Punjab: The Minor Agricultural and Pastoral Tribes

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(Created page with " {| class="wikitable" |- |colspan="0"|<div style="font-size:100%"> This article is an extract from <br/> PANJAB CASTES <br/> SIR DENZIL CHARLES JELF IBBETSON, K.C. S.I. <br...")
 
(→‎The Mali and Saini)
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montane tract, and in the hills where the proud Rajputs look upon labour  
 
montane tract, and in the hills where the proud Rajputs look upon labour  
 
at the plough as degrading. It is least numerous in the Derajat where  
 
at the plough as degrading. It is least numerous in the Derajat where  
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the comprehensive name of Jat embraces all cultivators of this class.
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the comprehensive name of Jat embraces all cultivators of this class.
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==The Mali and Saini ==
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Caste Nos. 45 and 31
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The Sainis would 
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appear to be only a sub-division of the Malis. In Bijnor they are said to be
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identical, and I am informed that the two intermarry in many, but not in all,
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parts of the North-West Provinces. It is probable that the Sainis are a Mali
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tribe, and that some of the higher tribes of the same caste will not marry with
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them. The Mali, the Mdlakdra or florist of the Purans, is generally a market
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or nursery gardener, and is most numerous In the vicinity of towns where
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manure is blentiful and there is a demand for his produce. He is perliaps the
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most skilful and industrious cultivator we possess, and does wonders with his
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land, producing three or even four crops within the year from the same plot.
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He is found under the name of Mali only in the Jamna zone, including the
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' Mr. Wilson notes that the Gujars and the Bargujar tribe of Rajputs are often found
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together; and suggests that the latter may be to the Gujars what the Khanzadahs are to
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the Meos and what most Rajputs are to the Jats.
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eastern portions of Hissar, his place being taken by the Saini in the eastern
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sub-montane districts , and by the Arain or Baglibun in the remainder of the
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Province. He is almost always a Hindu. Most of the few Malis shown for
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the western districts were returned as Maliar, the Panjabi form of Mali ; and
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some of them as Phulara or Phulwara (but see section 485 for the inclusion of
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Maliar under Arain) .
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The Sainis, who, as I have just explained, are probably a Mali tribe, are
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said to claim Rajput origin in Jalandhar ; but Mr. Barkley writes of the Sainis
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of that district : They consider themselves the same as the Malis of the
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North-West Provinces, and to be connected with the Arains, though the
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latter know nothing of the relationship. They are not found west of the
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Chanab, but are numerous In some parts of the Ambala district.They
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appear from our figures to be all along the foot of the hills between the
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valleys of the Jamna and Ravi ,but not to have reached the Chanab valley.
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Both they and the Mails are properly tribes of Hindustan rather than of the
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Panjali. About 10 per cent, of the Sainis are Sikhs, and the remainder
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Hindus. In Rawalpindi no fewer than 3,655 Mughals have returned their
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tribe or clan as Salnl ; but It Is probable that these have no connection with
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the caste under discussion, as It would not appear to have penetrated so far
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westwards. The Sainis of Rupar In Ambala are described •' an ill-conditioned
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set, first-rate cultivators, but refractory and Intriguing.
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The Mails and Sainis, like all vegetable growers, occupy a very Inferior
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position among the agricultural castes ; but of the two the Sainis are probably
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the higher, as they more often own land or even whole villages, and are less
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generally mere market gardeners than are the Malls.
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The largest of the Mali sub-dlvlslons are the Phul with 11,646, and the
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BhagartI with 15,658 persons. The
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Sainis do not appear to have returned any
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large clans except In Hushyarpur, of
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which district some of the largest clans
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are shown In the margin, and In Gurdas
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pur where 1,541 Sainis showed their clans
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as Salahn. Mr. Barkley notes that some
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of the clans of Arains and of Sainis In
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Jalandhar bear the same names, and those
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not always merely names of other and dominant tribes.
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Revision as of 08:59, 1 May 2014

This article is an extract from

PANJAB CASTES

SIR DENZIL CHARLES JELF IBBETSON, K.C. S.I.

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

Lahore :

Printed by the Superintendent, Government Printing, Punjab,

1916.
Indpaedia is an archive. It neither agrees nor disagrees
with the contents of this article.

Minor Agricultural and Pastoral Tribes

The group of castes for which the figures are given in Abstract No. 85 on page 266t are not tP. 190 separated from the castes and tribes already discussed by any clearly defined • line. Indeed it is quite a matter of opinion whether some of these should not have been ranked with the major and some of those with the minor tribes. But the group now to be discussed very generally hold an inferior position among the agricultural community^ and seldom if ever occupy the position of the dominant tribe in any considerable tract of countrv. They may be divided into three classes, though here again the lines of the demareation are indistinct. The first consists of the market gardeners proper or growers of vegetables, and includes the Mali, Saini, Arain, and Baghban, all four of whom are probably closely connected, and some of them almost undistinguish able. The cultivation of vegetables is looked upon as degrading by the agri cultural classes, why I know not, unless it be that nightsoil is generally used for their fertilisation ; and a Rajput would say : What 1 Do you take me for an Arain ? if anything was proposed which he considered derogatory. The second class comprises the Kanet and Ghirath, the low-class cultivators of the hills, and the Kamboh, Ahir, Mahtam, and other cultivators of inferior status. Some of these are closely allied to the vegetable-growers ; others again to the Ghosi and Gaddi which constitute the third class, and are pastoral rather than agricultural. The class as a whole is to be found in largest number in the fertile districts of the eastern plains and sub montane tract, and in the hills where the proud Rajputs look upon labour at the plough as degrading. It is least numerous in the Derajat where the comprehensive name of Jat embraces all cultivators of this class.

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