1930 के दशक में प्रशासनिक छलबल द्वारा सैनी क्षत्रिय पहचान का अतिक्रमणMalis : The Neo Sainis
Mali caste, in southern districts of Haryana and beyond in the states of UP, MP, and Rajasthan, also started using the surname "Saini" in 20th century since 1930-40 .
However, this is not the same community as Tomar-Yaduvanshi descent Sainis of Punjab who according to renowned and peer-reviewed ethno-historians like SS Gahlot et al have maintained their Rajput character .This is testified by the fact that census of 1881 does not acknowledge of the existence of Saini community outside Punjab and, despite the insinuations of colonial writers like Ibbetson, records Sainis and Malis as separate communities.
Sainis by Fiat: Enter the "Sainik Kshatriyas"The Marwar State Census Report of 1891 A.D. also did not contain reference to any community called 'Saini' in Rajputana and recorded only two groups as Malis, namely, Mahoor Malis and Rajput Malis, among which the latter are also included in Rajput sub-category. Rajput Malis changed their identity to Saini in 1930 but in the later censuses other non-Rajput Malis such as Mahur or Maur , who ostensibly had no lineal link with Rajputs, also adopted 'Saini' as their last name. The way they sought to piggyback their way into the Saini identity was by seeking to project it as an abbreviated form of "Sainik" or "soldier" rather than linking it with properly historically grounded term "Shoorsaini" , a link which would have been impossible to prove. In this reference a review of the following order issued by Jodhpur state in 1937 is quite instructive:
ORDER No. 2240 Jodhpur, the 6th February, 1937.
Subject- Recording of Malis as "Sainik Kshatriyas" in Pattas and Development Department records. Reference- P.W.D. Minister's No. 431 Dated 22nd October, 1936
His Highness has stated his personal view that he has no objection to Malis being recorded as "Sainik Kshatriyas" in the pattas or the Development records.
Mehakmas D.M. Field LT. Col. CIE. Jodhpur Chief Minister. January 23, 1937. Government of Jodhpur. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PRINTED AT THE JODHPUR GOVERNMENT PRESS, JODHPUR Sainis of Punjab historically have never inter-married with the Mali community (a fact accepted even by Ibbetson and duly recorded in 1881 census report itself), or with any community other than Sainis for that matter, and this taboo prevails even today generally. Both the communities are socially, culturally and also geographically distinct. Colonial accounts " The men who administered the territory for the East India company were more inclined to profiteering than to attempting to establish an effective government. By the beginning of the 19th century this type of attitude had begun to change....The freebooters of the 18th century were giving way to the bureaucrats of the 19th century. Ironically, it is highly debateable which of the two, freebooters or bureaucrats, were the most dangerous to the people of India. Treasure can be replaced. Cultures, once tampered with, are nearly impossible to reclaim."
Complete Article: The Indian Caste System and The British Denzil IbbetsonEven colonial census authorities, somewhat eager to club Sainis with Malis for the sake of getting easier handle on complex Saini history and ethnography, were forced to acknowledge this stark fact with the remark: "...that some of the higher tribes of the same class (Sainis) will not marry with them (Malis). It is to be noted that Denzil Ibbetson was not an anthropologist, ethnographer or historian in the way these terms are understood in the contemporary academics. He was a census commissioner with no formal training in social anthropology or history, and a considerable portion of his work is derived from unidentifiable informant sources and hearsay. In great many cases his work is also conditioned with the ignorance and prejudice of both English and native colonial officials whose reports he compliled and relied on to produce his work titled "Punjab Castes" . For these reasons the citability of Ibbetson's work for strictly ethno-historic purposes is questionable but in the absence of any other work of acceptable academic standard written by a trained socio-anthropologist which encompasses the breadth of Ibbetson's work, his work continues to be in circulation despite a large number of factual and interpretive inaccuracies contained in it. For a more expansive treatment on how the bulk of works authored by colonial census officials such as Ibbetson, Purser, Barkley, etc were inaccurate, reductionist and strongly conditioned with the prejudices resulting from the imported Euro-centric social models, which these officials blindly applied to Indic sociology, the reader is referred to the works of Dr. Sher Singh Sher, Dr. Ronald Inden, Dr. Malavika Kasturi , etc. For a quick reference a quote from the preface of Malavika Kasturi's Cambridge University thesis is given below:
The "variations , contradictions and tensions" indicated by this scholar were quite clearly evident in the perfunctory description of Sainis that Ibbetson left in his largely inaccuate but influential work. Professor Kartar Singh Saini, a PhD in literature and a very well respected figure in Punjab's academic circles and Saini community alike, while pointing out Ibbetson's inconsistencies, observed:
Professor Kartar Singh, both as a serious academic trained in scientific methods of research and a commnunity spokesman, considered Ibbetson's commentary as "seriously objectionable". But despite his ambivalence , Ibbetson's account does not fail to record that unlike Malis:
Note: Punjab census of 1881 also recorded Maliars (Muslim Malis) and Arains of Muzaffargarh district same as Jats. A later gazetteer of this disctrict considers Jats and Arains as same caste. Similarly, Risely (1903) clubs Malis and Jats together in The Ethnography of India - Census Volume 1, Calcutta. Even for Jalandhar division Ibbetson agrees that Jats were engaged in vegetable cultivation. Jogendra Nath BhattacharyAnother work of 19th century by Jogendra Nath Bhattachary also treated Saini group to be completely distinct from Malis. In his work titlled "Hindu castes and sects", published in 1896, he refers to Sainis on pp 285 as a distinct agricultural group with a population of about 125000 and restricted to Punjab. He mentions Malis in a separate category and makes no attempt to link both communities. Bhattachary's work, unlike Ibbetson's, is considered academic grade and is regarded as first ever serious attempt at anthropology in colonial India. Edward BalfourIn 1885 Edward Balfour, another colonial scholar, clearly identified Sainis as distinct from Malis. What is more interesting is that Edward Balfour found Sainis to be largely involved with sugar-cane farming instead of vegetable farming while only Malis to be involved with gardening. Edward Balfour's account thus gives further confirmation, in addition to self-contradiction implied in Ibbetson's account, that Sainis were understood to be entirely different from Malis in the colonial times as can be seen from the following excerpt from his work:
"The most industrious are the Rain, Mali, Saini, Lubana, and Jat. The Rain are diligent , persevering men, and on good land will often obtain three or four successive crops of vegetables, which they produce largely in addition to the grain crops.
The Malis are chiefly gardners.
The Saini occupy sub-mountain tracts and grow sugarcane largely. Their village lands are always in a high state of tillage."
As can be seen there is no confusion about the difference between both the communities in this scholarly work of late 19th century.
Balfour also enlists Syed, Pathan, Banjara, Brahman, Gujar, Rangar, and the Rajput as tribes engaged in agriculture. Mahton Rajputs, also sometimes called Sikh Rajputs, another agricultural tribe in rural Hoshiarpur was confused by English scholars to be identical with Banjaras at the time of writing of Balfour's work in 1880s.
The Punjab Alienation of Land Act of 1900 ADThe Punjab Alienation of Land Act of 1900 AD was instituted by the colonial government of Punjab to safeguard the lands of agricultrual tribes of Punjab from being appropriated by Khatri and Baniya moneylenders (Master Hari Singh, 1984) . The Act provided several protections to the members of the notified agricultural tribes against exploitation by urban mercantile castes. It also enumerated a district wise list of notified agricultural tribes which were to be extended special privileges. Some of the notified agricultural tribes included Jats, Arains, Janjuas, Bhattis, Awans, Sainis, Kharrals, etc. The Act once again made clear distinction between Saini and Mali and enumerates them as separate tribes (See The Punjab Alienation of Land Act of 1900 AD, XIII of 1907, pp 22-29, Sir Shadi Lal).
In a nutshell Saini presence, according to this authoritative goverment document, was only recorded in the following districts of colonial Punjab:
It is noteworthy that Malis were also notified as an agricultural tribe by this statute but no where does the language of the Act ever confuse both the communities. Mali presence was recorded in the following districts where no Saini presence was recorded:
In the following districts both communities are recorded but were once again enlisted as separate entities:
Further, it should be noted that Punjab census report of 1911 provides over a dozen tables containing lists of castes and tribes. In each and every instance Sainis and Malis have been tabulated differently. On a different note, this census report also records all Rajput groups of Punjab as agricultural and cultivator tribes, without exceptions.
E.A.H BluntE.A.H. Blunt who produced a seminal work on caste system of Northern India also placed Sainis as a group completely distinct from Malis, Baghbans, Kacchis and Muraos. He enlisted Sainis a landholding group while describing the latter groups as having mainly gardening, flower and vegetable cultivation as their major occupations. The strength of Blunt's work lies in the fact that he had the advantage of looking at the work of all the prior colonial writers like Ibbetson, Risley, Hunter, etc and revising their inconsistencies. Post-colonial scholarsIn Punjab there is no confusion whatsoever about the difference between Mali and Saini community and Sainis are nowhere confused with the Mali community. But in Haryana, a lot of Mali tribes have now adopted 'Saini' last name which has made the Saini identity somewhat confused in the state and southwards of it. Marking out the clear difference between Malis and Sainis of Haryana, an Anthroplogical Survey of India report published in 1994 states the following: "Many of them are large landowners. Besides during the past, the Malis had served the royal courts and were mainly working as gardners;but the Sainis did not serve others; rather they were independent agriculturists. Arain, Rain, Baghban, the Mali and the Maliar constitute a mixed body of men denoting occupation rather than caste...1) The Malis are not as rigid as the Sainis in accepting food from members of other castes; 2) Mali women were found working as agricultural labourers which is not the case with Saini women; 3) Educationally, occupationally, and economically, the Sainis are far better placed than are the Malis, and 4) Sainis are landownders and own large lands as compared to the Malis."
Peer Reviewed University Academics Validate Rajput Descent and Character of Sainis
Dr. Sukhvir Singh Gahlot is an internationally cited and peer-reviewed academic who is considered to be an authority on the history of Rajasthan, and ethnography of Rajputs in particular. Himself hailing from the celebrated Rajput lineage of Gahlots, he has produced some of the best known academic tracts on the history and ethnology of Rajasthan. His works indicate towards a pattern of radical reorganization of Rajput clans during the period of Muslim dominance and he further adds that during this tumultous era, dubbed as "Calamitous Millenuium" by VS Naipaul, many Rajput clans either converted to Islam or started disguising their identity to avoid conversion. He enumerates Sainis of Punjab as one such Rajput clan which took up agriculture in this period of extreme adversity in order to avoid conversion to Islam or to avoid equally unpalatable prospect of having to marry their daughters to Muslim regents as a proof of fealty, which almost all Rajputs were expected to do. He and his co-author Bansidhar, go on to describe Sainis of Punjab as Rajputs who fought along with Prithvi Raj Chauhan against Muhammad Ghauri. This explanation is not much different from the native folklore of Punjabi Sainis that their forefathers moved there as part of extended hostilities between the Saini-Jadaun rulers of Mathura and earlier Muslim raiders. Hugh Kennedy Trevaskis the English scholar of colonial era had implicitly accepted it as historically accurate account. While explictly mentioning that Sainis of Punjab continued to maintain their historic Rajput character, Gahlot and Banshidhar go on to explain the entire process as follows in their joint work 'Castes and Tribes of Rajasthan' :
"The process began after the fall of Prithvi Raj Chauhan (the last Hindu emperor of India) in Vikram Samvat 1249 (1192 AD). When the Rajput soldiers of his army fell against Sahabbudin Ghori and the empires of Ajmer and Delhi were destroyed , some of the Rajputs became captives and could see no way of saving themselves except embracing Islam and they became known as Ghori Pathans. Some of the Rajputs were let off on the recommendations of a Royal gardner who represented the captive Rajputs as Malis. Others left carrying arms out of fear and took shelter in other communities....Famines and Wars have been great shifters and as a result of them this community which was mainly agricultural was attracted to other areas with better facilities of cultivation and grazing. They in the course of centuries, gradually migrated to parts of Punjab in the nortn and Malwa, Gujrat and Maharashtra country in the south. In the Punjab in the sub-mountainous region the community came to be known as 'Saini' . It maintained Rajput character despite migration."
( Emphasis this Editor's)
This could only mean:
1) Sainis are a tribe of Rajput descent who took up agriculture after Muslim invasion to avoid conversion; 2) The agricultural community, which came out of Rajputs and was known as 'Sainis' , maitained its Rajput character in Punjab. (this could only mean that they continued militancy, did not practice widow remarriage, and maintained their tribal consanguinity despite being in agriculture).
3) Sainis of Punjab , although sharing a similar historical narrative, are distinct from Rajput Mali community, which is found in Rajputana and other part of country. It is noteworthy that even this latter community despite having taken up gardening continued to be classified as a subcategory within Rajputs (see Marwar state census 1891) but was never known as Saini until they switched their identity to Saini in 1930. This Rajput origin Mali community bears no more affinity with Saini group than it has with the local Rajput groups of Rajasthan such as Gahlots, Kachchwahas, Rathores, Sankhlas, Parihars, Bhatis, Chauhans,, Taks, etc.
| " By establishing themselves as authorities on the caste system they could then tell the British what they believed the British wanted to hear and also what would most enhance their own position. The British would then take this information, received through the filter of the Brahmans, and interpret it based on their own experience and their own cultural concepts. Thus, information was filtered at least twice before publication. Therefore, it seems certain that the information that was finally published was filled with conceptions that would seem to be downright deceitful to those about whom the information was written. The flood of petitions protesting caste rankings following the 1901 census would appear to bear witness to this." -The Indian Caste System and The British - Ethnographic Mapping and the Construction of the British Census in India , Kevin Hobson " Although official analyses perceived the flexibility of these heirarchies in face of overwhelming evidence, they seldom recognized the historical circumstances shaping Rajput identities...Ronald Inden, for example, argued that colonial officials and ethnographers, obsessed by constructs such as caste, kinship and the "village community" which they felt ordered Indian society, viewed most social and political forms as fixed and timeless essences. This understanding not only underlay colonial policies but also influenced the construction of caste identities such as that of the "Rajput". However, there were variations , contradictions and tensions within British constructions of caste identities..."
- Embattled Identities: Rajput lineages and the colonial state in nineteenth century North India, Introduction, pp6-12,Kasturi M, Oxford University Press, 2002
No Saini Presence outside Undivided Punjab
In the 1881 census, Saini presence was NOT recorded outside the undivided Punjab. But in 20th century a lot of other groups claimed to be Saini and started using Saini last name. These groups were clearly documented as outside the Saini fold in 19th century but now claim to be Sainis.
An obvious motivation to adopt Saini identity for these groups was to get access to army jobs which were barred to many groups which in the colonial estimation were not 'martial'. Sainis were listed as a 'Martial Class' by the British and adopting Saini identity meant opening up of jobs in army which was the biggest source of employment for the eligible youth in colonial era. British army recruitment , rightly or wrongly, was strictly based on the caste which excluded many caste groups from employment in the army (note: after independence Indian Army abandoned this patently discriminatory recruitment policy for good reasons). Sainis were also in formidable position historically. All Saini villages in Punjab were autonomously administered by Saini Chaudharies and later Sainis were appointed as Zaildars or revenue collectors for most of these and other villages.  Progressive Sainik Kshatriya (A Neo Saini Publication) An example of post 1930 Neo Saini or Mali literature. Out of myriads of the words and labels availaible to claim a Rajput or martial identity , the word "Sainik" was choosen discreetly by the Mali community leaders to get the community registered as "Saini", supposedly as short form of "Sainik". Having thus remodeled their identity as "Saini", through manipulation of name and taking advantage of the confusion in poorly documented government records, they hoped for Mali community to gain entry into British Indian Army, which exclusively recruited from "martial classes" from which , owing to racist prejudices of colonial era, this group was excluded. The original Sainis, i.e. , the Sainis of Punjab were enlisted as "martial class" since the earliest era of British recruitment history of India. Several companies of Sainis recruited from Punjab had fought in World War 1 and Sainis had won many gallantry awards such as OBI, IOM, Cross of St. George, etc equivalents of modern PVCs and MVCs . Later a proposal to raise a full division of Sainis called "Saini Infantry" was also on the anvil .
Motivation to Adopt Martial Identities As noted earlier , army was the biggest employer in colonial India and working in the army brought several perks like grants of lands, pension and general improvement of social rank. Communities which gained the privilege of being enlisted as "martial class" benefited greatly from it and Sainis were no exception. The area of Saini Bar in Lyallpur district of undivided Punjab was in great part populated by retired Saini soliders from East Punjab who gained the grants of land in 15 exclusively Saini villages or "Chakks" because of distinguished service in the army. So the motivation to adopt martial identities by communities designated not so by colonial authorities was obvious and ubiquitous. Similarly, Khumhar or potter community tried to claim Jat identity . There were many other examples of the same. |
Neo-Saini Groups >