The Bhandari community is a caste that inhabits the western coast of India. Their traditional occupation was "toddy tapping". They form the largest caste group in the state of Goa, reportedly being over 30% of that state's Hindu population, and play a major role in deciding the future of any political party there.

History

Although the word "Bhandari" is derived from the Sanskrit word "''Mandharale''", which means "distiller", Bhandaris prefer derivation from Bhandar, which means treasury, because they used to be treasury guards in the past. During Shivaji Maharaj's time,

Maynak Bhandari Maynak Bhandari was one of the first chiefs or Admiral of the Maratha Navy under Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, and helped in both building the Maratha Navy and safeguarding the coastline of the emerging Maratha Empire. Under his leadership, Marat ...

was a chief Admiral. Traditionally their occupation was drawing toddy from palm plants. Historical evidence suggests that they were foot soldiers in the

Maratha Empire The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern Indian confederation that came to dominate much of the Indian subcontinent in the 18th century. Maratha rule formally began in 1674 with the coronation of Sh ...

and

British Indian Army The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which cou ...

. The famous "Hetkaris" in the army of

Shivaji Shivaji Bhonsale I (; 19 February 1630 – 3 April 1680), also referred to as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, was an Indian ruler and a member of the Bhonsle Maratha clan. Shivaji carved out his own independent kingdom from the declining Adil ...

Maharaj were Bhandaris. Bhandaris are divided into various sub-castes such as Kitte, Hetkari, Thale and Gavad. During

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was him ...

, Bhandaris lacked unity among various sub-castes and the differences within these sub-jatis hindered the community progress. The leaders of these sub-castes established their independent caste associations. A Bhandari author from the British era says that they were traditionally active in teaching and learning, and were involved in setting up schools for all castes either in temples or outside someone's house. He says that the community should not blame brahmins for lack of their education asthey did not avail educational opportunities in the British era. In 1878, the British colonial government passed a law that would enable them to control liquor market in India and maximize profit. This resulted in low quality liquor flooding the market. In protest, the Bhandari community - whose traditional occupation was to ferment toddy - declined to supply Toddy to the government.

Affirmative Action

Bhandaris are included in the list of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in Goa. This provides them with certain rights under India's scheme of affirmative action, such as reservation of positions in government employment and admission to professional colleges. They are also classified as OBCs in Maharashtra.

Varna status

During the British era, in the 19th century, Bhandaris faced disrimination in education as they did not belong to the

twice-born Dvija (Sanskrit: द्विज) means "twice-born" in ancient Indian Sanskrit. The concept is premised on the belief that a person is first born physically and at a later date is born for a second time spiritually, usually when he undergoes the ...

varna. M.R.Bodas, a Brahmin pleader, published an article in ''Chitramay jagat''(1922) where he opined that Bhandari caste was of Shudra origin. This received strong resonse in another article where the author claimed that the community existed from the era of

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the '' Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the K ...

and that the Bhandaris were originally from

Rajputana Rājputana, meaning "Land of the Rajputs", was a region in the Indian subcontinent that included mainly the present-day Indian state of Rajasthan, as well as parts of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, and some adjoining areas of Sindh in modern-day ...

and were

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 co ...

converts to Jainism whose occupation was trading. The author mentioned

Sati Sati or SATI may refer to: Entertainment * ''Sati'' (film), a 1989 Bengali film by Aparna Sen and starring Shabana Azmi * ''Sati'' (novel), a 1990 novel by Christopher Pike *Sati (singer) (born 1976), Lithuanian singer *Sati, a character in ''Th ...

and

Jauhar Jauhar, sometimes spelled Jowhar or Juhar, was a Hindu practice of mass self-immolation by women, in the Indian subcontinent, to avoid capture, enslavement and rape by an invading army, when facing certain defeat during a war. Some reports of ...

as proof for their heritage. The article by Bodas piqued the Bhandari community and the community members met in 1922 to address the issue. Tukaram Padaval, who belonged to Bhandari caste and a close associate of

Jyotiba Phule Jyotirao Govindrao Phule, also known as Mahatma Jyotiba Phule (11 April 1827 – 28 November 1890) was an Indian social activist, thinker, anti-caste social reformer and writer from Maharashtra. His work extended to many fields, including era ...

, said that the claim to Kshatriya status was common among many upper and lower castes but there was no certainty at all as to who among them are the original Kshatriyas.

History

Affirmative Action

Varna status

See also

References

Further reading