Sunar
Encyclopedia
Sunar is a Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

 caste
Caste system in India
The Indian caste system is a system of social stratification and social restriction in India in which communities are defined by thousands of endogamous hereditary groups called Jātis....

 in India and Nepal referring to the community of people who work as goldsmith
Goldsmith
A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Since ancient times the techniques of a goldsmith have evolved very little in order to produce items of jewelry of quality standards. In modern times actual goldsmiths are rare...

s. Though the community is primarily Hindu, some members in the states of Haryana
Haryana
Haryana is a state in India. Historically, it has been a part of the Kuru region in North India. The name Haryana is found mentioned in the 12th century AD by the apabhramsha writer Vibudh Shridhar . It is bordered by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, and by Rajasthan to the west and south...

 and Punjab
Punjab (India)
Punjab ) is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani province of Punjab to the...

 are Sikh
Sikh
A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...

.

Though they are the traditional goldsmiths of North India
North India
North India, known natively as Uttar Bhārat or Shumālī Hindustān , is a loosely defined region in the northern part of India. The exact meaning of the term varies by usage...

, now many are also landowners, involved in cultivation, as well as selling grocery. But their main occupation remains the manufacture and selling of jewellery. Members of the community are also involved in pawnbroking and moneylending.

This caste is found in varying categories within the caste system of India such as Mair Rajput, Taunk
Taunk
Tank or Taunk or Taank or Taunque is a name of Rajput clans Famous British historian Crooke maintains, the Tak Rajputs claim that they are Yaduvanshis and had martial relations with Yadavas princess of Jaisalmer.The community is distributed in the districts of Jodhpur , Udaipur and Tonk., Kutch,...

 Rajput, lower reserved backwards castes, other upper Khatri
Khatri
Khatri is a caste from the northern Indian subcontinent. Khatris in India are mostly from Punjab, region but later they migrated to regions like Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Jammu, Uttarkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Balochistan, Sindh and Khyber...

 descents and other castes.



The two primary tribes of goldsmiths in present-day Punjab are the Mairs and the Tanks. The two tribes have several gothras in common so it is possible that movement between the two tribes or simultaneous entry by gothras into both tribes has historically taken place. Currently, Mairs claim to have a higher status than the Tanks. This was true historically also— Mairs did not accept water from Tanks.

The Tanks had claimed Kshatriya descent in 1911 but later did not pursue that claim. It may be that the Tank goldsmiths are descendants of the ancient Takshac, or Taunk Rajput tribe. The Tanks worship the snake as an emblem of Takshac, the founder of the Nagvanshi, or Tank family.

In Haryana, the Sonar are often known as Verma, there common surname. They are further divided into two segments, the Hindu Sonar and the Sikh Sonar. These two groupings are further divided into the Baari Sunar and the Shudre Sonar. All these groups are strictly endogamous, and practice clan exogamy. These divisions are further divided into clans, known as gotra
Gotra
In the Hindu society, the term Gotra broadly refers to people who are descendants in an unbroken male line from a common male ancestor. Panini defines gotra for grammatical purposes as apatyam pautraprabhrti gotram , which means "the word gotra denotes the progeny beginning with the son's son"...

s. There are said to be fifty gotras with in the Sonar community. Some of them are the Gund, Bhole, Kuhal, Vaid, Mai, Ratti, Bhulan, Odhera, Naali, Deo, Masoun, Vatash, Kushal, Kashyap, Dhir and Turar. The Sonar are still involved in their traditional occupation, that is being goldsmiths. There is however a steady process in taking up other occupations, and the community in Haryana as whole is fairly successful, having produced several professionals.

Factions

The Sunars are divided into a large number of territorial and non-territorial groupings called alla. Some of the major alla are the Santanpuriya, Dekhalantiya, Mundaha, Bhigahiya, Samuhiya, Chilliya, Katiliya Kalidarwa, Naubastwal, Berehele, Gedehiya, Shahpuriya, Mathureke Paliya and Nimkheriya. Each lineage is associated with a particular area. To which its ancestors belonged to. The Sunar use Soni, Seth, Swarnkar, Shah,Bhutani, Sonik, Bagga, Babbar, Verma etc. as their surnames Some of them from Brahmin
Brahmin
Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...

 varna and others are Kshatriyas. After Independence there are so many other castes doing this business with out any ban. In Gujarat and Rajasthan
Rajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...

, the community is also known as Soni
Soni
Soni is a Suryavanshi Khatri family surname originating from the Punjab region of the Indian Subcontinent.The Sonis belong to the kshatriya varna ....

.

Sub-groups

  • Rastogi
    Rastogi
    The Rastogi are a Hindu caste found in North India. They are concentrated in the districts of Varanasi, Farrukhabad, Kanpur, Meerut, Ghaziabad, Moradabad, Bareilly and Lukhnow in Uttar Pradesh and also in many parts of Delhi, Kolkata, Rajasthan, Haryana....

     Swarankar: It has mainly the gotras as are Brahmins: Kashyap, Kaushal, Bhardwaj, Sandilya, Vatsa. They are mainly situated in Uttar Pradesh.
  • Mair Kshatriya Sunar
    Mair Kshatriya Sunar
    Mair Sunar are a Sunar sub-caste social group in India. They are Hindu by religion and comprise of the warrior race of Rajputs who had originally migrated from Rajasthan with the movement of the armies that brought Rajput rule over Punjab and had settled down in Punjab generations ago...

    : From the warrior race of Rajputs who had originally migrated from Rajasthan.
  • Kshatriya Sunar: People of this caste believe that they are Kshatriya descendants of Suryavanshi (Solar Dynasty) king Ambarish.
  • Ayodhyawasi or Purabiya Sunar: These people believe they are a subcaste of Vaishya
    Vaishya
    Vaishya is one of the four varnas of the Hindu social order. According to Vedic tradition, this caste primarily comprises merchants, farmers, cattle-herders and artisans.-Duties of Vaishyas:...

     (businessmen).
  • Kanujia Sunar: Sunars of Bihar, Jharkhand and also settled in Indian states such as Uttar Pradesh
    Uttar Pradesh
    Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...

    , West Bengal
    West Bengal
    West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...

    , Chhattisgarh
    Chhattisgarh
    Chhattisgarh is a state in Central India, formed when the 16 Chhattisgarhi-speaking South-Eastern districts of Madhya Pradesh gained separate statehood on 1 November 2000....

    , Orissa
    Orissa
    Orissa , officially Odisha since Nov 2011, is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of the ancient nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka in 261 BC. The modern state of Orissa was established on 1 April...

     who trace their origin to the ancient town of Kannauj
    Kannauj
    Kannauj , also spelt Kanauj, is a city, administrative headquarters and a municipal board or Nagar Palika Parishad in Kannauj district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city's name is traditionally derived from the term Kanyakubja . Kannauj is an ancient city, in earlier times the capital...

    . They are divided into eighty four moolas which helps in identifying parental lines and to avoid marriages in the same moola.
  • Mahawar or Mahaur Sunar:
  • Khudabadi Sindhi Swarankar
    Khudabadi Sindhi Swarankar
    The Khudabadi Sindhi Swarankar is a Kshatriya Hindu cultural group of India, historically associated with the city of Khudabad as well as city of Hyderabad of Sindh region of modern Pakistan prior to the Partition of India...

    :
    Historically associated with the Sindh
    Sindh
    Sindh historically referred to as Ba'ab-ul-Islam , is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. It is also locally known as the "Mehran". Though Muslims form the largest religious group in Sindh, a good number of Christians, Zoroastrians and Hindus can...

     region of modern Pakistan prior to the Partition of India, and the city of Khudabad
    Khudabad
    Khudabad is a city in Dadu District, Sindh, Pakistan. It is located at 26°39'0N 67°45'0E with an altitude of 31 metres and lies to the south of the district capital Dadu.-History:...

     as well as city of Hyderabad.

See also

  • Mair Rajputs
    Mair Rajputs
    The Mair are a Sunar caste found in northern India, which identify themselves as Mair Rajputs.Though they are the traditional goldsmiths of North India, now many are also landowners, involved in cultivation, as well as selling grocery. But their main occupation remains the manufacture and selling...

  • Khudabadi Sindhi Swarankar
    Khudabadi Sindhi Swarankar
    The Khudabadi Sindhi Swarankar is a Kshatriya Hindu cultural group of India, historically associated with the city of Khudabad as well as city of Hyderabad of Sindh region of modern Pakistan prior to the Partition of India...

  • Khudabad
    Khudabad
    Khudabad is a city in Dadu District, Sindh, Pakistan. It is located at 26°39'0N 67°45'0E with an altitude of 31 metres and lies to the south of the district capital Dadu.-History:...

  • Khudabadi script
    Khudabadi script
    Khudabadi script is a script used for writing the Sindhi language.- History :The Khudabadi script was invented by the Khudabadi Sindhi Swarankar community...

  • Panchayati Hall
    Panchayati Hall
    Panchayati Hall is a Hindu temple devoted to the goddess Durga and Lord Shiva, located in Jaipur, India.-Post Partition:After Partition of India , most of the Khudabadi Sindhi Swarankar families migrated from Pakistan and settled in Jaipur, India. In early 1948, Shri Jhamandas F...


External sources

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