Dhangar
The Dhangars are caste of people found in the Indian states of Maharashtra, northern Karnataka, Goa, Madhya Pradesh .
[8] Syed Siraj-Ul-Hassan noted that some people of his time believed the term to come from the Sanskrit "dhenugar" ("cattle herder") but dismissed that etymology as being "fictitious".
[12][13] The archaeological evidence and ethnographic data suggest that the contemporary Dhangar castes are the result of more than one migration from North-West India, between 4000 and 10000 BC.
Ethno-historic investigations among the Dhangars suggest that the Kannade, Unnikankan and Kurmar who speak Kannada were originally from Karnataka and might have migrated to the present habitats in Maharashtra at different points of time.
Ahirs speak "Ahrani", also known as Gavli boli,[14] a mixed dialect of Gujarati and Marathi and are closely related to the Ladshe and Dange who have supposedly come from Gujarat.
[1] ahir, Halmat, Khutekar, Kurmar-Unnikankan, Mendhe, Shegar, Telangi, Unnikankan and Zade herded sheep and wove woolen blankets.
[16][17][18] In the past, some Dhangars were Inamdars and some were tenure-holders, holding lands either by a share or by paying a lump sum for a certain period.
[24] "The three great tribes which compose the Maratha caste are the Kunbi or farmer, The Dhangar or shepherd, and the Goala or cowherd.
[25][26]In fact, the word "Maratha" in its narrower use is applied to a society in which Rajputs or quasi-Rajputs, at the top, with Kunbis (farmers), Dhangars (shepherds), and Goalas (cowherds) practise hypergamy, each group taking wives from the one below, causing a superfluity of women at the top and a scarcity at the bottom of the social scale.
The second group was called shepherds which included Gadaria, Dhangars, Kuruba, Idaiyan, Bharwad and Rabari.
[28] In the early 1920s, the leaders from the North Indian Ahir and the Maharashtrian Gavli which were ritually considered as lower castes and formed the bulk of landless peasants in Gangetic plains, founded All India Yadav Mahasabha (AIYM) in order to lay claims to Yadava identity through sanskritisation of their constituents and by re-imagining a glorified past based on a fabricated descent from the mythical Yadu.
[34][35] Khandoba (literally "father swordsman"), the guardian deity of the Deccan is the favorite god of the caste and is worshiped every Sunday and on Saturday – the light sixth of Margashirsha day – with offerings of sweetmeats.
The dancers also hold colorful scarves which when moved in a swaying manner suggest the fanning of elephant's ears.
[40] Dhangari Ovi is a type of folk singing, which is about women's work songs and the epic-length performances of Dhangars, in which sung verses alternate with narrative passages in prose.
[41] Traditionally being shepherds, cowherds, buffalo keepers, blanket and wool weavers, butchers and farmers, the Dhangars were late to take up modern-day education.
Devendra Fadnavis, former Chief Minister of Maharashtra, had said that "The situation of the Dhangars in some areas of the state was worse than that of Scheduled Tribes, and the government was committed to providing them reservation under the ST category".
[15][53][54] On the other hand, Dhangad (cultivators), also known as Oraon, Dhanka and Dom, are listed as Scheduled Tribes in the states of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa.
