharifism

Sharifism is the status given to claimants of prophetic nasab (or qarabah, "closeness"): descent from Muhammad, Muhammad's Quraysh tribe, or Muhammad's family.[35]

Discrimination

Representation

In 20th-century India, ashraf Muslims dominated government jobs and parliamentary representation. Campaigns exist to include lower Muslim social classes among groups eligible for affirmative action.[36]

Burial

In India's Bihar state, forward-caste Muslims have opposed the burial of backward-caste Muslims with them.[37][38]

Cooking

A study in a Pakistani village found that a caste-like hierarchy exists in its Muslim community. The sweeper group is ranked lowest, and other Muslim communities do not allow sweepers to touch their cooking vessels.[39]

Template:AnchorHistorical racism

According to Ziauddin Barani, Turkish sultans discriminated against Muslims of local descent;Template:Sfn Iltutmish discriminated against low-birth Muslims by firing 33 of them from the government,Template:Sfn and appointed Jamal Marzuq as mutasarrif of Kannauj. Aziz Bahruz disagreed because of Marzuq's low birth status, and Marzuq was removed from his post.Template:Sfn Low-born people could not be a mudabbiri or khwajgi,Template:Clarify and were not eligible for an iqta recommendation.Template:Sfn

Ghiyas ud din Balban kept low-birth people from important offices, and criticized the appointment of Kamal Mohiyar as mutassarrif of Amroaha.Template:Sfn A letter by Sayyid Ashraf Jahangiri explains that Balban researched the ancestry of his government servants and officers with genealogists in Delhi.Template:Sfn

Tughlaq gave "preference to foreign-born Muslims in administration and government" and "systematically ignored the claims of Indian Muslims".Template:Sfn According to Sayyid Ashraf Jahangiri, Template:Blockquote

Historians and Urdu writers, including Masood Alam Falahi, have explained how discrimination by ashraf Muslims against lower-caste and Dalit Muslims was often disguised as claims of class and Template:Transliteration (family line) values by Uttar Pradesh Muslims.[11]

See also

Template:Portal

References

Citations

  1. ↑ Caste Among Indian Muslims Is a Real Issue. So Why Deny Them Reservation?. The Wire(December 2, 2020).
  2. ↑ The Migration Process: Capital, Gifts and Offerings among British Pakistanis{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc(2007). ISBN 9781472518477
  3. ↑ Introduction: Historicizing Sayyid-ness: Social Status and Muslim Identity in South Asia. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society({Template:Date).
  4. ↑ Ashraf: Islamic Caste Group. Britannica.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Local-bodies or local "biradari" system: An analysis of the role of burglaries in the local bodies system of Punjab.
  6. ↑ Arthashastra of Kautilya and Fatawa-i-Jahandari of Ziauddin Barani{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Pratibha Prakashan(1996). ISBN 9788185268453
  7. ↑ Das, Arbind, Arthashastra of Kautilya and Fatwa-i-Jahandari of Ziauddin Barrani: an analysis, Pratibha Publications, Delhi 1996, Template:ISBN pp. 124-143
  8. ↑ Sacred Spaces: Exploring Traditions of Shared Faith in India. Penguin Books India.
  9. ↑ Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals-Delhi Sultanat (1206–1526) – Part One{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Har-Anand Publications(2004). ISBN 9788124110645
  10. ↑ Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art & Architecture{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Oup USA(2009). ISBN 978-0-19-530991-1
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 The Identity of Language and the Language of Erasure: Urdu and the Racialized-Decastification of the "Backward Musalmaan" in India. Caste: A Global Journal on Social Exclusion({Template:Date).
  12. ↑ Collective and Elective Ethnicity: Caste among Urban Muslims in India. Sociological Forum({Template:Date).
  13. ↑ The Cambridge History of India{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. S. Chand(1958)
  14. ↑ India in the Persianate Age: 1000–1765{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. University of California Press(2019). ISBN 978-0520325128
  15. ↑ Naukar, Rajput, and Sepoy: The Ethnohistory of the Military Labour Market of Hindustan, 1450-1850{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Cambridge University Press(2002). ISBN 978-0-521-52305-9
  16. ↑ Khoja, Neelam. 2018. Sovereignty, Space, and Identity: The Politics of Power in Eighteenth Century Punjab. Doctoral dissertation, Harvard University, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences.
  17. ↑ The First Two Nawabs of Oudh{{#if:Srivastava|, Srivastava}. Shiva Lal Agarwala & Co. Ltd.(1954)
  18. ↑ Death Before Dying: The Sufi Poems of Sultan Bahu{{#if:J. Elias|, J. Elias}. University of California Press(1998). ISBN 978-0-52021-242-8
  19. ↑ Kalhora Period Architecture in Sindh. Quarterly Journal of the Pakistan Historical Society.
  20. ↑ Sheikh | Meaning, Title, Significance, & History | Britannica(7 June 2023).
  21. ↑ Forging the Ideal Educated Girl:The Production of Desirable Subjects in Muslim South Asia{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. University of California Press(2018). ISBN 978-0-520-97053-3
  22. ↑ DARDESTĀN. Encyclopedia Irannica.
  23. ↑ Pakistan or the Partition of India{{#if:Ambedkar|, Ambedkar}. Thackers Publishers
  24. ↑ Web resource for Pakistan or the Partition of India
  25. ↑ Dereserve these myths – Indian Express. archive.indianexpress.com. Retrieved 2017-09-30.
  26. ↑ Caste and caste-based discrimination s Among Indian Muslims'. SAS. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  27. ↑ The System Of Social Stratification In Swat, North Pakistan (Aspects of Caste in South India, Ceylon, and North-West Pakistan){{#if:Barth|, Barth}. Cambridge University Press(1962)
  28. ↑ Ecologic Relationships of Ethnic Groups in Swat, North Pakistan. American Anthropologist({Template:Date).
  29. ↑ Caste ranking and community structure in five regions of India and Pakistan{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Deccan College Postgraduate and Research Institute(1960)
  30. ↑ Template:Cite encyclopediah
  31. ↑ Encyclopaedia of the World Muslims: Tribes, Castes and Communities, Volume 1{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Global Vision Pub House(2001). ISBN 9788187746072
  32. ↑ Islamic Culture - Volume 52{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}(1978)
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204-1760{{#if:Eaton|, Eaton}. University of California Press(1993). ISBN 978-0-520-20507-9
  34. ↑ Understanding Hegemony of Caste in Political Islam and Sufism in Sindh, Pakistan. Journal of Asian and African Studies({Template:Date).
  35. ↑ Islamic and Comparative Religious Studies: Selected Writings{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Ashgate Publisher, Ltd.(2010)
  36. ↑ On reservation for Muslims. Pharos. Retrieved 2004-09-01.
  37. ↑ Backward Muslims protest denial of burial. Retrieved 2003-03-06.
  38. ↑ Ahmad, I., 2010. "Can There Be a Category Called Dalit Muslims?". Studies in Inequality and Social Justice, p.79
  39. ↑ Marriage Among Muslims: Preference and Choice in Northern Pakistan{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. BRILL(1988). ISBN 978-90-04-08416-2

Bibliography

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Notes

A.Template:Note

Further reading

  • Caste and social stratification among Muslims in India{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Manohar(1978)
  • The New Wind: Changing Identities in South Asia{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Walter de Gruyter(2011). ISBN 978-3-11-080775-2
  • Changing Social Stratification in Rural Bangladesh{{#if:Imam Ali|, Imam Ali}. South Asia Books(September 1993). ISBN 978-81-7169-267-5
  • Collective and Elective Ethnicity: Caste Among Urban Muslims in India. Sociological Forum({Template:Date).
  • Islam, Caste and Muslim Relations in India{{#if:Sikand|, Sikand}. Global Media Publications(2004). ISBN 978-81-88869-06-0
  • Some regional characteristics of Muslim caste systems in India. GeoJournal({Template:Date).
  • Social Categories and Social Interaction in Urban India. American Anthropologist({Template:Date).

Template:Segregation by type Template:Discrimination

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