Basith

The Basith are a Hindu caste found in Jammu and Kashmir. The caste has General Caste category status since 1953. According to the 2001 Census of India, the caste has 18,866 members.^[1] They are also known as Vashist Rajput.

History[]

According to tradition, the Vashist Rajput immigrated from Chamba in Himachal Pradesh in the nineteenth century to Poonch. The Vashist Rajput speak Pahari and their customs are similar to neighboring communities, such as the Domaal. They are a Hindu community in a predominantly Muslim region. The Vashist Rajput maintain distance from neighboring Muslim communities with strict restrictions on eating together.^[2]

Culture[]

The Vashist Rajput population is small and has no political representation. Many are farmers and the majority are poor. They worship Ganga, the Gita, and Gow Mata. After a death, they make chotha (a flatbread) on the fourth day and daswan on the tenth day. Sub-castes of Vashist Rajput includes Telchubs, Chasyals, Charnals, Sukhwals, Sadyals, Singhals, Sanwals and Malhotra.

The Vashist Rajput are endogamous and practice clan exogamy. Their clans are called zaats and include the Chatriyal, Chimal, Raine, and Salotre, each of which have their own origin legend. A number of zaats then form a 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 Indian Hindus, the Vashist Rajput have an informal caste council called a biradari panchayat. Each of their settlements have this informal body, headed by a chaudhary. The panchayat deals with all intra-community disputes, as well as those who breach community norms. Marriages with other communities also takes place excommunicated. The Vashist Rajput are Hindu of the Satnami sect. They worship the Hindi pantheon as well as their clan gods and goddesses, called kul-devitas.^[2]

References[]