Saurabh: fix formatting after review and cleaned formatting

2026-03-08T15:01:37Z

fix formatting after review and cleaned formatting

imported>Tom.Reding: +{{Authority control}} (1 ID from Wikidata), WP:GenFixes on

2021-03-21T20:17:35Z

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{{Short description|Tribe found in the Indian states of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan}}
{{Other uses|Meena (disambiguation)}}
{{pp-protect|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2016}}
{{Infobox caste
|caste_name=Meena
|image=File:Mina caste man in 1898.jpg
|country=India
|languages=[[Standard Hindi|Hindi]], [[Mewari language|Mewari]], [[Marwari language|Marwari]], [[Dhundari language|Dhundari]], [[Harauti language|Harauti]], [[Mewati language|Mewati]], [[Wagdi language|Wagdi]], [[Malvi language|Malvi]], [[Garhwali language|Garhwali]], [[Bhili language|Bhili]] etc.<ref>The assignment of an ISO code {{ethnolink|myi}} for the Meena language was spurious (Hammarström (2015) ''Ethnologue 16/17/18th editions: a comprehensive review: online appendices''). The code was retired in 2019.</ref>
}}

The '''Meena''' ({{IPA-hns|miːɳa|pron}}) is a tribe found mainly in the [[Rajasthan]] and [[Madhya Pradesh]] regions of India. Its name is also transliterated as ''Meenanda'' or ''Mina''. The Meenas claim connection to the [[Matsya]] avatar of [[Vishnu]], and the ancient [[Matsya Kingdom]].

==History==

The Meenas claim a mythological descent from the Matsya avatar, or fish incarnation, of Vishnu.<ref name="Kapur May 2008">{{cite journal | title= Reconstructing Identities and Situating Themselves in History : A Preliminary Note on the Meenas of Jaipur Locality | last= Kapur | first= Nandini Sinha | journal=Indian Historical Review |volume=27 |issue=1 |year=2000 | pages= 29–43 | df= dmy-all |doi=10.1177/037698360002700103 | s2cid= 141602938 |quote=the entire community claims descent from the Matsya (fish) incarnation of Vishnu}}</ref> They also claim to be descendants of the people of the Matsya Kingdom, which flourished in the 6th century B.C.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qxxnZ4XxUbsC&pg=PA12 |title=Tribal and Indigenous People of India: Problems and Prospects |publisher=APH Publishing |year=2002 |first1=Rabindra Nath |last1=Pati |first2=Jagannatha |last2=Dash |page=12 |isbn=978-8-17648-322-3}}</ref> The historian Pramod Kumar notes that it is likely that the tribes living in the ancient Matsya kingdom were called Meena but it cannot be said with certainty that there is anything common between them and the modern Meenas. They are considered to be [[adivasi]] (aboriginal people).<ref name="Pramod_1984"/>

The Meenas ruled at certain places in Rajasthan till they were overpowered by invading [[Rajput]]s. From Meenas the [[Bundi]] was captured by Rao Dewa (A.D. 1342), [[Dhundhar]] by [[Kachhwaha]] Rajputs and Chopoli fell to the [[Muslim]] rulers. [[Kota, Rajasthan|Kota]], [[Jhalawar]], [[Karauli]] and [[Jalore]] were the other areas of earlier Meena influence where they were forced to surrender ultimately.<ref name="TribalCultures#1">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q29TcbHrMfUC&q=meena+rulers&pg=PA17 | title=Tribal Cultures and Change | publisher=Mittal Publications | author=Rann Singh Mann, K. Mann | year=1989 | pages=17}}</ref>

Nandini Sinha Kapur, a historian who has studied early India, notes that the oral traditions of the Meenas were developed from the early 19th century AD in an attempt to reconstruct their identity. She says of this process, which continued throughout the 20th century, that "The Minas try to furnish themselves a respectable present by giving themselves a ''glorious past''". In common with the people of countries such as [[Finland]] and [[Scotland]], the Meenas found it necessary to invent tradition through oral accounts, one of the primary uses of which is recognised by both historians and sociologists as being "social protest against injustices, exploitation and oppression, a ''raison d'être'' that helps to retrieve the image of a community." Kapur notes that the Meenas not merely lack a recorded history of their own but also have been depicted in a negative manner both by medieval [[Persian Empire|Persian]] accounts and records of the colonial period. From medieval times through to the [[British Raj]], references to the Meenas describe them as violent, plundering criminals and an anti-social ethnic [[tribal]] group.<ref>{{cite book |chapter=The Minas: Seeking a Place in History |first=Nandini Sinha |last=Kapur |title=The Social and the Symbolic |editor-first=Bernard |editor-last=Bel |publisher=Sage |year=2007 |isbn=9780761934462 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KGfjUNxrlckC&pg=PA129 |pages=129–131}}</ref>

According to Kapur, the Meenas also attempt [[Rajputization]] of themselves.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Social and the Symbolic: Volume II |year=2007 |pages=129–146 |publisher=[[SAGE publications|Sage]] |editor1-first=Bernard |editor1-last=Bel |editor2-first=Jan |editor2-last=Brouwer |editor3-first=Biswajit |editor3-last=Das |editor4-first=Vibodh |editor4-last=Parthasarathi |editor5-first=Guy |editor5-last=Poitevin |chapter=Minas Seeking a Place in History |first=Nandini Sinha |last=Kapur |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a7yGAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA129 |isbn=978-8132101178}}</ref>

===British colonial period===
[[File:A Meena of Jajurh.jpg|thumb|250px|right|A Meena of Jajurh]]

The Raj colonial administration came into existence in 1858, following the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]] which caused the government of Britain to decide that leaving colonial administration in the hands of the [[East India Company]] was a recipe for further discontent. In an attempt to create an orderly administration through a better understanding of the populace, the Raj authorities instituted various measures of classifying the people of India.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DmyVKwxmeyUC |title=In quest of Indian folktales: Pandit Ram Gharib Chaube and William Crooke |first=Sadhana |last=Naithani |publisher=Indiana University Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-253-34544-8 |access-date=2013-04-15}}</ref> One such measure was the [[Criminal Tribes Act]] of 1871, under the provisions of which the Meenas were placed. The community remained stigmatised for many years, notably by influential officials of the Raj such as [[Herbert Hope Risley]] and [[Denzil Ibbetson]], and were sometimes categorised as [[animist]]s and as a [[hill tribe]] similar to the [[Bhil]]s.<ref>{{cite book |chapter=The Minas: Seeking a Place in History |first=Nandini Sinha |last=Kapur |title=The Social and the Symbolic |editor-first=Bernard |editor-last=Bel |publisher=Sage |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-76193-446-2 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KGfjUNxrlckC&pg=PA131 |page=131}}</ref> The Meenas remained an officially designated [[Denotified tribes of India|criminal tribe]] until 1952, three years after the Act had been repealed. Mark Brown has examined the impact and issues of the Meena community during British rule and the change in their status from being a higher social group to a criminal tribe.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Crime, Liberalism and Empire: Governing the Mina Tribe of Northern India |last=Brown |first=Mark |journal=Social and Legal Studies |year=2004 |volume=13 |issue=2 |pages=191–218 |doi=10.1177/0964663904042551 |s2cid=143535325 }}</ref>

===Recent history===
Meenas have better rights for women in many respects compared to many other Hindu castes.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Codified Hindu Law: Myth and Reality |last=Kishwar |first=Madhu |journal=Economic and Political Weekly |volume=29 |issue=33 |date=13 August 1994 |pages=2145–2161 |jstor=4401625 }}</ref>

The Meena fall into the [[Scheduled Tribe]] category in the state of [[Rajasthan]] and the majority of them are classified as being Hindu,<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HAE1UqAo3GoC&pg=PA41 |title=Human Rights and Legal Pluralism |publisher=LIT Verlag Münster |year=2011 |access-date=2014-10-08 |first=Yüksel |last=Sezgin |page=41 |isbn=978-3-64399-905-4}}</ref> but in Madhya Pradesh Meena are recognised as a Scheduled Tribe only in Sironj Tehsil, [[Vidisha]], while in the other 44 districts of the state they are categorised as [[Other Backward Classes]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=58G8PPAN48cC&pg=PA35 |title=Awareness in Weaker Section: Perspective Development and Prospects |publisher=M.D. Publications Pvt. Ltd. |year=1997 |access-date=2014-10-08 |first=Mahendra Lal |last=Patel |page=35 |isbn=978-8-17533-029-0}}</ref> It has been proposed that the Meenas be fully recognised as a Scheduled Tribe in Madhya Pradesh. The proposal is being considered by the [[Government of India]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gconnect.in/orders-in-brief/reservation/castes-under-proposal-for-inclusion-in-scst-category.html |title=Castes under proposal for inclusion in SC/ST Category |publisher=GCONNECT.IN |date=19 August 2012 |access-date=2015-06-19 |first1=Jagdish |last1= Thakor |first2=Yogi |last2=Adityanath |first3=Khagen |last3=Das |first4=Kirodi |last4=Lal}}</ref> In [[Uttar Pradesh]], Meena are considered migrated from Rajasthan and have been living in western districts of [[Mathura]], [[Sambhal]] and [[Budaun]] since many generations.<ref name="govtUP1">{{cite web | url=http://badaun.nic.in/MEENAs/REPORT.pdf | title=Govt. Enquiry Report | publisher=National Informatics Center | date=3 May 2013 | access-date=17 January 2016 | author=District Headquarters Collectorate Compound, Budaun (UP) | pages=Enquiry Report | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160127142336/http://badaun.nic.in/MEENAs/REPORT.pdf | archive-date=27 January 2016 | df=dmy-all }}</ref> At par their origin they are granted a Scheduled tribe status in the state of Uttar Pradesh.<ref name="govtUP2">{{cite web | url=http://badaun.nic.in/MEENAs/MEENA.PDF | title=Issuing ST certificate to Meena | publisher=National Informatics Center | date=20 November 2013 | access-date=17 January 2016 | author=District Headquarters Collectorate Compound, Budaun (UP) | pages=Letter from Pramukh Sachiv, Govt. of U.P | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160127142913/http://badaun.nic.in/MEENAs/MEENA.PDF | archive-date=27 January 2016 | df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref name="govtUP3">{{cite web | url=http://badaun.nic.in/MEENAs/meenas%20in%20budaun.html | title=मीणा / मीना जाति के लोगों को बदायूँ जिले में नियमानुसार जाति प्रमाण-पत्र जारी किये जाने सम्बन्धी पत्र | publisher=National Informatics Center | access-date=17 January 2016 | author=District Headquarters Collectorate Compound, Budaun (UP) | pages=Meenas in Budaun | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160112012730/http://badaun.nic.in/MEENAs/meenas%20in%20budaun.html | archive-date=12 January 2016 | df=dmy-all }}</ref>

In Rajasthan, the Meena caste members oppose the entry of [[Gurjar]]s into Scheduled Tribe fold, fearing that their own share of Scheduled Tribe reservation benefits will be eroded.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K2AsXFWT-CIC&pg=PA96 |title=Ethics: Theory and Practice |publisher=Pearson Education India |author=Satyanarayana |year=2010 |page=96 |isbn=978-8-13172-947-2}}</ref>

They celebrate [[Meenesh Jayanti]] on the third day of the [[Chaitra]] month's [[Shukla paksha]].<ref name="Kapur May 2008"/>

==Subdivisions==

The Meena tribe is divided into several clans and sub-clans (''adakh''s), which are named after their ancestors. Some of the ''adakh''s include Ariat, Ahari, Katara, Kalsua, Kharadi, Damore, Ghoghra, Dali, Doma, Nanama, Dadore, Manaut, Charpota, Mahinda, Rana, Damia, Dadia, Parmar, Phargi, Bamna, Khat, Hurat, Hela, Bhagora, and Wagat.<ref name="Pramod_1984">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dF-Iu2Pt3KQC&pg=PA3 |title=Folk Icons and Rituals in Tribal Life |first=Pramod |last=Kumar |publisher=Abhinav |year=1984 |isbn=978-8-17017-185-0 |pages=3–4}}</ref>

[[Bhil Meena]] is another sub-division among the Meenas. As part of a [[sanskritisation]] process, some [[Bhil people|Bhils]] present themselves as Meenas, who hold a higher socio-economic status compared to the Bhil tribal people.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lGyzY12uSr8C&pg=PA127 |title=Tribal Culture, Continuity, and Change: A Study of Bhils in Rajasthan |first=Anita Srivastava |last=Majhi |publisher=Mittal |year=2010 |isbn=978-8-18324-298-1 |page=127 }}</ref>

A sub-group known as "Ujwal Meena" (also "Ujala Meena" or "[[Parihar]] Meena") seek higher status, and claim to be [[Rajput]]s, thus distinguishing themselves from the Bhil Meenas. They follow vegetarianism, unlike other Meenas whom they designated as "Mailay Meena".<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kj583zZs2dMC&pg=PA3 |title=A Study of Bundi School of Painting |first=Jiwan |last=Sodh |publisher=Abhinav |year=1999 |isbn=978-8-17017-347-2 |page=31 }}</ref>

Other prevalent social groupings are Zamindar Meena and the Chaukidar Meena. The Zamindar Meena, comparatively well-off, are those who surrendered to powerful Rajput invaders and settled on the lands believe to be granted by the Rajputs. Those who did not surrender to Rajput rule and kept on waging guerrilla warfare are called the Chaukidar Meena.<ref name="TribalCultures">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q29TcbHrMfUC&pg=PA18 |title=Tribal Cultures and Change |publisher=Mittal Publications |first1=Rann Singh |last1=Mann |first2=K. |last2=Mann |year=1989 |page=18}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Meena ethnic religion]]
*[[Rajasthani people]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book |title=Demography and health profile of the tribals: a study of M.P. |first=Dipak Kumar |last=Adak |publisher=Anmol Publications}}
*{{cite journal |last=Brown |first=Mark |title=Ethnology and Colonial Administration in Nineteenth-Century British India: The Question of Native Crime and Criminality |journal=The British Journal for the History of Science |volume=36 |issue=2 |year=2003 |pages=201–219 |jstor=4028233 |doi=10.1017/s0007087403005004|doi-access=free }}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Social groups of Rajasthan]]
[[Category:Social groups of Haryana]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in India]]
[[Category:History of Rajasthan]]
[[Category:Denotified tribes of India]]
[[Category:Indian surnames]]

Meena - Revision history

Saurabh: fix formatting after review and cleaned formatting

imported>Tom.Reding: +{{Authority control}} (1 ID from Wikidata), WP:GenFixes on