The Nishad are a Hindu caste , found in the Indian states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh .
75-634: In Bihar, the term refers to a group of around 20 communities whose traditional occupations centred on rivers, such as the Mallaah . There have been demands for these communities to be reclassified from Other Backwards Classes (OBC) to Scheduled Tribes . In Uttar Pradesh, the term "Nishad" represents 17 OBC communities that have been proposed for Scheduled Caste status by the Samajwadi Party -controlled Government of Uttar Pradesh . However, this proposal, which relates to votebank politics and has been made in
150-514: A gang of Mallaah under the leadership of Phoolan Devi. Devi was later inducted as Member of Parliament from Uttar Pradesh by Mulayam Singh Yadav , who acknowledged her popularity among her castemen. The Mallaah and their subcastes called Bind were also active in high value organised crime in the Bihar during 1990s. These organised crimes were kidnapping, Timber logging, forcibly taking contract for public works, automobile theft and smuggling which were
225-477: A passage from Ramcharitmanas which says: "Uttari thari bhae sursarireta Siya Ram Guhya Lakhan Sameta" (Disembarking from the boat, on the sand of Ganga stood Sita and Ram with Guhya and Laxman.) Besides claiming the mythological character Eklavya as a member of Nishad community, they also associate themselves with Bhai Himmat Rai Dheewar, one of the member of Panj Pyare , the five associates of Guru Govind Singh . These legends were popularised by
300-414: A share of this large vote bank by manipulating the legends of mythical heroes of the community in a way to suit their agenda. This process became more swift after the publication of a pamphlet called Nishad Jati Sankhya Bal in a magazine called Nishad Jyoti . One of the earliest proponent of Nishad identity was Ram Chandr Vakil who was elected as a member of United Province legislative council in 1936. In
375-416: A times challenged by the iconic people from the lower castes as for example Phoolan Devi , who being born in a Mallaah family faced all sort of discrimination from the upper caste dominated administration after being raped by bandits belonging to Thakur Rajput castes and finally ended up perpetrating the infamous "Behmai massacre", in which male members of a Thakur caste dominated village were assassinated by
450-456: Is used up by the regional authorities of many river front cities who use them as retriever of corpses . The unique capability to hold the breath for a long period of time in search of coins inside the rivers (throwing coin in river is considered as a popular belief in Hinduism ) makes them capable to perform this arduous task perfectly. The "diving for coins" is not considered as legal occupation by
525-622: The Arabic word Mallah (ملاح) which means "to move its wing like a bird". However the word is purely an occupational term, which was used for the large community associated with the water centric occupation primarily boating and fishing. There are many subcastes of the Mallaah community including the Kewat, Bind, Nishad, Dhimak, Karabak, and Sahani. The Mallaah community was recognised as backward caste initially though socially and economically they were much behind
600-614: The Arya Samajists too who wanted to bring more and more castes within Brahmanical fold. The caste histories connected them to Rama through Nishadraj and popularised various Brahmanical rituals among them to form a meta Puranic Hindu identity. Some of the Mallaah also worship Gauriya Baba, a folk hero who according to popular belief primarily belonged to the Dusadh caste but protected the people from Mallaah, Dhanuk and even Rajput caste from
675-520: The Bharatiya Janata Party as the leader of Mallaah caste made the community vote in favour of BJP in 2014 elections, but later on he joined the Mahagathbandhan (Bihar) , a grand alliance of opposition parties in Bihar which includes Rashtriya Janata Dal and Rashtriya Lok Samata Party among others. The walking out of Sahani led Vikassheel Insaan Party out of National Democratic Alliance
750-581: The Bind , one of the community which are part of larger Nishad community and Yadavs turned several areas of Bihar into their crime capitals. They replaced the upper caste gangsters in high value organized crimes like automobile theft, Timber logging, Kidnapping, smuggling and contract killing. The strategic use of violence by the OBCs, and illegality along with patronage to criminals in politics broke upper caste dominance not only in politics but also in day to day affairs of
825-666: The Hazara Division of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. They live along the banks of the Indus in the Haripur and Mansehra districts and speak Hindko . The Central Bureau of Statistics of Nepal classifies the Mallaah (called Mallaha in the Nepal census) as a subgroup within the broader social group of Madheshi Other Caste. At the time of the 2011 Nepal census , 173,261 people (0.7% of the population of Nepal) were Mallaah. The frequency of Mallaahs by province
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#1732858346172900-501: The Hindu scriptures like Ramayana and the Mahabharata . the Mallaah claim to have descended from Veda Vyasa who composed Mahabharata , and was a son of Satyawati . They also claim many other mythological characters like Eklavya and Nishadraja (a leader of the forest tribe who helped lord Rama ). A folk etymology has Mallaah as a term used to describe someone who rode a boat from
975-594: The Mughal onslaught and forcible conversions. According to the beliefs he used to bury a pig's head in front of his house which was situated at the entry of the village. Since the pig were anathema for the Muslims , they didn't dare to enter these villages. He also rode up and down at the entry of his village and fought Mughal soldiers. Consequently, some of the Mallaahs started worshipping him as their family god. The association with
1050-606: The Punjab region of India on March 30, 1699. (The Gregorian calendar skipped 11 days in 1752. So, in present times, Vaisakhi occurs near 13 April every year.) The inaugural group of Panj Piare formed the nucleus of the Khalsa : the first five persons to receive Khanda di Pahul initiation and rites (baptism) of the two-edged sword. They were the inaugural Panj Pyare. However, the term is not limited only to this inaugural group. After them, any group of five baptized Sikhs are also referred to as
1125-518: The Sikh religion. After his inspirational discourse, he flashed his unsheathed sword and said that every great deed was preceded by equally great sacrifice: He demanded one head for oblation. "I need a head", he declared. After some trepidation one person offered himself. The Guru took him inside a tent. A little later he reappeared with his sword dripping with blood, and asked for another head. One by one, four more earnest devotees offered their heads. Every time
1200-695: The Thakur caste perpetrated the Behmai massacre in retaliation. After she surrendered, the state government under Mulayam Singh Yadav ensured her release and also gave her ticket from the Mirzapur constituency as the Samajwadi Party candidate. This made a section of Nishad obliged to SP , who voted for it. The Bahujan Samaj Party which symbolised the Dalits , thus started associating itself with Eklavya , another folk hero of
1275-477: The 1990s, with the rise of Lalu Prasad Yadav in Bihar, de-elitizing of politics took place which made it an affair of masses, specially the lower castes. The crime and politics went hand in hand during this period, because in order to gain the support of his backward caste followers, Lalu didn't hesitated in extending supports to OBCs , even if they went against law. This period witnessed the least number of police firing and public-police clash. In those circumstances
1350-494: The Baisakhi was going to be a unique affair. He asked them not to cut any of their hair—to come with unshorn hair under their turbans and chunis, and for the men to come with full beards. On Baisakhi Day, March 30, 1699, hundreds of thousands of people gathered around his divine temporal seat at Anandpur Sahib . The Guru addressed the congregants with a most stirring oration on his divine mission of restoring their faith and preserving
1425-666: The Dablo. In Punjab , the boatmen belong either to the Mallaah or Jhabel tribe. In south west Punjab, they often claim themselves to be a clan of Rajputs , and found mainly along the banks of the Indus . They extend as far north as Dera Ismail Khan District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa , where their settlements are found mainly along the banks of the Indus. In this region, many Mallaah are cultivators, and have given up their occupation as boatmen. They generally combine their specialized occupation of boat management with other occupations such as fishing and
1500-591: The Guru asked those five baptized Sikhs to baptize him as well. This is how he became known as Guru Chela both teacher and student. He then proclaimed that the Panj Pyare—the Five Beloved Ones—would be the embodiment of the Guru himself: "Where there are Panj Pyare, there am I. When the Five meet, they are the holiest of the holy." He said whenever and wherever five baptized (Amritdhari) Sikhs come together,
1575-412: The Guru took a person inside the tent, he came out with a bloodied sword in his hand. Thinking their Guru to have gone berserk, the congregants started to disperse. Then the Guru emerged with all five men dressed in orange suits with a blue bib. (These are the colors of Sikhism). He baptized the five in a new and unique ceremony called pahul, what Sikhs today know as the baptism ceremony called Amrit. Then
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#17328583461721650-788: The Guru would be present. All those who receive Amrit from five baptized Sikhs will be infused with the spirit of courage and strength to sacrifice. Thus with these principles he established Khalsa Panth, the Order of the Pure Ones. At the same time the Guru gave his new Khalsa a unique, indisputable, and distinct identity. The Guru gave the gift of bana, the distinctive Sikh clothing and headwear. He also offered five emblems of purity and courage. These symbols, worn by all baptized Sikhs of both sexes, are popularly known today as Five Ks : By being identifiable, no Sikh could ever hide behind cowardice again. Political tyranny and brutality by Islamic Rulers of
1725-505: The Member of Parliament from this constituency has remained from the Mallaah caste only. In Sindh , the Mallaah are traditionally boatmen and fisherfolk, living along the inlets of the Indus delta. They speak Sindhi , and are close associated with Mohana tribe. The Mallaah are found mainly in the coastal districts of Thatta and Badin , and most are largely still fishermen. Many have seen their traditional areas of habitation washed away by
1800-599: The Nishad community are now engaged in awareness generation for the conservation of riverine ecosystem. The organisation such as Rashtriya Nishad Jagran Mahasabha have released pamphlets declaring the Nishad community as the protector of sacred water bodies . These magazines and pamphlets have helped to arise consciousness among the water centric communities to come forward for the cause of environment by invoking caste solidarity. The slogans raised by these caste associations like: Maa Ganga Ki sewa ab Mallah krega (Mallaah will perform
1875-820: The Panj Pyare. During the Second Battle of Chamkaur , it was a council of Panj Piare who commanded Guru Gobind Singh to leave the battlefield to preserve his life and continue leading the Sikhs, an order which the Guru obeyed. After the formation of the institution of Panj Piare in 1699, Guru Gobind Singh appointed five Sikhs in Nanded to accompany Madho Das (popularly known as Banda Bairagi ) on his northwards mission to conquer Sirhind in 1708. The names of these five Panj Piare were: Binod Singh , Kahan Singh, Baj Singh , Daya Singh, and Ram Singh. Guru Gobind Singh requested Banda to obey
1950-577: The Ram Temple movement then sought the help of the Nishad community to transport the Karsewaks through water route invoking the tale from Ramayana , when Nishadraja Guhya, a mythological character from the holy epic helped lord Rama to cross the river. According to social historian Badri Narayan Tiwari: Apart from transporting Karsewaks to Ayodhya, nearly 20,000 Nishad living on the bank of river Saryu and Ghagra also went to Ayodhya to work as volunteers in
2025-603: The Sikh community, covering both local and international issues. The constituent members of a Panj Piare quintet are selected based on meritocratic grounds. They are responsible for leading a Nagar Kirtan procession. The Panj Pyare are also responsible for carrying out the Amrit Sanchar ceremony of baptizing new members into the Khalsa order of Sikhism. Until the Vaisakhi of AD 1699,
2100-446: The Sikh initiation ceremony was known as Charan Pahul . They are responsible for laying the cornerstone of newly built gurdwaras . In a historical sense, the term is used to refer to a collective name given to five men − Bhai Daya Singh , Bhai Dharam Singh , Bhai Himmat Singh , Bhai Mohkam Singh and Bhai Sahib Singh – by the tenth Sikh guru , Guru Gobind Singh during the historic and monumental assembly at Anandpur Sahib in
2175-647: The advent of Aryans which had trade links to the rest of the world and Nishad were the founder of Ganga River Culture . The genealogy made by the Nishads declares them to be the descendants of Nishadraj Guhya who befriended Rama when he was exiled from the Ayodhya . Their Gaurav Gathas or tales of glory features Maharishi Kalu ( Guru of Narada ), Nala , Damayanti , Matasyagandha as well as Ved Vyas (the composer of epic Mahabharata ) as members of Nishad caste. In order to claim Nishadraj as their forefather they refer to
2250-513: The attempts of the political parties whose core base remained the "lower caste ", BJP also remained successful in getting support from a large chunk of Nishad community who were successfully exhorted by the party in the name of Rama . It was reported that when Mulayam Singh Yadav government stopped the volunteers of the Ram Temple movement from reaching Agra through the land route, Nishads were compelled to transport as many as 50,000 volunteers through river route across Ghaghara . The BJP also harnessed
2325-498: The backward castes and were closer to Dalits . But they are not Dalit caste, instead they are Kshatriya since the Mahabharata has mentioned it. Some of the state governments to include them in SC category which was preceded by movement and unrest led by the various caste organisations. Some of the state governments to include them in SC category which was preceded by movement and unrest led by
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2400-422: The backward communities gave voice to them to stand up in front of upper castes. Lalu as a Chief Minister frequently visited the SC hamlets of the state and sensitise the lower caste feeling against repression. This period saw representation of many lower castes including Mallaah in local level politics who now acquired the post of "Mukhia" (village headman) at many places. The early part of Lalu Yadav's rule saw
2475-500: The best way to keep their body temperature stable inside the water and keeping themselves psychologically prepared for the extreme situations. In the recent years, due to frequent contact with the politicians and journalists, the boatmen community has increasingly become aware of the problem of river pollution and challenges to biodiversity of the Ganges due to contamination by point and non point sources. Various organizations affiliated with
2550-400: The cause of the numerically weak backward communities and the dominant Dalit caste, Dusadh . The Mallaah community later supported Nitish Kumar until 2015, when Mukesh Sahani entered the political arena of Bihar. Sahani called himself "Son of Mallaah" and cultivated support amongst the Nishad community, who were electorally influential in some pockets of Bihar . Initially, his campaign for
2625-468: The census exercise further rigidified the caste status and caste mobility was made unchangeable. The classification of some of the low caste (who were considered as uncivil) in one of the aforementioned category could lead to exclusion of whole community from government jobs including military, police and administrative services. In census 1931, Mallaah and its subcaste were tabulated as recalcitrant and people in need of domestication. The diverse occupations of
2700-406: The central aim of uniting all these communities under the umbrella term "Nishad". Earlier these communities were classified as "Most Backward Caste", but in socio-economic status they were more close to Scheduled Castes . The organisation like Rashtriya Nishad Sangh , Shri ramasakha guhraj nishad seva samiti dholpur (Raj.), Nishad Kalyan Sabha , Maharaja Nishadraj Guhya Smarak Samiti were some of
2775-627: The community who being highly talented was discriminated by a Brahmin guru. Since the BJP was looked upon as the party of upper castes, BSP got a counter to the Nishadraj Guhya and to the BJP. During the tenure of Mayawati a stadium was built at Agra , which was named after Eklavya while the local committees of her party also erected numerous statues of Eklavya in various parts of the Uttar Pradesh . Despite
2850-499: The construction of Ram Mandir. The wooing of Mallaah community in 1990s by the Hindutva ideologue was resented by other political parties who mobilised the community through the tale of Eklavya who in his devotion to his Guru Dronacharya sacrificed his finger though earlier he was ill-treated by him and his request for learning archery from him was denied by the Guru because of his low ritual status. However according to Badri Narayan,
2925-558: The counsel of the Panj Piare but since no accounts of Banda's life mention the institute of the Panj Piare beyond this, it is believed he may not have heeded their commands fully and went astray. The idea of five beloved ones predate the formalization of the Khalsa Panth by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699. Guru Nanak alludes to the institution of "five beloved sons" in his gurbani . "Guru Nanak says, 'In Gurmat (Sikhism) five beloved ones are
3000-475: The day was not the only circumstance that was lowering people's morale. Discriminatory class distinctions (the Indian "caste" system) were responsible for the people's sense of degradation. The Guru wanted to eliminate the anomalies caused by the caste system. The constitution of the Panj Pyare was the living example of his dream: both the high and low castes were amalgamated into one. Among the original Panj Pyare, there
3075-459: The decade of 1990 itself when the attempt to mobilise lower castes to support the upper caste dominated politics was taking place. The states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh were facing severest caste wars in which the lower castes like Mallaah were falling prey to the caste based armies of the upper caste. Amongst all massacres that occur in the rural Bihar in 1990s, the Laxmanpur Bathe, 1997 is
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3150-410: The earliest inhabitants of the subcontinent. Some of these magazines also claimed that, [they] were forefathers of Indus Valley civilization . In a bid to strengthen their claim, the various organisation affiliated to the Nishad community quoted the scholars such as Hall, Keith and William Crooke as well as scriptures like Rig Veda to prove that there used to be a well developed civilization before
3225-724: The first five initiates into the Khalsa order, the next five (out of a total of ten) were termed the Panj Mukte ('five martyrs') and are named as follows: According to the Guru Kian Sakhian , after the first ten baptisms ( Panj Piare and Panj Mukte ), around 20,000 men were ready to accept the baptism whilst a few rejected it. The list of men in-sequence who then underwent the Pahul were: Mani Ram , Diwan Bachittar Das, Ude Rai, Anik Das, Ajaib Das, Ajaib Chand, Chaupat Rai, Diwan Dharam Chand, Alam Chand Nachna , and Sahib Ram Koer. This group
3300-517: The growing of waternuts. In neighbouring Punjab, the Mallaah are found mainly in the districts of Muzaffargarh, Dera Ghazi Khan, Rajanpur, Uch Sharief and Layyah, and said to be by origin Jhinwar . While Bahawalpur , the Mallaah, Mohana and Jhabel are said to have a common origin, with Mohana being fishermen, the Mallaah being boatmen and Jhabel being cultivators. The Mallaah speak Seraiki , and are entirely Sunni . There are also Mallaah communities in
3375-456: The ideology of Hindutva . In 1990s when Lal Krishna Advani was organising his Ram Rath Yatra to garner the support of Hindus all over India for the establishment of Ram Temple at a disputed site in Ayodhya , Mulayam Singh Yadav 's government took serious steps to prevent the Karsewaks (volunteers of the Temple movement) in a bid to stop the communal clashes in the state. The proponents of
3450-417: The ideology of Ram Rajya, an idyllic time of the past when lower and upper caste lived together in harmony was just invoked to counter the politics of Dalit mobilisation based on the report of Mandal Commission which sought reservation in the government jobs and educational institutions for socially and economically backward communities. The tussle between the lower and the upper caste hence continued in
3525-406: The inaugural quintet that began the institution of Panj Pyare, and who had been appointed by Guru Gobind Singh himself, had been all-male, many Sikhs believe the Panj Pyare can only consist of men and that women cannot be initiated as representatives. However, this is challenged as being against the Sikh belief and practice of gender equality. The 3HO sect of Sikhs allow baptized Sikh women to form
3600-419: The largest organisation of the Mallaahs and their subcastes. The Nishad Mahasabha was spearheaded by Ram Chandr Vakil and Pyarelal Chaudhary, amongst whom the former was selected to legislative council of United Province in 1936 and voiced support for the political representation of Nishad and its subcastes. The various caste based organisations and the umbrella organisation Nishad Mahasabha sought to mobilise
3675-482: The later years, the push to this identity politics was given by various political parties which included Samajwadi Party , Bahujan Samaj Party and Bhartiya Janata Party . Magazines such as Nishad Jyoti and Jheel Putra Smarika claimed that before the advent of Aryans in Indian Subcontinent , there was a well developed kingdom of Nishads, which was fortified. These claims sought to recognise them as one of
3750-577: The lower castes. The middle class, the upper caste criticised the breaking down of the tradition of liberal democracy while the OBCs supported the status-quo as the erstwhile system didn't ensure them freedom and dignity even after four decades of independence. By 1990, many political parties of Uttar Pradesh started supporting the campaign of Nishad community to commemorate their ideals like Nishadraj and Eklavya . These small organisation organized Shobha Yatras and also built small statues of their folk heroes in parts of Uttar Pradesh. The legend of Nishadraj
3825-425: The most notable where Ranvir Sena , an upper caste militia slaughtered 56 lower castes including the members of Mallaah community who earlier helped them cross the river being ignorant of their intentions. The Sena members also raped 5 girls who were less than 15 years old. In states like Uttar Pradesh too, the brutal force of repression upon lower caste was inflicted by the members of upper castes, which were many
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#17328583461723900-744: The movement of these boatmen who were made to produce a detail of their caste, patrilineal descent, and residence or else were made to pay fine. For the purpose of having a seamless river transport system to fulfill their commercial motives, the British recruited a number of boatman who were placed at important spots along the rivers. This policy had both social and economic implication for the Nishad community members who would leave their homes for long period of time to work under East India Company as wage labourers, transporting their riches. Mallaah all across Ganges are known for their capabilities of diving deep underwater for an extended period of time. This ability
3975-403: The organisation based in Uttar Pradesh which are hosting numerous Ekta Rally (unity conferences) to unify these caste groups. In 2001, the writer E.S.D Bind argued that various subcaste of Nishad community together comprises 18% of the population of Uttar Pradesh, which were instrumental in affecting the electoral politics of the state. As a result, various political parties pitched for having
4050-464: The original/inaugural group of Panj Piare as already named in the article. Guru Gobind Rai was 33 years old when he had divine inspiration to actuate his designs and make an undying legacy. Every year at the time of Baisakhi (springtime), thousands of devotees would come to Anandpur to pay their obeisance and seek the Guru's blessings. In early 1699, months before Baisakhi Day, Guru Gobind Rai sent special edicts to congregants far and wide that year
4125-456: The other heroes who symbolised the victory of lower castes on the upper castes to manipulate the votes of Nishads. The Samajwadi Party which relied upon the votes of middle peasant castes like Yadavs and Patels found the one in Phoolan Devi , a bandit who had been symbolised as the might of the downtrodden people over the upper castes. Phoolan who was raped by the other bandits belonging to
4200-453: The past, has been stayed by the courts; a prior attempt was also rejected by the Government of India . Nishads, according to Badri Narayan is a term denoting various communities whose traditional occupations has remained water-centric including sand dredging , Boating and Fishing . Since 1930s various caste organisation claiming to represent these communities started holding conferences with
4275-421: The people belonging to subcastes of Mallaah under a common term called 'Nishad', which symbolised the attempt of the community to discover their past in the mythological heroes whom they considered their progenitors. The attempts of Nishad Sabhas to do so with their Ekta Sammelans and other ways of sensitization and mobilisation of a common member of the community was later spearheaded by political parties based on
4350-833: The prerogative of the criminals belonging to upper castes earlier as they required linkage with the politicians and backup from the ruling regime as high capital inflow is involved. In the regime of Rashtriya Janata Dal led government these criminals from backward castes specially Mallaah and Yadav turned several areas of Bihar into their base and organised high value crimes. The criminal nature of Mallaah were earlier used by British colonialists too to list them in Criminal Tribes Act 1871. Scholars like Buchanan and Crooke also consider this behaviour to be inherent in their nature which halted their attempts to sanskritize and seek high status. The period before 2000 saw consolidation of backward castes under Lalu Prasad Yadav , who according to
4425-556: The rise to prominence of the leaders of the lower castes among which Jai Narain Prasad Nishad was a notable leader from Mallaah community. However, the prominence of Yadavs made many aspirational backward castes dissatisfied, who were forced to seek place in electoral politics elsewhere. The Dalit caste after being marginalised in the Rashtriya Janata Dal thus moved towards the socialist leader Ram Vilas Paswan who championed
4500-452: The sea. The Indus Delta is also silting, which makes cultivation difficult. An important subsidiary occupation is animal husbandry, with the Mallaah raising cattle. Although living in close proximity to the Jath community, who customs are similar to the Mallaah, there is almost no intermarriage. The Mallaah community consists of a number of clans, referred to as nukh , the largest Mallaah nukh being
4575-467: The service for mother Ganga) and increased collaboration with the state for river cleansing projects with devotive motives have challenged the James Scott's notion of "public transcript". At one end the boatmen comply with the things to ensure how the dominant groups would want the things to appear, at the other hand they are also rising voices of resistance without being branded as violators of law. In
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#17328583461724650-505: The service of 50,000 Nishads who went to Ayodhya as volunteers to participate in Ram Temple movement . In 2020 "Nishad", a character in the movie Article 15 was played by Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub which was said to be inspired by the founder of Bhim Army , Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan . The said character was portrayed fighting for the rights of Dalits through an organisation called Bhim Sangharsh Samiti. Mallaah The Mallaah are
4725-1096: The sons of the Guru.' Maru M. 1" Throughout Sikh history, there have been five beloved ones during different guruship terms. Examples are given below for some of them: His five beloved ones were Bhai Mardana , Bhai Bala , Bhai Ajita, Bhai Lalo , and Bhai Lehna (later successor). His five beloved ones were Baba Buddha , Paro Julka, Amar Das (later successor), Paida, and Sadharn. His five beloved ones were Baba Buddha, Paro, Malhan, Balu, and Jetha (later successor). His five beloved ones were Baba Buddha, Bidhi Chand , Teeratha, Dharam, and Guria. His five beloved ones were Bidhi Chand, Bhai Jetha, Bhai Langah, Bhai Pirana, and Bhai Pera. His five beloved ones were Bhai Gurdas , Bidhi Chand, Behlo, Kalayana, and Bhallan. His five beloved ones were Bhai Suthra, Feru, Dargah, Bhana, and Bhagta. His five beloved ones were Bhai Dargah, Gurbakhsh, Baba Gurditta, Sant Ram, and Gurdas. His five beloved ones were Dewan Mati Dasa , Gurdita, Bhai Dayala , Bhai Ude, and Bhai Jaita (later baptized as Jiwan Singh). His five beloved ones were
4800-408: The stance of the authorities, for whom Mallaah were already perceived as criminals. According to Bernstein who documented the introduction of steamboat on the Ganges , the control of river's navigational route was very important for the British colonizers for transport of raw materials and revenue proceeds from the countrysides to urban centres. The classification as Criminal Tribes helped them to track
4875-464: The states which leads to harassment of people involved in it by the authorities. As a response to it at many places like Raj Ghat in Varanasi the "coin divers" have set up formal association with organizational structure to protect themselves from being harassed. The underwater capabilities of these people are often used in dangerous resque missions. The Mallaah also prefer Alcoholism which they claim as
4950-440: The sub-castes of Nishad community were standardized and they were perceived as people thriving on boating and fishing only. The process of equating caste with occupation was though considered as misleading now, as by the late 19th century the Mallaah and its sub-castes were moving towards cities and were getting employed as labourers in the burgeoning weaving industry. But, this distinction between caste and occupation hardly changed
5025-400: The surname Kaur (Princess). With the distinct Khalsa identity and consciousness of purity Guru Gobind Singh gave all Sikhs the opportunity to live lives of courage, sacrifice, and equality. The birth of the Khalsa is celebrated by Sikhs every Baisakhi Day on April 13. Baisakhi 1999 marks the 300th anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh's gift of Panth Khalsa to all Sikhs everywhere. After
5100-518: The term Nishad had a positive connotation for various boatmen and fishermen caste who attempted to get registered as Nishad in 1921 census. This Sanskritizing attempt couldn't rule out the criminal reputation of Mallaah and other water centric communities which formed the basis for classification in colonial census. The British authorities developed two sets of rule or categories to classify various caste groups, first being those of martial race and other one being Criminal Tribes Act . According to Metcalf,
5175-535: The traditional boatmen and fishermen tribes or communities found in North India , East India , Northeastern India and Pakistan . A significant number of Mallaah are also found in Nepal and Bangladesh . In the Indian state of Bihar , the term Nishad includes the Mallaah and refers to communities whose traditional occupation centred on rivers. It is also spelled Mallah . Earliest references for these people comes from
5250-496: The various caste organisations of the community for the purpose of seeking benefits accruing due to reservation provided to the Scheduled Caste groups. In the first half of 20th century the rising educated middle class among the community urged for the unification of various subcastes of the larger Mallaah community for the purpose of their socio-economic empowerment. Consequently, in 1918 Nishad Mahasabha came into existence, as
5325-425: Was as follows: The frequency of Mallaahs was higher than national average (0.7%) in the following districts: Panj Pyare Panj Pyare ( Punjabi : ਪੰਜ ਪਿਆਰੇ , Pañj Piārē , the five beloved ones ) refers to a gathered ad hoc quintet of five baptised ( Amritdhari ) Khalsa Sikhs who act as institutionalized leaders for the wider Sikh community. The Panj Pyare are convened for pressing matters in
5400-419: Was due to alleged betrayal of Bihar government under Nitish Kumar to grant Scheduled Tribe status to Mallaah caste. The Mallaah community is present all over Bihar though sparingly. They are dominant in districts like Muzaffarpur and Vaishali . In Muzaffarpur region, they have emerged as the most influential caste politically, leaving behind Bhumihar , Rajput , Koeri , Kurmi and Yadav . Since decades
5475-602: Was manipulated more proactively by the Bharatiya Janata Party which urged the Nishads as the rightful heir of the Nishadraj to ferry the BJP in the elections as did Nishadraj for lord Rama . The BJP according to social historian Badri Narayan connected Rama to Nishadraj because the party chose Rama as its icon and Nishadraj could be easily associated with him which could have reaped the votes of large community comprising numerous sub-castes of this water centric community. The other political parties also stepped into this fray and chose
5550-441: Was one Khatri, shopkeeper; one jat, farmer one Chhimba, calico printer/tailor; one jheewar, one kumhar, water-carrier; and one Nai, a barber. Further the five were from distant regions - lahore, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Karnataka odisha.. He gave the surname of Singh (Lion) to every Sikh and also took the name for himself. From Gobind Rai he became Guru Gobind Singh. He also pronounced that all Sikh women embody royalty, and gave them
5625-408: Was then followed by Rai Chand Multani, Gurbakhsh Rai, Pandit Kirpa Ram Dutt of Mattan, Subeg Chand, Gurmukh Das, Sanmukh Das, Amrik Chand, Purohit Daya Ram, Ratna, Gani Das, Lal Chand Peshauria, Rup Chand, Sodhi Dip Chand, Nand Chand, Nanu Rai of Diwali, and Hazari, Bhandari and Darbari of Sirhind . As many as 80,000 men are said to have been baptized in the first few days after Vaisakhi 1699. Since
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