The Pasi (also spelled Passi) is a

Dalit Dalit ( from meaning "broken/scattered") is a term used for untouchables and outcasts, who represented the lowest stratum of the castes in the Indian subcontinent. They are also called Harijans. Dalits were excluded from the fourfold var ...

(untouchable) community of India. Pasi refers to tapping toddy, a traditional occupation of the Pasi community. The Pasi are divided into Gujjar, Kaithwas, and Boria. They are classified as an Other Backward Class in

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

and

Telangana Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...

. They live in the northern Indian states of

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

and

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

Etymology

According to

William Crooke William Crooke (6 August 1848 – 25 October 1923) was a British orientalist and a key figure in the study and documentation of Anglo-Indian folklore. He was born in County Cork, Ireland, and was educated at Erasmus Smith's Tipperary Grammar S ...

, the word ''Pashi'' derives from the

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

word ''Pashika'', a noose used by Pasi to climb and tap toddy, a drink obtained from palm trees. The tapping of toddy is the original occupation of the Pasi community. However, like other aspirational caste groups of India, Pasis have a

myth of origin An origin myth is a type of myth that explains the beginnings of a natural or social aspect of the world. Creation myths are a type of origin myth narrating the formation of the universe. However, numerous cultures have stories that take place a ...

. They claim to originate from the sweat of Parshuram, an incarnation of

Vishnu Vishnu (; , , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation ( ...

. They claim support for this in the word ''sweat'' being derived from the

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

word ''Pasina''. It also furthers their claim of belonging to the

Kshatriya Kshatriya () (from Sanskrit ''kṣatra'', "rule, authority"; also called Rajanya) is one of the four varnas (social orders) of Hindu society and is associated with the warrior aristocracy. The Sanskrit term ''kṣatriyaḥ'' is used in the con ...

caste.

Population

The Pasi live mainly in the northern Indian states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, where their traditional occupation was that of rearing pigs. The Pasis of most of the north Indian states have been classified as Scheduled Castes by 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 ...

. In the 2001 Indian census, the Pasi were recorded as the second-largest Dalit group in Uttar Pradesh. At the time, they constituted 16 per cent of the Dalit population of the state and mostly inhabited the

Awadh Awadh (), known in British Raj historical texts as Avadh or Oudh, is a historical region in northern India and southern Nepal, now constituting the North-central portion of Uttar Pradesh. It is roughly synonymous with the ancient Kosala Regio ...

region. The 2011 Census of India for the state recorded their population as 6,522,166. This figure includes the Tarmali.

History

Ramnarayan Rawat Ramnarayan Rawat (also spelled Ram Narayan Rawat and Ram Rawat) is an Associate Professor of History at the University of Delaware and a historian of the Indian subcontinent and has also had appointments at the University of Pennsylvania (as a pos ...

states that the role of the Pasi and other Dalit communities in the Kisan Sabha movement has been understated by earlier historians. He writes that earlier scholarship held Pasi involvement to be minimal, late-arriving, and more inclined towards criminality and rioting than political activism. He notes that the involvement of Pasi and

Chamar Chamar (or Jatav) is a community classified as a Scheduled Caste under modern India's Reservation in India, system of affirmative action that originated from the group of trade persons who were involved in leather tanning and shoemaking. They a ...

s was significant from the outset. According to him, the Pasi, being land owners, had the same concerns as other

savarna ''Savarna'' is a genus of Southeast Asian cellar spiders that was first described by B. A. Huber in 2005. Species it contains ten species, found only in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand: *''Savarna bannang'' – Yao & Li, 2020 – Thailand * ...

groups, rather than being the 'alienated' pig-rearers as which they had sometimes been characterised.

Chandra Bhan Prasad Chandra Bhan Prasad (born September 1958) is an Indian journalist, writer, activist and political commentator. The Pasi have in recent times engaged in

invention of tradition Invented traditions are cultural practices that are presented or perceived as traditional, arising from people starting in the distant past, but which are relatively recent and often consciously invented by historical actors. The concept was high ...

. Badri Narayan, a social historian and cultural anthropologist, says that Of late,

Hindu Nationalists Hindu nationalism has been collectively referred to as the expression of political thought, based on the native social and cultural traditions of the Indian subcontinent. "Hindu nationalism" is a simplistic translation of . It is better descri ...

(

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS,, ) is an Indian right-wing politics, right-wing, Hindutva, Hindu nationalist volunteer paramilitary organisation. It is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar ( ...

and affiliates) have been trying to appropriate different folk-heroes of the Pasi caste as Hindu icons to mobilize the electoral prospects of the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

. Hindu nationalists have supported claims that there was a Pasi kingdom that ruled what is now Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in the 11th and 12th centuries. The rulers of this claimed state include Bijli Pasi.

Notable people

* Bijli Pasi, a king from the Pasi community. *

Madari Pasi Madari Pasi was a leader of the Indian peasant movement Eka Movement. History Eka Movement had been an offshoot of Indian National Congress, associated with Non-cooperation movement (1919–22), Non-Cooperation Movement(NCM). But when the Cong ...

was a leader of the militant peasant Eka Movement. * Ram Naresh Rawat, former member of Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly.

Etymology

Population

History

Notable people

See also

References

Further reading