The Development of Tribes in India-A Case Study of Sikilgar, Vanjara and Satnami Tribes

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The Development of Tribes in India-A Case Study of Sikilgar, Vanjara and Satnami Tribes

Dr Dalvinder Singh Grewal

Dean, Desh Bhagat University​

Introduction

Sikhism is a monotheistic religion and the adherents of Sikhism are called Sikhs. It advocates the Oneness of God and all the being of the universe His creation, hence all are of equal status. In every prayer the followers pray for Universal well being. They always are seen eager to help the poor and downtrodden. Theories are however, not always put to practice. They do not appear to have been applied in the case of certain groups of people away from the mainstream who have remained very poor and treated as downtrodden in their areas of residences and remained unattended. These are Sikligar, Vanjara and Satnami tribes. This paper is an attempt to put forth the case for development of these neglected people.

The Sikh population is spread all over the world. According to the figures in Sikh Review (Grewal: Jan 2009) their population 10 years ago was around 120 million. Though the Sikhs in general are a prosperous nation but certain tribes like Sikligar, Wanjara, Satnami, Johri, Tibetan, Assamese, Tharu and Nanakpanthis/Agarhari Sikhs have remained neglected over the ages and have not got the means and chances to develop. Among them Sikligar, Wanjara and Satnami tribes are the largest; approximately 0.85 million. Some of them do not even get their two meals daily and are oppressed by higher classes. Recently however certain Non Government Organisations (NGOs) have taken pains to assist these backward tribes, but their capacity is too small for such a large set of sub-groups. Lot more is needed to be done in this regards. These three major tribes Sikligar, Vanjara and Satnami are studied in detail. The researcher has been connected with these tribes since last 30 years, visiting them occasionally and was personally involved in various schemes of their development. Knowledge from his experience has been further helped by a Seminar ‘Sikhs Living in States other than Punjab’ conducted by Institute of Sikh Studies, Chandigarh from Nov. 24-25, 2009; and has maintained personal contact with various persons active in the field like S. Harcharan Singh Josh, Dr Himadari Banerjee, Joginder Singhh Jogi, Er Mohinder Singh, Nanak Singh Nishtar, Jagmohan Singh and Sukhdev Singh.



Sikligars

Sikligars are a Sikh tribe numbering around 40 million; now settled in scattered settlements all over India. Found in strength in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujrat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnatka, Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Haryana, they have remained an utterly neglected tribe. They were the lohars (ironsmiths/blacksmiths) who once specialized in the craft of making and polishing weapons. The word is derived from the Persian - saqi/sakli, lit., polishing, furnishing, making bright (a sword), the term saqlgar means a polisher of swords. In medieval India, the weapon makeers were in great demand for manufacturing spears, swords, shields and arrows. What the world knows as Damascus steel, used in making some of the finest swords known to man, was manufactured by Indian lohars and shipped to Damascus as layered iron pellets. Recently a piece of Gold embellished steel armour decorated with Sikh hymns as made of this type of steel, which in India was called watered steel as its surface reminds one of flowing water. The weapons were extremely beautiful and shining brilliantly. These were so sharp that they would have severed the heads of elephants. The makers of these weapons themselves were great such warriors.

Engaged in the pursuit of an obsolete occupation, they are now a poor and backward people forming one of the scheduled castes as defined under the Indian Constitution. Owning no land or plot in their name they have been living in pitiable conditions and no suitable step has been taken by any of the government to rehabilitate them. Now they are scattered in different parts of India. In Punjab, they are in Ludhiana, Chamkaur Sahib and Baba Bakala (Basnie), Patiala, Sirhind, Gobindgarh, Ferozepur, Moga etc. (Ladnie), and some are still wanderers (Uthnie) around Ablowal, Karnal, Panipat, Bachitar Nagar etc. Outside Punjab they are in large numbers in Maharashtra, Andhara, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.

The researcher visited their areas and observed their condition and found that they are living in utter penury and most unhygienic conditions and their profession has lagged behind the machine age. Their pride does not let them to do service. On top of that, they are illiterate. They do not own land or homes. They do not get proper food and clothes. They eat whatever they earn; sometimes once a day and at the most twice. They do not have land for houses and finances to construct their pucca houses or places of worship where they could pray and convey principals of their religious culture to their new generations. Since their initiation into Sikhism they have never shorn their hair thereafter and wear turbans. They also abstain from intoxicants and follow the Sikh norms. Continuous deprivation is taking them away from Sikhism now. Many from the younger generations have started shearing their hair. Some have joined other faiths. If they are not attended to in time, Sikhism would lose a large number of Sikhs.

Vanjaras

Numerically the Vanjara tribe is 50 million spread all over Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, UP, etc. The roots of Sikligars and Vanjaras is stated to be common. All of these tribes associated themselves with Rathaurs, Parmas and Chauhans. They became Vanjaras, the roaming artisans. According to the research done by Dr. Harbhajan Singh of Punjabi University, Patiala, the Vanjaras have 20,000 tandas (Settlement) in India. Their population is 50 million spread in 22 states of India mainly in Madhya Pardesh (4.7 million), Maharashtra (6.2 million), Andhra Pardesh (7.1 million), Karnataka (6.7 million), Uttar Pardesh (5.8 million), Orissa (3.3 million), Bihar (3.5 million), Rajasthan (3.2 millions). They name their settlement suffixing ‘Tanda’ to the city, town or village where they settle. The leader of the Tanda is called Nayak. They trace their origin to Rathors, Chauhans, Pawars and Yadavs, and also call themselves Rajputs.

Vanjaras were the leading transporters during Mughal period. They moved from Kabul to Agra, Agra to Patna Hyderabad and Ahmedabad, supplying cart-loads of weapons and food to the troops. Size of their convoy consisted of large number of carts. Bhagwan Dass Nayak’s caravan had 52,000 oxen. Peter Mundi (1632) had recorded in his travelogue, "Vanjaras were moving in a caravan of 14,000 Oxen."

Due to their trading activity (Vanaj) while roaming they were called Vanjaras. The English were also a trading class. Their rule affected them adversely. Leaving their wandering trade, they settled near cities and towns and started trading. However, new trading practices caused them great harm. This resulted in their change to agriculture. There too they failed. These days they are living in great penury.

75 percent of Vanjaras have land but lack resources to farm. The arrival of Vanjaras in Andhra Pardesh is associated with the arrival of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s army. Most of the 1200 Sikh soldiers were Vanjaras whose families spread far and wide thereafter. There is a dire need to preserve and uplift their fortunes. 90 percent Vanjaras are living below poverty line.

Lubanas are a sub group of Vanjaras and are spread across India. Their name Lubana originated from words loon (salt) + bana/vana (trade) because they were potentially the traders in salt. In ancient times, the salt being a rare commodity was traded like silk and other goods from one country to another. They speak Lubanki, a dialect of Punjabi, but gradually all of them have adopted the local languages i.e., Punjabi in Punjab and the other languages of the area where they are residing.

Satnamis

Satnami sect was founded in 1657 in Narnaul in Haryana, situated about 100km south-west of Delhi, by a saint named Birbhan. They observe no caste distinctions. They were known to have dressed simply like saints and abstained from intoxicants and animal foods. These tenets are still practiced by many today. Today the sect numbers over 15 million, and followers are to be found in Chhatisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Bihar and Maharashtra. The leader of Satnamis was Jeewandas Chandel, from Barabanki who was brought to Sikhi by Bala Lal Dayal. He had meeting with Shri Guru Tegh Bahadur and was impressed by Guru’s thought process. He had come in contact with Guru Tegh Bahadur at Dhamdhan and stayed with him during his travels to Delhi and beyond. In 1667, Emperor Aurangzeb declared that all Hindus would pay five per cent Jeziya tax. On April 9, 1969 he passed orders that all Hindu temples, and educational institutions be destroyed and their religious activities be banned. This decision was implemented ruthlessly (Sarkar, 1947, p. 51-55).

On hearing these orders, Guru Tegh Bahadur started from Assam towards Punjab in December 1671 and reached Delhi in January 1672 (Punjab Past and Present, April 1975, p. 234). In Delhi he gave the call (Neither I cause fear to anyone nor I accept fear). Satnamis were the first to implement this call of the Guru. They resented Aurungzeb’s strict Islamic policies – which included reviving the hated Islamic Jaziya tax (poll tax on non-Muslim subjects), banning music and art, and destroying Hindu temples. The revolt began in 1672 when a Moghul soldier killed a Satnami. Other Satnamis took revenge on the Moghul soldier, and in turn the Moghul soldiers went about repressing the Satnamis. The result was that about 5,000 Satnamis were up in arms. They routed the Moghul troops situated in the town, drove away the Moghul administrators and set up their own administration in its place. The uprising gained the enthusiasm in Agra and Ajmer also. Though totally lacking in weaponry and money, the Satnamis inflicted several defeats on the Moghul forces. It was often cited in Mughal Darbar that they have the miraculous blessings of the Sikh Gurus hence cannot be defeated. The contemporary Moghul chronicler, Saqi Mustaid Khan, expressed amazement as to what came over this “destitute gang of goldsmiths, carpenters, sweepers and tanners and other… artisan castes that their conceited brains became so overclouded? Rebellious pride having found a place in their brains, their heads became too heavy for their shoulders.” The resentment of the Satnamis against the Moghul persecution meant that they even enacted revenge by destroying mosques in the area. It was only with great difficulty that any Muslim soldiers could be brought to face the Satnamis, such was the wrath of the Satnamis at the time. It was only when Aurungzeb himself took personal command and sent 10,000 troops with artillery that the Satnamis fell. It is said that Aurangzeb himself wrote Quran verses on army flags to dispel the spell of the Guru. Satnamis put up a brave defense.

According to Saqi Mustaid Khan they believed that they were re-enacting scenes from the Mahabharata war. 2,000 Satnamis were slain on the battlefield and many more were slain in pursuit. What followed was an attempt to slay every remaining member of the sect, and destroy all their homes. The remnants of the Satnamis fled in all directions and for a long time were totally disorganized and leaderless After initial success they were forced to run their number being around 20,000 at the time. After their mass-persecution and defeat, they took refuge in areas of present day Chhatisgarh state. There they lived the life of tribal, indeed a very hard life..

Satnamis remained in these forests ever since. Worse happened when they were oppressed a lot by the rich and strong sections of local rich population. Satnamis lived in their huts reciting satnam and remained aloof from the rituals of Pandits. Later Ghasi Ram united them, thwarting the oppression of Pandits and spreading education among them. Later Gurmat Parchar Sanstha Nagpur, Guru Angad Dev Educational and Welfare Society Ludhiana, Trust for the Welfare of Vanjara and Other Weaker Sections of Society Chandigarh etc. also joined. The monetary part is taken care mainly by foreign organization, like the Scottish Sikh Council, British Sikh Council etc.

Present condition of these tribal subgroups can be briefly stated as under:

• They are living in penury. They are subject to maltreatment and abuse by all and sundry. They are devoid of their basic rights even.
• They have no address, no landholdings, no citizenship documents and no identity proof.
• Their children are out of school and the women struggle for dignity.
• They have been de-notified and devoid of all privileges of tribes and minorities..
• A continuous stigma of criminality has been attached to Sikligars whereby they have been made vulnerable to frequent police harassment merely on ground of suspicion. They are unable to live dignified life like other citizens of the country.
• There have no survey of population of these tribes since 1931; hence no reliable data is available about their total numbers.
• Not many are accounted under ST, SC or OBCs in almost all the states.

A report by the National Commission for Denotified, Nomadic and Semi Nomadic Tribes submitted to Prime Minster has following to say: “These communities across were seen dwelling in temporary shelters or tents on vacant lands. They had no permanent addresses and hence had no land allocation for housing purposes. With no proof of residence or property ownership certificates, they were not in a position to avail ration cards and had not been recorded in BPL lists. They also faced lot of trouble in getting caste certificates hence had no access to government welfare schemes and could not send their children to schools. Illiteracy and lack of awareness have kept them away from the political arena. They remained the most marginalized, neglected, scattered and excluded from society. Lack of identity and residential proofs do not allow them to come under the preview of various poverty alleviation programmes of the government”.

A brief of the report of the study conducted by National Commission for Minorities of Socio-Economic, Educational, Cultural, Traditional and Occupation Status of Sikh sub group as reported by Dr Harcharan Singh Josh in his keynote address on 24 Nov 2009 at Institute of Sikh Studies Chandigarh is as given in the table below:

Sikligar, Vanjara, Satnamis without facilities	% of total
Houses not registered on their name	54%
Mud houses	75.8%
Not getting benefit of BPL scheme	78.3%
No access to safe, potable water	52.1%
Water collected from faraway places	47.9%
Use open field for toilets	83.3%
No waste disposal system	81%
Illiteracy	78%
Old do not get old age pension	85.4%

Following recommendations were made

• The three tribes Sikligar, Vanjara and Saatnamis should be accorded the Status of Minority in their respective states through Gazette notification adopting uniform criteria as has been done by Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and UP.
• State Government should allot well constructed houses to these tribes and get registered on their names to ensure safety, security and stability avoiding their undue displacements.
• Beyond Poverty Lines cards should be issued to all these tribal families living below poverty line.
• Provision for availability of tap water within the residential promises to these tribes.
• Toilets should be provided either within the residential premises or through community toilets. A proper waste disposal system should be put in place by the civil agencies of the respective state governments.
• Old age pension should be provided to all eligible persons from these tribes.
• Provision of schools, educational and vocational training centres and free education up to class twelve, financial aids for professional and vocational courses, mid day meal, free uniforms, books, mobile libraries etc. should be made. Adult literacy programme should be floated for the elder.
• Awareness programmes should be lunched about their rights and Government schemes by the Government and the NGOs.
• Industry support must be extended to the skilled artisans of these communities. Establishment of small scale industries, cooperatives should be promoted by providing easy loans, financial grant and the technical know-how in order to generate more gainful employment.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said that the issue of giving Constitutional protection and privileges to certain tribes, which were stigmatized by the British, is expected to come before the cabinet soon. The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has completed the examination of the recommendations of the National Commission for Denotified, Nomadic and Semi Nomadic Tribes. It is hoped that the matter will soon come before the Cabinet; the Prime Minister wrote to Haribhau Rathore and MP from Maharashtra.

The identification, development and preservation of these tribesmen have been a matter of great concern because of continuous neglect and lack of total development. They have not been given equal status even by the Sikhs from Punjab and often neglected. I found the main Gurdwara in Nasik not even allowing entry to the Sikligar and Vanjara Sikhs due to lack of awareness; what to talk of share in management in religious institutions even though a large number of them were settled just opposite to the Gurdwara in thatched huts and in very unhygienic conditions. The waste was spread all over and the area smelled badly. The well-to-do Sikhs of the area living close-by did not do much to improve their condition. This was the general treatment met to these tribes by their co brethren all over India. Until this attitude is changed, much cannot be expected in improvement of their lot.

Following important steps are recommended in view of the poor condition of these marginalised tribes;

• Develop a model for their development. One such model adopted this researcher promoted in Ludhiana was to build 5 small institutions within one network. These included; one school up to tenth class; one sewing and stitching centre for ladies; one occupational development centre with lathes; one dispensary and one religious institution to maintain their identity. This has been working effectively in Ludhiana Moga, Jullunder and Hoshiarpur and is in the process of introduction at other places. With the active assistance of Scottish Sikh counsel it has been planned to construct such centres in each major concentration of these tribes.
• Demographic survey of all these Sikh tribes either by Government or by a voluntary NGO to ascertain their actual number and the economic and social health. tribe list should be prepared; their names should be included in the census return; they must be issued photo identity cards; Adhaar Card; Ration cards, BPL cards and Voter cards and their names must be included in voters list. They must be notified under scheduled tribe List and issued caste certificates without hassles.
• Mass campaign for general awareness among the people specially the Sikhs and the Government Departments about their condition.
• They must be given constitutional protection and privileges at par with SC/ST and their exploitation should be stopped.
• Coordination effort at removal of illiteracy; providing occupational and professional education; serious follow up of Adult literacy Scheme for their elders and scholarships under the various schemes. They must be provided mid day meals, school dresses, books and free transportation from residence to school. A blueprint is needed in this regard so that the Government could be apprised of the illiteracy among them and need to educate them and the benefits of various schemes could be made available to them
• Awareness programmes among these tribes regarding their culture, maintenance of dignity, need for occupational development and education, utilization of various schemes for their benefits.
• They must be provided free plots registered on their name for building houses and helping them in building concrete houses as per their family requirements with attached bathrooms and toilets; professional workshops and carriages for conveyance of their ware for selling at distant places.
• The Mass awareness campaign among world about these tribes.
• It is essential that the NGOs and other welfare orgnisations wake up to the needs of these forgotten tribes. The various NGOs presently working for the cause must unite. An outline of a Global Sikh Tribal Development Centre is given out has under.

References

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