Garasia
Garasia (गरासिया) Garasiya (गरासिया) Girasiya (गिरासिया) is a Gotra of Jats found in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat.
History
In Gujarat state there are four ethnic groups of people who came to inhabit this land at different points of time and now form the majority here. These are Jats, Ahirs, Rabaris and Harijans. The Jats came from a place in Iran called Half (to be known latter as Jat) and they were herders by occupation. Around five hundred years ago they came to Kutch and Sind in search of new grazing pastures and settled there. Those who joined agriculture called themselves Garasia Jats and those who continued their ancestral occupation were known as Dhanetah Jats, and those who chose to study the Koran became Fakirani Jats. [1]
Kachchha-desa in Gujarat is also known Jartra–desa, the modern Kutch.[2]
The Jats of Kutch are a cattle breeding nomadic Muslim community. They are one of a number of communities of Maldhari pastoral nomads found in the Banni Grasslands Reserve region of Kutch.[3]
The Jat, or Jath in Kutch claim descent from Hindu Jats of the Indus delta region of Sindh, in Pakistan, where a good members of the tribe still reside. Those who remain in Sindh are referred to as the Sindhi Jats. From there, they moved into the Bani region in search of pastorage. With the partition of India, the Jats of Kutch have lost all contact with their kinsmen in Sindh. They appear to be distinct from the Jat community of North India and Pakistan.[4]
The Jats are a Maldhari cattle hearding group, and are mainly distributed in Kutch and Saurashtra region. They have three territorial divisions, the Halai Jat (found in Jamnagar and Porbandar), Verai Jat (Banaskantha District), and Kutchi Jat (found in Kutch District). The Kutchi are further subdivided into the Dhanetah, Girasia and Fakirani, the latter consider themselves superior to the other two, and are strictly endogenous. They are further divided into clans like the Badajang, Podani, Aamar, Vangayi, while the Girasia are divided into the Mudrag, Bhallad and Hallayi. All these clans, except the Fakirani, enjoy equal status. The Saurashtra Jat, known as Malaks, maintain a system of Gotra exogamy.[5]
Distribution in Uttar Pradesh
Villages in Agra district
Distribution in Gujarat
Distribution in Anand District
Bhadran or Bhādran is a village in Anand district of Gujarat. Garasia and Patidar communities are the main population.
Notable persons
- Banay Singh Garasia - D G M (Finance) BSNL Agra.
External links
References
- ↑ Tour my India
- ↑ History and culture of the Indian peoples, - Vol. IV- The age of Imperial Kanauj, pp 103
- ↑ People of India Gujarat Volume XXI Part Two edited by R.B Lal, P.B.S.V Padmanabham, G Krishnan & M Azeez Mohideen pages 528-533
- ↑ People of India Gujarat Volume XXI Part Two edited by R.B Lal, P.B.S.V Padmanabham, G Krishnan & M Azeez Mohideen pages 528-533
- ↑ People of India Gujarat Volume XXI Part Two edited by R.B Lal, P.B.S.V Padmanabham, G Krishnan & M Azeez Mohideen pages 528-533
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