Mali caste

2021-07-27T05:35:05Z

2409:4055:4E98:83AE:0:0:B909:509: Undid revision 1035616336 by Hind ji (talk)

{{Short description|Occupational caste among Hindus}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2018}}
[[File:Mallees, or Gardeners (9805808934).jpg|thumb|Malis in western India (c. 1855-1862).]]

The '''Mali''' are an occupational [[caste]] found among the Hindus who traditionally worked as gardeners and florists. They also call themselves '''Phul Mali''' due to their occupation of growing flowers. The Mali are found throughout [[North India]], [[East India]] as well as the [[Terai]] region of [[Nepal]] and [[Maharashtra]].

==Mali of Northern India==
There are many [[Endogamy|endogamous]] groups within Malis. Not all Mali groups have the same origin, culture, history or social standing and there is at least one group - the [[Rajput Mali]], from Rajasthan - that overlaps with [[Rajput]]s and was included under the Rajput sub-category in the 1891 State Census Report for [[Marwar]].<ref>Action sociology and development, pp 198, Bindeshwar Pathak, Concept Publishing Company, 1992</ref>{{efn|The [[Census of India prior to independence|census operations of the British Raj]] were, however, unreliable.}}

===Adoption of the surname ''Saini''===
The [[Rajput Mali]] community of Rajasthan state adopted the surname Saini during the 1930s when India was under British colonial rule.<ref name="Neo Saini2">{{cite journal | url=https://www.epw.in/journal/1966/4/special-articles/muslim-sub-caste-north-india-problems-cultural-integration.html | title=Problems of Cultural Integration A Muslim Sub-Caste of North India | author=Aggarwal, Partap C | journal=Economic and Political Weekly | year=1966 | volume=1 | issue=4 | pages=159–161 |quote=...the Malis (ie gardners who call themselves Saini now).. |jstor=4356925}}</ref><ref name = Neo-Saini3>''"At the time of 1941 Census most of them got registered themselves as Saini (Sainik Kshatriya) Malis."'' pp 7, Census of India, 1961, Volume 14, Issue 5 , Office of the Registrar General, India.</ref>

== Mali caste of Maharashtra ==
[[File:Jyotirao Phule 1977 stamp of India.jpg|right|thumb|Jyotirao Phule,19th century social reformer]]
The Mali of [[Maharashtra]] are a caste of cultivators specializing in horticulture.<ref name="Omvedt1993">{{cite book|author=Gail Omvedt|title=Reinventing Revolution: New Social Movements and the Socialist Tradition in India|url=https://archive.org/details/reinventingrevol0000omve|url-access=registration|date=18 June 1993|publisher=M.E. Sharpe|isbn=978-0-7656-3176-3|page=[https://archive.org/details/reinventingrevol0000omve/page/336 336]}}</ref> The caste is concentrated in five districts of Western Maharashtra and a district in the [[Vidarbha]] region.<ref name="JaffrelotKumar2012">{{cite book|author1=Christophe Jaffrelot (Editor)|author2=Sanjay Kumar (Editor) |author3=Rajendra Vora (Author)|title=Rise of the Plebeians?: The Changing Face of the Indian Legislative Assemblies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=78rfCgAAQBAJ&pg=PP1|date=4 May 2012|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-51662-7|page=217}}</ref> They traditionally made their living by cultivating fruit, flowers and vegetables.<ref name="PATIL">{{cite book|author=Dr. S. L. PATIL|title=EXPORT OF IMPORTANT FRUIT CROPS OF MAHARASHTRA Volume-I|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zrMrDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1|publisher=Lulu.com|isbn=978-1-365-92369-2|page=5}}</ref><ref name="O'Hanlon2002">{{cite book|author=Rosalind O'Hanlon|title=Caste, Conflict and Ideology: Mahatma Jotirao Phule and Low Caste Protest in Nineteenth-Century Western India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5kMrsTj1NeYC|date=22 August 2002|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-52308-0|page=105}}</ref> There are many different sub-castes depending on what the sub-group cultivated, for example, the Phul mali were florists, the Jire mali grew jire or [[cumin]], and halde mali cultivated Halad ([[turmeric]]) etc.<ref name="Ghurye1969">{{cite book|author=Govind Sadashiv Ghurye|title=Caste and Race in India|url=https://archive.org/details/casteraceinindia0000ghur|url-access=registration|year=1969|publisher=Popular Prakashan|isbn=978-81-7154-205-5|page=[https://archive.org/details/casteraceinindia0000ghur/page/38 38]}}</ref><ref name="Berntsen1988">{{cite book|author=Maxine Berntsen|title=The Experience of Hinduism: Essays on Religion in Maharashtra|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7PDr-QF4YmYC&pg=PA76|date=1 January 1988|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-0-88706-662-7|page=343}}</ref> In the 20th century, the mali have been the pioneers in using irrigation to grow cash crops such as sugar cane and in establishing farmer owned sugar mills.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Lalwani|first=Mala|title=Sugar Co-operatives in Maharashtra: A Political Economy Perspective|journal=The Journal of Development Studies|year=2008|volume=44|issue=10|pages=1474–1505|url=http://www.mu.ac.in/arts/social_science/eco/pdfs/vibhuti/wp21.pdf|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140117005640/http://www.mu.ac.in/arts/social_science/eco/pdfs/vibhuti/wp21.pdf|archivedate=17 January 2014|df=dmy-all}}</ref> This led later in the century of widespread cultivation of sugarcane in Western Maharashtra by other communities as well as the establishment hundreds of [[Cooperative sugar factories in Maharashtra|sugar mills]] in Maharashtra and other regions of India.<ref>Attwood, D.W., 2010. How I Learned To Do Incorrect Research. Economic and Political Weekly, pp.37-44.[https://www.jstor.org/stable/25742069?read-now=1&seq=6#page_scan_tab_contents]</ref><ref name="AttwoodAttwood2019">{{cite book|author1=Donald W. Attwood|author2=D W Attwood|title=Raising Cane: The Political Economy Of Sugar In Western India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SFyvDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT11|date=16 September 2019|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-00-030891-4|chapter=The Bombay Deccan: Cane & Gul production}}</ref>

===Social activism & politics===
The 19th century social reformer, [[Jyotirao Phule]] belonged to the Mali community. His work extended to many fields including eradication of untouchability and the caste system, and women's emancipation. He and his wife, [[Savitribai Phule]], were pioneers of education for women and [[Dalits]] in India. The couple was among the first native Indians to open a school for girls of India. He also founded a home for pregnant Hindu brahmin widows who were cast out by their families.{{sfn|O'Hanlon2002|p = 135}} In 1873, Phule, along with his followers, formed the [[Satyashodhak Samaj]] (Society of Seekers of Truth) to attain equal rights for people from lower castes. Other Mali such as Gyanoba Sasane and Narayan Lokhande were leading members and financial supporters of the Samaj in its early years.<ref name="bhadru">{{cite journal|last=Bhadru|first=G.|title=Contribution of [[Satyashodhak Samaj]] to the Low Caste Protest Movement in 19th Century |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=63 |year=2002 |pages=845–854 |jstor=44158153 }}</ref> Lokhande has been called the father of trade Unionism in India.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Narayan Meghaji Lokhande: The Father of Trade Union Movement in India|journal = Economic and Political Weekly|volume = 32|issue = 7|pages = 327–329|jstor = 4405089|last1 = Pandit|first1 = Nalini|year = 1997}}</ref>

==References==
'''Notes'''
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'''Citations'''
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'''Bibliography'''
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{{Commons category|Mali caste}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Indian castes]]
[[Category:Social groups of Rajasthan]]
[[Category:Social groups of Haryana]]

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Mali caste