Bharwad

The Bharwad, also known as "Gop" or Cowherd caste. Bharwad is a Hindu caste found in the state of Gujarat in India, primarily engaged in herding livestock.

A member of the Bharwad community from Tarnetar, Gujarat,wearing traditional dress.

History

According to one version stated by Enthoven (1920) which is connoborated by the pauranik history of community, is that Gokul Vrindavan Mathura was their original home. They then migrated to Mewar in Rajasthan and finally to Gujarat where they are spread out.The Bharwad elder told Enthoven that the Bharwad community is the descendants of Krishna's foster father Nanda.

Varna and socio-economic status

The Varna system of Hinduism is a traditional ritual ranking system based on levels of purported religious purity. Within this four-fold scheme, the Bharwads consider themselves to be Vaishya but they also believe themselves to be equal to Rajput communities that are generally considered to be of the more pure Kshatriya varna.

Clothing

The Bharwads practice "sartorial conservatism", according to Emma Tarlo, and it is not enough to be born a Bharwad if a person wants to be accepted as one: conforming with standards of dress and other customs is a necessity if a person is not to be considered a deserter from the community. The details of clothing — in terms of style, colour and material — have changed over time while retaining a distinct Bharwad character. Despite it being a relatively recent practice, the wearing of pink and red shawls by both women and men is one of the most obvious identifiers of the modern community and they are worn even by those who shun the other aspects of the Bharwadi dress code in favour of Western styles. The desire to identify through clothing and also through tattoos may be a reflection of the community's traditional itinerant lifestyle, whereby a means of recognising their fellows was a significant social factor.

The clothing worn by Bharwad women was traditionally made from coarse wool woven by members of local untouchable communities. In addition, they embroidered their own open-backed bodices. The garments at that time — as late as the early 20th century — comprised the bodice, an unstitched black or red waist-cloth, known as a jimi, and a veil. Motabhai clothing was made from thicker wool than that of the Nanabhai, leading to the two groups referring to themselves as "thick cloth" and "thin cloth". The veil was dyed black and bore red dots if the woman was a Motabhai and yellow if she was Nanabhai. While the styles and colours remain similar, modern Bharwad women use man-made fibres, such as polyester, and cotton. This change may be in part because the modern materials are of finer texture but it is more likely than it came about because of their relative cheapness. Cost is an important factor among the generally penurious community and women could sell the woollen fabric that they had used for clothing for a greater price than they paid for the replacement man-made fabric clothes. Tarlo quotes a Bharwad woman saying that "If you wear a sari then you can no longer be called a Bharwad. That is the way it is among our caste. Better to die than change your clothes."

The men commonly wear a silver ear-ring, called a variya, and a pagri (turban). The length of the turban differs between the two divisions, and there are numerous ways of tying them. A white turban, rather than the more usual pink or red, is a symbol of seniority. Wearing Western-style clothing is still not generally accepted but the traditional three woollen blankets, worn around the head, waist and shoulders, have in many cases been replaced by a cotton kediyu together with a dhoti or chorni. As with the women, Carol Henderson notes that

[Bharwads] say that if a man doesn't wear their dress, he ceases to be Bharwad. Being Bharwad means dressing Bharwad. Bharwad men wear a distinctive short gathered smock with long, tight sleeves, massive wound turban, gathered pantaloons, and a shawl.

Occupations

Many of the Bharwad community are found in the Gir Forest National Park.

Bharwads are rarely educated beyond primary level and literacy rates are poor. Many of them live in and around the Gir Forest National Park, where they tend to keep away from the forest itself when grazing their livestock due to the danger of attacks by Asiatic lions. Aside from their involvement with livestock, the main source of income is agricultural labouring; few of them own land.

Classification

Bharwads are classified in Gujarat as Other Backward Class, except in the Nesses of the forests of Alech, Barada and Gir where they are Scheduled Tribes.

References

Bibliography

• Henderson, Carol E. (2002), Culture and Customs of India, Greenwood Publishing Group, ISBN 9780313305139
• Mitra, Sudipta (2005), Gir Forest and the Saga of the Asiatic Lion, Indus Publishing, ISBN 9788173871832
• Tarlo, Emma (1996), Clothing Matters: Dress and Identity in India, C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, ISBN 9781850651765