Dhimar
 Dhimar or fisherman’s hut. (Russell, 1916) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Gujarat and Delhi. | |
| Religion | |
| Hinduism |
The Dhimar is a Hindu caste in Central India.[1] The term Dhimar originates from the Sanskrit word "Dhivara," which means a fisherman.[2][3] Dhimars are also known as Kahar, Bhoi, Palewar, Baraua, and Machhandar.[4]
Historically, Dhimars have primarily worked as the fishermen.[2] Dhimars primarily reside in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Gujarat and Delhi.
Communities that are related to the Dhimar by occupation include Kanshilya, Koshyal, Dhinwar, Jhinwar, Dhewar, Jhimar, Kashyap, Kahar. Dhimars sometimes referred to as a sub-caste of boatmen.[1]
Affirmative action status
There were proposals in 2013 that some or all of these communities in the state should be reclassified as Scheduled Castes under India's system of positive discrimination; this would have involved declassifying them from the Other Backwards Class category.[5] Whether or not this would happen was a significant issue in the campaign for the 2014 Indian general election.[6]
See also
References
Citations
- 1 2 Shah, Pankaj (6 April 2013). "Political parties eye Lok Sabha polls, bank on boatmen to claim pole position". The Times of India. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 25 April 2026.
- 1 2 Singh, Kumar Suresh; Bhanu, B. V.; India, Anthropological Survey of (2004). Maharashtra. Anthropological Survey of India. p. 514. ISBN 978-81-7991-100-6.
- ↑ Gunda, Béla (1984). The Fishing Culture of the World: Studies in Ethnology, Cultural Ecology, and Folklore. Akadémiai Kiadó. pp. 660–661. ISBN 978-963-05-3279-2.
- ↑ "Gangaputra Fisherman Community". gangaputra.net. Retrieved 25 April 2026.
- ↑ Shah (2013) sfnp error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFShah2013 (help)
- ↑ Srivastava (2014)
Bibliography
- Shah, Pankaj (6 April 2013), "Political parties eye Lok Sabha polls, bank on boatmen to claim pole position", The Times of India
- Srivastava, Piyush (25 February 2014), "BJP castes a wider UP net, uses Modi's background to attract OBC votes while seeking blessings by feeding Brahmins", India Today
Further reading
- Béla Gunda (1984). The Fishing culture of the world: studies in ethnology, cultural ecology, and folklore. Akadémiai Kiadó. ISBN 978-963-05-3279-2.