The Basith are Hindu caste found in

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Kashmir, the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administere ...

. According to the 2001

Census of India The decennial Census of India has been conducted 16 times, as of 2021. While it has been undertaken every 10 years, beginning in 1872 under British Viceroy Lord Mayo, the first complete census was taken in 1881. Post 1949, it has been conducted by ...

, the caste has 18,866 members. They are also known as Vashist Rajput from 1953 as being a controversial caste most members of the community are having scheduled caste certificates but all the members don't have schduled caste certificate as they still lie in general category in some records and most prominent members of this caste claim forgery with their caste records and support their claim by the constitution of India if most of them are basith in revenue records and getting benefits of all kinds then why some of them are not getting those benefits. Moreover, some members of the community are of the opinion who has changed their revenue record to vashist rajput as the change in caste can only be done by honble president of India but in this case no such order by honble president of India has been passed so most of the times they claim their fundamental rights to be infringed.

History

According to tradition, the Vashist Rajput immigrated from

Chamba Chamba may refer to: People *Gilberto Chamba (born 1961), Ecuadorian serial killer * Jessica Chamba (born 1981), European activist Places Ghana * Chamba, a town in the Northern Region India * Chamba (Vidhan Sabha constituency), Himachal Pradesh ...

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peak ...

in the nineteenth century to Poonch. The Vashist Rajput speak Pahari and their customs are similar to neighboring communities, such as the

Domaal The Domaal Rajputs are a Muslim Rajput tribe found principally in the Poonch and Rajouri districts in the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir, India and in Mirpur, Kotli, Nakyal and Chikar areas of Azad Kashmir.''People of India: Jammu & Kashmi ...

. They are a Hindu community in a predominantly Muslim region.They were traditionally cultivators. The Vashist Rajput maintain distance from neighboring Muslim communities with strict restrictions on eating together.

Culture

The basith population is small and has no political representation. Many are farmers and the majority are poor. They worship

Ganga The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...

, the Gita, and Gow Mata . Sub-castes of basiths includes Telchubs, Chasyals, Charnals, Sukhwals, Singhals, Sanwals and Malhotra. The basith are

endogamous Endogamy is the practice of marrying within a specific social group, religious denomination, caste, or ethnic group, rejecting those from others as unsuitable for marriage or other close personal relationships. Endogamy is common in many cultu ...

and practice clan

exogamy Exogamy is the social norm of 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 two groups ...

. Their clans are called ''zaats'' and include the Chatriyal, Chimal, Raine, Sangwal;kangwal;bangwal;chasyal; Salotre, each of which have their own origin legend. A number of ''zaats'' then form a ''

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 gotra ...

''. For example, the Chatriyal belong to the Changin ''gotra, the Charnals have Bharadwaj gotra'' and the Chimal belong to the Pardwari ''gotra''. Like many

North India North India is a loosely defined region consisting of the northern part of India. The dominant geographical features of North India are the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, which demarcate the region from the Tibetan Plateau and Centr ...

n Hindus, the basith community have an informal caste council called a ''biradari panchayat''. Each of their settlements have this informal body, headed by a ''

chaudhary Chaudhary (or Choudhary ; also: Chaudhuri, Choudhuary, Chowdhury) is a hereditary title mainly in South Asia, mainly used by Jats, Gurjar and Bhumihars. Chowdhury ( Hindi: चौधरी/चौधुरी/चौधारी; Urdu: چودھ ...

''. The ''panchayat'' deals with all intra-community disputes, as well as those who breach community norms. Marriages with other communities also takes place

excommunicated Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...

. The basith are Hindu of the

Satnami The Sadh, also known as Satnami, is a minority Bhakti-era Hindu sect in India. It is a monotheistic Hindu sect where its followers believe in a formless and supreme god called Satnam Satpurush. According to M. A. Sherring, he may have been ...

sect. They worship the Hindi pantheon as well as their clan gods and goddesses, called ''kul-devitas''.

References

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