| Sunar/Sonar | |
|---|---|
| Religions | Hinduism,Sikhism,Islam[1] |
| Region | India |
TheSunar (alternately, Swarnkar ,Soni, Sonar, Singh, Shah, Sonkar) is a caste in India and Nepal.The Sunar community work as traders of gold or asgoldsmiths.[2] The community is primarilyHindu, Buddhist, Christian, Muslim and found all over India and Nepal.
The term ‘’Swarnkar may derive from theSanskritsuvarna kār, "worker in gold".[3]
The Swarnkar are still involved in their traditional occupation, that is beinggoldsmiths. There is however a steady process in taking up other occupations, and the community inHaryana andPunjab as whole is fairly successful, having produced several professionals.[4]
The Sunars are generally considered a part ofVaishya varna.[5]
The Sunars are divided into a large number of territorial and non-territorial groupings called alla. Some of the major alla are the Jhankhad, Santanpuriya, Lal sultaniya, Dekhalantiya, Mundaha, Bhigahiya, kulthiya, Parajiya, Samuhiya, Chilliya, Katiliya Kalidarwa, Naubastwal, Berehele, Gedehiya, Shahpuriya, Mathureke Paliya, Katkaria and Nimkheriya, Vaibhaha. Each lineage is associated with a particular area. To which its ancestors belonged to. The Sunars use Soni, Swarnkar, Verma, Wadichar, Saraf, Shah, Sonik, Singh etc. as their surnames. InGujarat andRajasthan, the community is also known asSoni.[6] In Haryana, the Sunars are often known as Swarnkar,Soni, Suri andVerma, are their common surname.[7] InSindh they are called Sonaro, In Punjab, Haryana andRajasthan,Mair community work as goldsmiths.
Sunar (Sunar in the Nepal census) Sunar surname is used bykhas of Nepal . And also use by subgroup within the broader social group ofMadheshi Other Caste.[8] At the time of the2011 Nepal census, 64,335 people (0.2% of the population of Nepal) were Sunar.
In most of the states the Sunar are Hindu. But in Punjab and Delhi, they follow either Sikhism or Hinduism. In Jammu and Kashmir, the Sunar are referred to as Sanur and are mostly Muslims.
TheSwarnkars, in that age of material splendour, enjoyed a higher social status in the stratified social set-up. Later on, when the professional guilds came to be identified as the sub-castes , the goldsmith community was inducted to the Vaishya caste
