TheDhanka orDhanak caste of India who believe themselves to be Marathi, they assert their ancestorMaratha came fromMaharashtra In The Battle of 1761 was fought at Panipat between Ahmed shah Abdali and the Marathas. The archer army of Marathas there is called Dhanak today. They Dhanak caste is a Kshatriya community. They are found inRajasthan,Haryana,Punjab,Uttar Pradesh,Gujarat,Maharashtra,Chattisgarh andMadhya Pradesh they are no relation withdhanukkurmi. They are historically Hindu and their occupations have changed over time, as circumstances have dictated for survival.
TheDhanka name may be derived the somewhat pejorative word Dhanak, meaning a forest dweller.[1] However, it could also come fromdhanush, meaningbow, which may reflect a historic association with that weapon.[2] Tribal people - as agriculturists and hunters - historically carried bows with them everywhere.[3] Anthropologist Megan Moodie says that their history and culture is poorly documented and that what does exist "tend[s] to be brief and stress their 'insignificance' and lowness". She notes that they are a sub-tribe of theBhil people, that they are today found throughout much of western India, and that there has been much official confusion regarding their identity, which has tended to impact on their position as aScheduled Tribe (ST) entitled to variouspositive discrimination benefits. Much of that confusion centres around various names that have been posited as synonyms for ', including ',Dhankia, ' andValvi.[4]
The Dhanka share many cultural similarities with theRathwa andNaikda tribal people, and are largely indistinguishable from them. The Rathwa providepithora ritual paintings for the interior walls of Dhanka homes. Described by Shereen Ratnagar as "vibrant colours ... teeming with gods, people, plants, birds and animals", creation of this artform is unique to the Rathwa.[5]
The2001 Census of India recorded the Dhanka in the state ofRajasthan as one of the 30 STs which did not form part of theBhil,Mina andBhil Mina tribes. Those latter communities accounted for 93 per cent of the ST population at that time, whilst the combined population of the Dhanka, Tadvi, Tetaria and Valvi, which was recorded as being one community, comprised 77,047 people.[6]
The Dhanka of Haryana, also known asDhanak (who become Bishnoi in 800 BC), is a community of weavers. They have been grantedScheduled Caste status in the reservation system and are found throughout the state.[7]
In Uttar Pradesh, Dhanuk are givenScheduled Caste status and at the time of the2011 Census of India, their population was 651,355 people.[8]
There is some ambiguity in the use of the termdhanuk in the state. As per some scholars, this cast was largely associated with the scheduled tribe Bhil. However, some scholars like Professor Susan Wadley have described the Dhanuk as a "midwife caste". Janet Chawla has noted that using the term for midwives and people who work with trash "highlights the idea that birth-related work.[9]
Sarah Pinto, an anthropologist, has noted that most people are engaged in agricultural work. She believes that there is an "overidentification of caste with iconic labour" and being more a reflection of the worldviews of bothBrahmins and the later British colonisers than of reality.[10]