The Ramdasia were historically a

Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

sub-group that originated from the

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 ...

of leather tanners and shoemakers known as

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 ...

Terminology

Ramdasia is a term used in general for Sikhs whose ancestors belonged to

caste. Originally they are followers of

Guru Ravidass Ravidas or Raidas was an Indian mystic poet-saint of the Bhakti movement during the 15th to 16th century CE. Venerated as a ''guru'' (spiritual teacher) in the modern regions of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya P ...

who belonged to Chamar community. Both the words Ramdasia and Ravidasia are also used inter changeably while these also have regional context. In Puadh and

Malwa Malwa () is a historical region, historical list of regions in India, region of west-central India occupying a plateau of volcanic origin. Geologically, the Malwa Plateau generally refers to the volcanic plateau, volcanic upland north of the ...

, largely Ramdasia is used while Ravidasia is predominantly used in Doaba. List of Scheduled Castes in Punjab

Ramdasia Sikhs are enlisted as scheduled caste by Department of Social justice, Empowerment and Minorities- Government of Punjab. On Department's list of Scheduled Caste, this caste is listed on serial number 9 along with other Chamar caste synonymous such as Ravidasia, Jatav and so on.

Military service

British Raj

During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

the single-battalion regiments of the Mazhabi and Ramdasia Sikh Pioneers – the 23rd, 32nd and 34th Pioneer Regiments – were expanded to comprise three battalions each. These units served in Egypt, Europe,

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

and

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

and performed well. The 1/34th Sikh Pioneers were awarded the title of "Royal". The Ramdasia Sikhs, together with the Majhabi Sikhs, were recruited to the

Sikh Light Infantry The Sikh Light Infantry is a light infantry regiment of the Indian Army. The Sikh Light Infantry has always been a "single class" regiment in the parlance adopted from the British Raj era. This means that it recruits only from one demographic, which in this instance means the Ramdasia Sikhs and Mazhabi Sikhs. Indeed, the SLI was initially called the Mazhabi & Ramdasia Sikh Regiment. Despite unwillingness among some policy makers, the British had to abandon their traditional distinction between martial and non-martial races during the Second World War. This was necessitated by the need for more recruits than could be supplied by those communities upon which they usually relied, such as the Jat Sikhs,

Dogra __NOTOC__ Dogras, or Dogra people, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic community of Pakistan and India. Dogra, Dogras or Dogri may also refer to: * Dogra dynasty, a Hindu dynasty of Kashmir * Dogri language, a language spoken by Dogras and other ethnic commu ...

s and Punjabi Musalmans. In addition, indiscipline among Jat Sikhs caused by their concerns regarding a post-war division of India was another reason to prefer recruitment of new classes. While recruitment from the pre-war martial classes was still pre-eminent, that from newly recognised classes such as the Ramdasias and Mazhabis became significant.

After independence of India

When India became independent in 1947, the British Indian Army became the Indian Army. This, like its predecessor, relies on the martial race theory for much of its recruitment and thus there is a grossly disproportionate number of Sikhs within its ranks. The Ramdasias Sikhs and Mazhabi Sikhs continued their service with the SLI in the new army. The SLI has served in almost all of the post-1947 conflicts involving India, including the wars with Pakistan in

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

and

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

, the Hyderabad Police Action of 1948 and the Chinese aggression in 1962. It has also served in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, where the 1st, 7th, 13th and 14th Battalions have contributed towards peace-keeping.

Hindu Ramdasia

This sect of Ramdasia having faith in

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

and they mostly residing in

Pathankot Pathankot () is a city and the district headquarters of the Pathankot district in Punjab, India. Pathankot is the sixth most populous city of Punjab, after Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala and Bathinda. Its local government is a municipal ...

Jammu Jammu () is a city in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute ...

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; Sanskrit: ''himācāl prādes;'' "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a States and union territories of India, state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen Indian Himalayan ...

and

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 ...

. Hindu Ramdasia migrated from Pakistan and back in

Sialkot Sialkot (Punjabi language, Punjabi, ) is a city located in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the capital of the Sialkot District and the List of most populous cities in Pakistan, 12th most populous city in Pakistan. The boundaries of Sialkot are joined ...

, these Ramdasia were involved in Leather/Sports Goods Business. After migrating in Jalandhar they established their own Tanneries and Sports Goods manufacturing Units. For This purpose

Government of Punjab, India The Government of Punjab or locally as the State Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Punjab, India and its 23 districts. It consists of an executive, led by the Governor of Punjab, a judiciary and a legislati ...

helped them by providing liberal loans and allotting sites for their Factories Hindu Ramdasia's are staunch follower of

and they follow Dera Swami Gurdeep Giri ji, Pathankot. According to Department of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India Ramdasias are listed as

Caste on serial number 4 and 14 for Jammu and Kashmir and

respectively.

Demographics

Census, there were 3,095,324 Chamars in the Indian state of Punjab, of whom 1,017,192 declared themselves as

Ad-Dharmi The Ad-Dharmi is a sect in the state of Punjab, in India and is an alternative term for the Ravidasia religion, meaning Primal Spiritual Path. The term Ad-Dharm came into popular usage in the early part of the 20th century, when many follower ...

Chamar and 2,078,132 declared themselves as Ramdasia/Ravidasia Chamar. According to this Census, during the same year the population of Sikh Ramdasia/Ravidasia and Hindu Ramdasia/Ravidasia in Punjab was 1,443,079 and 629,157 respectively. Most of the Hindu Ramdasias (Counted along with other Chamar Caste Synonyms such as Ravidasia and Jatav) living in the Jammu and Kashmir,

and

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 ...

. , there were 212,032 Ramdasia in Jammu and Kashmir, comprising 209,512 Hindus, 2,486 Sikhs and 34 Buddhists, 2,429,137 lived in Haryana (2,390,403 Hindu, 37,191 Sikh and 1,543 Buddhists) and 458,838 resided in Himachal Pradesh (453,871 Hindu, 4,887 Sikh and 80 Buddhists)

Ramdasia Diaspora and Guru Ravidass Temples and Gurdwaras

Ramdasia Sikh diaspora alongside Ravidassia from doaba emigrated from India and Pakistan is significant. Emigration from the Punjab began before and after the 19th century, with many Ravidasia/Ramdasia Sikhs settling in Europe, and also a large Ravidasia/Ramdasia Sikhs population in North America mainly in United States and the Canada.https://ambedkartimes.com/AT-25-June%2028,%202023.pdf There is sizeable population of Ravidasia/Ramdasia Sikhs in Oceania as well. Shri Guru Ravidass Temple in the UK

Fiji

* Guru Ravidass Gurdwara (Nasinu Sikh Temple), Nasinu (Established in 1939)

New Zealand

* Guru Ravidass Sikh Temple, Bombay Hills, Auckland (Established in 1991) * Guru Ravidas Temple, Hastings (Established in 2007) * Gurdwara Begampura Sikh Temple, Papakura (Established in 2008)

Australia

* Guru Ravidas Gurdwara, Campbellfield, Melbourne (Established in 1996)

England

* Shri Guru Ravidas Bhavan, Birmingham * Shri Guru Ravidass Temple, Southall * Shri Guru Ravidass Community Centre, Handsworth * Shri Guru Ravidass Temple, Wolverhampton * Shri Guru Ravidass Community Centre, Wolverhampton * Shri Guru Ravidas Temple - Coventry * Shri Guru Ravidass Community Centre, Coventry * Shri Guru Ravidass Temple, Hockley * Shri Guru Ravidas Temple - Foleshill * Shri Guru Ravidass Temple, Rebecca Street, Bradford *Gurdwara Shri Guru Ravidass Maharaj Ji, Thornbury Street, Bradford * Shri Guru Ravidass Gurdwara - Bedford * Shri Guru Ravidass Temple - Darlaston * Guru Ravidass Sabha Community Centre, Derby * Shri Guru Ravidass Sikh Temple - Derby * Shri Guru Ravidass Sikh Temple, Leicester * Shri Guru Ravidass Temple - Willenhall * Shri Guru Ravidass Temple - Walsall * Shri Guru Ravidass Gurdwara - Erith Kent * Shri Guru Ravidass Gurdwara and Community Centre- Hitchin * Shri Guru Ravidass Gurdwara- Newham, London * Guru Ravidass Sabha, Northampton * Dera Baba Gobind Dass, Guru Ravidass Sabha, Bilston * Shri Guru Ravidass Gurdwara - Gravesend * Shri Guru Ravi Dass Sabha - Letchworth * Shri Guru Ravidass Bhavan - Luton * Shri Guru Ravidass Gurdwara- Strood, Medway * Shri Guru Ravidass Gurdwara - Southampton * Shri Guru Ravidass Temple, Glasgow * Shri Guru Ravidass Mission Temple, London

United States

* Guru Ravidass Sikh Temple, Pittsburg, California * Guru Ravidass Sikh Temple, Fresno * Guru Ravidass Sikh Temple, Rio linda * Guru Ravidass Sikh Temple, Union City * Guru Ravidass Sikh Temple, Yuba City * Guru Ravidass Gurdwara, Selma * Guru Ravidass Sikh Temple, Houston * Guru Ravidass Sikh Temple, New York * Guru Ravidass Sabha, DFW, Texas

Canada

* Guru Ravidass Gurdwara, Burlington * Guru Ravidass Sabha, Brampton * Guru Ravidas Temple, Ariss, Toronto * Guru Ravidass Sikh Temple, Montreal * Guru Ravidass Sabha, Edmonton * Guru Ravidass Sikh Temple, Vancouver * Guru Ravidass Gurdwara and Community Centre, Calgary

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chamar, Ramdasia Sikh communities Social groups of Punjab, India Bhakti movement Bhakti-era Hindu sects Contemporary Sant Mat Nirguna worship traditions Sant Mat Dalit communities