Kunbi
 |
 | This article duplicates the scope of other articles. |
The Kunbi (Marathi: कुणबी, Gujarati: કુનબી, alternately Kanbi) are an Indian subcaste of the Shudra[1] (cultivator) varna. They are found largely in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat, and are historically associated with agriculture; another branch is found in Goa. The group is often associated with the Kurmi caste, though scholars differ as to whether the terms are synonymous.[2][3] In 2006, the Indian government announced that Kurmi was considered synonymous with the Kunbi and Yellam castes in Maharashtra.[4]
Terminology
The term Kunbi was known to be applied to the cultivating class of Hindu Shudra in Central India. The word Kunbi is believed to be derived from the Marathi word kunbawa, or Sanskrit kur, "agricultural tillage".[5] Alternate etymologies include derivation from kutumba (family), or from the Dravidian kul, "husbandman" or "labourer". Popular but dubious etymologies include derivation from kun (root) or kan (grain) combined with bi (seed).[6]
Other spellings and variants include: Kulambi (Deccan), Kulwadi (South Konkan), Kanbi (Gujarat), Kulbi (Belgaum), Reddies (Andhra Pradesh), kurmi(Bihar,Uttar Pradesh,Madhya Pradesh,Jharkhand).[6]
Historical accounts
The 1885 Cyclopædia of India and of Eastern and Southern Asia described the Kunbi as "though quiet and unpretending, are a robust, sturdy, independent agricultural people... though their institutitions are less democratic than those of the Jat and Rajput..." The author also noted that the Hyderabad Kunbi of the period were known to be "wholly illiterate." The 1881 Census of India stated that the Kunbi in all of India numbered 5,388,487.[5]
Goan Kunbi
A population of Kunbi (also locally called Kurumbi) is also found in Goa, where they are believed to be descendants of the area's aboriginal inhabitants. They are largely poor agriculturalists,[7] though some of the oldest known landowners in Goa were of this class, and claimed for themselves the Vaishya (merchant) varna.[8]
Subdivisions
The names of subsets of the Kunbi differ in sources.
- Kunbi in Berar: Tirale, Maratha, Bawane, Khaire, Khedule, Dhanoje.[5]
Jadhav
Notable Kunbi
See also
References
- ^ Sanjay Paswan (2003). Encyclopaedia of Dalits in India. Gyan Publishing House. pp. 107–. ISBN 9788178351285. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
- ^ Various census of India. 1867. pp. 36–. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
- ^ Jogendra Nath Bhattacharya (1896). Hindu castes and sects: an exposition of the origin of the Hindu caste system and the bearing of the sects towards each other and towards other religious systems / Jogendra Nath Bhattacharya. Thacker, Spink. pp. 270–. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
- ^ Central nod for OBC list modification. The Hindu, January 07, 2006
- ^ a b c Edward Balfour. The Cyclopædia of India and of Eastern and Southern Asia, Commercial Industrial, and Scientific: Products of the Mineral, Vegetable, and Animal Kingdoms, Useful Arts and Manufactures. Publisher Bernard Quaritch, 1885
- ^ a b R.V. Russell, R.B.H. Lai. The tribes and castes of the central provinces of India. Asian Educational Services, 1995. ISBN 812060833X, 9788120608337
- ^ Paul Harding (1 October 2003). Goa. Lonely Planet. pp. 217–. ISBN 9781740591393. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
- ^ Kumar Suresh Singh; Anthropological Survey of India (2003). People of India. Anthropological Survey of India. p. 1396. ISBN 9788185938981. Retrieved 13 May 2011.