| Ramdasia | |
|---|---|
| Religions | Sikhism •Hinduism •Ravidassia |
| Languages | Punjabi •Hindi •Dogri |
| Populated states | Punjab •Haryana •Jammu •Himachal Pradesh •Madhya Pradesh |
TheRamdasia, also referred to asRavidassia, were historically aSikh,Hindu sub-group that originated from thecaste of leather tanners and shoemakers known asChamar,[1][2] and the weaver caste known asJulahas.[3][4] Sikh historianW. H. McLeod refers to Ramdasia as a Sikh of the Chamar caste in his book named 'The A to Z of Sikhism',[5] and in his other book named 'Punjabis in New Zealand', he traced a Chamar Sikh migrant, an antecedent of Ramdasia.[6]
After thepartition of India, people from the Chamar community who migrated fromWest Pakistan started referring to themselves as Sikh Ramdasias. The origin of the term Ramdasia was the corruption of the wordRavidasias. Those migrants regard Ramdas orRavidas as the preceptor of their community.[7][8]Ravidassia and Ramdasia are terms used in general for Sikhs whose ancestors belonged to theChamar and Julaha castes.[3][9] Both the wordsRamdasia andRavidasia are also used inter-changeably while these also have regional context. The word Ramdasia is largely used inPuadh andMalwa, while Ravidasia is predominantly used inDoaba.[10] According to Sewa Singh Kalsi, the term Ramdasia referred to Julaha Sikhs whilst the terms Ad-Dharmi and Ravidasi referred to Chamar Sikhs.[3] There are also other terms used to describe Chamars, such asHarijan (meaning "people of God") andAchhut (literally meaning "untouchable", with this term being considered offensive).[9] The wordchamar derives from the Sanskrit wordcharam-kara, meaning "leather-worker".[9] The wordAd-Dharmi derives from the wordad meaning "original" anddharm meaning "religion", and is considered a more respectable title to refer to Chamars.[9] Another more respectful term to refer to Chamar Sikhs isMihtar.[9] The Julaha Sikhs were also known by the termKhalsa-biradar (meaning "brother of the Khalsa") but they dislike being referred to as either Ramdasia or Khalsa-biradar, preferring to be referred to as just Sikhs.[4][3][9] According to K. S. Singh, the termRamdasi refers to Sikh Chamars whilstRaidasi/Rabdasi refers to Hindu Chamars.[11] Related terms areJatia,Golia, andRaigar.[11]
The Chamars were traditionally leather workers and landless labourers whilst the Julaha were weavers.[3][9] However, both the Chamars and Julaha traditionally inhabited the same space in a Punjabi village and shared commongots (clans), showcasing affinities between the two groups.[9] In Indian history, the Chamars were responsible for creating weaponry, armour, and footwear, working with hides and skins of animals.[9] Due to their occupation involving material from animal carcasses, they became seen as ritually impure (a concept known aschhut-chat) and became stigmatized.[9] Thus, they had their own colonies separate from the settlements, known aschamardlis, which had their own wells and crematorium.[9] In rural Punjab, they worked the servile/menial role (sepidar) in the jajmani system, with them supplying shoes, leather whips, leather well-buckets, and other items to their patrons (jajmans) in-return for token payments.[9] Whilst some also helped with farming, this was typically only during peak-season or duringaur (sugarcane) production.[9] Chamar Sikhs are known by the termRavidasis.[9]
Originally they were followers ofRavidass, who belonged to Chamar community.[1] The Chamars identify Ravidas as one of their own, and some of his compositions were included in the Guru Granth Sahib when the scripture was compiled by the Sikh gurus.[9] Ravidas taught about the concept ofbegumpura, a hypothesized casteless society, and stressed his pride in his Chamar identity.[9] In his teachings, he also emphasized onkirt (work) and not relying ondan (offerings).[9] In his effort to go against the caste system, Ravidas wore thejanau andtilak, which were traditionally adorned by Brahmins.[9] Thus, the Ravidasis are influenced by both the Sikh tradition and the Bhakti movement.[9] However, their beliefs and practices in rural Punjab were syncretic, with them revering Ravidas, the Sikh gurus, and Hindu deities.[9]
During the British colonial-period, they were recruited into the British Indian Army, especially during the Sepoy revolt of 1857 and the World Wars.[4] The establishment of a cantonment in Jalandhar in the second half of the 19th century by the British led to increased prosperity of the Chamars of the Doaba region as they found work supplying leather for military boots.[12]Mangu Ram, a Dalit activist, was the son of one of these workers.[12] The Doaba region saw a weakening of thejajmani system.[12]
Dera Sachkhand Ballan was founded in the late-19th century by Pipal Das.[13] Later leaders wereRamanand Das (assassinated in 2009) and Niranjan Das.[13]
In the 1925, theAd-Dharmi movement launched by the Chamars under the leadership of Mangu Ram, which advocated for greater caste-equality and better rights for the lower-castes.[9] The movement named the historical saintsValmiki,Ravidas,Kabir, andNamdev, as their religious figures.[9] Furthermore, they completely rejected the caste-system as they believed the Divine prevailed everywhere in the world, including within lower-castes.[9] In-order to emphasize their distinct religious identity, the Ad-Dharmis adopted three symbols: wearing red clothing, the phrasesoham ("I am it", referring to Vedantic concept of the primacy of the soul), and thesalutationJai Guru Dev ("victory to the great God").[9] In 1936, Ambedkar expressed an interest in becoming a Sikh and dispatched his son Jaswant Rao and fifteenMahars to Amritsar to inquire further.[9] However, negotiations between them and the Sikh leaders failed due to the issue ofroti-beti di sanih (no restrictions on commensality andintercaste marriages).[9] In the second half of the 20th century, the jajmani system withered away in Punjab, with this decline being greatest in the Doaba region, with Chamars moving out of agricultural work to alternative sectors of the economy, leading to greater autonomy with regards to their culture and economics, and increasing their political influence.[12] The former, local Chamar agricultural workers have been replaced by migrant farm workers from the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.[12]
Many Ravidasis became associated with theNirankari Mandal and theRadha Soamis.[9] Sant Sarwan Das was a Chamar who became the custodian of the Ravidas Dera of Ballan.[9] He promoted education, supported the Chamar community, and was a preacher ofgurbani who spread the teachings of both Guru Nanak and Ravidas.[9] In Calcutta, he constructed the Guru Ravidas Dera.[9] His death anniversary is celebrated by the Ravidasi Sikhs on 11 June.[9] He is symbolized as representing the three traditions of theSant movement, Hinduism, and Sikhism.[9] Thus, he continues to be revered by some Ravidasi Sikhs even after his death.[9]
The Ravidasis have developed a more autonomous religious identity from both Sikhism and Hinduism, with this being characterized by the worship practices, the names, constitution, and interior decorations of their gurdwara (being decorated with images of Ravidas), theirnishan sahib (flag), and their personal-names.[9] Over time, Chamars from around India have joined the Raidasi sect centered around Ravidas.[11]
There are two main groups of Dalit Sikhs, the Mazhabis/Rangretas (originate from Chuhras) and Ramdasias/Ravidassias (originate from Chamars). These two groups are not seen as equals, with the Chamar-derived group seeing themselves as superior to the Chuhra-derived group in the caste-hierarchy.[14] In Punjab, the houses of Julaha Sikhs are often situated near Chamar colonies known aschamardlis. Thus, the Julahas and Chamars share a bond with one another and similar origins. Julahas are seen as being higher-ranked on the caste-hierarchy than Chamar and Chuhra (Mazhabi) Sikhs.[3]
In the Sikh diaspora, Sikh Chamars still face discrimination from Jat Sikhs, who have not shed the traditional caste-hierarchy from the subcontinent, with the origin of Chamar Sikhs being used as an insult against them or them being discriminated at Sikh gurdwaras. Jat Sikhs focused on their Chamar identity rather than seeing them as fellow Sikhs, with them discriminating them during the preparation and distribution oflangar (communal kitchen) andparshad (ritual food), and in thediwans high-caste (bare-log) Sikh women would tell Chamar Sikh women to sit away from them. Due to this discrimination faced by Chamar Sikhs in the diaspora, they started establishing their own organizations, often known asRavidas Sabhas, and places of worship, known asBhawans, to avoid feeling stigmatized, and a motion towards establishing a separate Ravidasi identity. They also celebrated the birthday of Ravidas as agurpurab. Theirnishan sahib differs from the mainstream Sikh one, as thekhanda symbol is replaced with the wordsoham, which was one of the symbolic phrases of the earlierAd-Dharmi movement. Additionally, they raise theirnishan sahib on Ravidas'gurpurab rather than on the day ofVaisakhi like other Sikhs. Theirardas also emphasizes their dual Ravidasi and Sikh identities, adding the name of Ravidas after Guru Nanak in the prayer. Aside from Ravidas, other figures revered by them areSant Sarwan Das andAmbedkar. Chamar Sikhs were more likely to be clean-shaven, not wear turbams and bear Hindu-inflected names, as they believe that stressing upon keeping Sikh articles of faith is gatekeeping by higher-caste Sikhs. Ravidasi gurdwaras for the most part resemble other Sikh gurdwaras, however there is much more focus on Ravidas in their daily functions due to them seeing Ravidas as aguru, a view not shared by other Sikhs, who rather view Ravidas as asant,bhagat, orbaba. They reject thenaam karan ceremony for naming a child and do not hostamrit sanchars at their gurdwaras, believing these to be ritualistic. The Chamar Sikhs do not subscribe to theS.G.P.C.-issuedSikh Rehat Maryada, as it is viewed as Jat-biased and narrow-minded. Thus, the Chamar Sikhs prefer to be known assehajdharis. According to Sewa Singh Kalsi, the emergence of Ravidasi gurdwaras is a process of a low-caste group attempting to reframe its identity using the framework of the sant tradition.[9]
The Chamar Sikhs have manygots (clans), some of whose names may overlap with the clans of other Sikh caste-groups. There is also the four-got rule, which prohibits one marrying someone belonging to the same got as their father, mother, paternal grandmother, and maternal grandmother.[9]
Ramdasia Sikhs are enlisted as scheduled caste by Department of Social justice, Empowerment and Minorities- Government of Punjab. On Department's list of Scheduled Caste, this caste is listed on serial number 9 along with other Chamar caste synonymous such as Ravidasia,Jatav and so on.[15]
DuringWorld War I the single-battalion regiments of the Mazhabi and Ramdasia Sikh Pioneers – the23rd,32nd and34th Pioneer Regiments – were expanded to comprise three battalions each. These units served in Egypt, Europe,Mesopotamia andPalestine and performed well. The 1/34th Sikh Pioneers were awarded the title of "Royal".[16]
The Ramdasia Sikhs, together with the Majhabi Sikhs, were recruited to theSikh Light Infantry regiment (SLI) after its formation in 1941.[17] The Sikh Light Infantry has always been a "single class" regiment in the parlance adopted from the British Raj era. This means that it recruits only from one demographic, which in this instance means the Ramdasia Sikhs and Mazhabi Sikhs.[18] Indeed, the SLI was initially called the Mazhabi & Ramdasia Sikh Regiment.[19] Despite unwillingness among some policy makers, the British had to abandon their traditional distinction between martial and non-martial races during the Second World War. This was necessitated by the need for more recruits than could be supplied by those communities upon which they usually relied, such as the Jat Sikhs,Dogras andPunjabi Musalmans. In addition, indiscipline among Jat Sikhs caused by their concerns regarding a post-war division of India was another reason to prefer recruitment of new classes. While recruitment from the pre-war martial classes was still pre-eminent, that from newly recognised classes such as the Ramdasias and Mazhabis became significant.[20]
When India became independent in 1947, the British Indian Army became the Indian Army. This, like its predecessor, relies on the martial race theory for much of its recruitment and thus there is a grossly disproportionate number of Sikhs within its ranks.[21] The Ramdasias Sikhs and Mazhabi Sikhs continued their service with the SLI in the new army.[17] The SLI has served in almost all of the post-1947 conflicts involving India, including the wars with Pakistan in1947,1965 and1971, theHyderabad Police Action of 1948 and theChinese aggression in 1962. It has also served inSri Lanka, where the 1st, 7th, 13th and 14th Battalions have contributed towards peace-keeping.[22]
This sect of Ramdasia having faith inHinduism and they mostly residing inPathankot,Jammu,Himachal Pradesh andJalandhar. Hindu Ramdasia migrated from Pakistan and back inSialkot, these Ramdasia were involved in Leather/Sports Goods Business. After migrating in Jalandhar they established their own Tanneries and Sports Goods manufacturing Units. For This purposeGovernment of Punjab, India helped them by providing liberal loans and allotting sites for their Factories[23] Hindu Ramdasia's are staunch follower ofGuru Ravidass and they follow Dera Swami Gurdeep Giri ji, Pathankot. According to Department of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India Ramdasias are listed asChamar Caste on serial number 4 and 14 forJammu and Kashmir andHimachal Pradesh respectively.[24][25]
As of 2011[update] Census, there were 3,095,324Chamars in the Indian state of Punjab, of whom 1,017,192 declared themselves asAd-Dharmi Chamar and 2,078,132 declared themselves as Ramdasia/Ravidasia Chamar. According to this Census, during the same year the population of Sikh Ramdasia/Ravidasia and Hindu Ramdasia/Ravidasia in Punjab was 1,443,079 and 629,157 respectively.[26]
Most of the Hindu Ramdasias (Counted along with other Chamar Caste Synonyms such as Ravidasia and Jatav) living in theJammu and Kashmir,Himachal Pradesh andHaryana. As of 2011[update], there were 212,032 Ramdasia in Jammu and Kashmir, comprising 209,512 Hindus, 2,486 Sikhs and 34 Buddhists,[27] 2,429,137 lived in Haryana (2,390,403 Hindu, 37,191 Sikh and 1,543 Buddhists)[28] and 458,838 resided in Himachal Pradesh (453,871 Hindu, 4,887 Sikh and 80 Buddhists)[29]
Ramdasia Sikh diaspora alongside Ravidassia from doaba emigrated from India and Pakistan is significant. Emigration from the Punjab began before and after the 19th century, with many Ravidasia/Ramdasia Sikhs settling in Europe,[30][31] and also a large Ravidasia/Ramdasia Sikhs population in North America mainly in United States and the Canada.[32]There is sizeable population of Ravidasia/Ramdasia Sikhs in Oceania as well.[33][34]
Books produced by Ravidassia community in India primarily focus on this part of the Ravidassia history and, leaving an ages-long gap, resume the story tying it to the emergence of Dera Sachkhand Ballan in the late nineteenth century. From this point, the community's history generally focuses on the deeds of spiritual saints - from the dera founder Sant Pipal Das (?-1928) till present head leader Sant Niranjan Das (born in 1942), and Shahid Sant Ramanand (1952-2009).
