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{{Short description|Indian Muslim ethnic group from Mewat}}
{{distinguish|Miao people}}{{See also|Mewat (disambiguation)|}}{{Short description|Indigenous Muslim community of Mewat, India}}
{{More citations needed|date=June 2023}}
{{pp-extended|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2026}}
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=February 2026}}
{{for|the group of peoples in southeast Asia|Miao people}}
{{infobox ethnic group|
{{infobox ethnic group|
| group            = Meo
| group            = Meo
| native_name      = Mayo
| native_name      =  
| population      = 270,000 ~ 600,000 (1984)<ref name="Kukreja">{{citation |last1=Kukreja |first1=Reena |title=Meo Muslim, Mev, Mewati Muslim |date=2020 |url=https://open.library.ubc.ca/cIRcle/collections/ubccommunityandpartnerspublicati/52387/items/1.0394975 |work=Database of Religious History |doi=10.14288/1.0394975|s2cid=238914736 |publisher=University of British Columbia}}</ref>
| native_name_lang = hi
| image            = Training of Panchayat.jpg
| image_caption    = Meo Panchayat members in Nuh district
| population      = 1.8 - 2.8 million (2024-2025)<ref name="Kukreja">{{citation|last1=Kukreja |first1=Reena |title=Meo Muslim, Mev, Mewati Muslim |date=2020 |url=https://open.library.ubc.ca/cIRcle/collections/ubccommunityandpartnerspublicati/52387/items/1.0394975 |work=Database of Religious History |doi=10.14288/1.0394975|s2cid=238914736 |publisher=University of British Columbia}}</ref>
{{flagicon|India}} [[India]]<ref name="Kukreja"/>
{{flagicon|India}} [[India]]<ref name="Kukreja"/>
{{hlist|[[Haryana]] districts:| [[Nuh district|Nuh]] | [[Palwal district|Palwal]] | [[Faridabad district|Faridabad]] | [[Ambala district|Ambala]] | [[Gurgaon district|Gurgaon]]}}
{{hlist|[[Haryana]] districts:| [[Nuh district|Nuh]] | [[Palwal district|Palwal]] | [[Faridabad district|Faridabad]] | [[Ambala district|Ambala]] | [[Gurgaon district|Gurgaon]]}}
{{hlist|[[Rajasthan]] districts:| [[Bharatpur district|Bharatpur]] | [[Alwar district|Alwar]]}}
{{hlist|[[Rajasthan]] districts:| [[Bharatpur district|Bharatpur]] | [[Alwar district|Alwar]]}}
{{hlist|[[Uttar Pradesh]] districts:| [[Mathura district|Mathura]] | [[Meerut district|Meerut]]}}
{{flagicon|Pakistan}} [[Pakistan]]<ref>{{cite conference |last1=Meo |first1=Shahabuddin Khan |url=http://pu.edu.pk/home/journal/14/V_48_No1_2011.html |title=History of Mewat–An Outline |journal=Journal of the Research Society of Pakistan |conference=Khan Foundation for Education and Research|location=Department of History, Quaik-e Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan |date=2011 |volume=48 |issue=1 |issn=0034-5431}} [http://pu.edu.pk/images/journal/history/PDF-FILES/salauddin.pdf PDF file]</ref>
{{flagicon|Pakistan}} [[Pakistan]]<ref>{{cite conference |last1=Meo |first1=Shahabuddin Khan |url=http://pu.edu.pk/home/journal/14/V_48_No1_2011.html |title=History of Mewat–An Outline |journal=Journal of the Research Society of Pakistan |conference=Khan Foundation for Education and Research|location=Department of History, Quaik-e Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan |date=2011 |volume=48 |issue=1 |issn=0034-5431}} [http://pu.edu.pk/images/journal/history/PDF-FILES/salauddin.pdf PDF file]</ref>
1.1 million (2023 census)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/population/2023/tables/national/table_11.pdf|title=Population by mother tongue, sex and rural/urban, census-2023|website=www.pbs.gov.pk | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240723195551/https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/population/2023/tables/national/table_11.pdf | archive-date=23 July 2024}}</ref>
[[Punjab]]: {{hlist|[[Lahore]] | [[Sialkot]] | [[Kasur]] | [[Narowal]]}}
[[Punjab]]: {{hlist|[[Lahore]] | [[Sialkot]] | [[Kasur]] | [[Narowal]]}}
[[Sindh]]: {{hlist|[[Karachi]] | [[Larkana]]}}
[[Sindh]]: {{hlist|[[Karachi]] | [[Larkana]]}}
| langs            = [[Mewati]], [[Haryanvi]], [[Khariboli]], [[Rajasthani languages|Rajasthani]], [[Urdu]]
| regions          = [[Haryana]], [[Rajasthan]]
| langs            = [[Mewati language|Mewati]] (native) <br/> [[Haryanvi language|Haryanvi]], [[Kauravi dialect|Kauravi]], [[Rajasthani languages|Rajasthani]], [[Urdu]], [[Hindi]]
| rels            = [[File:Star and Crescent.svg|15px]] [[Islam]]
| rels            = [[File:Star and Crescent.svg|15px]] [[Islam]]
| related          = [[Cheetah (caste)|Cheetah]] • [[Merat]] • [[Qaimkhani]] • [[Sindhi-Sipahi]] • [[Deshwali]] • [[Bhatti Khanzada]] • [[Khanzada]] • [[Ranghar]] • [[Ahir]] • [[Meena]]
| related          =  
}}
}}
'''Meo''' (pronounced: ''may-o'' or ''mev''), is an ethnic group of the [[Mewat]] region from north-western India,<ref name="scroll">{{cite news |last1=Naqvi |first1=Saba |title=Meet the Muslims who consider themselves descendants of Arjuna |url=https://scroll.in/article/805833/meet-the-muslims-who-consider-themselves-descendants-of-arjuna |work=Scroll.in |date=30 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230410070246/https://scroll.in/article/805833/meet-the-muslims-who-consider-themselves-descendants-of-arjuna |archive-date=10 April 2023}}</ref><ref name="ht 2016 Ghosh"/> particularly from the [[Nuh district]] (previously Mewat district) in [[Haryana]] and parts of adjacent [[Alwar district|Alwar]] and [[Bharatpur district]]s in [[Rajasthan]]. They speak [[Mewati language|Mewati]], a language of the [[Indo-Aryan language]] family,<ref name="Kukreja"/> although in some areas the [[Linguistic imperialism|language dominance]] of Urdu and Hindi has seen Meos adopt these languages instead.<ref name="poi Dehli"/><ref name="A Hasan pages 811"/>  
'''Meo''' (pronounced: mev or ''may-o'') (also spelled '''Mayo''' or occasionally, '''Mewati''') are a Muslim ethnic group originating from the [[Mewat]] region of north-western India.<ref name="scroll">{{cite news |last1=Naqvi |first1=Saba |title=Meet the Muslims who consider themselves descendants of Arjuna |url=https://scroll.in/article/805833/meet-the-muslims-who-consider-themselves-descendants-of-arjuna |work=Scroll.in |date=30 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230410070246/https://scroll.in/article/805833/meet-the-muslims-who-consider-themselves-descendants-of-arjuna |archive-date=10 April 2023}}</ref><ref name="ht 2016 Ghosh"/>


==Origin and history==
==Terminology==
Meos are inhabitants of Mewat, a region that consists of the former Mewat district of Haryana and some parts of adjoining [[Alwar]] and [[Bharatpur district]]s of [[Rajasthan]] and [[Western Uttar Pradesh]], where the Meos have lived for a millennium. According to one theory, they were Hindu [[Rajput]]s and [[Kashtriya]] who converted to [[Islam]] between the 12th and 17th century,<ref>{{cite book |title=Textuality and inter-textuality in the Mahabharata: Myth, meaning and metamorphosis |editor-first=Pradeep |editor-last=Trikha |first=Malati |last=Mathur |chapter=The Mewati Mahabharata: Pandun Ka Kaba  |year=2006 |publisher=Sarup & Sons |page=84|isbn=9788176256919 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zAPK3QYcEkAC&pg=PA365 |title=Emerging Social Science Concerns: Festschrift in Honour of Professor Yogesh Atal |editor-first=Surendra K. |editor-last=Gupta |page=365 |first=Abha |last=Chauhan |chapter=Custom, Religion and Social Change Among the Meos of Mewat |year=2004 |publisher=Concept Publishing|isbn=9788180690983 }}</ref><ref name="ht 2016 Ghosh"/> until as late as [[Aurangzeb]]'s rule. Over the centuries, they have maintained their age-old distinctive cultural identity. According to S. L. Sharma and R. N. Srivastava, Mughal persecution had little effect on the strengthening of their Islamic identity, but it reinforced their resistance to [[Mughal Empire|Mughal rule]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Eaton|first1=Richard M.|title=The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204-1760|date=1993|publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley, California, USA|isbn=9780520205079|page=55|url=http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520205079|access-date=20 December 2016}}</ref> They have shared this region with a number of other Muslim communities, such as [[Khanzada]], [[Qaimkhani]] and [[Malkana]].<ref name="poi Rajasthan-986–990">{{cite book|editor1=B.K. Lavania |editor2=D. K. Samanta|editor3=S. K. Mandal|editor4=N. N. Vyas|title=People of India: Rajasthan, Part Two |volume=XXXVIII |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vm_KCE4XXPMC&pg=PA638 |access-date=13 May 2011 |date=1998 |publisher=Popular Prakashan |isbn=978-81-7154-769-2 |pages=986–990}}</ref>
The term "Meo" semantically correlates with the historical region of [[Mewat]], which consists of the Nuh district of Haryana and some parts of adjoining [[Alwar district|Alwar]] and [[Bharatpur district|Bharatpur districts]] of Rajasthan and parts of [[western Uttar Pradesh]]. The term '''Mewati''', in terms of use for ethnic classification, is also interchangeable with Meo. Although, not every Mewati is necessarily an ethnic Meo as the term is a general demonym for someone from [[Mewat]].


A [[British Raj]]-era theory briefly suggested by the colonial ethnographer and [[Political officer (British Empire)|political agent]] for [[Alwar State]], Major P. W. Powlett, has it that the Meo are related to the [[Meenas]] (Minas). In Powlett's 1878 ''Gazetteer of Ulwur'' (later spelt ''Alwar''), he comments: "The similarity between the words ''Meo'' and ''Mina'' suggests that the former may be a contraction of the latter".<ref name="Gazet"/>{{rp|38}} He continues by pointing out that several clans in both communities (Singal, Náí, Dúlot, Pimdalot, Dingal, Bálot) have identical names. He mentions the Meo's traditional narrative ballad of Dariyā Khān ("Daria Meo") and the story of his betrothal to Sisbadani, a Mina woman, their separation and reunion, as possibly suggestive of historical intermarriage between the groups.<ref name="Gazet">{{cite book |last1=Powlett |first1=P. W. (Percy William) |title=Gazetteer of Ulwur |date=1878 |publisher=Trübner & Co. |location=London |pages=37–44 |url=https://archive.org/details/gazetteerofulwur00powliala/page/38/mode/2up|quote=Though Meos claim to be of Rájpút origin, there are grounds for believing that many spring from the same stock as the Mínás. The similarity between the words ''Meo'' and ''Míná'' suggests that the former may be a contraction of the latter. Several of the respective clans are identical (Singal, Náí, Dúlot, Pimdalot, Dingal, Bálot), and a story of one Daria Meo and his lady love, Sísbadaní Míná, seems to show that they formerly intermarried. In Bolandshahr a caste called Meo Mínás is spoken of in the Settlement Report, which would seem further to connect the two. However, it is probable enough that apostate Rájpúts and bastard sons of Rájpúts founded many of the clans, as the legends tell.|quote-page=38}}</ref>  
== Oirigins and history ==
Meos consider themselves as a mainly Rajput caste. According to one theory of origin they were Hindu [[Rajput]]s who converted to Islam between the 11th and 17th centuries, until as late as [[Aurangzeb]]'s rule.<ref>{{cite book |last=Chauhan |first=Abha |title=Emerging Social Science Concerns: Festschrift in Honour of Professor Yogesh Atal |date=2004 |publisher=Concept Publishing |isbn=9788180690983 |editor-last=Gupta |editor-first=Surendra K. |page=365 |chapter=Custom, Religion and Social Change Among the Meos of Mewat |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zAPK3QYcEkAC&pg=PA365}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Mathur |first=Malati |title=Textuality and inter-textuality in the Mahabharata: Myth, meaning and metamorphosis |date=2006 |publisher=Sarup & Sons |isbn=9788176256919 |editor-last=Trikha |editor-first=Pradeep |page=84 |chapter=The Mewati Mahabharata: Pandun Ka Kaba}}</ref>


According to Shail Mayaram, author, and professor of [[Subaltern (postcolonialism)|Subaltern Studies]] at the [[Centre for the Study of Developing Societies]], this view was likely constructed for political reasons by colonial authorities. In her view, following [[1857 Mutiny|the 1857 insurrection]] in which the Meo joined action against the [[Company Raj]], it was helpful to the British if they could conflate the still-resistant Meos with another nearby group whom they had already [[Criminal Tribes|classified as "criminal"]], the Minas. While there had been some instances of Minas prosecuted for theft, dacoity, and similar, in the aftermath of the mutiny, there had been almost no Meo involvement in such cases.<ref name="construct Mayaram"/>{{rp|pp=129–130, 139}} Mayaram traces the theory of a Meo–Mina intermixing from its relatively tentative genesis with Powlett, through repetitions of varying strength in colonial reports, to its emergence as a fully-fledged "common origin" in [[Alexander Cunningham]]'s Eastern Rajputana report.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cunningham |first1=Alexander |title=Report of a tour in Eastern Rajputana in 1882-83 |volume=XX |date=1885 |publisher=[[Anthropological Survey of India]] |pages=23, 27 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.85073/page/n37/mode/2up |orig-date=Reprinted 2000}}</ref> Even the traditional epic of Dariyā Khān and Sisbadani was transmuted from the "story" in Powlett to an acknowledged event in the later text.<ref name="construct Mayaram">{{cite book |last1=Mayaram |first1=Shail |title=Against History, Against State: Counterperspectives from the Margins |date=2003 |publisher=Columbia University Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-231-12730-1 |pages=126–151 |chapter=The Construction of Meo Criminality: Toward a Critique of Colonial Ethnography |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/againsthistoryag0000maya/page/134/mode/2up}}</ref>{{rp|pp=129–130, 132}}
The Meos embraced Islam primarily through the influence of the [[Sufism in India|Sufi]] saint [[Ghazi Saiyyad Salar Masud]], who was the nephew of [[Mahmud Ghaznavi]]. Over the centuries, various other [[Sufi saints]] also played significant roles in shaping the Islamic beliefs of the Meo community. Notable figures include [[Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti]], [[Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya|Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia]], and [[Husayn Khing Sawar|Miran Sayyed Husain Khang Sawar]]. As a result of these influences, the Meos gradually became a prominent community in the Mewat region.<ref>{{Cite web |date=11 August 2023 |title=How cow-worshipping Meos of Mewat became practising Muslims |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/history-of-it/story/how-cow-worshipping-meos-of-mewat-became-practising-muslims-nuh-violence-haryana-khattar-2419493-2023-08-11 |access-date=24 January 2025 |website=India Today |language=en}}</ref>


Mewati make up majority of Muslims in Nawabo ka [[Nimbahera]]. Historically, the Gorwal [[Khanzadas of Mewat]], [[Chauhan]], [[Rathore]], and [[Tomar clan]]s of the Meo Rajputs ruled various states of India.<ref name="Meo">{{Cite book |title=Meo Rajput |author= Sardar Azeemullah Khan Meo |url=https://www.jadeed.store/meo-rajput.html |access-date=2023-02-23|language=en}}</ref>
Over the centuries, they have maintained their age-old distinctive cultural identity. According to S. L. Sharma and R. N. Srivastava, Mughal persecution had little effect on the strengthening of their Islamic identity, but it reinforced their resistance to [[Mughal Empire|Mughal rule]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Eaton|first1=Richard M.|title=The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204-1760|date=1993|publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley, California, USA|isbn=9780520205079|page=55|url=http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520205079|access-date=20 December 2016}}</ref>


===Khanzada Dynasty===
Though the general claim of [[Kshatriya]] [[Rajput]] descent may be true, some of them may be descendants of other castes who might have laid claim to this ancestry after converting to Islam to enhance their social standing. The names of many gots ([[gotra]]) or exogamous lineages of Meos are common with other [[Caste system in India|Hindu castes]] as [[Meena]], [[Ahir]] and [[Gujjar]] who live in their vicinity. While the kinship structure is closer to [[Jats|Jat]] system prevalent in Punjab and Rajasthan. It thus seems possible that the Meos belonged to many different castes and not just to the Rajputs;<ref>{{cite book |last1=Aggarwal |first1=Partap C. |chapter=Caste hierarchy in a Meo village of Rajasthan|editor=Imtiaz Ahmad |title=Caste and social stratification among Muslims in India |date=1978 |publisher=South Asia Books |location=New Delhi |isbn=9780836400502 |edition=2nd revised and enlarged |pages=141–158}}</ref><ref name="prasad" /><ref name="Mayaram 2003 Ch3">{{cite book |title=Against History, Against State: Counterperspectives from the Margins |first=Shail |last=Mayaram |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-231-12730-1 |chapter= Antistate: The ''Pāl'' Polity|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/againsthistoryag0000maya/page/56/mode/2up |pages=49–73 |quote-page=57 |quote=The Meo kinship structure is closer to the Jat system prevalent in Punjab and Rajasthan where the subcaste comprises segmented exogamous intermarrying gots rather than to the Muslim system in which women are retained within the descent group.}}</ref> this phenomenon is also seen in other Rajput communities and is not limited to the Meos.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Parry |first1=Jonathan P. |title=Caste and Kinship in Kangra |date=1978 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1138862036 |page=133 |edition=First |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v70X9x_abdwC&dq=same%20clan%20names%20in%20different%20castes&pg=PA163 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Mayer |first1=Adrian C. |title=Caste and Kinship in Central India |date=1998 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-0-415-17567-8 |pages=161–163 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v70X9x_abdwC&dq=same%20clan%20names%20in%20different%20castes&pg=PA163 |language=en}}</ref>
In 1372, [[Firuz Shah Tughlaq]] of the Delhi Sultanate granted the Lordship of [[Mewat]] to [[Raja Nahar Khan]], Raja Nahar Khan established a hereditary polity in Mewat and proclaimed the title of [[Wali (administrative title)|Wali]]-e-[[Khanzadas of Mewat|Mewat]]. Later his descendants affirmed their own sovereignty in Mewat. They ruled Mewat till 1527.{{cn|date=June 2023}} Raja [[Hasan Khan Mewati]] represented the Meo Community in [[Battle of Khanwa]] in that year.{{cn|date=June 2023}}


===Mughal Empire===
==Cultural connections==
[[Nawab Feroz Khan]] was the first Nawab of [[Shahabad, Alwar]] and a [[Faujdar]] (commander) in [[Mughal Army]]. He was a close confidant and trusted aide of [[Mughal Emperor]] [[Bahadur Shah I]]. He belonged to a [[Khanzada]] [[Muslim Rajput]] family which ruled the region of [[Mewat]]. He was a descendant of [[Raja Nahar Khan]] (through his son [[Malik Alaudin Khan]]), who was a Rajput ruler of [[Mewat State]] in 14th century. Due to his loyal service in [[Mughal Army]], he was granted the [[Jagir]] of Simbli (later [[Shahabad, Alwar|Shahbad]]) by Emperor [[Bahadur Shah I]] in 1710. In 1710 he led the Mughal counter-offensive against the Sikhs, and defeated the Sikhs at the [[Battle of Thanesar (1710)]].<ref>{{cite book |title= Later Mughals |author= William Irvine |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ak5oFjTys8MC&q=firuz+mewati&pg=PA107 |publisher= Atlantic Publishers & Distri |date= 1904 }}</ref>
'''Meos''' speak [[Mewati language|Mewati]], a language of the [[Indo-Aryan language]] family,<ref name="Kukreja" /> although in some areas the [[Linguistic imperialism|language dominance]] of Urdu and Hindi has seen Meos adopt these languages instead.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ahmad |first1=Aijaz |title=History of Mewat |date=July 2021 |isbn=978-81-933914-2-6 |page=23 |publisher=Alina Books |language=en}}</ref>


==Culture==
The [[Hindu]] inhabitants of Mewat, although belonging to the same Kshatriya castes to which the Meos belonged before conversion to Islam, are not called Meo. Thus the word ''Meo'' is both region-specific and religion-specific. According to many, Meos come from many Hindu clans who converted to Islam and amalgamated as the Meo community, however there is no solid basis for this claim.<ref name="prasad">{{cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=03_ZAAAAMAAJ |access-date=13 May 2011 |last1=Prasad |first1=Jitendra |title=Plural ethnic group characteristics: The nature of identity formation in Haryana |journal=Guru Nanak Journal of Sociology |date=2003 |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=1–21 |issn=0970-0242}}</ref>
The Meo have been subject to a number of recent ethnographic studies. These books have dealt with issues such as marriage and self-perception of the community. Raymond Jamous studied kinship and rituals among the Meo; his book was published in 2003.<ref name="Northern India 2003">{{cite book |last1=Jamous |first1=Raymond |translator-last=Scott |translator-first=Nora |others=Translated to English from the French|title=Kinship and rituals among the Meo of Northern India: Locating sibling relationship |date=2003 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New Delhi |isbn=0-19-566459-0}}</ref>
===Religion===
Meo profess the beliefs of Islam but the roots of their ethnic structure are in Hindu caste society. The neighbouring Hindu [[Jat]]s,<ref name="prasad">{{cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=03_ZAAAAMAAJ |access-date=13 May 2011 |last1=Prasad |first1=Jitendra |title=Plural ethnic group characteristics: The nature of identity formation in Haryana |journal=Guru Nanak Journal of Sociology |date=2003 |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=1–21 |issn=0970-0242}}</ref> Minas, [[Ahir]]s and Rajputs share the same ''mores''.<!--Note (June 2023): Concerns re K. S. Singh source  of its over reliance on the colonial-era sources "PoI", and their pseudo-scientific racial theories. For WP discussion see: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Reliable_sources/Noticeboard/Archive_108#Volumes_of_the_Anthropological_Survey_of_India WP:RSN AnSI volumes], [[Talk:The People of India]], the essay [[WP:RAJ]] & [[The People of India#The People of India (1992–)]] NOTE ENDS--><ref name="poi Rajasthan-part 2:638">{{cite book|author=K. S. Singh|author-link=Kumar Suresh Singh |title=People of India: Rajasthan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vm_KCE4XXPMC&pg=PA638 |access-date=13 May 2011 |date=1998 |publisher=Popular Prakashan |isbn=978-81-7154-769-2 |pages=638–640|editor1=B.K. Lavania |editor2=D. K. Samanta|editor3=S. K. Mandal|editor4=N. N. Vyas}}</ref>{{bsn|date=June 2023|reason=Probably not well-regarded for this purpose, see hidden editing note}} According to some sources, the Meo community may have a common origin with the [[Meena]] community. Such views were especially prominent in colonial-era ethnographies.<ref name="Mayaram against 2003">{{cite book |title=Against History, Against State: Counterperspectives from the Margins |first=Shail |last=Mayaram |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-231-12730-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yi6QpFCZBy8C}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=August 2012}}


[[Hindu]] inhabitants of Mewat, although belonging to the same [[Kshatriya]] castes to which the Meos belonged before conversion to Islam, are not called Meo. Thus the word ''Meo'' is both region-specific and religion-specific. Apparently, Meos come from many Hindu clans who converted to Islam and [[Amalgamation (race)|amalgamated]] as the Meo community.<ref name="prasad"/>
Meos profess [[Islam]] but the roots of their ethnic structure are in Hindu caste society. Meos share most of their culture with their [[Hindus|Hindu]] counterparts from neighbouring areas in Haryana and Rajasthan.  


Despite pressure to do so from the regional [[princely state]]s of [[Alwar State|Alwar]] and [[Bharatpur State|Bharatpur]], ruled by Gorwal Khanzadas, the Meo Rajput community decided not to migrate to [[Pakistan]] during the [[Partition of India]].<ref name="Meo" /> In 1947, [[Mahatma Gandhi]] visited [[Ghasera]], a village in present-day [[Nuh district]] to urge the Muslims living there not to leave, calling the Meos "{{transl|hi|Iss desh ki reed ki haddi}}" or 'the backbone of the country', India.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/photos/india-news/photos-71-years-after-independence-gandhi-gram-ghasera-battles-neglect/photo-QgSXBqopID9AGYuHNvYznM.html|title=Photos: 71 years after independence, Gandhi Gram Ghasera battles neglect|date=1 October 2018|work=Hindustan Times|access-date=20 August 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://scroll.in/article/911290/why-the-meo-muslims-in-mewat-remember-mahatma-gandhi-in-december-every-year|title=Why the Meo Muslims in Mewat remember Mahatma Gandhi in December every year|date=30 January 2019|website=Scroll.in|access-date=20 August 2020}}</ref> Although on the whole the community did not migrate, there were a number of gotras of the Rajput Meos who, on an individual basis, did decide to relocate to Pakistan during partition. They were mostly settled in Pakistani districts of [[Sialkot]], [[Lahore]], [[Karachi]], [[Narowal]], [[Dera Ghazi Khan]], [[Sheikhupura]], [[Gujranwala District|Gujranwala]], [[Multan]], [[Hyderabad, Sindh|Haiderabad]] and [[Kasur]], among others.<ref name="Meo" />
Like Hindus of the north, the Meo do not marry within their own [[gotra]]s although Islam permits marriage with cousins. Solemnization of marriage among Meos was not complete without both [[nikah]] and [[saptapadi]], although the latter has been mostly abandoned with the advent of Islam.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Chauhan |first1=Abha |title=Kinship Principles and the Pattern of Marriage Alliance: The Meos of Mewat |journal=Sociological Bulletin |date=2003 |volume=52 |issue=1 |pages=71–90 |doi=10.1177/0038022920030104 |jstor=23620302 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23620302 |issn=0038-0229|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Some gotras of the Meos believe that they are direct descendants of [[Krishna]] and [[Rama]].<ref name="ht 2016 Ghosh">{{cite news |last1=Ghosh |first1=Paramita |title=What you should know about the Meo Muslims of Mewat |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/static/Meo-Muslims-of-Mewat/ |work=Hindustan Times |date=16 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407140038/https://www.hindustantimes.com/static/Meo-Muslims-of-Mewat/ |archive-date=7 April 2023 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="resist regime">{{cite book |last1=Mayaram |first1=Shail |title=Resisting regimes: Myth, memory, and the shaping of a Muslim identity |date=1997 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Delhi Oxford |isbn=978-0195639551}}</ref>


{{blockquote|The Meos (Muhammadans) of the eastern Punjab still participate in the observance of the Holi and Diwali festivals. On the latter occasion they paint the horns, hoofs, etc., of their bullocks and join in the general rejoicings.<ref name="punjab1911">{{cite web|url=http://lsi.gov.in:8081/jspui/bitstream/123456789/7086/1/PANJAB%20PART%20I.pdf|title=CENSUS OF INDIA, 1911 VOLUME XIV PUNJAB|access-date=21 July 2022}}</ref>{{rp|174}}|Excerpt from the [[Census of India]] (Punjab Province)|1911 AD}}
== Clans (''Gotras'') ==


Many Rajasthani Meos retain mixed Hindu–Muslim names. Names such as Ram Khan or Shankar Khan are not unusual in the Meo tracts in Alwar. The Muslim community of Meos was highly Hinduised before independence. Meos celebrated [[Diwali]] and [[Holi]] as they celebrated two Eids ([[Eid ul-Fitr]] and [[Eid al-Adha]]). Like Hindus of the north, the Meo do not marry within their own [[gotra]]s although Islam permits marriage with cousins. Solemnization of marriage among Meos was not complete without both [[Nikah]] as in Islam. Meos believe that they are direct descendants of [[Krishna]] and [[Rama]] even as they claim to be among the unnamed prophets of God referred to in the [[Quran]].<ref name="ht 2016 Ghosh">{{cite news |last1=Ghosh |first1=Paramita |title=What you should know about the Meo Muslims of Mewat |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/static/Meo-Muslims-of-Mewat/ |work=Hindustan Times |date=16 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407140038/https://www.hindustantimes.com/static/Meo-Muslims-of-Mewat/ |archive-date=7 April 2023 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Mayaram">{{cite book |last1=Mayaram |first1=Shail |title=Resisting regimes: Myth, memory, and the shaping of a Muslim identity |date=1997 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Delhi Oxford |isbn=978-0195639551}}</ref>
Meos were divided into three groups (''vansh''), thirteen {{lang|und|pals}} and fifty-two clans (''gotras'') by ''Rana'' ''Kaku Balot Meo'' in the 13th century.<ref name="Meo">{{Cite book |author=Sardar Azeemullah Khan Meo |url=https://www.jadeed.store/meo-rajput.html |title=Meo Rajput |language=en |access-date=23 February 2023}}</ref><ref name="ahmad 2001">{{cite journal |date=April 2001 |last=Ahmad|first=Aijaz |title=Origin of the Meos: An assessment |journal=The Punjab Past and Present |volume=32 |issue= 1 |pages=39–44 |url=https://archive.org/details/ThePunjabPastAndPresent-Volume32Part1/page/n45/mode/2up |language=English |isbn=81-7380-878-3|id=Serial No. 63}}</ref> Meos have ''twelve pals'' including a ''thirteenth inferior pal''.<ref>{{Cite web |date=4 March 2016 |title=How Meos Shape Their Identity |url=https://www.epw.in/journal/2016/10/web-exclusives/how-meos-shape-their-identity.html |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite chapter |last=Ahmed |first=Imtiaz |url=https://ia600702.us.archive.org/1/items/in.ernet.dli.2015.137484/2015.137484.Family-Kinship-And-Marriage-Among-Muslims-In-India.pdf |title=Family Kinship and Marriage among the Muslims in India |date=1976 |pages=267-96 |chapter=Kinship and Marriage among the Meos of Rajasthan}}</ref>
=== {{lang|und|Pals}} and Clans (''Gotras'') ===


====Gotra====
==== List of {{lang|und|Pals}} ====
Meo profess the beliefs of Islam but the roots of their ethnic structure are in Hindu caste society. Meos claim high-caste Hindu Rajput descent. This may be true for some of them. However, some of them may be descendants of other castes who might have laid claim to Rajput ancestry after converting to Islam to enhance their social standing (Harris 1901:23; Channing 1882:28). The names of many gots ([[gotra]]) or exogamous lineages of Meos are common with other Hindu castes as [[Meena]], [[Ahir]] and [[Gujjar]] who live in their vicinity. It thus seems possible that the Meos belonged to many different castes and not just to the Rajputs;<ref>{{cite book |last1=Aggarwal |first1=Partap C. |chapter=Caste hierarchy in a Meo village of Rajasthan|editor=Imtiaz Ahmad |title=Caste and social stratification among Muslims in India |date=1978 |publisher=South Asia Books |location=New Delhi |isbn=9780836400502 |edition=2nd revised and enlarged |pages=141–158}}</ref><ref name="prasad"/><ref name="poi Rajasthan-part 2:638"/><ref name="Mayaram against 2003"/>{{page needed|date=August 2012}} this phenomena is also seen in other Rajput communities and is not limited to the Meos.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Parry |first1=Jonathan P. |title=Caste and Kinship in Kangra |date=1978 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1138862036 |page=133 |edition=First |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v70X9x_abdwC&dq=same%20clan%20names%20in%20different%20castes&pg=PA163 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Mayer |first1=Adrian C. |title=Caste and Kinship in Central India |date=1998 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-0-415-17567-8 |pages=161–163 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v70X9x_abdwC&dq=same%20clan%20names%20in%20different%20castes&pg=PA163 |language=en}}</ref>


Rajput Meos were divided into thirteen {{lang|und|pals}} and fifty-two gotras by [[Rana (title)|''Rana'']] Kaku Balot Meo in the 13th century.<ref name="Meo" /><ref>{{cite journal |date=April 2001 |last=Ahmad|first=Aijaz |title=Origin of the Meos: An assessment |journal=The Punjab Past and Present |volume=32 |issue= 1 |pages=39–44 |url=https://archive.org/details/ThePunjabPastAndPresent-Volume32Part1/page/n45/mode/2up |language=English |isbn=81-7380-878-3|id=Serial No. 63}}</ref>
* Ratwat
* Dedwal
* Lundawat
* Balot
* Nai
* Poonglot
* Dulot
* Chhirkalot
* Demrot
* Kalisa
* Sengal
* Dhengal
* ''Pahat'' ''(thirteenth inferior pal)''


====Marriage and kinship customs====
{| class="wikitable"
Meos generally do not follow the [[Inheritance#Islamic laws|Muslim law of inheritance]] and so among them, like various other communities in the region, custom makes a younger brother or a cousin marry the widow of the deceased by a simple [[Nikah]] ceremony.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Hashim Amir Ali |author2=Mohammad Rafiq Khan |author3=Om Prakash Kumar |title=The Meos of Mewat: Old neighbours of New Delhi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6xguAAAAMAAJ |access-date=13 May 2011 |date=1970 |publisher=Oxford & IBH Pub. Co.}}</ref>
|+Table of Gotras
! colspan="2" |Agnivanshi
! colspan="2" |Chandravanshi
! rowspan="2" |Surajvanshi
'''(5 total)'''
|-
|'''Pawar (3 total)'''
|'''Chauhan (10 total)'''
|'''Tomar (18 total)'''
|'''Jado (16 total)'''
|-
|Khokkar
|Chaurasia
|Kangar (Kanga)
|Nai (Bhamdawat)
|Dehangal
|-
|Malik
|Jamaliya
|Tanwar (Mangaria-Surohiya)
|Chhokar
|Sengal (Badgujar)
|-
|Pawar (Mewal)
|
|Bilyana
|Bhati
|Kalisa (Pahat)
|-
|
|Chauhan
|Ratawat
|Veer
|Godh
|-
|
|Kalsia
|Sukeda
|Bhabla
|Gomal
|-
|
|Kanwaliya (Kamaaliya)
|Gehlot
|Jhangala
|
|-
|
|Mark (Mandar)
|Karkatiya
|Silania
|
|-
|
|Pahat
|Lamkhara
|Kholdar (Untwaal)
|
|-
|
|Sapolia
|Nanglot
|Sodola
|
|-
|
|Saugun
|Matyavat
|Dulot
|
|-
|
|
|Sagadawat
|Chhirkalot
|
|-
|
|
|Jatlawat
|Bhegot
|
|-
|
|
|Balot (Bugla)
|Naharwad
|
|-
|
|
|Kataria
|Demrot (Boridha)
|
|-
|
|
|Bodhiyan
|Poonglot (Sekhawat)
|
|-
|
|
|Ludawat or Baghodia
|Gorwal
|
|-
|
|
|Majilawat-Jhelawat-Kadawat, Dhatawat-Lalawat
|
|
|}
 
===Marriage and kinship customs===
Meos generally do not follow the [[Inheritance#Islamic laws|Muslim law of inheritance]] and so among them, like various other communities in the region, custom makes a younger cousin marry the widow of the deceased by a simple [[Nikah]] ceremony.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Hashim Amir Ali |author2=Mohammad Rafiq Khan |author3=Om Prakash Kumar |title=The Meos of Mewat: Old neighbours of New Delhi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6xguAAAAMAAJ |access-date=13 May 2011 |date=1970 |publisher=Oxford & IBH Pub. Co.}}</ref>


==Geography and demography==
==Geography and demography==
===Mewat===
=== Post-independence change ===
The boundary of Mewat region is not precisely defined. The region largely consists of plains but has hills of Aravali range. The inconsistency in Mewat topography is evident from its patches of land with hills and hillock of the Aravali on the one hand and plains on the other. The region is semi-arid with scanty rainfall and this has defined the vocations the Meos follow. They are peasants, agriculturists and cattle breeders.<ref name="poi Rajasthan-part 2:638"/>
Despite pressure to do so from the regional [[princely state]]s of [[Alwar State|Alwar]] and [[Bharatpur State|Bharatpur]], ruled by Hindu princes, the Meo Rajput community decided not to migrate to [[Pakistan]] during the [[Partition of India]].<ref name="Meo" /> During 1947, Meo were displaced from Alwar and Bharatpur States and there was significant loss of life in intercommunal violence.<ref name="resist regime"/>{{rp|191}} The population of Meos drastically decreased in Alwar and Bharatpur.<ref name="resist regime"/>{{rp|191}} However, many [[Mosques in India|old mosques]] from pre-independence era are still present there.{{Citation needed|date=July 2025}}


===Uttar Pradesh===
In 1947, [[Mahatma Gandhi]] visited [[Ghasera]], a village in present-day [[Nuh district]] to urge the Muslims living there not to leave, calling the Meos "{{transliteration|hi|Iss desh ki reed ki haddi}}" or 'the backbone of the country', India. Due to this, the people of Ghasera still celebrate Mewat Day.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/photos/india-news/photos-71-years-after-independence-gandhi-gram-ghasera-battles-neglect/photo-QgSXBqopID9AGYuHNvYznM.html|title=Photos: 71 years after independence, Gandhi Gram Ghasera battles neglect|date=1 October 2018|work=Hindustan Times|access-date=20 August 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Bordia |first=Radhika |url=https://scroll.in/article/911290/why-the-meo-muslims-in-mewat-remember-mahatma-gandhi-in-december-every-year|title=Why the Meo Muslims in Mewat remember Mahatma Gandhi in December every year|date=30 January 2019|work=Scroll.in|access-date=20 August 2020}}</ref>
In Uttar Pradesh, the Meos are found mainly in the western regions of [[Rohilkhand]] and [[Doab]]. Unlike those of Mewat, the Uttar Pradesh Meos are dispersed. Their main [[gotras]] in the state are the Chhirklot, Dalut, Demrot, Pandelot, Balot, Dawar, Kalesa, Landawat, Rattawat, Dingal and Singhal. The Uttar Pradesh Meos maintain a system of community endogamy, and [[gotra]] exogamy. The Meos of UP are a community of small farmers, and urban wage labourers.<ref name="A Hasan pages 811">''People of India: Uttar Pradesh''. Volume XLII,  Part Two. Edited by A. Hasan & J. C. Das pp. 811, 963–967</ref>


The Meo also extend to [[Meerut District]]. The Doab Meos now speak [[Urdu]], and have abandoned Mewati.<ref name="A Hasan pages 811"/>
Although on the whole the community did not migrate, there were a number of gotras of the Meos who, on an individual basis, did decide to relocate to Pakistan during partition. They were mostly settled in Pakistani districts of [[Sialkot]], [[Lahore]], [[Karachi]], [[Narowal]], [[Dera Ghazi Khan]], [[Sheikhupura]], [[Gujranwala District|Gujranwala]], [[Multan]], [[Hyderabad, Sindh|Haiderabad]] and [[Kasur]], among others.<ref name="Meo" />  


Separate from the Doab Meo are the Meo of [[Rohilkhand]]. Culturally they are now indistinguishable from the neighbouring Muslim communities. They are found mainly in [[Moradabad District|Moradabad]], [[Bareilly District|Bareilly]], [[Rampur District|Rampur]] and [[Pilibhit District]]s. These Meo are said to have left Mewat in the 18th Century, fleeing the [[Chalisa famine|great famine of 1783]], and these Meo are generally referred to by the term Mewati. They now speak [[Khari Boli]] and [[Urdu]], and no longer maintain a system of [[gotra]] exogamy, with now many practicising parallel-cousin marriages.<ref name="A Hasan pages 811"/>
According to the [[2023 Pakistani census]], there are around 1.1 million Mewati speakers in Pakistan, virtually all of them in [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]].<ref name="PakPop">{{Cite web |title=POPULATION BY MOTHER TONGUE, SEX AND RURAL/ URBAN |url=https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/population/2023/tables/national/table_11.pdf |website=www.pbs.gov.pk |publisher=Pakistan Bureau of Statistics}}</ref> While the estimated population of Meos is over 2 million.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=03_ZAAAAMAAJ&q=meos |title=Guru Nanak Journal of Sociology |date=2003 |publisher=Sociology Department, Guru Nanak Dev University |language=en}}</ref>


===Delhi===
== Legacy ==
The Meo in Delhi are found mainly in the neighbourhood of Walled City (Kucha Pandit Lal Kuan, Gali Shahtara Ajmri Gate and Bara Hindu Rao), Azadpur, [[Hauz Khas]], [[Mehrauli]] and various outlying villages with names ending in Sarai which have become urbanised. All their villages have been swallowed up by ever-expanding Delhi city. The growth of urban Delhi has led to the abandonment of the [[Mewati]] dialect in favour of [[Hindi]], which is now their main language. Similarly, there has been a decline in the power of the caste council (panchayat). The Meos of Delhi have maintained [[gotra]] exogamy, very rarely marrying into their own gotra.<ref name="poi Dehli">''People of India: Delhi''. Volume XX Edited by T. Ghosh & S. Nath pp. 469−474 Manohar Publications</ref>
''[[Resisting Regimes]]'' is the first political anthropological and social-historical study detailing the Meos.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Robinson |first=Rowena |date=1999 |title=Book reviews and notices : SHAIL MAYARAM, Resisting regimes: Myth, memory and the shaping of a Muslim identity |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/006996679903300141 |journal=Contributions to Indian Sociology |language=en |volume=33 |issue=1–2 |pages=463 |doi=10.1177/006996679903300141 |issn=0069-9667|url-access=subscription }}</ref>


==See also==
* [[The People of India#The People of India (1992–)|''The People of India'' (1992–)]], a multi-volume series from the government-run [[Anthropological Survey of India]]
==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}
===Sources===
* {{cite book |last1=Bhardwaj |first1=Suraj Bhan |title=Contestations and Accommodations: Mewat and Meos in Mughal India |date=July 2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-946279-7 |language=English}}{{pb}}'''Chapters''':
** Chapter 1: "State Formation in Mewat: Relationship of the Khanzadas with the Delhi Sultanate, the Mughal State, and Other Regional Potentates. pp.{{nbsp}}11–37. {{doi|10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199462797.003.0002}}
** Chapter 3: "Social Formation of Meos: From Tribe to Caste". pp.&nbsp;93–132 {{doi|10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199462797.003.0004}}
==Further reading==
* {{cite book |last1=Bhardwaj |first1=Suraj Bhan |title=State and Peasant Society in Medieval North India: Essays on Changing Contours of Mewat |date=2019 |publisher=Primus Books |isbn=978-93-86552-23-5}}
* {{cite book |last1=Chawla |first1=Abhay |title=Meos of Mewat in the 21st Century: Marginalization, Mobiles and New Media |date=February 2023 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gk-wEAAAQBAJ}}
* {{cite book |last1=Jamous |first1=Raymond |translator-last=Scott |translator-first=Nora |others=Translated to English from the French|title=Kinship and rituals among the Meo of Northern India: Locating sibling relationship |date=2003 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New Delhi |isbn=0-19-566459-0}}
* {{Cite book |last=Weekes |first=Richard V. |url=https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/Muslim_Peoples_Maba/7vgpAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gl=IN |title=Muslim Peoples: Maba |date=1984 |publisher=Greenwood Press |isbn=978-0-313-24640-1 |pages=515-21 |language=en}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Maheshwari |first1=Belu |title=The Meos of Mewat: Perspectives on ethnicity and nation building |journal=Social Change |date=March 2003 |volume=33 |issue=1 |pages=81–91 |doi=10.1177/004908570303300105}}
* {{Cite book |last=Samiuddin |first=Abida |url=https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/Global_Encyclopaedic_Ethnography_of_Indi/qEXFxCK-ulUC?hl=en |title=Global Encyclopaedic Ethnography of Indian Muslim |last2=Khanam |first2=R. |publisher=Global Vision Publishing House |isbn=978-81-8220-299-3 |pages=504-508 |language=en}}
* {{Cite book |last=Tosif Ul Hasan mewati |url=http://archive.org/details/payam-e-mewat-sep-20-1 |title=Payam E Mewat Sep 20 1 |date=22 February 2020 |language=Ur}}
==External links==
{{Commons category-inline}}
{{Wikiquote|2=Meo People}}
*{{citation
|last=Kukreja
|first=Reena
|title=Poll: Religious Group – Meo Muslims (v6)
|website=Database of Religious History
|publisher=University of British Columbia
|date=22 July 2020
|url=https://open.library.ubc.ca/media/stream/pdf/52387/1.0394975/2
|type=PDF
|language=en
|access-date=3 July 2025
<!--|Lisence= CC BY 4.0-->}}.
*{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1HmausQvOM |title=Meo Muslims- The History of Brotherhood in Mewat |date=26 September 2016 |last=Hindustan Times |access-date=3 July 2025 |via=YouTube}}
*{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZz8RxaDIEI |title=Ek Kahani Ye Bhi: Meo Muslims' Songs of Despair {{!}} Lok Sabha Elections 2019 {{!}} Sadak Se Sansad |date=11 March 2019 |last=The Wire |access-date=3 July 2025 |via=YouTube}}
*{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rg_ewi9y5r4 |title=INTERVIEW: कौन हैं Mewati? मेव कैसे बने मुस्लिम? Siddique Ahmad 'Meo' के खुलासे,बताई Real History! |date=11 February 2025 |last=Haryana Tak |access-date=3 July 2025 |via=YouTube}}
*{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QbM1UzbgS0 |title=Songs of the Mirasi Singers: For Meo Muslims It's Not the Same India |date=2 April 2018 |last=The Quint |access-date=3 July 2025 |via=YouTube}}
*{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTZ6o77nejs |title=Mewat के मुसलमानों के लिए क्या कुछ बदला है, दर्द में डूबे इन गानों से समझिए {{!}} Quint Hindi |date=2 April 2018 |last=Kisan India |access-date=3 July 2025 |via=YouTube}}
* {{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdWrHL4Pc-g |title=History of Haryana: 1857 में Mewat के किसानों ने अंग्रेज़ों की चूलें हिला दी थीं {{!}} बागी गांव epi - 2 |date=3 January 2023 |last=Gaon Savera गांव सवेरा |access-date=5 July 2025 |via=YouTube}}


{{Indian Muslim}}
{{Indian Muslim}}
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[[Category:Social groups of Haryana]]
[[Category:Muslim communities of Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:Muslim communities of Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:Muslim communities of Haryana]]
[[Category:Muslim communities of Rajasthan]]
[[Category:Muslim communities of Rajasthan]]
[[Category:Social groups of Rajasthan]]
[[Category:Social groups of Rajasthan]]
[[Category:Ethnoreligious groups in India|Meo People]]
[[Category:Muslim ethnoreligious groups]]
[[Category:Rajasthani peoples]]

Latest revision as of 18:10, 3 March 2026

Not to be confused with Miao people.
See also: Mewat (disambiguation)

Meo
Meo Panchayat members in Nuh district
Total population
1.8 - 2.8 million (2024-2025)[1]

India India[1]

Pakistan Pakistan[2] 1.1 million (2023 census)[3]

Punjab:
Sindh:
Regions with significant populations
Haryana, Rajasthan
Languages
Mewati (native)
Haryanvi, Kauravi, Rajasthani, Urdu, Hindi
Religion
Islam

Meo (pronounced: mev or may-o) (also spelled Mayo or occasionally, Mewati) are a Muslim ethnic group originating from the Mewat region of north-western India.[4][5]

Terminology[edit | edit source]

The term "Meo" semantically correlates with the historical region of Mewat, which consists of the Nuh district of Haryana and some parts of adjoining Alwar and Bharatpur districts of Rajasthan and parts of western Uttar Pradesh. The term Mewati, in terms of use for ethnic classification, is also interchangeable with Meo. Although, not every Mewati is necessarily an ethnic Meo as the term is a general demonym for someone from Mewat.

Oirigins and history[edit | edit source]

Meos consider themselves as a mainly Rajput caste. According to one theory of origin they were Hindu Rajputs who converted to Islam between the 11th and 17th centuries, until as late as Aurangzeb's rule.[6][7]

The Meos embraced Islam primarily through the influence of the Sufi saint Ghazi Saiyyad Salar Masud, who was the nephew of Mahmud Ghaznavi. Over the centuries, various other Sufi saints also played significant roles in shaping the Islamic beliefs of the Meo community. Notable figures include Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia, and Miran Sayyed Husain Khang Sawar. As a result of these influences, the Meos gradually became a prominent community in the Mewat region.[8]

Over the centuries, they have maintained their age-old distinctive cultural identity. According to S. L. Sharma and R. N. Srivastava, Mughal persecution had little effect on the strengthening of their Islamic identity, but it reinforced their resistance to Mughal rule.[9]

Though the general claim of Kshatriya Rajput descent may be true, some of them may be descendants of other castes who might have laid claim to this ancestry after converting to Islam to enhance their social standing. The names of many gots (gotra) or exogamous lineages of Meos are common with other Hindu castes as Meena, Ahir and Gujjar who live in their vicinity. While the kinship structure is closer to Jat system prevalent in Punjab and Rajasthan. It thus seems possible that the Meos belonged to many different castes and not just to the Rajputs;[10][11][12] this phenomenon is also seen in other Rajput communities and is not limited to the Meos.[13][14]

Cultural connections[edit | edit source]

Meos speak Mewati, a language of the Indo-Aryan language family,[1] although in some areas the language dominance of Urdu and Hindi has seen Meos adopt these languages instead.[15]

The Hindu inhabitants of Mewat, although belonging to the same Kshatriya castes to which the Meos belonged before conversion to Islam, are not called Meo. Thus the word Meo is both region-specific and religion-specific. According to many, Meos come from many Hindu clans who converted to Islam and amalgamated as the Meo community, however there is no solid basis for this claim.[11]

Meos profess Islam but the roots of their ethnic structure are in Hindu caste society. Meos share most of their culture with their Hindu counterparts from neighbouring areas in Haryana and Rajasthan.

Like Hindus of the north, the Meo do not marry within their own gotras although Islam permits marriage with cousins. Solemnization of marriage among Meos was not complete without both nikah and saptapadi, although the latter has been mostly abandoned with the advent of Islam.[16] Some gotras of the Meos believe that they are direct descendants of Krishna and Rama.[5][17]

Clans (Gotras)[edit | edit source]

Meos were divided into three groups (vansh), thirteen pals and fifty-two clans (gotras) by Rana Kaku Balot Meo in the 13th century.[18][19] Meos have twelve pals including a thirteenth inferior pal.[20][21]

Pals and Clans (Gotras)[edit | edit source]

List of Pals[edit | edit source]

  • Ratwat
  • Dedwal
  • Lundawat
  • Balot
  • Nai
  • Poonglot
  • Dulot
  • Chhirkalot
  • Demrot
  • Kalisa
  • Sengal
  • Dhengal
  • Pahat (thirteenth inferior pal)
Table of Gotras
Agnivanshi Chandravanshi Surajvanshi

(5 total)

Pawar (3 total) Chauhan (10 total) Tomar (18 total) Jado (16 total)
Khokkar Chaurasia Kangar (Kanga) Nai (Bhamdawat) Dehangal
Malik Jamaliya Tanwar (Mangaria-Surohiya) Chhokar Sengal (Badgujar)
Pawar (Mewal) Bilyana Bhati Kalisa (Pahat)
Chauhan Ratawat Veer Godh
Kalsia Sukeda Bhabla Gomal
Kanwaliya (Kamaaliya) Gehlot Jhangala
Mark (Mandar) Karkatiya Silania
Pahat Lamkhara Kholdar (Untwaal)
Sapolia Nanglot Sodola
Saugun Matyavat Dulot
Sagadawat Chhirkalot
Jatlawat Bhegot
Balot (Bugla) Naharwad
Kataria Demrot (Boridha)
Bodhiyan Poonglot (Sekhawat)
Ludawat or Baghodia Gorwal
Majilawat-Jhelawat-Kadawat, Dhatawat-Lalawat

Marriage and kinship customs[edit | edit source]

Meos generally do not follow the Muslim law of inheritance and so among them, like various other communities in the region, custom makes a younger cousin marry the widow of the deceased by a simple Nikah ceremony.[22]

Geography and demography[edit | edit source]

Post-independence change[edit | edit source]

Despite pressure to do so from the regional princely states of Alwar and Bharatpur, ruled by Hindu princes, the Meo Rajput community decided not to migrate to Pakistan during the Partition of India.[18] During 1947, Meo were displaced from Alwar and Bharatpur States and there was significant loss of life in intercommunal violence.[17]:191 The population of Meos drastically decreased in Alwar and Bharatpur.[17]:191 However, many old mosques from pre-independence era are still present there.[citation needed]

In 1947, Mahatma Gandhi visited Ghasera, a village in present-day Nuh district to urge the Muslims living there not to leave, calling the Meos "Iss desh ki reed ki haddi" or 'the backbone of the country', India. Due to this, the people of Ghasera still celebrate Mewat Day.[23][24]

Although on the whole the community did not migrate, there were a number of gotras of the Meos who, on an individual basis, did decide to relocate to Pakistan during partition. They were mostly settled in Pakistani districts of Sialkot, Lahore, Karachi, Narowal, Dera Ghazi Khan, Sheikhupura, Gujranwala, Multan, Haiderabad and Kasur, among others.[18]

According to the 2023 Pakistani census, there are around 1.1 million Mewati speakers in Pakistan, virtually all of them in Punjab.[25] While the estimated population of Meos is over 2 million.[26]

Legacy[edit | edit source]

Resisting Regimes is the first political anthropological and social-historical study detailing the Meos.[27]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Kukreja, Reena (2020), "Meo Muslim, Mev, Mewati Muslim", Database of Religious History, University of British Columbia, doi:10.14288/1.0394975, S2CID 238914736
  2. ↑ Meo, Shahabuddin Khan (2011). History of Mewat–An Outline. Khan Foundation for Education and Research. Journal of the Research Society of Pakistan. Vol. 48, no. 1. Department of History, Quaik-e Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan. ISSN 0034-5431. PDF file
  3. ↑ "Population by mother tongue, sex and rural/urban, census-2023" (PDF). www.pbs.gov.pk. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 July 2024.
  4. ↑ Naqvi, Saba (30 March 2016). "Meet the Muslims who consider themselves descendants of Arjuna". Scroll.in. Archived from the original on 10 April 2023.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Ghosh, Paramita (16 September 2016). "What you should know about the Meo Muslims of Mewat". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 7 April 2023.
  6. ↑ Chauhan, Abha (2004). "Custom, Religion and Social Change Among the Meos of Mewat". In Gupta, Surendra K. (ed.). Emerging Social Science Concerns: Festschrift in Honour of Professor Yogesh Atal. Concept Publishing. p. 365. ISBN 9788180690983.
  7. ↑ Mathur, Malati (2006). "The Mewati Mahabharata: Pandun Ka Kaba". In Trikha, Pradeep (ed.). Textuality and inter-textuality in the Mahabharata: Myth, meaning and metamorphosis. Sarup & Sons. p. 84. ISBN 9788176256919.
  8. ↑ "How cow-worshipping Meos of Mewat became practising Muslims". India Today. 11 August 2023. Retrieved 24 January 2025.
  9. ↑ Eaton, Richard M. (1993). The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204-1760. Berkeley, California, USA: University of California Press. p. 55. ISBN 9780520205079. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  10. ↑ Aggarwal, Partap C. (1978). "Caste hierarchy in a Meo village of Rajasthan". In Imtiaz Ahmad (ed.). Caste and social stratification among Muslims in India (2nd revised and enlarged ed.). New Delhi: South Asia Books. pp. 141–158. ISBN 9780836400502.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Prasad, Jitendra (2003). "Plural ethnic group characteristics: The nature of identity formation in Haryana". Guru Nanak Journal of Sociology. 24 (2): 1–21. ISSN 0970-0242. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
  12. ↑ Mayaram, Shail (2003). "Antistate: The Pāl Polity". Against History, Against State: Counterperspectives from the Margins. Columbia University Press. pp. 49–73. ISBN 978-0-231-12730-1. p. 57: The Meo kinship structure is closer to the Jat system prevalent in Punjab and Rajasthan where the subcaste comprises segmented exogamous intermarrying gots rather than to the Muslim system in which women are retained within the descent group.
  13. ↑ Parry, Jonathan P. (1978). Caste and Kinship in Kangra (First ed.). Routledge. p. 133. ISBN 978-1138862036.
  14. ↑ Mayer, Adrian C. (1998). Caste and Kinship in Central India. Psychology Press. pp. 161–163. ISBN 978-0-415-17567-8.
  15. ↑ Ahmad, Aijaz (July 2021). History of Mewat. Alina Books. p. 23. ISBN 978-81-933914-2-6.
  16. ↑ Chauhan, Abha (2003). "Kinship Principles and the Pattern of Marriage Alliance: The Meos of Mewat". Sociological Bulletin. 52 (1): 71–90. doi:10.1177/0038022920030104. ISSN 0038-0229. JSTOR 23620302.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 Mayaram, Shail (1997). Resisting regimes: Myth, memory, and the shaping of a Muslim identity. Delhi Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195639551.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 Sardar Azeemullah Khan Meo. Meo Rajput. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  19. ↑ Ahmad, Aijaz (April 2001). "Origin of the Meos: An assessment". The Punjab Past and Present. 32 (1): 39–44. ISBN 81-7380-878-3. Serial No. 63.
  20. ↑ "How Meos Shape Their Identity". 4 March 2016.
  21. ↑ Template:Cite chapter
  22. ↑ Hashim Amir Ali; Mohammad Rafiq Khan; Om Prakash Kumar (1970). The Meos of Mewat: Old neighbours of New Delhi. Oxford & IBH Pub. Co. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
  23. ↑ "Photos: 71 years after independence, Gandhi Gram Ghasera battles neglect". Hindustan Times. 1 October 2018. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  24. ↑ Bordia, Radhika (30 January 2019). "Why the Meo Muslims in Mewat remember Mahatma Gandhi in December every year". Scroll.in. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  25. ↑ "POPULATION BY MOTHER TONGUE, SEX AND RURAL/ URBAN" (PDF). www.pbs.gov.pk. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
  26. ↑ Guru Nanak Journal of Sociology. Sociology Department, Guru Nanak Dev University. 2003.
  27. ↑ Robinson, Rowena (1999). "Book reviews and notices : SHAIL MAYARAM, Resisting regimes: Myth, memory and the shaping of a Muslim identity". Contributions to Indian Sociology. 33 (1–2): 463. doi:10.1177/006996679903300141. ISSN 0069-9667.

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