Attar (caste): Difference between revisions

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The '''Attar'''  are a [[Muslim]] community and [[caste]] found in the state of [[Maharashtra]] in India. This community has no connection with the [[Attarwala]] of [[Gujarat]], other than both communities at one time having been involved in the manufacture of [[ittar]]s (perfumes).<ref name="PoIM 88-98">People of India Maharshtra Volume XXX Part One edited by B.V Bhanu, B.R Bhatnagar, D.K Bose, V.S Kulkarni and J Sreenath pp. 88–98 Popular Prakashan</ref>
{{Short description|Muslim caste in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, India}}
{{pp-extended|small=yes}}
{{mcn|date=July 2025}}{{Infobox caste|religions=[[Islam]]|country=[[India]]|state=[[Maharashtra]]<br>[[Andhra Pradesh]]}}


==Origin==
The '''Attar''' are a [[Muslims|Muslim]] community and [[caste]] found in the states of [[Maharashtra]] and [[Andhra Pradesh]] in [[India]]. This community has no connection with the [[Attarwala]] of [[Gujarat]], other than both communities at one time having been involved in the manufacture of [[attar]]s (perfumes).<ref>{{Cite book |first1=N. K. |last1=Singh |first2=A. P. |last2=Mishra |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H8HT5OMWVssC&q=Mirasi&pg=PA563 |title=Global Encyclopaedic Enthnography Of Indian Muslim (3 vol. set) |date=August 2008 |publisher=Global Vision Publishing House |isbn=978-81-8220-297-9 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Jairath |first=Vinod K. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MKIT9muBRuoC |title=Frontiers of Embedded Muslim Communities in India |date=2013-04-03 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-19679-9 |language=en}}</ref>
The community's name comes from ''[[ittar]]'', the [[Arabic]] word for ''perfume''. Attar originally came from [[Turkey]], [[Iran]] and [[Afghanistan]] in about 1450. They are now found mainly in western [[Maharashtra]], particularly in the districts of [[Nasik]], [[Pune]], [[Satara district|Satara]], [[Ahmadnagar]], [[Sholapur]], [[Kolhapur]], [[Dhulia]] and the city of [[Mumbai]]. Like most [[Maharashtra]] Muslims, they are bilingual, speaking both [[Marathi language|Marathi]] and the [[Dakhani]] dialect of [[Urdu]].<ref name="PoIM 88-98"/>
 
Traces of the Attar community are also found in modern Pakistani Punjab, Indian Punjab and Haryana. Historically, Attar caste has its roots with «KHING»खिँग community, whose small center can be found in village Bhartan in Gurdaspur, District in Indian Punjab. Maharaj Chanan Shah, a follower of Sufism was the head founder of the «KHING»खिँग community. Many other last names than "Attar" are associated with this community. Mostly, now followers of Sikhism.
 
Attars are mainly farmers with small land holdings. They belong to Jatt Clan in North India. Many families now settled in cities and have discarded farming. Some families have moved abroad and settled in USA, Canada and Europe and some in other states of India.
 
==Present circumstances==
In other parts of India, Attar are a landless community, and their livelihood depends on selling different products needed by Hindus. They have developed a patron-client relationship with neighboring Hindu communities, to whom they have supplied goods for centuries such as incense sticks, dried coconuts, scents and oils.<ref name="PoIM 88-98"/>
 
The Attar have set up their own caste association, the Attar Council, which acts as a community welfare organization and pressure group. They are [[Tablighi Jamaat|Tablighi]] or [[Sunni]] Muslims, and now fairly orthodox. The community is endogamous, although there are few cases of intermarriage with the [[Momin Ansari|Momin]], [[maniyar]][MANER], and Tamboli. There is no concept of clan exogamy, and the community practices both parallel cousin and cross-cousin marriages. Nowadays the attar cast becoming the most traditional caste in the local market of villages.
 
==See also==
*[[Attarwala]]


==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}


{{Indian Muslim}}
{{Indian Muslim}}{{Social groups of Maharashtra}}{{Ethno-stub}}{{Islam-stub}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Attar (Caste)}}
 
{{DEFAULTSORT:Attar (Caste)}}
[[Category:Muslim communities of Maharashtra]]
[[Category:Muslim communities of Maharashtra]]
[[Category:Indian castes]]
[[Category:Perfumery]]
[[Category:Perfumers]]
[[Category:Incense in India]]

Latest revision as of 09:22, 23 November 2025

Template:Mcn

Attar
ReligionsIslam
CountryIndia
Original stateMaharashtra
Andhra Pradesh

The Attar are a Muslim community and caste found in the states of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh in India. This community has no connection with the Attarwala of Gujarat, other than both communities at one time having been involved in the manufacture of attars (perfumes).[1][2]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ Singh, N. K.; Mishra, A. P. (August 2008). Global Encyclopaedic Enthnography Of Indian Muslim (3 vol. set). Global Vision Publishing House. ISBN 978-81-8220-297-9.
  2. ↑ Jairath, Vinod K. (2013-04-03). Frontiers of Embedded Muslim Communities in India. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-136-19679-9.

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