Abdal
This article is an extract from
THE TRIBES and CASTES of BENGAL. Ethnographic Glossary. Printed at the Bengal Secretariat Press. 1891. . |
NOTE 1: Indpaedia neither agrees nor disagrees with the contents of this article. Readers who wish to add fresh information can create a Part II of this article. The general rule is that if we have nothing nice to say about communities other than our own it is best to say nothing at all.
NOTE 2: While reading please keep in mind that all articles in this series have been scanned from a very old book. Therefore, footnotes have got inserted into the main text of the article, interrupting the flow. Readers who spot scanning errors are requested to report the correct spelling to the Facebook page, Indpaedia.com. All information used will be duly acknowledged.
Abdal
a group of low Ma¬homedans, believed to have been originally a subdivision of the Bediyas, whom the orthodox do not recognise as members of the brotherhood of Islam. For this reason the Abdal marry among themselves, and the community is virtually a oaste. The character¬istic occupation of the men is to castrate bullocks, and their females act as midwives.
Abdal/Dafali
(From People of India/ National Series Volume VIII. Readers who wish to share additional information/ photographs may please send them as messages to the Facebook community, Indpaedia.com. All information used will be gratefully acknowledged in your name.)
Synonyms: Dafalange (Muslim), Hashmi, Saudagar [Bihar and/or Jharkhand]
Titles: Ali [Bihar and/or Jharkhand]
Ansari, Lodi, Madariya, Mirasi, Mujawir, Quraishi, Sadiqi, Sunni [W. Crooke]
Surnames: Hashmi, Saudagar [Bihar and/or Jharkhand]
Abdal, Ahmed, Ilimirza, Mandal, Sheikh [West Bengal]
