View source for The Mali and Saini

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This article is an extract from <br/>

PANJAB CASTES <br/>

SIR DENZIL CHARLES JELF IBBETSON, K.C. S.I. <br/>

Being a reprint of the chapter on <br/>
The Races, Castes and Tribes of <br/>
the People in the Report on the <br/>
Census of the Panjab published <br/>
in ''' 1883 ''' by the late Sir Denzil <br/>
Ibbetson, KCSI <br/>

Lahore : <br/>

Printed  by the Superintendent, Government Printing, Punjab, <br/>

1916. <br/>
''Indpaedia is an archive. It neither agrees nor disagrees ''<br/> 
''with the contents of this article.''
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[[Category:India|M]]
[[Category:Communities|M]]

=Caste Nos. 45 and 31=

The Sainis would  
appear to be only a sub-division of the Malis. In Bijnor they are said to be 
identical, and I am informed that the two intermarry in many, but not in all, 

parts of the North-West Provinces. It is probable that the Sainis are a Mali 
tribe, and that some of the higher tribes of the same caste will not marry with 
them. The Mali, the Mdlakdra or florist of the Purans, is generally a market 
or nursery gardener, and is most numerous In the vicinity of towns where 
manure is blentiful and there is a demand for his produce. He is perliaps the 
most skilful and industrious cultivator we possess, and does wonders with his 
land, producing three or even four crops within the year from the same plot. 
He is found under the name of Mali only in the Jamna zone, including the 

' Mr. Wilson notes that the Gujars and the Bargujar tribe of Rajputs are often found 
together; and suggests that the latter may be to the Gujars what the Khanzadahs are to 
the Meos and what most Rajputs are to the Jats. 
eastern portions of Hissar, his place being taken by the Saini in the eastern 
sub-montane districts , and by the Arain or Baglibun in the remainder of the 
Province. He is almost always a Hindu. Most of the few Malis shown for 
the western districts were returned as Maliar, the Panjabi form of Mali ; and 
some of them as Phulara or Phulwara (but see section 485 for the inclusion of 
Maliar under Arain) . 

The Sainis, who, as I have just explained, are probably a Mali tribe, are 
said to claim Rajput origin in Jalandhar ; but Mr. Barkley writes of the Sainis 
of that district : They consider themselves the same as the Malis of the 
North-West Provinces, and to be connected with the Arains, though the 
latter know nothing of the relationship. They are not found west of the 
Chanab, but are numerous In some parts of the Ambala district.They 
appear from our figures to be all along the foot of the hills between the 
valleys of the Jamna and Ravi ,but not to have reached the Chanab valley. 
Both they and the Mails are properly tribes of Hindustan rather than of the 
Panjali. About 10 per cent, of the Sainis are Sikhs, and the remainder 
Hindus. In Rawalpindi no fewer than 3,655 Mughals have returned their 
tribe or clan as Salnl ; but It Is probable that these have no connection with 
the caste under discussion, as It would not appear to have penetrated so far 
westwards. The Sainis of Rupar In Ambala are described •' an ill-conditioned 
set, first-rate cultivators, but refractory and Intriguing.
The Mails and Sainis, like all vegetable growers, occupy a very Inferior 
position among the agricultural castes ; but of the two the Sainis are probably 
the higher, as they more often own land or even whole villages, and are less 
generally mere market gardeners than are the Malls. 

The largest of the Mali sub-dlvlslons are the Phul with 11,646, and the 
BhagartI with 15,658 persons. The 
Sainis do not appear to have returned any 
large clans except In Hushyarpur, of 
which district some of the largest clans 
are shown In the margin, and In Gurdas
pur where 1,541 Sainis showed their clans 
as Salahn. Mr. Barkley notes that some 
of the clans of Arains and of Sainis In 
Jalandhar bear the same names, and those 
not always merely names of other and dominant tribes.

See[[The Arain, Baghban, and Maliar]]