The Bara Balutedar (English: Twelve Balutedar) system was a

hereditary Heredity, also called inheritance or biological inheritance, is the passing on of traits from parents to their offspring; either through asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction, the offspring cells or organisms acquire the genetic inform ...

system of twelve trades used historically in villages of regions that is now the Indian state of

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

. The used get paid for the services provided with village produce under a complex

barter In trade, barter (derived from ''baretor'') is a system of exchange in which participants in a transaction directly exchange goods or services for other goods or services without using a medium of exchange, such as money. Economists distingu ...

system.The system had similarities to the

jajmani system The jajmani system or yajman system was an economic system most notably found in villages of the Indian subcontinent in which lower castes performed various functions for upper castes and received grain or other goods in return. It was an occupa ...

prevalent in North India during the same period.Under the former system, the castes in the village worked for the landlord (Jajman) or the biggest landholding family in the village whereas with the latter system, the castes worked for the village.

Classification and functions

The system was supported by the village

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

Occupational Employment is a relationship between two party (law), parties Regulation, regulating the provision of paid Labour (human activity), labour services. Usually based on a employment contract, contract, one party, the employer, which might be a co ...

communities A community is a Level of analysis, social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place (geography), place, Norm (social), norms, religion, values, Convention (norm), customs, or Identity (social science), identity. Communiti ...

under this system provided services to the farmers and the economic system of the village. The base of this system was

caste Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...

. The communities were responsible for tasks specific to their castes. There were different kinds of services under Bara Balutedar which could number more than twelve *

Joshi Joshi is a surname used by the Brahmin (caste) in India and Nepal. Joshi is also sometimes spelled as Jyoshi. The name is derived from the Sanskrit word ''Jyotishi'' meaning "astrologer" or a person who practices ''jyotisha''. ''Jyotisha'' refers ...

(Brahmin

astrologer Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Dif ...

) *

Gurav The Gurav are an occupational community comprising several castes. They are among the traditional service providers found in villages, for whom they act in a priestly role, and are found in several states of India. It derives from the Sanskrit p ...

(

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

and temple maintenance), * Nhavi (

barbers A barber is a person whose occupation is mainly to cut, dress, groom, style and shave men's and boys' hair or beards. A barber's place of work is known as a "barbershop" or a "barber's". Barbershops are also places of social interaction and publi ...

) *

Parit Parit ( Jawi: ڤاريت; ) is a main town of Perak Tengah District, Perak, Malaysia. List of Schools in Parit:- Primary schools: # Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan Parit (SRKP). # Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan Iskandar Shah (SRKIS). # Sekolah Jenis Keb ...

(

washers Washer most commonly refers to: *Washer (hardware), a thin usually disc-shaped plate with a hole in the middle typically used with a bolt or nut *Washing machine, for cleaning clothes Washer may also refer to: *Dishwasher, a machine for cleani ...

) *

Kumbhar Kumhar is a Indian caste system, caste or community in India, Nepal and Pakistan. Kumhar have historically been associated with art of pottery. Etymology The Kumhars derive their name from the Sanskrit word ''Kumbhakar'' meaning earthen-pot ...

(

potters A potter is someone who makes pottery. Potter may also refer to: Places United States *Potter, originally a section on the Alaska Railroad, currently a neighborhood of Anchorage, Alaska, US * Potter, Arkansas * Potter, Nebraska *Potters, New Jer ...

) * Sutar (

carpenters Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. Carpenters t ...

) *

Lohar Lohar is a social group in India, Nepal and Pakistan. They are associated with iron smelting work. They form part of a loose grouping of traditionally artisanal castes known as Panchals. Lohars worship Lord Vishwakarma and other Hindu gods and ...

(

blacksmiths A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such as gates, gr ...

) *

Teli Teli is a caste traditionally occupied in the pressing of oil in India, Nepal and Pakistan. Members may be either Hindu or Muslim; Muslim Teli are called Roshandaar or Teli Malik. The Jewish community of Maharashtra (called Bene Israel) was ...

( oil pressers) * Chambhar ( cobblers leather craft and product) *

Koli Koli may refer to: Places * Koli, Finland, a hill in Finland * Koli National Park, a national park in Finland * Koli, Iran (disambiguation), several places in Iran * Koli Airfield, a former airfield in the South Pacific Other uses * Koli peopl ...

(

Fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

agriculturist An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.), is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the U ...

and water transport), The Kolis were found in about one-third of the villages. The provided water to the travellers, and at the rivers, made rafts and boats and were agriculturist. The rent-free land holdings of the Kolis were very considerable, being 16,307 bighas in

Khandesh Khandesh is a geographic region in Central India, which includes parts of the northwestern portion of Maharashtra as well as Burhanpur District of Madhya Pradesh. The use of Khandeshi Language (a.k.a. the Ahirani Language) is prevalent in ...

. * Mang (manufacturing of organic fiber, making rope and article, making organic broom, security of people call as raakhanyaa) *

Mahar Mahar, meaning "original inhabitants of Maharashtra" (in various languages), 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 i ...

(village security, messengers, catching criminals, land arbitrators, and removal of animal carcasses *Chaugula (assistant to Patil) *Mulla (mosque servant in villages with a Muslim population) Under the system, the had certain rights and privileges at ceremonies. Their services were remunerated by the cultivators in the form of an annual payment in sheaves of

corn Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

and a few

seer In the United States, the efficiency of air conditioners is often rated by the seasonal energy efficiency ratio (SEER) which is defined by the Air Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute, a trade association, in its 2008 standard AHR ...

s of other grain grown in the field, such as

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

, hulga,

gram The gram (originally gramme; SI unit symbol g) is a Physical unit, unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI) equal to one one thousandth of a kilogram. Originally defined as of 1795 as "the absolute weight of a volume of pure wate ...

, tur,

groundnut Groundnut may refer to: * Seeds that ripen underground, of the following plants, all in the Faboideae subfamily of the legumes: ** '' Best Basketball Player'', Obinna Udunni ** '' Arachis villosulicarpa'', a perennial peanut species ** ''Vigna sub ...

, and others. For special services rendered on ceremonial occasions, payments were made in cash,

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legum ...

or clothes. Sometimes food was given. The barber, as a , would perform many duties not connected with his profession. At the time of a marriage ceremony, when the bridegroom went to the temple to pray, he held his horse and received a turban as a present. At village festivals or marriage ceremonies he sometimes acted as a cook, and also served food and water to the guests at such ceremonies. It was his privilege to act as a messenger at marriage ceremonies and call the invitees for the function. He gave massages to distinguished people of the village. He played the pipe and tambour at weddings and on other festive occasions. The water-carrier not only supplied water to the villages but also kept watch during floods in the case of villages situated on river banks. He was also useful to the villagers to take them across the river with the help of a sangad (floats joined together. In this list of Balutedar: Dhor, Mang, Mahar, and Chambhar belonged to the untouchable group of castes. In exchange for their services, the were granted hereditary rights () to a share in the village harvest.Fukazawa, H., 1972. Rural Servants in the 18th Century Maharashtrian Village—Demiurgic or Jajmani System?. Hitotsubashi journal of economics, 12(2), pp.14-40. The system was formally abolished by statute in 1958.

References

{{reflist Economy of Maharashtra Caste system in India Social history of India

Classification and functions

See also

References