The Basor or Bansor are

Hindus Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

found in the states of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

and

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

in India. They have a scheduled caste status.People of India Uttar Pradesh Volume XLII Part One edited by A Hasan & J C Das page 212 to 215 Manohar Publications

Origin

The Basor were traditionally involved in the manufacture of bamboo items such as bamboo baskets, furniture, handicrafts, etc. The word Basor/Bansor means a bamboo artist and worker. The Basor are found mainly in the districts of

Jalaun Jalaun is a city and a municipal board in Jalaun district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. History In early times Jalaun seems to have been the home of kurmi clans, the jalaunya kurmi in the east and the Kachwahas in the west. The vil ...

, Hamirpur,

Mahoba Mahoba is a city in Mahoba District of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh in the Bundelkhand region, well known for the ninth century granite Sun temple built in Pratihara style. It is also well known for the 24 rock-cut Jain tirthankara imag ...

Jhansi Jhansi ( ) is a historic city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. (Toshan) Balwant Nagar was the old name of Jhansi. It lies in the region of Bundelkhand, on the banks of the Pahuj River, in the extreme ...

Kanpur Kanpur (Hindustani language, Hindustani: ), originally named Kanhapur and formerly anglicized as Cawnpore, is the second largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Uttar Pradesh after Lucknow. It was the primary ...

and

Banda Banda may refer to: People * Banda (surname) * Banda Prakash (born 1954), Indian politician * Banda Kanakalingeshwara Rao (1907–1968), Indian actor * Banda Karthika Reddy (born 1977), Indian politician *Banda Singh Bahadur (1670–1716), Sikh ...

. Some Basor belong To Jabalpur, Bhopal, Chhatarpur, Khajuraho and Sagar districts of Madhya Pradesh. They speak Bundelkhandi dialect, although most can also understand the western-side version of

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

, known as khari Boli.

Present circumstances

The Basor continue to practice strict community

endogamy Endogamy is the cultural practice of marrying within a specific social group, religious denomination, caste, or ethnic group, rejecting any from outside of the group or belief structure as unsuitable for marriage or other close personal relatio ...

, as well as clan

exogamy Exogamy is the social norm of mating or marrying outside one's social group. The group defines the scope and extent of exogamy, and the rules and enforcement mechanisms that ensure its continuity. One form of exogamy is dual exogamy, in which tw ...

, which is a common practice among most

North India North India is a geographical region, loosely defined as a cultural region comprising the northern part of India (or historically, the Indian subcontinent) wherein Indo-Aryans (speaking Indo-Aryan languages) form the prominent majority populati ...

n Hindus. Their clans are called

gotra In Hindu culture, the term gotra (Sanskrit: गोत्र) is considered to be equivalent to lineage. It broadly refers to people who are descendants in an unbroken male line from a common male ancestor or patriline. Generally, the gotr ...

s, the main ones being the Karikan, Bahmangot, Dhuneb, Katahriya, Sikarwar, Samangot, Sonach and Supa. Marriages with the Muslim Bansphor community are avoided. The Basor live in multi-caste villages, but occupy their own distinct spaces in the village. Each of their settlements has an informal caste council, known as a jat panchayat. The panchayat is headed by a pradhan (prime leader), a position which is hereditary and generally given to an elder. In addition, there is an overarching panchayat for three to four villages. The panchayat resolves individual, familial, intra-caste, community disputes, as well as acts as an instrument of social control. Like other artisan castes, they continue their traditional occupation. In recent years they have also taken up animal husbandry, and farming (mainly as marginal farmers, and sharecroppers). One can find them in the daily wage labourers' markets. They also sometimes act as village musicians especially during processions, marriages and other socio-religious ceremonies. The 2011 Census of India for Uttar Pradesh showed the Basor population as 129,885.

References

{{reflist Scheduled Castes of Uttar Pradesh Weaving communities of South Asia