Ravana Rajput is an

Indian caste The caste system in India is the paradigmatic ethnographic example of classification of castes. It has its origins in ancient India, and was transformed by various ruling elites in medieval, early-modern, and modern India, especially the Mug ...

. They are among the castes known as

Daroga Darogas (also spelled darogha or daroghah) were police officials in the Mughal Empire and the British Raj. In the Mughal Empire, a daroga was superintendent of the "slaves" of a Mughal monarch. Duties performed by daroga The darogas served in the ...

s, who claim

Kshatriya Kshatriya ( hi, क्षत्रिय) (from Sanskrit ''kṣatra'', "rule, authority") is one of the four varna (social orders) of Hindu society, associated with warrior aristocracy. The Sanskrit term ''kṣatriyaḥ'' is used in the con ...

status.

Origins

The Ravana Rajputs (known as Darogas) were issues of men from

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 Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...

Charan Charan ( IAST: Cāraṇ; Sanskrit: चारण; Gujarati: ચારણ; Urdu: ارڈ; IPA: cɑːrəɳə) is a caste in South Asia natively residing in the Rajasthan and Gujarat states of India, as well as the Sindh and Balochistan provinces ...

, and

Oswal The Oswal (sometimes spelled Oshwal or Osval) are a Jain community with origins in the Marwar region of Rajasthan and Tharparkar district in Sindh. They claim to be of Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large ...

communities and their concubines which belonging to various castes. Their descendants were not originally accepted by the Rajput community as Rajputs. They were regarded as the children of the Rajputana princes' from concubines and were household

slaves Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

. They served the royal Rajputana families as guards, soldiers and household servants. In order to raise their status, these people organized themselves into a caste, and styled themselves as "Ravana Rajputs". The British Indian census authorities, however, rejected their claim to the Rajput status.

Present status

Historically, the Ravana Rajputs have faced caste-based discrimination. The upper-caste Rajputs regard them as inferior, especially for matrimony. Nevertheless, the Ravana Rajputs place themselves highest in the rural caste hierarchy. According to a 2013 ''

Business Standard ''Business Standard'' is an Indian English-language daily edition newspaper published by Business Standard Private Limited, also available in Hindi. Founded in 1975, the newspaper covers the Indian economy, infrastructure, international busine ...

'' report, the Ravana Rajputs form around 7% of the Rajasthan state's population. They have been granted the

Other Backward Class The Other Backward Class is a collective term used by the Government of India to classify castes which are educationally or socially backward. It is one of several official classifications of the population of India, along with General castes, S ...

status for affirmative action. In July 2017, the Ravana Rajput community staged a protest against the alleged

fake encounter Encounter killing is a term used in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka since the late 20th century to describe extrajudicial killings by the police or the armed forces, supposedly in self-defence, when they encounter suspected gangsters or ...

killing of gangster

Anandpal Singh Anand Pal Singh (31 May 1975 – 24 June 2017) was an Indian gangster mainly active in the cities of Rajasthan. He was a most-wanted gangster with a reward of ₹10 lakh on his head. He was accused of multiple murders as well as extortion. H ...

, who belonged to their community and was considered a hero in his village. Singh was known for having escalated the Rajput-

Jat The Jat people ((), ()) are a traditionally agricultural community in Northern India and Pakistan. Originally pastoralists in the lower Indus river-valley of Sindh, Jats migrated north into the Punjab region in late medieval times, and su ...

rivlary, and the agitation following his death united the local Rajput community.

References

{{Social groups of Rajasthan Social groups of India Social groups of Rajasthan