Unlike the comparatively homogeneous nature of Kashmir Valley across the Line of Control (LoC) under Indian administration, the Pakistani-administered Kashmir or Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) is vastly heterogeneous, inhabiting scores of ethnicities, locally known as biradaris. Then we have people who stick to their own castes i.e. I often heard people making comments such as apni baradri ne log meaning people of our own caste. During Ancient Kashmir, the inhabitants were mostly Hindus followed by Buddhist and Jains but with the influx of Muslim divines from the neighbouring countries, large number of Hindus got converted to Islam except the Brahmans. What propels him to stick his loyalties to a particular candidate is that he belongs to his Khawaja baradari or community. Watal and Sheikh are in fact abusive slurs in the Valley. Saturday, 11 June 2022 . Like the Dalits of mainland India, Watals are an endogamous social group in Kashmir associated with polluting jobs such as skinning animals, scavenging, and sweeping. lol Butt's as you said are people of kashmiri decent. Some castes are divided further into groups and even those groups are at times divided even further. "He knows his biradari will support him in any case," he said. People are stereotyped, judged, ignored, disrespected, welcomed, loved, married, and all these actions are somewhat based on caste. I remember on other websites that Kashmiris Butts are actually brahmin or pandit converts, so would you say butts and khawajas belong to two different castes? However, this kind of mentality is common in Azad Kashmir and it seems like this is the case amongst even educated and religious families. Khawaja - Wikipedia khawaja caste in kashmir. I read somewhere on the web that butts and Bhatts are not the same. These cookies cannot be disabled via the "Cookie Control Panel". Ironically, the EWS category may do more harm than help. A poor city tucked beneath a rich city. There are participants and non-participants. There is hardly any understanding of local issues. There is often confusion around the exact cost of renewing a NICOP ID card so we thought we would clarify this matter. Subscribe To Our Daily Newsletter And Get News Delivered Straight To Your Inbox. Lockdowns and curfews were widely held as the greatest hurdles to economic betterment and a better future for children. Percentage of all salaries earned by bearers: Surnames are taken as the first part of an person's inherited family name, caste, clan name or in some cases patronymic, Descriptions may contain details on the name's etymology, origin, ethnicity and history. Some do Fatiha, grave worship and other biidat acts. Dadyal is in the Mirpur District, Azad Kashmir - Pakistan. That makes sense considering my family history, my ancestors were rice sellers in kashmir while my grand fathers and their fathers were businessmen in Punjab. The essential premise borrowed here to understand caste in Kashmir is that of social exclusion, which the low-caste groups face. This page is not available in other languages. I'm just curious about my heritage, even Iqbal was proud of his heritage. View the highest/lowest earning families in The United States. Americas industrial base is struggling with supply chains and a shortage of workers, The future of air warfare: Bayraktar KIZILELMA, (SUPERPOWER) Aerial footage from the Elephant Walk at Sheppard AFB, Iranian military engine development news and updates, Turkish Air Force - Weapons and Capabilities ( News and Updates ). 2023 The Kashmir Monitor - All rights reserved. Caste in Kashmiri society mostly comes to surface at social functions like marriages. Adnan Bhat wrote in The Wire: Sheikh is an interesting caste here. He, however, acknowledged, the caste system is a powerful factor to decide loyalties and voters' preferences in AJK politics. It is better if there is war with China or with Pakistan. "These politicians know the power of their respective biradaris. In Punjab, the local Punjabis use Butt as a collective terminology, while Butt is a common surname used mainly in the Kashmir Valley. Indian Pilots Supporting Anti-Turkey Patch in Greece. For Caste Must Be In Good Humour: The Story Of A Dalit Comedian. Top castes in Pakistan according to population percentage Iam from azad kAshmir As I told you that khawaja and Butt's are different clans ( talking about present situation ) These two are dominant clans here showing no similarities .. 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A few persons even told me that Watals engage in thievery and prostitution. Among the persons I interviewed prior to the scrapping of Article 370, I neither encountered an aspiration for Azaadi, nor unequivocal support for India. However, there seems to have been a shift since the abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of the state into two Union Territories (UT) followed by an unprecedented lockdown (which was followed by another interminable COVID-19-induced lockdown). Dr Fayyaz Ahmed, Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Kashmir, explains the root of caste in the Valley: Interestingly, traditional Wazwan Kashmirs famed multi-course feast predominantly consists of mutton dishes. She married a butt by caste (obviously my nana) my mom married a Dar my dad and it's a fact that my family members don't like kashmiri sheikh most of my family says them non ethnic which is something true but not in all conditions. Even on the increasingly popular social-networking site Facebook, individuals often remove their surnames and add their caste instead. Tbh its a good and informative post, i dont see anyone discussing supperiority of one over the other. The word comes from the Iranian word khwja (New Persian khje ) and translates as "master", "lord". Bangladesh: The next Singapore or the next Sri Lanka. Most saw themselves as victims of an unfortunate situation. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kashmiri_Khwaja&oldid=1068520268, This page was last edited on 28 January 2022, at 21:51. Registers a unique ID that is used to generate statistical data on how the visitor uses the website.Used by Google Analytics to throttle request rate. However, there are still certain groups of people that are stuck in the 1970s it seems, and they sometimes openly, at other times - secretly dislike people of other castes. PTI Leadership Has No Clue What Its Doing, Pakistan urges US to restore military financing, sales, Imran is a Fitna, a Terrorist, and the Biggest Impediment In the way of development: Maryam Nawaz, Pakistan : A Greater Punjab Project ? Cookie Notice Persian/Arabic word meaning 'lord' or 'master', used as a family name in the Middle East and a surname in South Asia, is also linked ethnically to Kashmir and Bengal. This mence can be eradicated either by following pure Islam or by opting modern liberal thoughts Instead, it poses a threat to bonds between people, promotes a culture of disunity and in many ways leaves us divided and consequently weakened. However, the public was in shock when Raja Noman Kamal decided to leave Raja Ali Zamans party and instead support Chaudhary Khalid Masood. In the outgoing state assembly, over a dozen lawmakers are Gujjar, the largest caste in AJK. Under Hindu rule, Brahmins were the ones who possessed knowledge but after Kashmir turned to Islam, Syeds took on that role, who now have the upper hand. Is Khawaja A Good Caste In Islamic Values + Life ? This attitude alludes to a collective mindset that is steeped in deep-rooted prejudice. For example, within the Raja caste, one of the groups is that of the Keyani's and within it you will find there are other groups, one of which is known as the Gakhar's. I began to pose questions and I then grasped that a caste system was undeniably in place. Khawaja Surname Origin, Meaning & Last Name History - Forebears We were forced out from rural outskirts of Srinagar and settled in Sialkot. Bangladesh: The next Singapore or the next Sri Lanka. Americas industrial base is struggling with supply chains and a shortage of workers, The future of air warfare: Bayraktar KIZILELMA, (SUPERPOWER) Aerial footage from the Elephant Walk at Sheppard AFB, Iranian military engine development news and updates, Turkish Air Force - Weapons and Capabilities ( News and Updates ). I recall that my Grandfather often referred to one of my Uncles as Chaudhary with great pride in his voice, as if it was a title of great significance and deserved admiration. In fact, Islam opposed the concept of a caste system altogether, as it undermined the importance attached to unity. [citation needed] They needto be enlightened about the actual teachings of Islam. Let people learn what Islam has proclaimed Tawheed, that is oneness of Allah (SWT) and oneness of humanity. The union territory of Jammu & Kashmir is uniquely placed in India as it is home to diverse communities of Dalits, Tribals and Pasmanda Caste Muslims from Hindu, Muslim, Sikh & Christian communities, who have so far been facing caste and racial discrimination in different parts of Jammu & Kashmir, separately without putting together a united . Spiritually, marriages are believed to be settled in heavens and solemnized on earth. Khawaja is most commonly occurring in Pakistan, where it is borne by 30,049 people, or 1 in 5,945. Dumb question, i know but asking for a friend. As the election fever picks up in the region, which is electing regional assembly on July 25, the loyalties to their own biradaris reign supreme in the minds of voters. (25/27) 28 Apr 2023 20:20:46 JavaScript is disabled. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for them. If this title is used as a prefix, it indicates the person has descended from Brahmin landlords like the National Conference party leader Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah. In Kashmir, Caste Is Very Much Alive. The Condition Of The - TheQuint Fair enough, caste can be used to categorise people into say for example different professions e.g. someone mentioned that castes matter a lot in their tradition especially when its time for marriage between muslim families in Pakistan. "Khwaja" redirects here. RT @DisinfoLab: An analysis of HfHR's social media shows that it has been seemingly active on all fault-lines including Caste, Kashmir, Islamophobia, and even USCIRF to target India.