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The Dalera, sometimes pronounced as Dalere, is a Hindu caste found in North India.[1] They claim lineage from union between a Gurjar male and Kahar female.[2]

Occupation[edit | edit source]

The primary occupation of the caste was according to the 1901 Census of India was Basketmaking[3] and day-labouring[4]

Geographical Location[edit | edit source]

They are found almost entirely in Bareilly District[5]

Social Status[edit | edit source]

There social positioning in the Hindu caste system is generally considered low[6]

Government Status[edit | edit source]

The Dalera were classified as a Criminal Tribe under the Criminal Tribes Act in a case titled "Queen-Empress vs Hori on 27 May, 1899" it was declared that the accused named Hori could not be sent to a reformatory school as he was from a tribe declared ineligible to be done so under "Rule 4 of the rules made by the Local Government and published at pages 167, 168 of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh Government Gazette, Part VI, 3rd July 1897"[7] The Dalera themselves are neither Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Caste or Other Backward Caste[8]

See also[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ People of India Uttar Pradesh Volume XLII Part One edited by A Hasan & J C Das pages 407 to 411 Manohar Publications
  2. ↑ "Their own tradition is that they spring from an alliance between a Gujar on the male side and a woman of the Dhimar caste" in Nevill, H. R. (1911). Bareilly: A Gazetteer, being Volume XIII of the District Gazetteers of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh (p. 198). Allahabad: Government Press.
  3. ↑ Census of India Volume 16, Issue 1, 1901. (1902). India: Printed at the Government central Press. p231
  4. ↑ Haikerwala, B.S. Economic And Social Aspect of Crime in India. George Allen And Unwin Limited. p.151
  5. ↑ (Census of India 1901 Volume XVI, Issue I. p.231)
  6. ↑ Blunt, E. (2010). The Caste System of Northern India. Isha Books. p.159
  7. ↑ Queen-Empress v. Hori, (1899). Indian Law Reports, Allahabad Series, 21, 391.
  8. ↑ Lok Sabha Secretariat. (1982). Dalera Caste of Uttar Pradesh [Parliamentary Question And Answers]. Government of India. https://eparlib.nic.in/handle/123456789/2707976