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Concept
Mahar
Summary
Mahar is an Indian caste found largely in the state of Maharashtra and neighbouring areas. Most of the Mahar community followed B. R. Ambedkar in converting to Buddhism in the middle of the 20th century. As of 2017 the Mahar caste was designated as a Scheduled Caste in 16 Indian states.
The Mahars are considered original inhabitants of Maharashtra. The community is also known as "Kathiwale" (Men with sticks), Bumiputera (Sons of the Soil), and Mirasi (Landlords). The "Kathiwale" name represents their former duty as Administrators.They lived in village land they once ruled to the east, but in separate settlements. Historically Mahar were Landlords.
From the time of early Islamic rule, villages in Maharashtra were part of the Baluta system.In that system, different castes were assigned different roles, each with its own tasks and rights.The duties assigned to the Mahar in the Baluta system included being village watchmen, trackers of thieves, messengers, wall menders, adjudicators of boundary disputes, and suppliers of coarse cloth to the village. In return for these services, the village granted them a watan, or rights to small piece of land to do their own cultivation. The watan also included a share of village produce. They also worked at times as agricultural labourers. However, the Mahar were socio-economically above most other untouchable groups because their traditional role had been important in the village administrative system. This had necessitated that they had at least a rudimentary education, and frequently brought them into contact with upper-caste Hindus. In the Baluta system, apart from many traditional duties mentioned above , the Mahar were assigned work of making clothes. The Mahar community defends consumption of beef by saying the famines were the reason they started eating the beef.
Under Islamic rule, Mahar served as soldiers in various armies of the Deccan Sultanates, Bahmani Sultanate, and the Mughals.
Official source
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