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Mirasi
میراثی | |
|---|---|
| Regions with significant populations | |
| • India • Pakistan | |
| Languages | |
| • Urdu • Punjabi • Rajasthani | |
| Religion | |
| • Islam • Sikhism• Hinduism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| • Naqqal • Shaikh |
The Mirasi (Urdu: میراثی) (romanized: Mīrāsī) are the genealogists and traditional singers and dancers of low caste natives. The word mirasi is derived from the Arabic word (ميراث) mīrās, which means inheritance or sometimes heritage.
India[edit]
They are also known as Pakhwaji due to the pakhwaj, a timbrel that they play. The Mirasi maintained pedigrees of their patrons and were often involved in negotiations of marriages. As genealogists, the Mirasi were also styled Nasab khwan, or the keepers of the family tree.[1][2]
Major sub-groups[edit]
The Mir Mirasi are said to have got their name on account of the fact that they were the wealthy inhabitants of the city of Ludhiana. They had a lot of villages Their sub-division, the Dhadi are Sikh, and their heredity occupation was singing praises of Sikh heroes.[1]
Recently, there have been mass conversions of Mirasi Muslim communities to Hinduism in Indian state of Haryana and Rajasthan due to Preachings and efforts of various Hindu organisations.[3]
Pakistani Punjab[edit]
In Pakistani Punjab, the Mirasi are now mainly a community who participate in aashura activities recites nohas (mersaya), also they are good entertainers having provided many of the country's singers theater artists. Most Mirasi are now bilingual, speaking both Urdu and Punjabi. They are found throughout Punjab, and most villages contain their settlements.[4] Some 'mirasis' in Northern and Central Punjab now call themselves as 'Khans'.[5]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Taralocana Siṅgha Randhāwā (January 1996). The Last Wanderers: Nomads and Gypsies of India. Mapin Pub. p. 166. ISBN 978-0-944142-35-6.
- ↑ Mirasi at page 142 in The last wanderers : nomads and gypsies of India ISBN 0-944142-35-4
- ↑ https://www.news18.com/news/india/40-muslim-families-embrace-hinduism-cremate-80-year-old-woman-in-haryanas-hisar-district-2613459.html
- ↑ Fouzia Saeed (2002). Taboo!: The Hidden Culture of a Red Light Area. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-579796-1.
- ↑ Dr M Riyasat Husain 'Caste and clan in Northern and Central Punjab and some patterns of shift: An analysis' in Journal of South Asian Study Vol 2, No 8, 1992, Lahore, pp 21-46
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- "Related ethnic groups" needing confirmation
- Articles using infobox ethnic group with image parameters
- Dom in India
- Dom in Pakistan
- Social groups of Uttar Pradesh
- Punjabi tribes
- Muslim communities of India
- Social groups of Haryana
- Social groups of Punjab, India
- Social groups of Punjab, Pakistan
- Social groups of Delhi
- Social groups of Rajasthan
- Muslim communities of Uttar Pradesh
- Muslim communities of Bihar
- Social groups of Bihar
- Muslim communities of Rajasthan