Kathi people

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The Kathi people is a small group of ruling clans found in the peninsular Kathiawar (now called Saurashtra) region of Gujarat, western India. It was from the Kathis that the Maratha Empire and later the British Raj named the Saurashtra region as Kathiawar until it was renamed Saurashtra, as the Kathis were prominent there during the 17th-18th centuries. The Kathis practiced the partition of territory upon a rulers death, in which his territory would be carved out among his sons. However, the British encourage the practice of primogeniture, in which a ruler's territory would be completely inherited by his eldest son (or whomever was next in succession). The British favored this practice because it was easier to maintain control over a few large states rather than hundreds of small ones. However by the late 1920s, only a few Kathi rulers had adopted primogeniture.[1][2][3]

Divisions[]

There are two classes of Kathis: 1) Shakhayat and 2) Avatariya. The Shakhayat branch of Kathis includes Khachar, , Vala and others. They were the rulers. The Avatariya branch of Kathis includes Vichhiya, Dhadhal, Basiya, Kotila, Varu, Dhakhada, Jebaliya, Kamaliya,Mobh, Patgir, Manjariya and others. They possessed big villages or vast stretches of land and so they were known as Ghardhani Kathis. (i.e. landed gentry) </ref>Praduman, Khachar (Winter 2016). "The History Derived from the Songs of the Rulers of Saurashtra" (PDF). Songs of the Rulers of Saurashtra. 1: 40.</ref>

Culture[]

Kathi people are horse lovers and keep Kathiawari horses, which are known worldwide.[3][need quotation to verify][4]

Classification[]

They are currently classified as Other Backward Class in the central list of Gujarat.[5]

References[]

  1. ^ McLeod, John (1999). Sovereignty, Power, Control: Politics in the State of Western India, 1916-1947. Brill. pp. 13, 196, XI.
  2. ^ Karve, Irawati (1990). Kinship Organization in India. Munshiram Manoharlal. p. 172.
  3. ^ a b International Encyclopedia of Horse Breeds Page 251-252
  4. ^ , Bonnie Hendricks (1995). International Encyclopedia of Horse Breeds. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 9780806127538. Pages 251–252.
  5. ^ "Central OBC list, Gujarat". National Commission for Backward Classes. Retrieved 13 July 2021.

6. Books of The History of Kathiawad from the Earliest Times by Captain Wilberforce-Bell

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