Gadia Lohars (also known as Gaduliya Lohars or Rajput Lohar) are a

nomadic A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the popu ...

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern s ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. They are also found in the

Malwa Malwa is a historical region of west-central India occupying a plateau of volcanic origin. Geologically, the Malwa Plateau generally refers to the volcanic upland north of the Vindhya Range. Politically and administratively, it is also syn ...

region of

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

. They are ''lohar'' (ironsmith) by profession who move on from one place to another place on bullock carts, which in Hindi are called ''gadi'', hence the name 'Gadia Lohar'. These Lohars are different from the

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 ...

clan of Iran, Pakistan and India. They usually make and repair agricultural and household implements. Their forefathers were blacksmiths in the army and claim to be descendants of

Maharana Pratap Pratap Singh I, popularly known as Maharana Pratap (c. 9 May 1540 – 19 January 1597), was a king of Mewar from the Sisodia dynasty. Pratap became a folk hero for his military resistance against the expansionism of the Mughal Empire under A ...

of Mewar. When Mewar fell to the

Mughals The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

they pledged never to return to their homeland, never to settle anywhere else and never to live under a roof until Maharana Pratap won Chittorgarh. Maharana Pratap did not win Chittor back and hence the lohars continue their pledge today. Title and Gotra in Gadia Lohar Rajput: # Parmar #

Solanki Solanki may refer to: *Solanki (name), surname and given name *Solanki (clan), Indian clan associated with the Rajputs *Solanki dynasty, alternate name for the Chaulukya dynasty The Chaulukya dynasty (), also Solanki dynasty, was a dynasty tha ...

# Sisodia # Dabhi # Chauhan #

Parihar Pratihar, Padiyar is a Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the ...

# Tanwar # Devda # Borana # Rana

Documentaries

A documentary on them entitled "''Gadia Lohar: A Life and Livelihood in Question?''" (Hindi/Mini DV/ 24 minutes / 2005/) was filmed by director Meenakshi Vinay Rai. Another documentary is ''India's nomads: The forgotten world of the Gadia Lohar'' (Netflix, 2020) 52 minutes, by Deana Uppal.Deana Uppal shoots film on the gaddia Lohars
DNA India, March 18, 2019.

References

External links

*Lancaster, John
India's Lost Nomads
National Geographic, February 2010.
Photos of Gaduliya Lohars (Loupiote)
History of Rajasthan Social groups of Rajasthan Modern nomads {{India-ethno-stub

Documentaries

See also

Further reading

References

External links