Panchal
Panchal or Panchal brahmins is a collective term for a variable range of artisanal Indian caste groups.
According to Louis Dumont, it is derived from the word panch, meaning five, and refers to communities that have traditionally worked as blacksmiths, carpenters, goldsmiths, stonemasons and coppersmith. These groups include the Lohars and Suthars of South India.[1] David Mandelbaum noted that the name had been assumed by the blacksmiths, carpenters, coppersmiths, goldsmiths and stonemasons of South India as a means towards achieving social upliftment, calling themselves Panchala and claiming that they are Brahmins who descend from Vishwakarma. They do, however, believe that they are equal among themselves: they perceive distinctions between their various occupational groups.[2] They belong to the general or unreserved category and often there is a misconception about them that they belong to the backward caste. [3]
References
- ↑ Perez, Rosa Maria (2004). Kings and Untouchables: A Study of the Caste System in Western India. Orient Blackswan. p. 80. ISBN 9788180280146.
- ↑ Streefkerk, Hein (1985). Industrial Transition in Rural India: Artisans, Traders, and Tribals in South Gujarat. Popular Prakashan. p. 99. ISBN 9780861320677.
- ↑ Correspondent, Staff (31 October 2014). "Mahila samaja opposes ST status for Vishwakarmas". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
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