The Baria ,[1] or Baraiya or Barai ,[2] Bareeya Koli[3] and Barai Rajput [4] is a clan (Gotra) of the Koli caste found in the Indian State of gujarat and Uttar parades [5] and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.[6] the Devgad Baria was their Stronghold or given their name to Baria State in Gujarat.[7] according to the historian Y.V.S Nath, the ruling royal family of Baria State is original Raghuvanshi and they claimed to be of Kshatriya origin to be in high status among other Princely States.[8]
Baria Koli બારીયા કોલી | |
---|---|
Clan (Gotra) of Koli caste | |
![]() Koli population in Gujarat in 1931 including Baria Kolis | |
Ethnicity | Koli people |
Location | |
Varna | Warrior |
Parent tribe |
|
Demonym | Kolis |
Branches |
|
Religion | |
Surnames |
According to the census records of 1931, there were 1,03,769 Hindu Barai Rajput and 5 Baria Kolis were converted to Jain religion in the Baroda State of Gaekwars.[9]
Tax collection
editThe Koli Vero was a type of tax collected by Koli chiefs of villages from other caste people for living in Koli village.[10]
System
editHere are some important points of Koli vero:,[11]
- It was collected by Koli chiefs such as Koli Thakors, Koli Patels, Koli Girasias, Koli Pagis and Koli Kotwals of their villages.
- Koli Vero was collected as monthly tax from other caste people.
- If anyone resisted or refused to pay Koli Vero, Koli chief often plundered the person's relatives.
- Koli vero system was disbanded during the British rule in Gujarat.[12]
Origin
editThe Baria Kolis got their name from the Devgadh Baria of Gujarat which was ruled by them and it was their Stronghold as well as they were lawless and turbulent people.[13]
Piracy
editHistorically, the Baria Kolis were well known pirates of Gujarat and the Piram island of Gujarat was stronghold of Baria Koli pirates but later they were defeated by Mokhadaji Gohil in 1325.[14]
Rawal Bhavsinhji of Bhavnagar died in 1764, leaving behind him five sons, and the eldest of and these, Akherajji I, succeeded as Ruler of the State. At this juncture the fort of Talaja was in the hands of Baria Koli pirates, a ment lawless band of pirates who infested the western littoral from Cambay to the Indus. Their unjust exactions pressed so heavily upon merchants in that locality that the large trade previously carried on was almost entirely ruined, even British ships falling ment then sent troops, which were assisted by Rawal Akherajji and his army, and it was their combined forces which captured the stronghold of Talaja and defeated the Baria clan of Koli pirates.[15]
History
editDuring the British Raj in Gujarat, The Baria Kolis were holders of Vanta lands (private estates).[16] the Bariya Kolis were formerly known as Bandits because of their anti-social activities but later settled as agriculturist in villages.[4]
Around 1950, Kolis of Baria clan joined the Gujarat Kshatriya Sabha which was started by Koli elite Natwarsinh Solanki for upliftment of Koli society.[17] after joining the Sabha, Baria Kolis were not in conflicts against Rajputs but Kolis of Saurashtra didn't join the Sabha because they thought that 'Patidar wasn't their enemy and they didn't need to be Rajputs to be called as Kshatriya'.[3]
Pre Independence
editThe Patidars of Central and North Gujarat were agricultural labour on the lands of Koli landlords or Koli chieftains but after Independence of India, Patidars enchraoched the lands of Kolis through land ceiling act of Independent India and reduced the Kolis in social status.[18] after that, Kolis thought that they ruled the area but have no rights, so Kolis often plunders the Patidar villages in midnight in gangs.[19] The Rajputs of Gujarat strongly allied with Kolis because Rajputs also were against Patidars because of their land rights.[20] In central and north Gujarat, the Kolis had several battles with the Patidars on the issue of land tenancy, land rights and use of common village resources. It may be mentioned here that in order to win the elections in 1962 and 1967 the Gujarat Swatantra Party, dominated by the Patidars, won over some of the Koli leaders of the Gujarat Kshatriya Sabha and Sabha was dominated by Kolis of North Gujarat . The Party evolved a strategy referred to by the acronym PKASH; that is the 'party of Patidars and Koli Kshatriyas.' Party nominated a large number of the Kolis as party candidates and also gave them positions within the party organization. But that alliance did not last. The party and the Kshatriya Sabha's Koli leaders could not resolve ground-level conflicts between the Koli peasants and well Patidar peasants.[21] The grievances of Patidar were resolved by Gujarat Kshatriya Sabha by several time meetings but it was not enough because Kolis were double in number of population if Gujarat and Patidars often targeted by influenced Kolis.[22] most of the Patidar's children were engaged in collage study but Kolis not and it was a big beneficial point of Patidars.[23][24]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Enthoven, Reginald Edward (1990). The Tribes and Castes of Bombay. New Delhi, India: Asian Educational Services. p. 65. ISBN 978-81-206-0630-2.
- ^ Yājñika, Acyuta; Sheth, Suchitra (2005). The Shaping of Modern Gujarat: Plurality, Hindutva, and Beyond. New Delhi, India: Penguin Books India. p. 304. ISBN 978-0-14-400038-8.
- ^ a b Dominance and State Power in Modern India: Decline of a Social Order. New Delhi, India: Oxford University Press. 1989. p. 104. ISBN 978-0-19-562098-6.
- ^ a b Plunkett, Hugh Sheridan (1972). Leadership and Social Change in a District of Rajasthan,and in princely states of northern Uttar Pradesh India. New Delhi, India: University of California, Berkeley. p. 191.
- ^ "A community called barai or chaurishi Rajput and somewhere Koli Rajput - Indian Express". archive.indianexpress.com. Retrieved 2022-04-01.
- ^ Gopal, Krishna (2003). Fairs and Festivals of India: Chhattisgarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Goa, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra. New Delhi, India: Gyan Publishing House. p. 35. ISBN 978-81-212-0811-6.
- ^ Desai, Anjali H. (2007). India Guide Gujarat. New Delhi, India: India Guide Publications. p. 184. ISBN 978-0-9789517-0-2.
- ^ Nath, Y. V. S. (1960). Bhils of Ratanmal: An Analysis of the Social Structure of a Western Indian Community. New Delhi, India: Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. pp. 65: presence in these regions, by explaining that they came in the wake of the founders of the present ruling houses of Bariya State and other estates in the area. The latter however claim to be Rajputs today, though the local traditions give them a Koli extraction." Till recently, most of the thakurdari and ankadi rights in these States were held by Bariya Kolis. Some of them even claim kinship with the Rulers of Baria and the Thakurs of Ratanmal.
- ^ Lobo, Lancy (1995). The Thakors of North Gujarat: A Caste in the Village and the Region. New Delhi, India: Hindustan Publishing Corporation. p. 188. ISBN 978-81-7075-035-2.
- ^ Clark, Alice Whitcomb (1979). Central Gujarat in the Nineteenth Century: The Integration of an Agrarian System. New Delhi, India, Asia: University of Wisconsin--Madison. p. 354.
- ^ Clark 1979, p. 372.
- ^ Clark 1979, p. 72.
- ^ Shah, A. M.; Desai, Ishwarlal Pragji (1988). Division and Hierarchy: An Overview of Caste in Gujarat. New Delhi, India: Hindustan Publishing Corporation. p. 7. ISBN 978-81-7075-008-6.
- ^ Singhji, Virbhadra (1994). The Rajputs of Saurashtra. New Delhi, India: Popular Prakashan. p. 39. ISBN 978-81-7154-546-9.
- ^ Bond, J. W.; Wright, Arnold (2006). Indian States: A Biographical, Historical, and Administrative Survey. New Delhi, India: Asian Educational Services. pp. 371–376. ISBN 978-81-206-1965-4.
- ^ Clark 1979, pp. 354–355.
- ^ Ghosh, Buddhadeb; Kumar, Girish (2003). State Politics and Panchayats in India. New Delhi, India: Manohar Publishers & Distributors. p. 95. ISBN 978-81-7304-487-8.
- ^ Franco, Fernando (2002). Pain and Awakening: The Dynamics of Dalit Identity in Bihar, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh. New Delhi, India, Asia: Indian Social Institute. p. 252. ISBN 978-81-87218-46-3.
- ^ Hardiman, David (1981). Peasant Nationalists of Gujarat: Kheda District, 1917-1934. New Delhi, India, Asia: Oxford University Press. p. 45. ISBN 978-0-19-561255-4.
- ^ DA COSTA, DIA (2016). Politicizing Creative Economy: Activism and a Hunger Called Theater. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-04060-3. JSTOR 10.5406/j.ctt1ws7wgk.
- ^ Wood, John R. (2008). "Review of India's 2004 Elections: Grass-Roots and National Perspectives". Pacific Affairs. 81 (1): 138–140. ISSN 0030-851X. JSTOR 40377511.
- ^ Bardhan, Pranab; Brass, Paul R.; Cohen, Stephen P.; Gupta, Jyotirindra Das; Frankel, Francine R.; Hart, Henry C.; Manor, James; Shah, Ghanshyam; Lewis, John P. (1988). India's Democracy: An Analysis of Changing State-Society Relations. Princeton University Press. JSTOR j.ctt7zv3bg.
- ^ Bhattacharya, Sabyasachi, ed. (2002). Education and the disprivileged: nineteenth and twentieth century India. Hyderabad, India: Orient Longman. ISBN 978-81-250-2192-6.
- ^ Mehta, Haroobhai; Patel, Hasmukh (1985). Dynamics of Reservation Policy. Patriot Publishers. p. 119. ISBN 978-0-8364-1818-7.