_-_Tashrih_al-aqvam_(1825)%2c_f.70v_-_BL_Add._27255.jpg) Warrior (Mevati) | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
1.8 - 2.8 million (2024-2025)[1]
| |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Haryana,Rajasthan | |
| Languages | |
| Mewati (native) Haryanvi,Kauravi,Rajasthani,Urdu,Hindi | |
| Religion | |
 Islam |
Meo (pronounced: mev ormay-o) (also spelledMayo or occasionally,Mewati) are a Muslim ethnic group originating from theMewat region of north-western India.[4][5]
The term "Meo" semantically correlates with the historical region ofMewat, which consists of the Nuh district of Haryana and some parts of adjoiningAlwar andBharatpur districts of Rajasthan and parts ofwestern Uttar Pradesh. The termMewati, in terms of use for ethnic classification, is also interchangeable with Meo. Although, not every Mewati is necessarily an ethnic Meo as the term is a general demonym for someone fromMewat.
Meos consider themselves as a mainly Rajput caste. According to one theory of origin they were HinduRajputs who converted to Islam between the 11th and 17th centuries, until as late asAurangzeb's rule.[6][7]
The Meos embraced Islam primarily through the influence of theSufi saintGhazi Saiyyad Salar Masud, who was the nephew ofMahmud Ghaznavi. Over the centuries, various otherSufi saints also played significant roles in shaping the Islamic beliefs of the Meo community. Notable figures includeKhwaja Moinuddin Chishti,Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia, andMiran Sayyed Husain Khang Sawar. As a result of these influences, the Meos gradually became a prominent community in the Mewat region.[8]
Over the centuries, they have maintained their age-old distinctive cultural identity. According to S. L. Sharma and R. N. Srivastava, Mughal persecution had little effect on the strengthening of their Islamic identity, but it reinforced their resistance toMughal rule.[9]
Though the general claim ofKshatriyaRajput descent may be true, some of them may be descendants of other castes who might have laid claim to this ancestry after converting to Islam to enhance their social standing. The names of many gots (gotra) or exogamous lineages of Meos are common with otherHindu castes asMeena,Ahir andGujjar who live in their vicinity. While the kinship structure is closer toJat system prevalent in Punjab and Rajasthan. It thus seems possible that the Meos belonged to many different castes and not just to theRajputs;[10][11][12] this phenomenon is also seen in other Rajput communities and is not limited to the Meos.[13][14]
Meos speakMewati, a language of theIndo-Aryan language family,[1] although in some areas thelanguage dominance of Urdu and Hindi has seen Meos adopt these languages instead.[15]
TheHindu inhabitants of Mewat, although belonging to the same Kshatriya castes to which the Meos belonged before conversion to Islam, are not called Meo. Thus the wordMeo is both region-specific and religion-specific. According to many, Meos come from many Hindu clans who converted to Islam and amalgamated as the Meo community, however there is no solid basis for this claim.[11]
Meos professIslam but the roots of their ethnic structure are in Hindu caste society. Meos share most of their culture with theirHindu counterparts from neighbouring areas in Haryana and Rajasthan.
Like Hindus of the north, the Meo do not marry within their owngotras although Islam permits marriage with cousins. Solemnization of marriage among Meos was not complete without bothnikah andsaptapadi, although the latter has been mostly abandoned with the advent of Islam.[16] Some gotras of the Meos believe that they are direct descendants ofKrishna andRama.[5][17]
Meos were divided into three groups (vansh), thirteenpals and fifty-two clans (gotras) byRanaKaku Balot Meo in the 13th century.[18][19] Meos havetwelve pals including athirteenth inferior pal.[20][21]
| Agnivanshi | Chandravanshi | Surajvanshi (5 total) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pawar (3 total) | Chauhan (10 total) | Tomar (18 total) | Jado (16 total) | |
| Khokkar | Chaurasia | Kangar (Kanga) | Nai (Bhamdawat) | Dehangal |
| Malik | Jamaliya | Tanwar (Mangaria-Surohiya) | Chhokar | Sengal (Badgujar) |
| Pawar (Mewal) | Bilyana | Bhati | Kalisa (Pahat) | |
| Chauhan | Ratawat | Veer | Godh | |
| Kalsia | Sukeda | Bhabla | Gomal | |
| Kanwaliya (Kamaaliya) | Gehlot | Jhangala | ||
| Mark (Mandar) | Karkatiya | Silania | ||
| Pahat | Lamkhara | Kholdar (Untwaal) | ||
| Sapolia | Nanglot | Sodola | ||
| Saugun | Matyavat | Dulot | ||
| Sagadawat | Chhirkalot | |||
| Jatlawat | Bhegot | |||
| Balot (Bugla) | Naharwad | |||
| Kataria | Demrot (Boridha) | |||
| Bodhiyan | Poonglot (Sekhawat) | |||
| Ludawat or Baghodia | Gorwal | |||
| Majilawat-Jhelawat-Kadawat, Dhatawat-Lalawat | ||||
Meos generally do not follow theMuslim law of inheritance and so among them, like various other communities in the region, custom makes a younger cousin marry the widow of the deceased by a simpleNikah ceremony.[22]
Despite pressure to do so from the regionalprincely states ofAlwar andBharatpur, ruled by Gorwal Khanzada Meo's, the Meo Rajput community decided not to migrate toPakistan during thePartition of India.[18] During 1947, Meo were displaced from Alwar and Bharatpur districts and there was significant loss of life in intercommunal violence.[17]: 191 The population of Meos drastically decreased in Alwarand and Bharatpur.[17]: 191 However, manyold mosques from pre-independence era are still present there.[citation needed]
In 1947,Mahatma Gandhi visitedGhasera, a village in present-dayNuh district to urge the Muslims living there not to leave, calling the Meos "Iss desh ki reed ki haddi" or 'the backbone of the country', India. Due to this, the people of Ghasera still celebrate Mewat Day.[23][24]
Although on the whole the community did not migrate, there were a number of gotras of the Meos who, on an individual basis, did decide to relocate to Pakistan during partition. They were mostly settled in Pakistani districts ofSialkot,Lahore,Karachi,Narowal,Dera Ghazi Khan,Sheikhupura,Gujranwala,Multan,Haiderabad andKasur, among others.[18]
According to the2023 Pakistani census, there are around 1.1 million Mewati speakers in Pakistan, virtually all of them inPunjab.[25] While the estimated population of Meos is over 2 million.[26]
Resisting Regimes is the first political anthropological and social-historical study detailing the Meos.[27]
The Meo kinship structure is closer to the Jat system prevalent in Punjab and Rajasthan where the subcaste comprises segmented exogamous intermarrying gots rather than to the Muslim system in which women are retained within the descent group.
Media related toMeo People at Wikimedia Commons
