The Bangali may refer to a Scheduled Caste found in northern India. They are one of the many nomadic groupings found in India, and have customs similar to other nomadic communities such as the Kanjar.People of India Uttar Pradesh Volume XLII Part One edited by A Hasan & J C Das pages 164 to 167 Manohar PublicationsPeople of India Punjab Volume XXXVII edited by I.J.S Bansal and Swaran Singh pages 66 to 70 Manohar Publications

Origin

The Bangali are semi-nomadic tribal grouping, who are said to by origin Sansiya. They are said to have separated from the Sansi parent group when they took up snake charming. The majority of the Bangali are now settled, occupying their settlements of reed huts at the edge of established villages. They are found mainly in the Doab region, with two clusters, one in Muzaffarnagar District in the villages of Bhokaredhi, Kamhera, and Kithora and the other in Bijnor District, in the villages of Raoli and Seemla Fatehpur. The Bangali speak their own dialect, which contains substantial Punjabi loanwords. In

Haryana Haryana () is a States and union territories of India, state located in the northern part of India. It was carved out after the linguistic reorganisation of Punjab, India, Punjab on 1 November 1966. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with les ...

, traditions point to the fact that they originally belonged to the Deha community, who took begging and snake charming, and as such were ostracised from the parent community. The Bangali speak Haryanvi, and live in multi-caste villages.People of India Haryana Volume XXIII edited by M.L Sharma and A.K Bhatia pages 38 to 42 Manohar Publications In

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

, the Bangali are also known as Sapela, Sipado or Jogi, and are traditionally associated with snake charming. Like many other nomadic peripatetic castes, the Bangali claim a

Rajput Rājpūt (, from Sanskrit ''rājaputra'' meaning "son of a king"), also called Thākur (), is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating fro ...

origin. In this new environment, the community took to living by hunting and trapping. Denzil Ibbetson considered the Bangali simply to be a sub-group of the Kanjar community. In Punjab, they are found mainly in the districts of

Jalandhar Jalandhar () is a city in the state of Punjab, India, Punjab in India. With a considerable population, it ranks as the List of cities in Punjab and Chandigarh by population, third most-populous city in the state and is the largest city in the ...

and

Gurdaspur Gurdaspur is a city in the Majha region of the Indian state of Punjab, between the rivers Beas and Ravi. It houses the administrative headquarters of Gurdaspur District and is in the geographical centre of the district, which shares a bord ...

, and they speak Punjabi.

Present circumstances

The Bangali are strictly endogamous community, but have no system of

gotra In Hindu culture, the term gotra (Sanskrit: गोत्र) is considered to be equivalent to lineage. It broadly refers to people who are descendants in an unbroken male line from a common male ancestor or patriline. Generally, the gotr ...

s. They are generally divided into the Hindu and Muslim groupings, with no intermarriage between the two groupings. The Hindu Bangali trace their ancestry to a Shivai Ram Rajput, who is said to have immigrated from

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

, while the Muslim Bangali claim to be Lodhi Pathans, who are said to have come from Bengal. Most Hindu Bangalis were followers of Sakhi Sarwar, however most are now orthodox Hindu. The Muslim branch are

Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...

Muslims. The Bangali are a landless community, and are involved mainly in the rearing of donkeys, ox, fox, buffalos and goats, as well as collecting roots and other minor forest products. A great number are now employed as agricultural labourers. Each of their settlement contains an informal

caste A caste is a Essentialism, fixed social group into which an individual is born within a particular system of social stratification: a caste system. Within such a system, individuals are expected to marry exclusively within the same caste (en ...

council, known as a biradari panchayat. The panchayat acts as instrument of social control, dealing with issues such as divorce and adultery.

Haryana

In Haryana, the Bangali are entirely Hindu, and have a village deity called Khera. They are further divided into clans, called gotras. Their main clans are the Gandhila, Guar, Bhambi, Panjpasia, Marar, Ladar and Kalandar. Most Bangali are still employed as snake charmers, with a small minority who are now daily wage labourers.

Punjab, India

The Bangali of Punjab are entirely Hindu, and worship Guru Gorakh Nath and Guga Pir. Although marriages take place within the community, occasionally there is intermarriage with the Gandhila and Dhea castes. They also practice clan and camp

exogamy Exogamy is the social norm of mating or marrying outside one's social group. The group defines the scope and extent of exogamy, and the rules and enforcement mechanisms that ensure its continuity. One form of exogamy is dual exogamy, in which tw ...

, although there is no system of hypergamy, as all their clans are of equal status. Their main clans are the Mehra, Chauhan, Kira, Aag and Potry. The Bangali live in small groups of ten to thirteen families and move in search of food from place to place. Their settlements consist of huts, which can accommodate a small family. Each Bangali camp consists of people who closely related. The

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

has begun a policy of settling the Bangali, and a settlement has been at Dugri. Most Bangali are still involved snake charming, with a small number now employed as agricultural labourers. The community is extremely marginalised both socially and economically, and as such has been granted Scheduled Caste status.

Uttar Pradesh

The 2011 Census of India for Uttar Pradesh showed the Bangali population as 38,035.

References

{{reflist Dalit communities Ethnic groups in India Scheduled Castes of Uttar Pradesh Scheduled Castes of Haryana Scheduled Castes of Punjab Scheduled Castes of Himachal Pradesh Scheduled Castes of Uttarakhand