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| Total population |
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| 2,714,000 |
| Regions with significant populations |
| • India • Pakistan |
| Languages |
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• Marwari • Gujarati • Hindi• Dogri• Punjabi• Bagri• Dhundari• Punjabi• Shekhawati• Mewari• Godwari• Kachchi• Hadothi• Kashmiri• Sindhi• Bhadrawahi• Malvi• Nimadi• Haryanvi• Kangri• Konkani• Nagarchal• Marathi• Chambeali• Kannada• Punjabi• Bilaspuri• Bhattiyali |
| Religion |
| Related ethnic groups |
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• Meghwal• Meghwar• |
The Megh (Hindi:मेघ), Meghwal (Hindi:मेघवाल) or Meghwar (Hindi:मेघवार, Urdu:میگھواڑ, Sindhi:ميگھواڙ) people live primarily in northwest India, with a small population in Pakistan. As of 2008, their total population was estimated at 2,807,000, of whom 2,760,000 lived in India. They speak Marwari (659,000), Hindi (663,000), Dogri (230,000), Punjabi (175,000) and various other regional languages. As a scheduled caste, their traditional occupation was weaving. Most are Hindu by religion, with Rishi Megh, Kabir,[1] Ram Devji and Bankar Mataji their chief gods.[2][3] Megh lineage is considered to have originated from Rajarishi Vritra, also known as Megh Rishi.[4]:p.11–12
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Alexander Cunningham in his 1871 book Archaeological Survey of India propounded that Meghs were Pre-Aryans who came to Punjab from Assyria and settled in Sapta Sindhu (the land of seven rivers). Under Aryan pressure, they may have migrated to the Maharashtra and Vindhyachal region during the Megalithic period (1400–1200 BCE) and later to Bihar and Orissa.[5] They belong to Indus Valley Civilization.[4]:p.3 They claim to have descended from Rishi Megh,[2] a saint who had the power to bring rain from the clouds (Megh) through his prayer.[6] The word Meghwar is derived from the Sanskrit words megh, meaning clouds and rain, and war (Hindi: वार), meaning a group, son and child. (Sanskrit: वार:)[7][8] Literally, then, the words Meghwal and Meghwar connote a people who belong to Megh lineage.[9] It is also said that the Meghs lived in mountainous regions of Jammu and Kashmir where much cloud activity is experienced. People living there were naturally given the name Megh (clouds).[10] In folk lore told by Mirasis (traditional folk artists), Meghs are linked to Suryavansh to which Lord Rama belonged.[10]
In Indian mythology, Rajarishi Vritra was the religious head and also the king of Sapta Sindhu region. He was progenitor of Nagavansha which ruled over entire India. They were known for godly qualities in their behaviour, style, qualification and quality. They were experts in architecture. They worshipped dragon. Meghwals are identified with Hiranyakasipu, Prahlada, Hiranyaksha, Virochana, Maveli, Ban etc.[4]:p.13–15
During Maurya period Chedi kings of Meghavansha ruled over Kalinga. They used to add Mahameghavahana with their names and identified themselves with Mahameghavansha.[4]:p.21 Kalinga king Kharvel defeated Pushyamitra of Magadh and won over the regions of southern India (presently Tamil Nadu). Kalinga kings followed Jainism.[4]:p.22–23 After the fall of Mauryas, kings of Meghavansha regained their power and independence. Rulers of Chedi, Vatsa, Matsya etc. were called Meghs. At the dawn of Gupta Vansh Kaushambhi was an independent state. The ruler Meghraj was from Meghavansha and followed Buddhism.[4]:p.23
The Meghwal are from Marwar in Rajasthan. In the 1981 Census for Rajasthan, the combined population of people notified as Megh, Meghwal, Menghvar was 889,300.[11][12] They also live in western Gujarat near the Pakistan border and in other parts of India such as Maharashtra, Punjab and Haryana. The Meghs are from Jammu and Kashmir,[13] and Himachal Pradesh and known as Megh, Arya Megh and Bhagat. In some places they are known as Ganeshia, Meghbansi, Mihagh, Rakhesar, Rakhia, Rikhia, Rishia and other names. Some of the Mahashas also claim to be belonging to Meghs.[14]:p.214 After Partition of India in the year 1947, the Meghs who had become converts to the Hinduism, had to migrate to Indian territory.[14]:p.225 Most of them migrated from Sialkot and settled in camps established for them in Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.[citation needed]
In Pakistan, the word Meghwar is used in place of Meghwal. As of 1991, the population of Meghs in Punjab (India) was estimated at 105,157.[15] In 2000, about 226,600 Meghwar lived in Pakistan, principally in the Punjab northeast of the cities of Dadu and Nawabshah,[16] and in Sindh, mostly in the Badin, Mirpur Khas, Tharparkar, and Umerkot districts.[citation needed]
Many of the Kashmiri Muslims settled in plains of erstwhile Punjab and Gujarat states who were weavers and like Meghs have descended from Brahmins. Rituals observed by Meghs match with that of Brahmins.[10] The word Megh does not denote any particular work attached to this community as had been the case with many other communities. They have been categorised as scheduled castes in states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra,Punjab etc.[17] That is, they are among the castes of India that are specified in a schedule of the Indian constitution for special treatment to overcome disadvantages due to caste prejudice. Hindus do not treat them as Hindus the way they treat other castes within the Hindu fold. There is thinking in Meghs that they are counted as Hindus for political purpose.[18]
Meghvanshis had weaving and agriculture as their profession. They used to take two crops a year. Rest of the time they were busy with allied activities.[4]:p.42 In the countryside of Rajasthan, many of the people of this community still reside in small hamlets of round, mud-brick huts painted on the outside with colourful geometric designs and decorated with detailed mirror inlays.[19] In earlier days the main occupation of the Meghwal community was agricultural labour, weaving, specially Khadi and woodcarving, and these are still the main occupations. The women are famous for their embroidery work and are master wool and cotton weavers.[20][21]
Some of them have migrated from villages of Rajasthan to large cities such as Bombay. In a 1936 study by B.H. Mehta, the researcher noted that most had migrated to the city to escape from a wretched rural life, and felt that city conditions were an improvement despite their crowded and insanitary conditions.[22] Increasing numbers of the Meghwal today are educated and are obtaining government jobs. In Punjab, especially in the cities like Amritsar, Jalandhar and Ludhiana a good number of them is engaged as workers in factories producing sports, hosiery, surgical and metal goods. Very few of them have their own business or a small scale industry. Tiny business and service units are their main support for livelihood.[23]
Their staple diet includes rice, wheat and maize, and pulses such as moong, urad and channa. They are not vegetarian but eat egg, fish, chicken and mutton when available, although they abstain from pork, beef and buffalo meat.[6]
Women have low status in traditional Meghwal society. Marriages are arranged through negotiation between the families before puberty. After marriage, the wife moves to the husband's house, except for the period of childbirth. However, divorce is allowed, with the father retaining liability for the children and compensation paid to the wife.[6] Meghs have a social evil in the form of a system called 'ex-communication' (Hindi:हुक्का पानी बंद करना) of persons they do not like. This is practised even in the cases of trivial matters. It has further increased social hardships for their women.[10]
Little is known of the early history of the Meghwal or their religion. There are traces that Meghs were worshipers of Shiva and Nāga (dragon).[4]:p.13 Meghwals worship King Bali in the form of God and pray for his return.[4]:p.16 and 60 In Kerala these prayers, since centuries, have assumed magnanimity of a festival called Onam. They believed in an atheist and egalitarian Rishi Cārvāka. Aryans were opposed to it. The pressure continued and entire literature of Charvak religion was burnt.[4]:p.34 There is evidence that in the 13th century CE many of the Meghwal became followers of the Nizari branch of Shia Islam, and that traces of Nazari belief remain in their ritual and myth.[24] However, most of the Megh are now considered Hindu, although some follow other religions such as Islam or Christianity.
During the Medieval Hindu Renaissance, known as the Bhakti Era, Karta Ram Maharaj, a Meghwal from Rajasthan became the spiritual guru of Meghwals.[25] During the 19th century, it was said that the Meghs were generally Kabirpanthi, followers of Saint Satguru (Hindi:संत सत्गुरु) Kabir (1488 – 1512 AD), the founder of Sant Mat.[26] Many Meghwal today follow Sant Mat, a loosely associated group of religious leaders whose teachings are distinguished by an inward, loving devotion to a divine principle, and by an egalitarianism opposed to the qualitative distinctions of the Hindu caste system, and to those between Hindus and Muslims.[27] By the year 1910, around 36000 Meghs from Sialkot had become Arya Samajis.[14]:p.27 After realising the trap they were in, they joined Ad Dharm society in the year 1925 which recognised Rishi Ravi Das, Kabir and Nam Dev (all legendary figures in low caste religious traditions) as their revered deities.[14]:p.298 Baba Faqir Chand, a radical sage of India and a guru of Radhasoami Mat, nominated Bhagat Munshi Ram to work as Satguru in his place. Bhagat belonged to Megh community.[10]
In Rajasthan their chief deity is Baba Ramdevji who is worshiped during the vedwa punam (August – September). Meghwal religious leader Swami Gokuldas claims that Ramdev was himself a Meghwal in his 1982 book Meghwal Itehas, which constructs a history of the Meghwal community in an attempt to gain respect and improve their social status.[28] Daily offerings are made to Chamunda mata in the village temples. Bankar mata is worshiped at weddings.[6] Dalibai is a Meghwal female deity who is worshiped along with Ramdev.[12] Some Meghwars worship Pir Pithoro, whose shrine is near Mirpur Khas in Pithoro village.[29] Baba Bhagata Sadh of Keran, a religious leader and revered deity of Meghs in Jammu and Kashmir worked for the spiritual welfare of Megh community.[30] Baba Manmohan Dass, successor to Baba Bhagta Sadh took over Guru's position after demise of Baba Jagdish ji Maharaj. In Distt. Sanghar, Sindh many Meghwars are followers of Maharaj Shada Ram. And now the present Gaadi Nashin is Maharaj Ladha Ram. There is a big Darbar of Shada Ram ji at village Peru Mal Distt. Sanghar
There are more then 6 lacs meghwar in kutch district of gujarat. In kutch meghwar are distributed in main four groups namely MAHESHWARI, GOJARA, CHARAN, MARWADA. The population of Maheshwari in kutch is more then 4 lacs.they follow the BARMATI PANTH which is a sub brach of Hindu religion. This BARMATI PANTH was founded and established by SHRI DHANI MATANG DEV who gave the rules and regulations to Maheshwari.This BARMATI PANTH then taken ahead by his son LORD LUNANG DEV and then LORD MATAI DEV (Son of Lord LUNANG DEV)and then MAMAI DEV (Son of LORD MATAI DEV). All these four main worshipped lord's tomb are now in Pakistan and the location are namely BADIN for Lord Dhani Matang dev, Tharai for Lord Lunang dev, Bhadra-Sindh for Lord Matai Dev and Makali for Lord Mamai Dev. Lord Mamai dev is post popular among them as he gave so many "BHAVISHYA VANI" for the future.Lord Mamai dev has six son and main of them are MATIYA, BHAGWANT, MEGHANI, LALAN, MADE. LORD MATIYA DEV'S tomb is now in ABADASA-KUTCH.Lord Matiya dev is the elder son of Lord Mamai Dev and he was / is most powerful among Matand dynasty. Matang-Dev founded his religion around 1100 AD in Kutch and Sindh. He was born to Jasde-Devi and Matra-Rakh in the village of Mandna in Bihar (India) on the banks of the holy river Ganges. He migrated from Bihar to the Kutch region at his youth and united the people amongst the various untouchable (jhankhriyas) and tribal castes (simbhriyas) under his new religion. Those oppressed social groups had been debarred from professing the Hindu religion due to prohibitions by the high-caste Brahmins.
Matang-Dev was killed along with Abda Adbhang (king of Kutch) while fighting Haider Khan Pasha (a Pathan warrior from Western India) in the Great Rann of Kutch. Eventually, his son Lunang-Dev fought and killed Haider Khan. The body of Matang-Dev was buried at the outskirts of Seni near Badin, Sindh (now in Pakistan), which is the foremost pilgrimage place for all Maheshwaris.
Subsequently, Lunag-Dev continued the legacy of his father. Lunag-Dev is worshiped as a Maheshwari deity, and is buried at Tharai in Sindh.
Maatai-DevLunag-Dev's son Maatai-Dev carried on the established legacy of Baarmati-Panth. He played a prominent role in the formation of princely dynasty of the Jadeja clan in the Kutch-Sindh region, and exerted great influence on them through his religious position. Maatai-Dev claimed the prerogative to ordain kings, a power previously held only by high-caste Brahmins. This exclusive power of coronation is still extant in parts of Kutch.[citation needed] After his death, he was buried at Bhadra, Sindh.
Maamai-Dev terminated the birth inheritance of the position of Religious Master. Instead, he advocated that after his death, only the Baarmati-Panth would be regarded as the supreme state of religious affairs. He was buried at Makli Hill in Sindh (now in Pakistan). Thereafter, his six sons perform all rites and rituals of the religion, but the highest obeisance is being given to ‘Baarmati-Panth’. The followers of 'Baarmati-Panth' also live in Jam Nagar- Gujarat and some area of Pakistan also
The Meghwal women in Rajasthan are renowned for their exuberantly detailed costumes and jewellery. Married women are often spotted wearing gold nose ring, earrings and neckpieces. They were given to the bride as a "bride wealth" dowry by her soon-to-be husband's mother. Nose rings and earrings are often decorated with precious stones of ruby, sapphire and emerald. The Meghwal women's embroidery is avidly sought after. Their work is distinguished by their primary use of red, which comes from a local pigment produced from crushed insects. The Meghwal women artisans of Thar desert in Sindh and Balochistan, and in Gujarat are considered master of the traditional embroidery and Ralli making. Exotic hand-embroidered items form part of dowry of Meghwal woman.[31][32][33]
List of notified Scheduled Castes:[34] Meghs[35] Registered as scheduled caste in India Census Report 2001.
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