The Padhar ( sd, پڌڙ) are a

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

caste found in the state of

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

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 ...

.R. B. Lal, P. B. S. V. Padmanabham, G. Krishnan, M. Azeez Mohideen: ''People of India Gujarat'', Volume XXI, Part 3, p. 1054-1060

History and origin

The Padhar are distributed in six villages in Surandarnagar and four villages in Ahmadabad District. Their main villages are Shahpur, Sahiyal, Dharji, Devadthal, Nam Katechi, Ranagadh, Ralol, Parali, Parnala, Godi and Anandpur. They claim to have originated in

Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

, and their existence is due to the grace of Hinglaj mata, a

goddess. The Padhar have been given

scheduled tribe The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designa ...

status, and speak

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...

. According to some traditions, they were originally

Koli people The Koli is an Indian caste found in Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka, Odisha and Jammu and Kashmir states in India. Koli is an agriculturist caste of Gujarat but in coastal areas they ...

, although this claim is denied by the Kolis.

Present circumstances

The Padhar community consists of a number of clans, each of which are exogamous. Their main clans are the Domda, Bhuvatra, Samatiya, Pachani, Devthala, Lalni, Tanhada, Sapra, Kanotra, and Dharjiya. The Vatra, Pachani and Lalni clans do not intermarry, as they descend from common ancestor. They are strictly endogamous, and are a not share her daughter with dalit community. The Padhar are mainly small scale peasant farmer, with many are now landless. Many Padhar are fishermen, as their villages lie on the shores of Nal Sarovar lake. Other occupations include grass cutting, root digging which they sell to neighbouring villages. As the Nal Sarovar lake attracts tourists, many also rent out their boats to the tourists. They are also known for their folk dance form

Padhar dance The Padhar dance is a folk dance of Gujarat, India. It is performed by Padhar, a fishermen community living along banks Nal Sarovar of Bhal region. The dancer holds small sticks in his hands while dancing. They enact rowing of boats while danci ...

References

{{reflist Social groups of Gujarat Indian castes Tribal communities of Gujarat Sindhi tribes in India Sindhi tribes